15th of the Red Star

Central Archwood, Blackcrest

Castle (Terden Household)

“Are these necessary… s-sir.”

The Painter was sitting on the ground, his legs and hands bound by thorny ropes that made it impossible for him to use any Magic.

Likewise, his female companion was also bound, though she kept silent and seemed to be nervous by the presence of the Duke.

“Who are you? How did you appear in my city?”

“I told you! I used a teleportation spell!”

The Duke glanced at the young boy next to him, who shook his head once.

“No spells should work within the city itself. He likely used a high-grade Artifact.”

“I did not! Stop assuming things on your own, kid! Do you even know I am?!”

“We’re listening. Tell us.”

Halric didn’t look pleased. In fact, he looked angrier than the usually irritated Terden Sidus.

Not much time was left until the scheduled translocation, which would warp the Demon into Blackcrest. Furthermore, the Militant Syndicate started mobilising its forces to surround the city.

The sudden appearance of two strangers definitely didn’t bode well. From the Duke and the Alchemist’s perspective, The Painter and the woman were either spies or assassins… but logical as that hypothesis could be considering the current circumstances, none of the Seats would send assassins and purposely make them get caught. They would have hired top-grade assassins from Faceless Death.

“I am Emil Red, the greatest Artist of the current Era!”

“Emil Red?”

Halric looked confused, but the Duke seemed to have remembered something.

“Wait a minute… you’re that serial-killer? I thought you were caught and taken to the Shadow Keep Penitentiary.”

“That’s right! However, my genius cannot be contained in that dirty place! It was only a matter of time before I showcased my true abilities!”

Emil Red grinned proudly, but he just looked like a madman to his two captors.

Meanwhile, the woman kept her silence and was looking around. She used invisible threats to try and cut through the ropes binding her, but it was harder than she had anticipated.

Moreover, she wasn’t strong enough to flee from the Duke himself, nevermind the unfathomable young boy next to him.

She had only clung to Emil because he was going to teleport away from the prison. She didn’t expect him to take her straight to Blackcrest. Worse, the city itself was completely deserted and they wore caught in a matter of minutes.

“I have come looking for Vanessa Crimson! Head of this city’s branch of Fleur Rouge. We seemed to have come at an inopportune time… sir.”

“Escaping the Shadow Keep Penitentiary? Ridiculous!”

Terden dismissively waved his hand at them and sat behind his desk while grunting in annoyance. Meanwhile, Halric stared at the quiet woman for a bit before he raised his hand and caused thick vines to envelop both of them and absorbed them into the ground.

When they came to their senses, they were imprisoned in an underground cave right beneath the castle.

“Relax, Sidus. They don’t appear to be a threat. The man didn’t have any artifacts on him when I found him, which means he probably used a forbidden Black Magic spell. It could just be one big coincidence.”

“Coincidence?”

Terden banged his fist on the table, furious and red-faced.

“Are you listening to yourself, Halric? How could it be a coincidence?!”

The black-haired and pale-faced boy lowered his head and didn’t respond. Eventually, he sighed and said,

“If they did indeed escape from the Shadow Keep Penitentiary, then we’ll hear news of that soon enough.”

“Will we though? You think they will publicly announce that? Pretty much all of my supporters and helpers had turned their back on me because of Olivia. We simply don’t have the means to procure information and neither of us can leave the city at such a crucial time. The troops are already on their way!”

“I’ll figure something out. Stressing over this wouldn’t do you any good, Sidus. I doubt that the army will do anything even if they arrive soon. We have the protection charm that Vanessa gave us and I should be able to finish the other preparations soon too. They won’t be able to break through our defences that easily.”

“What about the Seats? Who do you think will come?”

“Olivia will stay in her territory and deal with the aftermath. Sancha isn’t a likely candidate too. I’d wager it will be the Seat of Protection and Seat of Deliverance.”

“Hah!”

Terden scoffed at the answer and massaged his temples while slumping back on his chair. He looked mentally and physically tired, yet the fight had not even started.

