In an alley in the streets of Qutyis, a dark oak carriage stood. Before it, two magnificent horses stood, huffing and puffing as they nervously beat the floor with their hooves. Behind the carriage stood a man, wearing a dark brown cloak with a white mask covering his face. He kept pacing around, seemingly annoyed.

“Quickly! I do not have much patience for this.”

Klaus muttered impatiently, every passing second increasing his anxiety. The kingdom of Gureis would most certainly not find him in the city while the slave market was functioning. But the situation was entirely different now.

Perhaps it was by some sort of divine intervention or perhaps pure coincidence, but Klaus had found the boy his master desired. The boy, a failed result of some human project was necessary for the revival of Ascalon apparently.

Klaus did not know much about it, and neither did he care. But even Klaus knew enough about the Demon King to recognise the traits in the boy.

Now that the boy was in his custody, Klaus had to get him to his master as quickly as possible. The Seekers and the Knights that would be sent by the Gureis would pose the risk of him failing this mission. After all, succeeding in this would mean getting his master’s approval.

Being the familiar of a demon, Klaus had to do everything to please his master. His very existence was for his master as far as he was concerned. For the pact between a familiar and his master is that strong.

Feeling his master calling him, Klaus pressed against the scar on his neck. The scar was burnt onto him to symbolize the bond with his master. Because of the mark, his master always knew where Klaus was. He could contact his master too, but Klaus could not run the risk of having a contact being intercepted by the Seekers. After all, the magic of the Seekers was just that useful at tracking, and the ones from Gureis could sense even the faintest shimmer in Space.

“Get it done quickly! I need to leave by dawn”

Klaus admonished the poor slave boy again, feeling irritated at his very presence. He had to deliver to his master a thing of great importance, and he was stuck here, waiting for some slave to finish its work.

Unable to bear the pressure, Klaus kicked the slave boy, urging him to get it done faster.

The boy whimpered but did not complain. He quietly lifted yet another bag of provisions and loaded it onto the well polished carriage.

Provisions for atleast a week. That was how long of a journey Klaus estimated it to be. Of course the amount Klaus took would appear to be enough for at least 4 months. But being a high class noble, Klaus could not bear the fact of buying less than required. Than what ‘he’ thought he required.

“Finally, you’re here. Help the thing pack it up quickly. We’ll be leaving soon”

The three slaves he had bought walked out of an alley, but now fully equipped. The Lingis tribe’s warrior now wore a full set of plate armor, with a humongous great sword at his side. The woman who was selected to be the scout wore thin dark clothes, the cloak that fluttered behind her covering the two deadly looking knives at her hips. Lastly a huge burly man followed. He had donned on a full set of heavy armor, with the silver helm blocking his face. In his hand was a Shield almost as large as him.

In the warrior’s arms there was a boy, with jet black hair.

“Put him in there, and tie him up while you’re at it!”

Klaus commanded the warrior, gesturing towards the boy in his arms.

“You two!”

He then turned towards the others, feeling quite irritated at the delay.

“You, Rogue, take the reins. Here’s the map. Keep an eye out. You can detect Seeker magic right?”

The girl nods lightly, her face facing down. She then proceeded to walk towards to the coachman’s seat with light steps.

“Shield, put in the sacks quickly. There shouldn’t be any more setbacks.”

Quickly, urged Klaus as he began walking around in circles, agitated. The three slaves immediately got to their jobs, with the rogue attaching the harnesses to the horses. The shield quickly worked with the slave child to load the sacks, choosing to do most of the work so that the kid did not have to bear the load. The warrior climbed into the carriage and put the boy inside, tying him up tightly with rope.

A few minutes later, the preparations were finally completed, and Klaus immediately boarded the carriage.

“About time. Shield, go sit with the rogue. You are to defend her from any attacks. If any of those attacks were to endanger me or the package, you are to immediately protect us. Warrior, you are with me”

He called for the Lingnis tribesman and the shield went ahead to climb onto the coachman’s seat, sitting alongside the rogue. He placed his shield behind him, in case some danger occurred.

Klaus could feel the Seeker’s magic slowly triangulating on his location.

Those damn Human gods. To give the gift of magic to those ignorant humans..

