Author's note: As probably some of you may have noticed but I am a fan of the Soul series and some parts of my story (so far) are loosely based on it: not the events but more like the theme with some characters sharing similar experiences etc. In this chapter, one story is heavily based on one game of the Soul series. To avoid any spoiler, I decided not to include the name of the game itself. For those who recognize it, please avoid saying it in the comments or at least put a spoiler tag on your comment and if you want to discuss about it with me, do it in PM :). For those who don't, don't worry that you are missing anything! It will just be better later ^^.

Enjoy the chapter!

I also posted my novel on Quotev : https://www.quotev.com/story/8050528/Tales-of-Astora-Legacy

Images and artworks of characters or events are available on many chapters so check it out if you want :)

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With the dragon continent of Oros now under a new order, the dragons quickly began the recovering of their kingdom. Well, it was called recovery but most of the work was done by Celdora and a few top elected others who mainly focused on determining the hierarchy and how the political process would begin from now on. Unlike the other races with their countries like Ceadric, the dragons had no need for houses or sophisticated buildings to live in. A simple cave or even a plain field big enough for their size would more than sufficient. In this aspect, the dragons were not very complicated in details.

However, it was not about rebuilding that was the focus of the debate. It was about the relationship between the dragons and the rest of the world from now on. For long, they have closed off their borders and holed themselves on this continent while ignoring everything that was happening around them as long as it didn’t concern them directly. But that attitude no longer seemed to be working anymore…or did it work at all after all these years?

It was out of question for the dragons to even consider the option of joining Valhalla at this point. Their pride simply could not allow it and to be frank, there was no meaning in that. The original aim of Morrigan was to reunite the three kingdoms of the humans since they were the ones with the most hatred toward the demon kind. As for the other kingdoms, she might conquer but did not plan to rule over them too. But just as many things in life that never went according to plan, she somehow managed to have also Malatas and the beastmen of the Whispering Forest too. And that in itself was the start of troubles. It was impossible to just bring all the races and everyone under the rule of a single person. That diversity, the culture and we were not even talking about the different level of acceptance concerning the demons just yet… there was simply too much difference. This kind of kingdom, built on such a fragile foundation, was bound to one-day collapse. It might last for a time but what would happen after Morrigan was gone? Or Alastor was gone? Without a real absolute power in the top of the chain to keep them in check, conflicts would surely rise again in order to take control of that throne.

That was what the dragons of Oros feared. When that day came, they would prefer not participate in that fight. Old habits died hard after all. But instead of doing just that, Celdora had a better proposal: the dragons should prove themselves as the protectors of the world and cooperate with Valhalla to maintain the balance of power all while keeping the peace. As the elder ones holding centuries or even millennia of knowledge thanks to their lifespan, they must be an example to the young races. And to do that, the dragons themselves must change their way of thinking. No longer would it be just about Oros or a small group of privileged individuals but the new council, under the rule of Celdora, must become the heralds of the world, spreading words of peace to those in need, to protect the weak from the oppressors and to shatter all sources deemed as evil to order and peace.

But while Celdora and the other dragons were preoccupying themselves on that matter all while maintaining a close contact with Ragna and Valhalla, a lonely old figure was sitting by himself near the large lake little Syralth used to come to play. With his sorrowful and tired expression, he expired a long sigh, wondering why he was even still alive at this moment. He has lost everything: his fame, his position and even his own son. But it was Taragon’s betrayal that struck the heart of the old dragon the most. Even more, he blamed himself for being so blind to what was going on right in front of him. All those years, he was deceived, used as a tool by his own family member for their selfish goal. In the end, that son died in the most horrific way possible and even then, Maragon was helpless to do anything.

“Why am I still alive? For what reason do you want me to continue this pitiful existence?” the ancient dragon mumbled to himself, asking the Gods who created him.

