The next morning, Alastor, joined by Ikarus, departed from Eisenheim to the Whispering Forest together with Viviana and her companions. Since they were traveling in small group, using the Gate was the quickest way to get back. As for the army Morrigan has promised, they would need a day or two to prepare themselves before joining them later on the battlefield.

While none of the messenger’s party really wanted to bring Alastor with them, mostly because of yesterday’s humiliation he put them through, they could not deny the fact that this strange boy was much more powerful than they were and would prove to be a valuable ally. In addition, Viviana didn’t really have any choice in the matter. It was either escorting him or losing Zagon’s alliance, something she could not afford to lose at this moment.

Still, she couldn’t feel relaxed at all around him. Just who was he, exactly? She overheard people talking at the tavern during her stay at the Iron City that Alastor actually wasn’t Morrigan’s real son but has only been adopted recently. So where was he before that? Who was he before becoming the heir of Zagon? For someone who held that much power, it was difficult to believe that someone like that would remain unnoticed after all those years and suddenly ended up as the heir to the throne of an influential country like Zagon. What bothered Viviana even more was Yggdrasil’s action. Sure, Alastor was strong but Yggdrasil didn’t even try to fight him. Was there that much of a difference in strength between them or was there another hidden reason that the spirit refused to mention?

As she pondered these questions while staring at her white staff, a voice called her back to reality.

“That’s quite a peculiar staff you got there.” Alastor said as he observed the staff. Not only it was emitting a compelling aura, Alastor could sense something else residing within, a soul.

“Oh…it isn’t that special. But I am sure that it’s nothing compared to someone like you.” Viviana tried to stay polite. If they were accompanying together for a while, it would be better to stay in his good side.

‘Euh just because I didn’t fight him doesn’t mean I am inferior. If you have to blame anyone, blame yourself for not being able to control your people! You started the fight first after all.’ Yggdrasil said.

“Shut up!” the cat girl shouted, forgetting that no one else but her could hear the spirit.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh sorry, I was just…talking to myself. That’s something I usually do…to calm myself.”

“Really now? If I didn’t know you better, I would think that you have gone crazy, talking to a staff like that. But again, it would be cool if that staff is alive and can talk, am I right?”

For a moment, Viviana was stunned, fearing that the boy has seen through her lies. ‘He couldn’t…right?’ she thought.

Everything that had a soul was considered a living being. That alone made Alastor interested in this object. Could it be that Stella also had a soul like this cane? If that was the case, then it would explain why she felt so…real.

However, this wasn’t the reason why Alastor decided to go with Viviana. He was curious about her resemblance with Shana, certainly, but most importantly, he wanted to know what was actually happening in Malatas and whether Odium had something to do with this. There was also the issue with her experiment. He wanted to check where she was regarding that matter. If Odium succeeded in creating what she told him about, then Alastor must retrieve ‘that’ at all cost and as soon as possible. That thing could not be allowed to fall in anyone else’s hands.

“Mrs. Viviana, can you tell a bit about the current state of the war? I am afraid our intelligence didn’t come from the front lines like yourselves so it would be better to hear the details from you.” Ikarus broke the silence.

“Currently the elves army has invaded a quarter of our territory in the western and southern part of the Whispering Forest. They number about fifty thousand while we are only thirty. But that isn’t the main problem. The main issue is that the elves are using some kind of unknown monsters among their army.” Viviana explained.

“Unknown monsters?”

“From what our front liners have reported, these monsters were actually elves who have gone through a bizarre transformation and turned into strange beasts with exceptional power. Moreover, these monsters attack indiscriminately without distinguishing friend and foe. Judging from the reaction of their comrades and of the few prisoners we caught, we believe that not even the soldiers are aware of this fact and that they are being used by their own king for some purpose.

What is even more bizarre is that there have been many reports of mass disappearance among all of our smaller tribes and even an entire battalion. Last time I heard, the total of missing persons has amounted to fifty thousand…” Viviana clutched her fist as she reported the state of war. While she hasn’t been raised among her own kind, it still affected her, not knowing what happened to them or if they were even alive, which many believed not.

People suddenly transforming into horrendous raving beasts….that sure seemed familiar to Alastor. The memories began to resurface in his mind, the ones he thought were long gone. Odium claimed to be the Avatar of Spite. What greater revenge against the world than using the very same thing that took Shana away?

“Hum….” Alastor mumbled.

“Something wrong, Alastor?” Ikarus saw his change in expression and asked.

“No…nothing. Don’t worry about it! Just me thinking about….stuff!” he forced a smile on his face.

