“Primos the First Demon Lord?” Noroeth said in disbelief. “That was thousands of years ago. How come his name is mentioned in this parchment?”

“I don’t know but I have a bad feeling about this. This paper has existed for a very long time yet the power emanating from it is still so strong. It looks like some kind of…pact? If this paper is here, then does it mean that there was some kind of pacts between Primos and the Artificier?

Anyway let’s look around for more hidden chambers! This manor is not as simple as I think it is. There must be something else here.” Lilith said.

The two decided to separate themselves with Lilith going to the second level, where the workshop of the old Artificer lied. Instead of just going through books like before, she decided to search every corner for hidden buttons and contraption. Being the one who has created so many weird machines, she should have expected him to have one or two secrets chambers in his house. And there it was. Under the table of his working place, a red button was sticking upside down on the edge. It would have been so easy to miss it as there were no window in this room so let the light in.

Upon pushing on it, the shelves on the side moved slightly to the right and revealed a hidden compartment. Inside Lilith found another stack of books but unlike the others which the subject was about machinery and golems, these were about magic and not just any magic: Oath magic. These ancient texts dated since the time the Six Gods and Eden were still in this world. So it was entirely possible that the author of these books wrote it after an audience with a God who could have very well taught them about it.

“Lilith!!! You have to come down here quick!” the voice of the old skeleton called the Goddess to abandon these books where she found them. She would not understand them right now anyway. Perhaps after this she would bring them back to the castle for translation and studies.

“What did you find?” asked Lilith.

“That scroll we found…..there wasn’t just one of them. Come with me!”

Noroeth guided the girl through another hidden stair like the one he found earlier. However, the room it was leading too was much, much bigger than the other one.

“Oh my god!”

Inside this huge underground room were hundreds of long sets of cabinets containing what seemed to be hundreds thousands of scrolls like the one they found in the chamber with the creepy dolls. Along the shelves were names of the ones who signed it. Just taking a quick glance and Lilith recognized a few. They were all names of the past demon lords: Nyx, Belphegor, Beatrix, Sullivan and many more.

“Oath magic…so this is what all this is about. Primos was just the first one…He actually made an Oath with every single demon lord he could find and when the last one died, he would renew the Oath with the next generation. But for what purpose would you need all the demon lords?” Lilith contemplated. She was confused by the Artificer’s actions. A man surrounded with mysteries, he once tried to destroy the world but then gave up after a certain event. Then he allied himself with the demons and has been helping them ever since. But there were many plot holes and enigmas in these stories.

The first one was if the demons had access to the weaponry from the Artificer, conquering the world even with their numbers would not be such a difficult task. So then why has never a demon lord made a conquest outside of Ragna but instead only stayed in their continent? Surely there must be at least a few who hated the world so much they wanted to destroy everything. So why didn’t they do it?

The second point was about these pacts the Artificer has made with the demon lords. Oath magic could defy the logic of the universe, bending the laws of nature. That kind of power was not only difficult to obtain but also extremely dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. Yet there clearly wasn’t just one pact here but hundreds of thousands of them. All these efforts…for what?

The final mystery was what she feared the most. Akroma was the weapon the Artificer used during the Second Calamity, resulting in the destruction of half the world’s population. After the Artificer disappeared from the scene, so did Akroma. And now she actually found it laying in the underground of Ragna, dormant. What could this possibly mean? Whatever it was, nothing good would happen from it.

“Noroeth, we will search one final round around the house and depart back to the castle! I have some questions for the demons.” Lilith said.

“Actually there is something I think you should know…” the lich muttered. He decided that it would be for the best to tell Lilith of his lost memories…and of that person.

…..

“So on Alastor’s birthday, aside from you guys, there is actually one more visitor, right? That put this person very suspicious. Who is he?”

“It was ….the Artificer. He was supposed to come to discuss something with Asgore and I swore that just before I lost consciousness from the light at the castle, I saw him coming toward me from afar.” Noroeth said.

That name again. It seemed all the mysteries kept swirling around this enigmatic character. Just what was his role in all these? Could he be the one who killed Alastor’s parents? Why? So thought Lilith.

“And before you say anything, I believe that the Artificer was not the culprit.”

“What? Why do you say that? If you think about it, he is the most suspicious.”

“Indeed he was but remember that in my memories, the light came from the castle after I saw the old man. The path to the castle was a fairly open route so you can see a person walking down even miles away. In this case, the Artificer was still at least a couple of hundreds meters from me when that light hit the castle from inside. This meant that by the time the Artificer came, the culprit was already inside the castle.” The lich explained his reasoning.

“Hum…what you said does make sense. But can we trust your memories right now? You said that you lost a bit when you died no?” asked Lilith.

“I did but they all came back now. This time I swear that was everything. The Artificer was not the culprit. And there is something else: aside from the Artificer there was a second person accompanying him….”

“Who? ….You mean….” Lilith looked at the lich with grand open eyes. She just realized what he was implicating.