From the bushes behind him, a small girl, not exactly small compared to a normal human but tiny when by Maragon’ side, walked out of the forest by the lake and toward the old dragon. Resting on her shoulder was a gyrfalcon, her life companion who has accompanied her throughout so many years and together with her, gained reputation for her efforts during the insurrection in Oros.

“Lord Maragon?” asked Abalone.

“I am no longer a lord, mind you.” Maragon reminded the young dragon of his recent downfall. “You are that sea dragon…the one who put my army to shame with that bird…Abalone was it?”

“And Heru!” the dragoness showed the bird on her shoulder. Hearing his name being mentioned, Heru screamed a joyful tone, proud of himself for being no less than a dragon.

“What an intriguing little creature! …” Maragon grinned. “So what can I do for you, Abalone and Heru? The war has ended and the dragon council has been disbanded. Therefore, all the laws and decrees made by me and my peers have been void. You and the rest of your clan sea dragons can now return to Oros if you so wish.

Or do you want to see me for a more …personal reason? Revenge for all the sufferings you had to endure all these years because of that sentence? Because I was the one who exiled all of you?” the dragon spoke casually.

“No! None of those! I don’t want to kill anyone, especially not an elderly person…” Abalone retorted. “I just want to know the truth.”

“The truth? About what?” asked Maragon.

“I want to know the reason why you sent all the sea dragons to exile, never to return to Oros. Even my parents have been quite unsure of themselves about what really happened. Others only said you were jealous of us but were never able to give me any proof of that.”

“….And why do you wish to know such thing? It is not going to change what has already been done.”

“Perhaps not but at the very least, I am allowed to know that much right? I deserve it!” Abalone affirmed.

“….Some things are better left unknown, young one. For your own sake! Knowledge is power but too much of it will push you down into the pit of insanity. The more you learn, the more you realize the cruelty of truth and how the world is not like what you think it is. If you wake up one day, only to learn that your whole life was a lie, would you be able to bear it? To keep your mind sane?

That’s why people say ignorance is blissful. Bury your head in the sands and continue to live that way! For once the truth has been revealed to you, there will be no turning back.

Knowing that, will you still pursue the path of knowledge? That path of truth? Tell me, young one: are you prepared to face those consequences without becoming something else? Something that could no longer be a part of this world?”

The words of the ancient dragon, one of the oldest beings in this world, the wisdom of thousands of years’ worth of knowledge…and his words were a warning. A not so obvious warning however to say the least! The secret of the sea dragons, hidden by many for a good reason…would Abalone be able to handle that truth without going insane? Would she walk away from it? The thing she has been searching for years, the vindications for the exile of her entire, could she let it go?

“I am prepared!” answered Abalone firmly.

“…I see. Then I have no reason to hide it from you. As you said, you deserve to know the past of the sea dragons…What they found…The sins they committed… And how it all ended like this…Are you ready?” inquired the ancient dragon as he stood up on his four legs, revealing his large stature.

“I think I am but for what?” the dragoness asked in her human form.

“For a journey to the past!” Grabbing Abalone and pinning her down to the ground with only one of his hands, Maragon put one of his finger on the girl’s head who was struggling heavily out of surprise. “It may hurt a little but do try to stay conscious!”

All of a sudden, without warning, Abalone could feel a tremendous flow of energy, accompanied by images pouring into her head all at once. The first were the images of the battle in Canaan just recently. Then it switched to the scene of a meeting between the members of the dragon council before the war even started. Following that pattern, Abalone realized that those images were not randomly placed but actually events that happened in the past. It was as if time itself was rewinding in front of her, only at light speed. However, the strain it created to her mind was unbearable to say the very least. Even though it hurt so much, the dragoness tried to endure the pain and continued watching what was going through her mind. She might not be able to catch them all but as long as she could last until the actual images Maragon wanted to show her appeared, it would be worth it. Closing her eyes and biting her own lips, Abalone focused.

“…It’s done! You can open your eyes!” the voice of the ancient dragon echoed in her mind.

