Tales of the Old World Demon Lord

Chapter 27 – A whisper of shadows

[Eternum Calendar 1971]

As dead silence warped around the darkened office of the Longmoore Trading Post, a single shadowed figure stood by the open window side. The cold night breeze of the snow covered town entered through, chilling both the room and its unwelcome guest to an uncomfortable level. Despite this, the shadowed figure only scoffed at the cold’s futile attempt as he gazed up towards the carefully contesting silvery light of the moon.

It was as though the moon itself was trying to declare the unwanted guest as an enemy. Yet driven apart by a vast distance, the best either could do against each other was stare and to accept their unreachable fates. The moon’s light slowly intensified, glimmering to reveal certain features of the shadowed figure lurking around the dead of night in a foreign office.

His blonde hair now dyed silver and pale by the moon’s glare swayed side to side in front of his face from the breeze. His colorless skin, now seeming even more deathly ill the man stood with his arms crossed in defiance of the sovereign of the night sky. Yet his most defining feature were his two long and stiff ears protruding from the sides of his face; an Elven kin.

He stared out towards the accursed town that was indistinguishable from gaol and silently mocked the residents. They were to be his stepping stones to an even greater destiny that was promised solely to him; soon the town of demons will be washed away by the light of justice. Yet he had to admit that it had been an interesting experience, playing the role of an innocent resident of this backwater village. Perhaps an experience such as this may never come again; he had fun while it lasted, but life was about more than just ‘fun’.

“Fools…”

There was work to be done. His ‘true’ allies will be coming soon and with them a great change onto this entire continent. However there was one thing that had still bothered him, an incredibly talented and intelligent human child with potential to become either a great ally or a great hindrance. While still a seven year old boy he had discovered almost every secret to the Monolith Shard and even uncovered some that he himself did not know.

“Ku, kuku~ Immortality is it? Certainly that sounds rather interesting. While it was never my true intentions, I do not mind changing it to be so.”

The unwanted guest spoke to himself, yet not in a voice loud enough to alert any of the still barely active merchants on the floor below. Taking a deep breath to quell his exhilarated heart he sat upon the seat belonging to Francisco Longmoore, kicking up his legs on the desk in spite.

It was a magnificent find and a theory that did indeed seem like a very real possibility. To ‘exploit to Crystalline Curse’, giving the user’s attributes a considerable boost as well as nigh immortality. Taking out a small piece of the Monolith Shard the unwanted guest started at it as it shone against the lunar ray. He could almost taste the power calling out to him, tempting him to take the plunge and embrace its glorious and pure power.

Softly caressing the side of the crystal he whispered seductively into it the words ‘soon’ as though it could understand him. There was no doubt he would do it, before anyone else has time to even figure it out, he would become an all powerful immortal. Yet there were still some loose ends that needed to be fixed, especially in regards to the boy in question who had discovered this secret.

“Still, that brat… I was well aware of his abilities ever since he defeated my goblin and crystal stag, but to have the powers of this quaint little town wrapped around his little finger… Tch, he’s obviously going to become a huge nuisance if I don’t do something about him soon.”

He spoke as though almost arguing to himself, struggling to figure out just exactly what he wanted to do with the mysterious boy named ‘Morgant’. There was no doubt that if left alone he would become an incredibly difficult hindrance in the future, but with careful guidance and manipulation he could also become a great asset.

The boy was smart, but he was still a seven year old and likely very naïve about the world. Morgant was exceptional at battle but compared to what the unwanted guest had seen, his powers paled in comparison. ‘Perhaps…’ he thought to himself as he covered his mouth with his left hand, tilting his head backwards while leaning on the chair in a melancholic fashion.

“I could become his new master…”

Once this small city was destroyed, the boy’s life would be turned upside down. Distraught and lost he would have no other choice but to turn to the only person left, that was the unwanted guest, Gerald the leader of this town’s branch of the Adventurer’s Association.

“That could work… but that’s only a secondary objective. For now I should focus on the situation at hand. With that brat in charge I don’t think I’ll have much time to finish up on the other experiments, not to mention that bastard Dian Cecht has been pressing me for some time. The majority of the tests have been complete so I should just hurry up and become and immortal then wipe out the city…”

Gerald continued speaking to himself, plotting out various schemes and plans in his head. For a few seconds he had become lost in his own thoughts but a sudden noise from behind the door of the room had snapped him back into reality. The sound of two pairs of footsteps could be heard approaching quickly, and though there was no real need for Gerald to flee now that his plan had come close to its apex he decided to play it safe and hide.

With the cover of darkness there it wasn’t too hard to camouflage himself into the background.

Slowly creaking open came in two figures, one of which held a small light to reveal their identities. A small boy and a middle aged man; Morgant and Francisco Longmoore respectively had returned to the office at odd hours. In the midst of his confusion as to why they did, as though they had somehow read his mind Francisco posed the question first.

“So? Did you find whatever it was that you forgot this afternoon?”

“Mmm~ just a sec, I think I left it on your table before we left.”

Responded Morgant as he took the candle from Francisco’s hand and ran silently up towards the table. With the support of the gentle lunar light the table’s surface was reflected silver, he glanced around a few times making insightful hums but after a while he sighed and ultimately gave up. Shaking his head he returned the candle back to Francisco.

“Sorry, it doesn’t seem to be here. Strange, I thought it would be, guess I was mistaken?”

He asked rhetorically.