“That doll was also there with him.”

* * *

“Tan tan tan tan! How do you feel, Mr. Svelt?” the joyful voice of a young voice echoed in a dark cell.

“Fumph you! Releash me ngow, you frea!”

“Oh I am sorry! I forgot to remove this gag in your mouth! Now much better! You were saying?”

“Fuck you! Release me now, you freak!” Svelt raged. He was tied up to a chair and with his weak muscles which could not even lift a boy, he had no way of getting out of here by himself.

“That’s not really the right attitude to have in a situation like this, don’t you think?” Alastor playfully said

“You have no idea who you are dealing with. If you don’t release me right now, they will grind this place to the ground!” the minister fumed.

“Are you talking about your little friends at Sanctus? Soon to die like a certain Terrick?”

“What? How do you know…”

“I know a lot of things about you bunch of twats. How you used those orphans for your petty experiments. How you manipulated several countries for your own ambitions. How you are looking for all the Tempus Machina? Does that name ring a bell?”

“……” Svelt was left speechless. Who was this kid to even know about Sanctus? Not even the best spies could even discover them so how come all their operations were known by this little brat?

“You know, I actually think that if I am your position, I would probably do the same thing. Hiding behind in the shadows, controlling kings and queens like puppets to your will. If that’s the case, normally we would have worked together. But do you know why I did not? Do you know why you are sitting in that chair and not me?” Alastor smiled shrewdly.

“Wh…Why?” Svelt uttered.

“Because you touched my family!” Alastor transformed his hands into beast mode. With its powerful grip, he smashed Svelt to the ground. “YOU! KILLED! SHANA! YOU! HURT! MORRIGAN! YOU! PIECE! OF! SHIT!”

With each word was equivalent to a punch to Svelt’s face. Blood splattered on his beastly hands as Svelt was swelling from the wounds, his tooth broken, his nose still broken.

“Pleashhh *sobbing*! I will say everything! Just let me go!” the minister began to cry like a baby. He has never been hit like this, even by his parents. The pain was just too much for a frail guy like him.

“ *heavy breathing* If you tell me everything, I promise I will let go out of this place without touching you or harming you”

Hearing it, Svelt immediately began to spill everything. He told Alastor about Sanctus’ leader, pope Gauwyn, how the organization was created to deal with the demon threat. He also told him about several bases of operations Sanctus was using across the world. But these information was not what Alastor was looking for. He wanted to know the location of their headquarter together with the names of the remaining main members. But aside from pope Gauwyn and another member who actually had a seat in the dragon council, Svelt knew nothing of the other four. He didn’t even know about the Tempus Machina aside from the one that was given to him: the Arma suit.

“Please! That’s all I know. I swear I speak nothing but the truth!” Svelt begged for mercy.

“I know you are! You told me the same thing yesterday!”

“What?”

“I guess you don’t remember it but this is the second time we have this conversation. The difference was I took control of your mind yesterday and made you spill the truth by your own volition already. Today is just to test whether you have the guts to lie to my face. And you pass! Congratulations! The door is open. Go ahead! I won’t stop you.” Alastor showed Svelt the opened door behind him.

Could this be a trap? But that wouldn’t make any sense. Alastor had no need to let him go. He could just torture him to make him spill out any information. And if he was speaking the truth then Svelt has already told him everything he knew. So why let him go? Svelt thought hard about it. But he dared not stay for a second longer. What if this was a chance that God has given him? He must flee before Alastor changed his mind.

Still in doubt, he walked clumsily toward the door in a slow manner. He poked his head outside to watch out for traps. But there was no one there. He looked back in the cell and saw that Alastor was smiling at him, signaling him to go and pointing him to the exit. Without taking any chance, Svelt ran with all his might. This area seemed to be in the underground and had many cells, all empty. So he was retained in a prison. The ceiling was quite high for such a facility, and so dark he could barely see anything.

After running for a while in the dark corridor, Svelt could see ray of light coming from one of the doors at the end of the corridor. It must be the exit. He ran as fast as he could toward the light. Just a few more steps and this nightmare would be over. Just a few more steps left. To make sure that he was not being pursued, Svelt looked back. No one. So Alastor really kept his words.

Grabbing the door’s handle, he opened it. The warm sunlight, the sensation of the passing wind on his face, this was freedom. Finally he was freed…..Or not.

Suddenly he felt something grabbing on his leg, something slimy. He looked down, only to see a pinkish tongue clinging on his limb. Then it pulled him back into the dark below. Svelt tried his best to stay outside. He grabbed the door but it cracked easily. He used his nails on the ground but these fingers which have never done any hard work in their lives broke effortlessly. And so he was swallowed by darkness again.

…..

“People clings onto hope, no matter how disillusioned it is. This is especially true when they are facing death. I offer you just a brief chance of respite, to see how you struggle to live all because of that tiny hope. And then I take it away the moment just before you finally escaped. For only when all hope is extinguished, people will know true despair.