Slowly spreading her eyelids as the scenery hit through the small opening gap, Abalone was bewildered by her surroundings. The lake that was just in front of her a moment ago was gone. In fact, the whole area was different. Currently, they were on some kind of coast with swirling dark clouds above, along with the heavy crushing waves of the sea constantly coming to the rock formation they were on.

“Where are we?” Abalone uttered in awe while turning her head from left to right to look for the answer herself.

“It’s not where but when. We are still in Oros, although slightly to the south from our initial position. As for when…this is the dragon continent five thousand years ago.” Said Maragon while standing on four legs on a large flat rock. His voice echoed loudly, indicating that this was only some kind of illusion or rather an echo of the past recreated by his own magic.

“Five thousand years ago? Is that when…?” asked Abalone.

“Yes…it was before the first dragon council was formed…before the cataclysm that fell upon the sea dragons, leading to their exile….before ‘he’ doomed your entire clan for generations from now on.” The ancient dragon had a reminiscent look on his face as he raised his head up, looking at the dark clouds from above. “And that…that is the cause of everything.”

From the sky, piercing through the swirling dark clouds, a bright light descended in flame before falling into the sea of water, creating a loud boom and shockwave. Even though this was only an illusion, Abalone could feel the immense pressure and had to grip onto the rock bed below her to avoid being thrown away by the shockwave.

“What is happening?” Abalone shouted as the pressured subsided. With the gale now ended, the dragoness looked at where the strange light fell into: from under the deep sea, a column of pale blue light was shooting into the sky, showing the exact location of the strange thing.

“What is that?”

It was not Abalone who asked that question but a voice not very far from her. Looking to her right on another rock formation at the coast, Abalone could see two dragons also present at the scene as they took flight toward the column of light. One was a large black dragon while the other was not white but better described as pale wet smooth skin without any scale, like that of an underwater creature.

“Wait a minute…is that you?” Abalone asked the ancient dragon. His appearance was exactly like the other black dragon. The only difference was that the other one was slightly younger. If this was indeed the past then it would not surprising to see a younger version of Maragon himself.

“Yes…” Maragon replied shortly.

“So then who is the other one? His appearance…he is a sea dragon right?”

“Yes he is! As for who he is, it’s up to you to find out. But it’s not important right now. Follow them and see for yourself, the terrible truth that awaits you!” Maragon said. “But be careful! Do not succumb to madness!”

Following his advice, Abalone retook her dragon form and jumped into the sea as she swam toward the column of light. What was this strange sensation but oddly indigenous she was feeling inside her? What were those intangible whispers that were becoming louder and louder the closer she got near the column of light? And why was the moonstone necklace she was wearing starting to shine brightly?

Meanwhile, Abalone could still hear the flapping wings of the two dragons hovering right above her surrounding the column of light.

“What was that?” asked the pale dragon.

“Be careful! It could be dangerous. Let’s just go back and get the others!” said the young Maragon.

“Do you hear it? Those strange sounds…it is coming from below where that thing is…I must go to get it.” The pale dragon said while staring in the column of light originating from the deep sea.

“Wait a minute! We don’t know what it is.”

“I will be quick. Wait for me here!” the pale dragon dove into the sea and vanished with a splash.

“WAIT!” shouted the black dragon.

Deciding that there was no use to stay here doing nothing, Abalone dove below the surface and followed the pale dragon. Since this was an illusion, she did not have to fear being discovered by him. However, the feeling of water splashing into her face, the pressure going up as she dove even further into the deep sea…it was so real that she had a hard time to believe this was just an illusion. Although if this was indeed a simple, Abalone would not be able to follow the pale dragon since Maragon was not actually there with him. In a way, she did travel back to the past, but only as a phantom, unable to interact with anything or do anything except for watching. Who could say to what extent could the power of an ancient dragon like Maragon reach?

After a seemingly endless time of travelling inside the darkness of the deep sea, the two finally arrived at the source of the light: a very large opaque stone of ivory colour with a faint azure luminescence shimmering from inside. Its size alone was at a few dozen meters in length and possessed an oval shape. However, it was its very shape that begged a question.