Klaus cursed at the gods in his mind, irritated by the speed at which the Seekers were closing in on him. Although he felt slightly scared at the prospect of being captured and killed, it was all overshadowed by his duty that was to bring the descendant of the demon lord to his master.

“Set off now!”

Klaus yelled at the rogue, who brandished her whip at the horses. With a painful neigh, the horse immediately set off.She kept a firm hand on the reins, driving them the way she intended.

Klaus looked out of the window of the carriage, glaring anxiously at the setting sun. It was already the 22nd of Redmoon, and the hour of the Moon Goddess was quickly arriving.

The hour of the Moon Goddess was a ritual that took place every year, on the day after the month of Redmoon. The Moon Goddess, drenched in the blood of her foes would clean herself from the filth and murder that covered her. The redness of the moon would fade, and it would be replaced by a pristine silver.

The Moon goddess is one of the gods supporting the humans. Without doubt, the effectiveness of the Seeker’s magic would spike in the hour of the Moon goddess. Damn it. The odds are gradually stacking against me.

The advantage of a crowd concealing him would quickly disappear after he left Qutyis. And in about an hour, he would have left the city walls. Then finding him would only be a matter of time. He could’ve hidden among the slave caravans as they left Qutyis to conceal himself, but with the boy factoring in, it would surely be impossible as it would take too long to bring him to his master.

I need to delay them. Somehow. The magic of the Seeker’s depends on remnants of magic that leaks from all living things. Being bonded to my master, my magic trace would be even more distinct, to an extent that I’m like a beacon for them.

But since the last major act of magic that involved me was in the slave market when I bought these things, the magic trace would be major there. They would undoubtedly search there first, thinking that the trail I’m creating now would be fake. That should buy me some time. But my gut tells me that a fight is inevitable. Well, it might be so. I should prepare right now.

Klaus immediately crossed his legs and shut his eyes. Then slowly, faint red light emerged from him. Slowly, strings of light formed from it and curled around him like a protective net. Klaus stayed like that, the strings continuously swirling around him.

The warrior who sat near him paid no heed to the actions of his master. After all, he was experienced with being a combat slave. He had met masters much stranger than Klaus. But what irritated him was the faint sense of magic that permeated the surroundings. He recognised it as tracking magic, but sadly he couldn’t do anything to stop the annoying trace.

He quietly looked after his newly obtained sword, checking the blade for chips and scratches if any. He held his arm straight out with the sword in hand, checking its balance.

Then, his attention diverted towards the boy that he had tied up earlier.

He looked quite young. But even the warrior knew what his black hair signified.

The hair of the previous demon king. According to the stories he had heard, even the demon king had black hair like this. But seeing it in person was quite an unnerving scene.

Because for some strange reason, the warrior was in awe of the boy. Something made the boy seem more than he was. But the warrior quickly corrected his observation. It wasn’t awe. It was fear.

He felt raw fear from the boy, as if he was a feral animal.

He quickly averted his eyes and stared out the window of the carriage. It would be quite a long journey for him.

****************************************

The old man sighed as he twirled his long silver hair in his hand. His wife had always berated him for letting it grow so much. He chuckled, remembering the sweet memories he had with his beloved.

The Emperor turned his fierce orange eyes towards the skies. He visibly relaxed as he leaned against the pillar in the open terrace of his castle.

Alice…

It had been a good twenty years since his wife had died, but Alsaire could not forget her. Not her lovely voice, nor her beautiful bouncy hazel hair.

He had married again due to him being the Emperor, but Alsaire had never turned to look at his ‘wife’ after the required political setting. She herself only took part in the marriage for the power, and it wasn’t unknown to Alsaire that she had already begun plotting to overthrow him.

He sighed again, and his wrinkled face looked like it had aged a hundred years more. After all, the troubles of old age will catch up to everyone, even if it is the Emperor of Arialis.

He walked towards the railing of the terrace, twirling his hair as he did so. It was a habit that he couldn’t quite resist, because it was something his wife had always done with his hair.

He leaned over the railing with his hand gripping the black metal as he surveyed the sight expanding before him.

The capital city of Lienveriath, Tahryius.