“Are you sure? You can talk to me if you want, you know.” the girl has spent long enough time to see through his fake smile. And usually when Alastor did that, it meant something serious was going on.

“It’s alright, Ik…”

“So what is the deal between you two anyway?” the voice of a person who didn’t know how to read the mood interrupted their conversation.

“Lucas, don’t be rude!” Father Maxime said to the youth.

“What? I am just curious. So miss Ikarus, are you his bodyguard or something like that?” When Alastor came this morning at the tavern, instead of him alone, he also brought a beautiful girl. Needless to say, it changed Lucas’ opinion completely.

“She is my…..”

“His wife”

“….yes… wife…Though I didn’t know that myself” Alastor muttered, his opinion totally ignored.

“WHAT? You are already married? To HIM?” Lucas shouted in disbelief.

“Marriage is just a ceremony. To me, I am already his so that’s enough.” Ikarus spoke.

“This…this…” Lucas’ hope was destroyed in a second. How could life be this unfair? Some kid half his age was already married to such a beautiful woman while he has spent more than twenty years alone.

“Do not despair, Lucas!” Enti pat on his shoulder “Woman is often attracted to stronger man. You just need to get stronger. I am sure that in thirty years….”

“I can’t wait that long!!!”

“Patience is the key to victory. You need more discipline, Lucas!” Enti said seriously.

“What about you? You are barely older than me so don’t talk like you know everything!”

“I have two wives and four kids already. My life is complete.” Enti replied.

“What the….? Fine at least I still have Father Maxime on my side. Right, Father? …..Father?”

“I am sorry, Lucas. I am already a man before I devoted my life to the Church…”

“What the actual fuck? Am I the only one single around here?” Lucas enraged.

“Well there is still….” Maxime looked to the cat girl who has been silent since earlier. Her cheeks were bright red and hot after hearing this outrageous statement. Surprisingly, Viviana was a novice in the matter of love.

“…..I guess I will accept my fate and be forever alone….”

* * *

Inside a dark world with three suns, one black, one blue and one red floating on the sky, the old demon lords were sitting around doing nothing. It has been quite a while since Alastor last visited them and they were starting to get bored. Things were dull in the Abyss. The landscape may have changed a bit but there wasn’t anything else to do aside.

“This is so boring!” Lucifer grumbled.

“You have said that for the last thousand years already. Though I do admit that you are right. Where is Alastor? Did he forget about us here?” Asmodeus said.

“Destiny is leading Alastor in his life mission. The wheel of fate has been turned. The cards have started to reveal themselves. The echo of the ancient past is calling…” Nyx mumbled.

“What are you babbling about, old man? Why can’t you speak normally for once?” Lucifer fretted.

“Wait, Lucifer! Don’t interrupt him! He is having one of those prophetic dreams again.” Asmodeus said.

In his former life, Nyx was known for being the wisest man in the world at the time, not just because of his vast pool of limitless knowledge but also because he was a prophet. This power, unique to Nyx, existed even before he became a demon lord. It allowed him to have a peek through the barrier of time and space, into the future itself. However, Nyx himself could not control this power, making these dreams appearing randomly and often very cryptic.

“What do you see, Nyx?” asked Asmodeus.

“They are finding their way to go back to the boy, as it was dictated by the Fallen One...And once they find him, everything will be over.”

“What? Who are they? What do you mean everything will be over?” the elf shouted.

“Tempus Machina will be whole once more. A new age will begin…Sitting on his iron throne, he will watch the world burn to ashes.

AAHH…*heavy breathing* what…what was I doing?”

“You tell me. What you just said, what does it mean???” Asmodeus demanded furiously.

“Yes..I would like to know about that too.” A disembodied voice spoke. It was Magnus with his usual appearance as a black orb with a brimming red eye. “Tempus Machina? I know that name. What do you mean by that?”

“…All I can tell you is that there are forces that could make even a God like yourself seems like a child playing with magic.” Nyx hesitantly said.

“What do you mean by that? If you won’t say then I will force you to…….what? Why can’t I read your mind?” Magnus was stunned. As the creator of the demon lords, he had access to not all their powers but also their minds and spirits. This meant that none of them could lie to him. Yet something prevented him from reading Nyx’s mind. “What did you do?”

“I did nothing. Like I said, you are not as powerful as you thought you are. The Gods may have created the world and the laws of nature but there are things that could bend even the very nature of this world.

Let me ask you a question: do you know what lies in the underground of Ragna?”

“…..” the Soul Forger couldn’t say anything. The reason was simple: he didn’t know.

“There is the answer to your question. Have you ever thought why no one told you about that?”