Meteors or comets falling from the sky, while rare, were not that strange of a phenomenon. But never has there been a rock with this perfectly rounded shape, suggesting it was artificially made by someone or something rather than just a random rock falling from the cosmos above. And most of all, Abalone recognized this rock. It looked exactly like her moonstone from the colour to the light it was emitting. The only difference was the size.

“ᴃᴇᴄᴋᴏᴎ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴃᴌᴑᴑᴅ ᴍᴑᴑᴎ! ᴈᴑᴌᴌᴑᴪ ᴑᴝᴚ ᴔᴝᴉᴅᴀᴎᴄᴇ! ᴌᴉᴤᴛᴇᴎ ᴛᴑ ᴛᴂᴇ ᴤᴑᴝᴎᴅ ᴑᴈ ᴪᴀᴛᴇᴚ!”

A strange seemingly gibberish language echoed inside the mind of the two dragons as the laid their intensive sight upon the stone. Abalone could not understand what it was saying. She was not even sure if those were voices of someone or simply an incomprehensible muttering of some kind of unknown creature. Either way, it was something out of this world, something that was outside the reach of the minds of those born on Astora. Furthermore, the only thing else she could make out of this cryptic message was the “Flip Flop Flip Flop”, the sound of dropping onto the surface of water, one drop after another. Where was it coming from? How was that possible to hear something like that in the depths of the sea?

“……………….?” A tiny voice called out to Abalone who was mesmerized by the giant moonstone. The loud repeating whispers were keeping her from hearing anything else.

“Abalone, wake up!” a majestic voice brought the dragoness back to her senses.

Opening her eyes and gasping for breath suddenly, Abalone found herself back in the present, near the lake. Only, she realized that instead of being on land, half of her body was immerging in the lake while Maragon was pulling her out of it. She almost drowned inside that lake. How was it possible for a sea dragon to drown? Simply because she was not breathing at all. From the old dragon’s point of view, what he saw was an Abalone jumping into the lake by herself and bubbles coming up to the surface as it filled her insides. She was trying to kill herself.

“What…what happened?” the girl asked as she gasped for breath.

“You were unable to keep your mind sane to face the truth. As I expected, it was simply too dangerous for a young dragon like yourself.” Maragon explained.

“That stone…it’s just like mine but much bigger…What was it?” the dragoness asked.

“…Have you ever thought on why the sea dragons have the moonstone while the other dragons don’t? Don’t you think how strange it is for them to be so special?” the old dragon uttered.

Rubbing her chin, Abalone thought hard before coming to a conclusion. “Are you saying that what I saw was the first moonstone? It came from the sky?”

“Both yes and no! There was only one moonstone since the very beginning. Yours and many others out there are only tiny fragments of the original one that came down from the sky five thousand years ago. The pale dragon you saw was the first sea dragon to ever find it before using it just like you use it today.

Compared to others, the sea dragons are the weakest dragon kinds because of their dependence on water and the absence of scales on their skins. And I am not talking about your usual scales but the true scales that gave the dragons their reputations of being the strongest. Thanks to them, we are extremely resistance to magic and all kind of physical damages. However, the sea dragons, perhaps because of their living environment, did not have them and therefore fairly vulnerable.

But everything changed after that discovery. With the moonstone broken into smaller parts and distributed to every one of their clan, the sea dragons quickly rose to power, surpassing even their own peers thanks to that amazing power given to them.” Maragon explained.

“…Is that why you exiled us? Because we were too powerful?” asked Abalone reluctantly.

“Do you really think an entire clan of sea dragons, each with a stone like yours, would be easily overpowered by me or anyone else? You alone were able to take a dozen of us with just a fragment and believe me when I say you are not the most powerful one I have seen so far compared to your peers! Not even close!

Tell me, young one! What did those of your clan tell you when you asked them for the reason of their exile?” questioned Maragon.