16th of the Red Star

South-West Archwood

Wilsden

“Are you okay, Miss?!”

The elderly butler rushed to the Baron’s side and supported her. He carried her outside of the cramped room as she breathed heavily, her face as pale as a sheet of paper.

“It’s sucking out everything. I-I blacked out for a second.”

“...”

The butler, with a grave expression on his face, glanced at the interior of the room. The anomaly wasn’t expanding, fortunately. However, it had been plaguing his Master for a long while now.

She was obsessing over it, hellbent on figuring out the truth. Why was it, specifically, happening in this room, which was where old statues of family heads were stored?

What exactly was this anomaly? At first, Julie suspected it must be Void-aspected as it was devouring every matter, tangible or not, around it.

The laws of nature itself weren’t working. There were no sound, no energy, not even air. Admittedly, the range of whatever this ‘thing’ was minuscule and not harmful. But because Julie pushed herself over the limit and unleashed her Magic, she suffered a strong backlash that affected her mind.

As she wiped the sweat off her forehead and got to her feet, Julie remembered seeing incomprehensible and innumerable visions of many places and faces. They seemed to be memories as well as random images that didn’t make any sense.

She felt as if something was pulling her very soul from her body and deteriorating her senses. It was an absolutely dreadful sensation that made her hesitate to try this a second time.

…

In the courtyard of the manor

Feylord Lernon was gazing at the flames burning around his hand. After a while, he cancelled the flow of Mana and looked at the knights standing a distance away.

“I’m not going to try anything! Stop with this annoying surveillance.”

“...”

The four knights, dressed in heavy plate armors that bore the insignia of the family, were solemn and silent. They stood next to each other and didn’t respond to the young man’s grumblings.

They were ordered to keep a tight watch on Feylord. All of this was due to Feylord’s suspiciously passive nature for the last couple of weeks.

Ever since he fell unconscious after entering that basement room, he mostly kept to himself and tried his best to contain the Phoenix Flames.

Julie would help him once in a while, but it was done begrudgingly. He wasn’t imprisoned again, but being watched from dawn to dusk didn’t feel that much better to him.

Feylord’s current objective was to control his new abilities and hopefully master them. He didn’t party with other aristocrats or even left the manor. In fact, he seemed to be awfully paranoid.

One more odd occurrence was the fact that he didn’t dare approach the basement of the manor. He seemed to be afraid of experiencing the same thing again. Back then, he felt as if he had been possessed by a strong entity, one which turned his mind blank and enveloped him in blazing hot flames that imprinted themselves deep into his soul.

Whatever his younger sister was doing, he wanted nothing to do with it. His curiosity was totally extinguished.

Just as Feylord was about to leave the courtyard and go eat, a familiar, loud, and unpleasant sound of a horn reverberated across the Residential District of the town.

From a distance away, Feylord saw two carriages, big yet simplistic in design, traverse the small road leading toward the Baron’s manor.

The guards at the gate were momentarily surprised, but once they saw the symbol on the carriages, they obediently opened the way.

The carriages belonged to the Holy Church, the most influential religious power within Astria. It also held a frightening amount of political power, enough to affect smaller nations.

Feylord frowned and pondered for a bit before figuring out their purpose. The news about Julie’s true nature must’ve reached the church by now.

They had, at last, sent people to take care of this, and from the size of the carriage, they seemed to have come prepared.

The Holy Church had believers in every continent, even the Northern one, but its influence was strongest in the Global Azakin Empire. No one dared to openly provoke it, and since it cleaned up the runaway demons or nefarious creatures spread in all the nations, its long crusade was a welcome thing.

The leaders of the Despot Collective, the Militant Syndicate, and the Global Azakin Empire were more than happy to leave the job of eliminating threats to the Holy Church. It saved them a lot of manpower and resources.

Within a minute, the carriages reached the front of the manor and parked near a circular and wide artificial fountain.

The baron’s knights grouped up and stood at either side, looking tense and a bit surprised.

Julie, although looking particularly exhausted, had also come out of the entrance accompanied by her butler.