“….I see now. It’s not that you don’t want to say it but you can’t. You made an Oath with the Artificer and it prevented you from disclosing any information about it, even me from reading you mind.”

“….”

“And not just you. He made that same Oath with all the demon lords he could find to make sure that no one would know that secret.”

“…..”

“It seems like my guess is right. No matter! The Artificer is dead so no one could make that Oath with Alastor anymore. The boy will find uncover that secret for me.”

All of the sudden, a large winged creature landed right next to them, making the ground tremble.

“Hey, what is everyone doing here?” the dragon Xenes said joyfully.

“We are having a very serious conversation here be quiet! Actually what have you even been doing lately? You disappeared for a while and now came back like nothing.” Asmodeus grunted.

“Something very, very interesting! The best show in history is coming and I assure you that we will have the best seats. Hahahaha!”

* * *

“Something about you is very strange...What did you do to me, Eve?” the elf king said.

Aldol has been sitting in front of Eve’s tank for three hours straight. He has tried to talk to her many times but she has never answered him even once. Yet all she did was staring at him back front behind the glass wall. Was she perhaps interested in him? Maybe not. After all, the only world she knew was inside this prison and Aldol was the only thing she could see.

“Tell me, Eve! What did you do to me?” Aldol continued to speak but no answer came from Eve. Her silence started to piss him off. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME? ANSWER ME, EVE!” he punched the glass wall, making a small crack.

Fortunately it was only on the outside so no water was leaked from the tank. What was strange was that his sudden anger didn’t faze the mermaid one bit. Even when he tried to hit her through the glass, Eve just stood there, doing nothing. Her gaze was like needles, pointing at Aldol.

“Don’t look at me like that! Stop it!” Aldol started to sweat heavily. His breathing was getting shorter. He felt suffocating. One of his hands began to quiver violently. Using the other hand, Aldol tried to stop the shaking by grabbing it and hit it against the wall behind him.

BAM BAM BAM

Each hit seemed to break his bones even further. The pain was excruciating, yet it didn’t stop Aldol from continuing slamming his crippled hand again and again. It finally reached a point where one of his bones was poking out from his arm. Instead of screaming in pain, Aldol was laughing hysterically. What he wanted was pain, whether it was inflicted to someone else or himself. To this delirious king, pain ascertained his existence that he was here and now. By hurting himself, he proved that he was alive. By hurting others, he affirmed his own value. For what was the purpose of living if not to suffer?

Thanks to the experiment Odium did on his body, the wounds were already healing as if they were never there. But it didn’t change the fact that Aldol was heading into the pit of madness. In his deviant mind, the king was stuck, lying at the bottom of this darkness. He looked at the sky above. What did he see? A light so bright he could not peer into it directly. But as his eyes began to get accustomed to the brightness, he saw the silhouette of a woman, a red haired mermaid. A silent goddess was watching over him. She was his light, his salvation.

He crawled toward the tank and put his head against the glass wall, staring at the mermaid.

“You are mine, my Eve. Mine alone! So stay with me, please! Till the very end!” something wet fell on his face. Tears? Was he crying? Aldol couldn’t remember the last time he cried. Not even in his earliest memory. Not even when he killed his entire family. So why did he cry now?

Aldol leaned his back again the glass wall and dozed off. It was natural. The elf was mentally exhausted. So many different emotions have run through him in such a short time. He slept in that position for an hour before a loud laugh awoke him.

“HAHAHAHAHA! I DID IT! I DID IT!”

That voice…it was Astrea. It came from below, from her lab. Curious of what she was laughing about, Aldol decided to take a look.

Coming down at the lab, passing through a very large bloody chamber, the place where he gave her the one hundred thousand ingredients she asked, Aldol found a grinning Astrea. She has never shown this much emotion before and her expression even scared Aldol a bit.

“What happens?” asked Aldol.

“The experiment is a success. The price of a hundred thousand sacrifices….it was long but finally, I did it! Behold!”

Astrea pointed toward the centre of her lab. Inside a large blood magic circle, ten strange objects with the same shape, identical to each other…the things that Odium has promised Alastor.

“These are…..”

“The future, Aldol! It’s the future! Hahahaha!”

“Are you going to use them for the war?”

“No. That would be a waste. I will be saving these for another time. As for the war, I have prepared something else! These will be enough.”

Astrea brought out a tiny black crystal gem on her hand and showed it to Aldol.

“What are we going to do with this?”

“The beastmen have recently acquired their Champion. We may be winning the war but that isn’t enough. I want to crush their spirit, their hope. What else could be better than kill the Champion?”