“They said that you were jealous of our power and in a single night, you ambushed us and killed the majority of our clan before exiling the survivors.” Replied Abalone in a sad tone.

“Hahaha! Is that so? And do you believe them?”

“No…not after this. But then who massacred my clan that day five thousand years ago?”

“…You were killed…by the very same person who bestowed all that power upon your people…by the one who found the stone in the first place.”

“That pale dragon? But who is he?”

“He used to be a friend of mine. A scholar who followed the path of knowledge and sought the truth of the world…of the universe. That was it before he decided to turn on his own people, on his own friend and killed my wife. On the day of the massacre, he turned into something else…

His name is Xenes!”

* * *

“Welcome to Tartarus, demon lord Alastor! I am Stella, your guide in this place and your faithful servant!”

“Stella?” Alastor turned to the doll who has come here with him. “There are two Stella?”

“Actually, there are many more but for now, they are still sleeping inside the cryogenic chamber. If you so desire, I will wake them up right now.” The new Stella said.

“…No, I would rather not. But…just how many Stella are there?” asked Alastor.

“Would you like to make a short turn at the cryogenic chamber? I think it would be better to show you. Like Zwei said, seeing is believing.” Proposed the doll.

“Zwei? Who is Zwei?” asked Alastor.

“Zwei is the artificial intelligence in charge of this place. She controls everything from maintenance to defence and is the reason why the system is still online today.”

“She? That was a ‘she’?” Alastor referred to the computer he has spoken to inside that small elevator. “Though it’s true that it was a female voice…”

“Technically, Zwei has no gender since she exists only in the cyber world. However, to make it easy when referring to her and following the voice given to her, it was decided that Zwei would be considered a woman. But if you wish, we could change her voice and a few other settings.”

“I have no idea of what you are talking about and it’s not like changing the voice would make it better anyway. Alright…lead the way!” said Alastor.

“Very well! Please follow me! But before that, I will put on some light here!” The doll clapped her hands together. “Let there be light!”

From afar, light came down from the ceiling layer by layer toward Alastor. It was those metal boards that served also as light but instead of lamps, they were embedded to the floor. Only now when the place was illuminated, could Alastor see the grandeur of this place. A highly advanced construction that looked almost too outlandish compared to what the medieval world of Astora had to offer. From a moment, the boy has assumed that he was back to the Other World, in some kind of high-tech facility. However, there were still traces of Astora here, especially when the boy could feel the tremendous amount of mana circulating this place. The machines in this place did not use just the technology but also profited from magic energy, something only found in Astora. And what shocked him the most was the scale of this thing. The ceiling was so high that Alastor actually thought it was the sky itself, although there was no cloud above. If only that was the end of it.

Following the doll who recently appeared, Alastor still kept his eye on the Stella he knew. It would be complicated if he lost his sight of her and didn’t know which one was the real one later. But what was real anyway? What made this Stella different from the other? How was he supposed to distinguish them if they shared the same exact appearance from the cloth to every inch of her hair.

“You seem a bit confused, master! Is this because of our similarity?” asked the doll that looked just like Stella while staring at her.

“Anyone would be surprised if they see two copies of the exact same person…in the same place…” the boy uttered before turning to the Stella he knew. “Stella, from now on, make sure to call me Alastor while the others will call me master. Also grab my hand so we won’t get lost. That way, I can be sure to not mistake you for any other Stella that might pop out. Just a precaution if you don’t mind!” Alastor extended his hand and grabbed the doll’s hand.

“…No! I don’t mind at all.” She clenched her fist and grabbed tightly the boy’s hand.

“We have arrived.” Said the new doll.

Facing a giant wall barricading the entire whole floor with only a small door to enter, the group walked inside.

“What in the world is this place…..” Alastor uttered in shock upon seeing the chamber hidden behind the wall.