“I’m sure we’ll find it eventually but I think now is a good a time as any to ask. About what you said earlier… were you serious?”

Keeping hidden within the shadows Gerald continued to eavesdrop as the topic had shifted to one that had greatly interested him.

“Hmm? Ah, about exploiting the Crystalline Curse? Yeah, some preparation is probably necessary but the basic theory all checks out. The Monolith Shard has the ability to ‘accept’ a will; if we can exploit this system it may be possible to transfer an entire mind into it. Though user’s physical body will die but you can easily transfer your mind back to your original body after giving it the Crystalline Curse. In that manner you can loop around the whole ‘having to die’ part and gain effective immortality.”

Hearing his explanation there was no room for Francisco to object since he had no real expertise on the Monolith Shard. If anything, Morgant could be considered the closest thing to a resident expert on it, having both fought the corrupted monsters and possess a small shard of it. Still there was one thing that bothered Francisco about the entire concept of exploiting the Monolith Shard.

“But then, what happens if the original Monolith Shard is destroyed? Doesn’t that mean the user will die along with it since it’s utilizing the Shard as a hub for its brain?”

Yet Morgant shook his head, having already thought of a way around that issue.

“I won’t deny such a weakness exists, to be fair nothing can truly be that perfect. Yet at the same time there are numerous ways to overcome or cover weaknesses to the point that they become negligible. The solution to the problem of the original Monolith Shard’s vulnerability is to infuse with a certain kind of magic.”

“Certain kind of magic? Just exactly what kind are you talking about?”

“Remember how I told you about my encounter with the Horned Crystal Stag?”

Francisco was quickly about to recall such an explanation and upon doing so immediately started to see where the conversation was headed. He let out a small chuckle and nodded, ‘I see, I see…’ he whispered to himself.

“Indeed.”

“Seems like you remember, great. That Horned Crystal Stag was corrupted during our first time meeting of it, yet it didn’t even remotely appear cursed. Wearing its natural colors it managed to suppress, at least on appearances, the symptoms of the Crystalline Curse. In much the same way it may be possible to suppress the symptoms on the user as well as covering or at least hiding the entire Monolith Shard itself.”

“Hmm, but doing so would no doubt require a vast amount of magic.”

Morgant shrugged as he prepared himself to leave the room.

“I never said it was a perfect cover, but in terms of practicality this is probably the most effective one. If you can think of something better I’d like to hear it. Besides we’re not talking about some ordinary technique, we’re discussing the potential for immortality here, there’s always some kind of price you have to pay for something on that scale, right?”

“I suppose you do have a point. Regardless, that’s your entire plan to stopping this disaster?”

As Francisco stared solemnly at the strong will young boy ahead of him. Merely seven years of age yet willing to lay down his life and happiness to valiantly protect the city that had raised him. Francisco was almost ashamed to call himself an adult in front of the boy but he truly respected him for his determination.

Morgant let out a gentle laugh as he answered.

“Someone has to do it right? Besides, it’s not like I won’t be gaining anything from doing this. This is immortality, you here?”

Francisco sighed as he started to leave the room.

“Yes, yes. Very valiant of you, then whether this plan of yours succeeds or fails, we need to get on it, right?”

“Hey, don’t leave me behind!”

Morgant shouted as he followed out after Francisco. Slowly as the doors shut behind them as they left the darkness engulfed the room once more. A small, bemused laughter following after once more breaking the fragile silence, Gerald had found it; the key to his destiny.

“Kuh… kuku, so that’s it huh? Truly as he says, obtaining immortality will naturally come with a hefty price. Death of the body but immortality of the mind… such a trade off may be worth the price. If it means I can one up ‘that’ bastard, then so be it. Sorry kid, but it looks like I’ll be the one becoming immortal after all of this.”

Gerald spoke to himself as he revealed himself from the shadows. More than anyone else, complete immortality was just on the tip of his grasp. Only one condition remained that truly hindered him from achieving it, that was the massive amount of magic required to camouflage the Monolith Shard after he becomes immortal.

After all, what would be the point of immortality if right after he had gained it he could simply be killed off by having the Monolith Shard destroyed? Such a weakness took priority in behind hidden away, however the problem was where he could even find such a large source of readily available magic.

After a small moment of contemplation an eerie smile etched across his face. He couldn’t help feeling exhilarated by his own genius in coming up with a strategy to cover his weakness. There indeed existed a method of quickly obtaining such a vast amount of magic.

“Yes… the ‘Blood Ritual’, if I used that…”

The ‘Blood Ritual’ was a long outlawed technique that had been used only one in the entire recorded history of Eternis. Though that being said, that was in mentioning the only ‘official’ time, there were no doubts that it had been used numerous times ‘unofficially’ by a small number of maniacs. It was a sinister and twisted technique that could convert life itself into magic, or more specifically it could turn sacrifices into usable magic.

The only time it was ever used was officially was when an ancient kingdom sacrificed the lives of its peasants in order to launch a devastating magical strike at an enemy nation. Of course this time, Gerald would be using to fulfill the purposes of his own design.

Naturally, even if it wasn’t on the same scale as bombing an entire neighboring country, it required numerous sacrifices, but there was a suitable city ripe for the taking. The pure white city of snow was to be destroyed regardless so what could possibly be the harm in sacrificing the entire city to convert them into readily available magic?

Once more Gerald smiled.

“No, I’m sure they won’t mind… now will they?”

Woo~ two chapters back to back :]