She was also holding Furball, which had its eyes wide open, glowing red as it glared at the delegation from the Holy Church.

She held the tip of her dress and elegantly bowed while smiling at the middle-aged woman standing at the front.

The woman had long golden hair that reached her back, wore a straight and long snow-white robe and a circular and slightly tall hat that symbolized her status. She was a Bishop, a rank just above a Deacon.

In addition to the woman, there were four Paladins right behind her.

The paladins were clad in fancy medium-sized armors, reinforced with magic and capable of withstanding powerful spells and curses.

Lastly, there were no less than 10 Holy Knights that disembarked from the second carriage. In terms of rank, the Holy Knights were just beneath Paladins.

The fact that such a strong force was sent meant that they didn’t just come for Furball.

“Bishop Amara, welcome.”

“Baron Julie Lernon, yes? You’re definitely young.”

The golden-haired Bishop, Amara, sweetly smiled and nodded her head. Her smile seemed fake and there was even a hint of mockery in her tone.

“Aren’t you going to invite us in?”

“...”

Julie stared at the woman then at the four paladins behind her. They were big helmets that hid their faces, but she could feel their hostile and chilling stares. In contrast, the Holy Knights seemed more ‘human’, so to speak.

This made her think of the rumors regarding the Paladins and how they were made.

16th of the Red Star

Imperial Capital of the Global Azakin Empire

Emperor Augustus Azakin was thoughtfully staring at the map of the continent. He kept tapping the Hollow Creek Region while furrowing his brow and muttering inaudibly.

His pondering was interrupted by his talkative and most trusted confidant, Chamberlain Artoirel.

“Have you made a decision regarding the Warden?”

“Let me hear your thoughts first.” Responded the Emperor without removing his gaze from the map.

“He should be removed from his post, of course. The parasite almost escaped and the one who infiltrated the penitentiary escaped. Julian couldn’t stop them.”

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?” Rebuked Augustus, a scoff escaping his lips.

“Hey! It’s not me who put him in charge of Skywall Fortress. He’s too creepy and uncontrollable for my tastes.” Said the Chamberlain as he fished a flask from his pocket and drank its contents, his breath reeking of alcohol.

“Nevermind the Warden, deal with him as you see fit. I’m more interested in the prisoner who disappeared. He could have accidentally reached the underground city.”

“You think that’s possible? But how?”

The black-haired Emperor finally lifted his head and looked at Artoirel with an inscrutable expression.

“The voidspawn momentarily went out of control, yes? That could have made the entrance open. And now, not only is it going to die, but we’ve lost the only means to get access to that city.”

“You don’t seem that angry.”

“It’s because I’m not. To begin with, I never expected anyone to enter it. I like to maintain stability, Artoirel. As long as other people can’t reach it, then it’s fine by me. The potential knowledge and secrets held within could disturb the equilibrium.”

“There you go again with that nonsense.”

“It’s only nonsense if you don’t understand the truth.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“...”

As he heard only silence as an answer, the distraught Chamberlain sighed and gave up. Augustus was wont to be cryptic and purposely vague. The man before him, who rose to the highest position of power in just a couple of years, was neither a lunatic or a fool. He was someone who plotted and succeeded in assassinating all his peers, subsequently wrestling control of the throne.

After a brief silence between the two, the Emperor asked,

“What of our spies?”

“We’ve lost contact with the team keeping an eye on the Viscount. The 2nd team, however, is still reporting every three days. We’ve also confirmed that the Seat of Nobility is colluding with the Demon. She made a deal with it.”

“So they’re really turning against Terden Sidus? Interesting.”

“Is it?” Artoirel tilted his head, a bit confused. “I find it stupid. They’re not only removing the Duke, but also planning to raze Blackcrest to the ground. That’s such a massive loss to their military prowess.”

“Send Gaab to keep an eye on the Viscount. Tell him to be extremely careful.”

“Alright. Does this mean you’re expecting him to act soon?”

“He definitely will. The upcoming chaos will be the perfect opportunity for him. A man like him wouldn’t waste it. We need to be fully prepared.”