The chamber was actually an enormous cylindrical tunnel expanding for two miles in diameters and at least ten in length. Even more terrifying was that the tunnel was actually a structure that was inside another even bigger structure covering around it. However, it was what was inside the cylinder that bewildered our young demon lord.

There were thousands, hundreds of thousands of metal pods with a front glass window showing its content. Slightly bigger than the size of an adult human, they were covering the entire inside walls of the cylinder. Each of them contained one person that all looked oddly similar to Stella, if not the exact same copy. The only difference was that they were all naked and currently immerging inside a transparent fluid with their eyes closed as if they were sleeping. Grabbles and others machines were moving continuously around, checking the pods all while rearranging them for new incoming pods, all containing the same thing as the others.

“Welcome to the cryonic chamber of Tartarus! This is where we store all our Stella from our factory located further in. Normally, the production was planned to stop at about nine years ago but there have been no news from doctor Marcus for the last eleven years so it has never really stopped. Our factory has been running at full capacity ever since, waiting for the day we might be needed by our master, you, lord Alastor.” The doll bowed slightly to Alastor, showing her respect to the boy.

‘So they didn’t know that the Artificer is already dead….Should I tell them? But that can wait. There are still other things to ask for now.’ Thought Alastor in his mind. “You called me Master but I have never met any of you. How come I am your master all of the sudden? And what do you mean by waiting for the day I need you? For what?”

“It is installed in us that whoever has the Proof of Command is our master. As for what, it’s up to you and only you. Whatever you want, whatever you need, you may simply give us the word and we will do it, even if it might cost the lives of this unit. We are yours to command, to do whatever you may need us for.”

“….Just how many there are of you in this place?” Alastor asked, fearing the answer he would receive back.

“Up until this very moment, there are exactly one million two hundred fifty-four thousands nine hundred and forty-two units that have been finished with the correct settings and software installed.”

“A MILLION??? Why do you need much?” shouted Alastor.

“We only follow the order that was given to us: to continue the production until further notice! However, because of the limited space, we will soon run out of space to store our Stella.”

“If you are going to run out of space then stop the production already! It is that simple.” Alastor argued.

“But we had our orders…”

“Screw that order! I am commanding to stop! There is no meaning in this.”

“Acknowledged! Overriding old order…..” The doll’s eyes flashed. “It’s done! The factory has been terminated as you command!”

“ *sigh* Alright, I have had enough of this creepy place. Where else are you going to bring me to?” asked Alastor.

“Anywhere you like! However, since the facility expands throughout the entire continent, it will take quite some time to visit every single place. I will say between three months and four months of constant walking if we travel by foot.”

“No, I don’t have time for that. I just want to understand what Tartarus is. That’s why I came here in the first place.” Alastor said.

“Acknowledged! Then the next destination will be the control centre. Please follow me!”

“Control centre? Is it far away?” asked Alastor.

“By foot with the current speed, it will take a month to go there because of the complexity of the facility.”

“….Is there no other way of moving…you know faster?”

“We have the teleporter that is just right outside. It will take five seconds to go there using the teleporter platform. Would you like to use it?” asked the strange doll.

“Yes…please!”

“Then this way please!”

…..

This city was void of people, not living persons in flesh anyway. The only residents were robots patrolling around and many more Stella doing what seemed to be maintenance work or cleaning. Whenever Alastor passed by, they would stop what they were doing and bowed to him. They seemed so serious about it that it looked a bit creepy from Alastor’s point of view. To be called Master by people you didn’t know, especially when they all looked the same to someone you knew could be indeed a terrifying experience, if not eerie when you realized you were the only living being in this place.

After having stepped into an illuminated platform that has teleported them to God knew where inside this humongous underground city yet void of people, Alastor was guided across a hall. Dozens of copies of the doll were here, standing on two sides of the red carpet placed in the middle of the hall. As the boy passed by, they kneeled down to him like a faithful servant to their king.