I did say that I won’t touch you but I never said anything about her! Nori, do try to eat one piece at a time and chew carefully! I don’t want you to have a tummy ache from eating this pile of shit.

Let him watch as his body is being eaten limb by limb. Savor any last bit of agony!

Goodbye Svelt!”

* * *

Kaiser was currently sitting alone in a chamber of his cave. In front of him was the crown he got from Celdora. This crown was found at the mansion of the Artificer after his sudden death, along with another artefact which was given to the hero Arshe. What concerned Kaiser was what Celdora told him the other day about his symptoms during the time he had this crown. And now Kaiser was expressing those very same symptoms. Was it just a coincide or was this crown the cause?

The more Kaiser looked at the crown, the stranger he felt. He was alone in the room, yet he felt like he was hearing tiny whispers around me. The tone was so small he could not distinguish what the words were. As he stared at the crown intensively, he was under the impression that he was the one being watched. He slowly moved his hand toward the crown. Something inside him was urging him to do it, something he didn’t even know himself. The whispers were getting louder and louder the closer he was to it, until he heard one word.

“Come”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“Lord Kaiser, are you there?”

That call brought Kaiser back to himself. Just what has he been doing? This crown, he didn’t know what it was nor what its purpose was but he knew one thing: it was dangerous to keep it around him.

“Lord Kaiser?”

“Ah yes I am coming!” Kaiser rushed to the door. It was one of his soldiers. Apparently the dragons wanted to talk to him about something. Something like that shouldn’t take very long so Kaiser decided to leave immediately without locking the door. He wanted to get some air anyway after that strange experience. Also no one would ever dare to enter his room without his permission so there was no need to come back and lock it. Well no one would, except for one. And this oversight would cost Kaiser dearly.

A moment later.

KNOCK

“Mister Kaiser, are you there?” the voice of a young girl spoke.

With no one answering, Syralth decided to enter. She stumbled on a few occasion upon a sleeping Kaiser so she was used to the fact that he would not answer his door and just came in by herself. But there was no one inside. Perhaps she just missed him. Maybe he was somewhere else.

As Syralth was closing the door, she heard something strange coming from inside the room. Could it be a rat or a critter who got lost in this place? The young draconian decided to enter the room again to check for the source of the sound. But no matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find anything. Then she spotted something unusual sitting on the table: the crown.

“Didn’t daddy use to have one of these? Why is there one here? I……I……” Syralth’s head began to hurt. She felt a bit dizzy and…empty. What was she doing? She didn’t even know anymore. The little girl swiped her eyes to wake up but the pain in her head persisted. Then she heard a creeping inhuman voice in her mind, speaking in a slow and insidious tone.

“Come to me!”

Syralth felt like she no longer had control of her body anymore. She started taking a step toward the crown, and another step. Slowly but surely, Syralth was now right in front of the crown.

“Touch me!”

Syralth held the crown with both of her hands. Her eyes were empty, soulless. Her pupils began to change color, from emerald to a blue crystal one.

“Bring me…to him!”

“To who?” Syralth spoke in a monotone voice.

“Bring me…to… Alastor!”

“I….I….don’t know.” Being half dragon, Syralth still retained the gift of her father: being naturally resistant to magic. But she was still far too young to resist something at this scale. However, it didn’t mean she was helpless. A part of her consciousness was still there and it was screaming at her to let that thing go.

“BRING ME TO ALASTOR!”

“AAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW” the girl screamed in fear.

…..

Hearing screams coming from the chamber of the lord, three persons rushed immediately to the room. The first one was Celdora. He could recognize the scream of his daughter even miles away. The second one following him was Kaiser upon hearing shout from his very room. He also was familiar with the voice. There was no other kid in this place aside from her. And since something else, something dangerous was also left in the room, Kaiser could only blame his own negligence for letting something happen to her.

Opening the door, the two saw Syralth holding onto the crown with one hand onto air. She looked like she was trying to run from it but her hand just wouldn’t let go. In an instant, the dragon lord dashed to her location and tried to take the crown away but the moment he touched it, an invisible force pushed him away against the wall. Kaiser followed by trying to grab Syralth but something was preventing him from going any further.

And the third person has come. Seeing the situation, Malick took out a small needle.

“” Infusing the needle with mana he threw it at the crown, separating it from the girl and pinched it on the wall.

He then threw five wooden pikes surrounding the crown and created a shining magic circle in the form of a pentagram.

“ Evil spirit, be gone!!!”

A bright light engulfed the crown before an agonizing scream could be heard. The crown became normal again. Now all that was left was a crying girl lying in Kaiser’s arms.

“Syra, are you okay, darkling? What happened?” Celdora asked worriedly.

“It…it was so dark and cold….Her voice was so scary…Don’t let her take me away, please! * hic hic (crying sound) * “ the small draconian cried out loud.