Buildings of various colors and shapes spread out before him. Tahryuis encouraged creativity and art, enabling it to become one of the most beautiful cities in all of Arialis, and even on continents beyond it.

A splendid point of beauty, Tahryuis rarely experienced the troubles of rebels.

The greenery that covered the place calmed Alsaire down as he observed the pond in the center of the city. It was a popular spot for relaxing, with the various kinds of trees and animals freely roaming there.

Just like Alice wanted it..

The Emperor almost teared up as he remembered his wife animatedly talking about how she wanted the pond to be filled with trees.

“As I thought, you were here huh, Alsaire”

A rough voice greeted Alsaire, snapping him out of his trance. He quickly turned to face the familiar scarred face of his childhood friend.

“Zeltris. What has happened? It is quite rare for you to want to see me”

Alsaire turned back to look back at the city. The maroon haired man stepped forward, his armor shaking as he did so. He was fully armored now, with grand pieces of dark red armor covering his body. A greatsword hung on his back, exuding an aura of danger.

“Amazingly, my schedule cleared up, so I wanted to see my childhood friend again. After all, where else would you come but here?”

“Hm.. It is quite the spectacle to watch”

Zeltris chuckled, but the chuckle only served to make him look even more menacing.

“Still reminiscing about Alice?”

He stepped forward and leaned his back against the railing. His maroon eyes then traveled upwards, as he craned his neck to look at the floating clouds in the sky.

Alsaire remained silent, choosing not to reply to this.

“Come on Alsaire. Talk to me. If you get all these feelings bottled up, it won’t do you any good.”

Alsaire sighed, and then opened his mouth again.

“It… It still haunts me to this day, Zeltris. I could have saved her you know… If I just… “

“It won’t help you by regretting it Alsaire. In the end, you did the right thing. Alice… I’m sure she’d have liked this too”

Alsaire clenched his fist on the railing, his knuckles whitening.

“Of course she would… But that doesn’t mean I would. I would rather have saved her than thes--”

“Well well, what’s going on here?”

Alsaire’s grudge filled comment was interrupted as a new voice emerged from behind them. Zeltris and Alsaire turned to look at the intruder.

The blue haired young man walked out of the shadows, the sunlight illuminating his pale face.

“God’s Apostle Niantal. What business do you have?”

Alsaire responded curtly to Niantal as he walked in. Even if the public revered the apostles, Alsaire had begun to despise the gods after the ‘choice’ they presented him with.

“Hm? I just returned from the scene of the crime. Really Alsaire? You didn’t tell me the hero was going on a trip~?”

He went to Gureis?! What trouble did he whip up there?

Even though he was an apostle, Niantal was notorious for the various atrocities he committed, based on his whims and fancies.

“What did you do there apostle?”

Zeltris calmly cut in, since he guessed that Alsaire might just make things worse if he lost his temper.

The Empire and the Church had a delicate relationship, and the balance and peace in the empire would be destroyed if the Church took action against them. After all, they were quite the force in Arialis.

“Hm~? You should thank me Zel! A demon commander was present you know? Altrock was so scaary~!”

“Altrock?!”

Zeltris visibly tensed up as he shouted the commander’s name. Altrock was one of the worst nightmares for Arialis’ army, and he was like a storm of disaster.

“Luckily, I was there to save the hero boy, and I even dealt some major damage to the commander. Really, you empire idiots are such amateurs..”

Zeltris clenched his fist, annoyed. He did not want to start a war with the Church, but he could quite easily blow off the head of Niantal. Apostle or not, he was just small fry to Zeltris.

He must have resorted to some underhanded tricks. After all, Altrock is not someone a measly Apostle could mess with.

But then, an idea sparked in Zeltris’s head. Could it be, that the strength of the Apostle was much more than believed?

What was the Church planning?

“See ya then”

Niantal walked off, waving at the duo playfully. A sly smile was plastered on his face as he walked away. After all, he achieved his objective.

NEXUS here!

Heya! The update is here! Sorry it took so long. I was working out some of the major plot points, so it took some time. I can't promise regular updates yet, but I'm getting there. Ah, I wish I could return to the times when regular updates were just super easy.

I decided to switch to a third person limited perspective now! Let me know which is better!

Thanks for reading! :D :D