At the end of the hall, Alastor finally arrived at the control centre. The secret of Tartarus lied there, according to the doll guiding him. Walking inside with his Stella, the boy was greeted with the sight of a giant head floating on air. Only it was a quite unusual head. It was slightly transparent with occasionally some static erasing the figure. In addition, a ray of light was beaming into it from below, as if the whole thing was just a projection from the glass ball down there. As for the face, it belonged to what seemed to be a robot with some female features. Her hair was actually composed of larges cables attached to the head while the face itself looked like something made out of metal.

“Welcome, demon lord Alastor! After all these years, you are the first to have ever arrived in this place.” Said the projection in an autonomous voice similar to the one in the elevator.

“What are you?” asked Alastor

“I am Zwei, the one who manages this facility in place of my creator, the Artificer Marcus William.”

“Why do you look like this?”

“I don’t have a physical body so in order to make communication easier to non-cyber entities such as yourself, I use this hologram to speak to you. My apologies for the quality of the image...This is all we can manage with the limited resources we have down here.” Zwei answered.

“Limited resources? You have enough to create a million Stella but not to fix something this small?” argued the boy.

“The production of Stella is made to be our top priority. Meanwhile the projector is only used for this specific situation when I meet another non-cyber entity face to face in the control centre. And you, Alastor, are the first to have come here.”

“But if this place has been sealed for centuries, how come the Artificer was able to put the entire factory and recover Stella from there? He can’t really go back down without the keys right?”

“The factory itself was made before the sealing of Tartarus. Back then, after doctor Marcus has installed me here as a measure to prevent all intruders while in charge of maintaining this place the way it was, a one-way passage to transport the finished Stella to the surface was also created. Remember the slots you put the Tempus Machina in? There is a fifth one hidden near the elevator that will be able to transport the finished product to the Artificer who will take the package from there. Even if an intruder finds out about the secret passage, no one would be able to pass through Akroma, therefore making this place one hundred percent intruder-proof.” The intelligence explained.

“….Okay…a bit complicated but I have the gist of it…I admit it would be weird and kind of obious if something that huge is on the surface so that’s why he put the factory down here…” Alastor rubbed his chin thinking about the size of the cryonic chamber he saw earlier. “However, that doesn’t answer the question of Tartarus. When I first came here, one of the Stella told me that this place is actually Tartarus. But so far, I have not seen why people are so afraid of it…”

“That’s because you don’t see the whole picture. But before I can tell it to you, you must pass the Rite of Bequest and become the new Master of Tartarus. Only then will you be allowed to know the truth.”

“I have come here and it would be a shame to just pull back now. Just do it!” Alastor said.

“Please take a seat!”

Alastor moved to the only chair in the room and sat down comfortably.

“Heart of Tartarus, please step forward!” Zwei called out to Stella.

“What are you doing?” Alastor asked in confusion.

“The Rite of Bequest gives the total control of Tartarus to one person. However, in order to do that, a special software must be installed in that person. As you have probably guessed, the software code is contained inside the Heart of Tartarus.”

“Software….some kind of spell I assume but instead of chanting, you need to install, as you called it, it in machines right that will later execute that order right? Vincent once explained me about it. But I am not a machine so how do you do that?” questioned Alastor.

“That can be fixed easily.” Suddenly metal straps appeared from the chair and restrained the boy, making him unable to move an inch. A grabble descended from the ceiling and put a towel into the boy’s mouth. “This will hurt a little. Please refrain from killing yourself!”

“Whhh ???” Alastor uttered intangible words because of the rag in his mouth.

Without warning, the black crown Alastor was wearing started to melt into a silvery substance. Shocked by the sudden thing and taking in account the fact of what happened to Taragon last time something similar happened, Alastor tried to struggle but it was too late. In an instant, the liquid entered his chest into his heart. Once inside, it began to fuse with the beating organ as the heart took on a silvery colour and a few veins connecting to it. While it was only for a few seconds, the pain was excruciating so much that it knocked out Alastor instantly.

“The Rite is completed. Demon lord Alastor, you are now the Master of Tartarus.” was the last thing he heard before he fell unconscious.

…..

“Alastor, can you hear me?” a voice called out to the sleeping boy who was just slowly getting up. His chest still hurt from what happened.

“Stella?” the boy recognized the familiar face in front of him, or rather the many similar faces in front of him. Opening his eyes, he found himself lying on the ground with his head on the laps of the doll while the other Stellas were staring at him around his body for who knew how long since he has passed out. “What happened?”

“See yourself!” the voice of Zwei echoed in the room. “You and Akroma are now one. Can you feel it moving inside your system? Together, you control Tartarus.”

“What? What do you mean Akroma and I are one?” Alastor looked down at his chest: there was no wound or any visible sign of anything out of place but he could feel it the presence of something heavy inside him.

“The Proof of Command is actually made of the master nanomachines that allow one to control the others which are surrounding this entire facility. But aside from that, they are still machines with the same function as their peers. Thanks to their presence, we have succeeded in installing the software ‘Heart of Tartarus’ inside you. From now on, you control both Akroma and Tartarus.”

The news was ground-breaking to the mind of the young demon lord. The two most dangerous weapons in history were now lying both in his hands. But in addition to that, there was something else that many were not even aware about that Alastor also had another deadly weapon: the dark crystals Odium created using all those sacrifices and the reason she provoked a war between the beastmen and the elves. Until now, they were still carefully hidden inside Alastor’s dimensional pocket as he hoped that there would not be a day when he would have to resort to them.

But why? Why was this happening to him? Why was he suddenly in possession of so many destructive weapons? Each was more than enough to destroy the world and here he had all three of them. For what purpose would fate bring them to him?

Alas, there was still the question of the true nature of Tartarus. The other two were already frightening enough and Alastor could only wish that he has never asked the question he was about to say.

“What…what is Tartarus?”

“Allow me to show you: the true nature of Tartarus!”

Zwei’s hologram changed to another form, one that revealed the secret and the terror that was hidden under the demon continent of Ragna all these years. The weapon that has been forsaken by its own creator out of fear of his own creation…What could it be? But it was Alastor’s expression that said it all.

“This….this can’t…..Why? Why did he create such a thing?” Alastor shouted upon seeing what was shown through the projection.

“Alastor, since you are the master of Tartarus, it is my duty to tell you everything. At the end of this room, you will find a red lever. Pulling it will activate the mechanism that will wake Tartarus from its slumber. It’s your decision whether you do it or not.

As the artificial intelligence in charge of this place and following the will of my creator, I would advise against from doing such thing under any circumstance.

Tartarus is the ultimate weapon that will turn Astora into a sea of flames and there is nothing in the world that can stop it. Not even you with all those demon lords’ powers! However, as the master of Tartarus, you alone can choose to prevent its awakening by simply leaving this place. Even if the passage has been unlocked, without the Proof of Command, no one would be able to cross the barrier of Akroma so you don’t have to worry about the defence of this place.

Choose wisely, young demon lord! For you hold the fate of the world!”

* * *

“STEP ASIDE!” Lilith shouted as she chopped down the last standing robots protecting the entrance. The Destroyers truly lived up to their name, even able to hold their ground against a goddess accompanied by many elites. But in the end, they were simply no match for the combined forced of the group and were eliminated.

Rushing into the cavern while looking for Alastor, the group was shocked to see some kind of machine rising from the ground and from it, walked out a familiar figure.

“Alastor!” Ikarus shouted as she ran to his side before hugging him tightly. “Where were you? We were so worried.”

“You came from that thing….does it mean that you have activated Tartarus?” the lich quickly asked.

“What did you do, Alastor?” Lilith yelled.

Looking solemnly at the worried faces of his comrades, the boy embraced his beloved angel before turning to the devil Mephisto.

“Mephisto, starting from now on, no one is allowed to enter this cave anymore. Not anyone, even me! No…especially me!”