18th of the Golden Star

Archwood, Wilsden Town

Lernon Estate

“Yes, stop there.”

Baron Julie Lernon, ruler of the Greenbell Barony, was standing at the back of the once-locked basement while holding a couple of gold coins. She motioned for her loyal elderly butler to stop while she looked around, seemingly unsettled.

When he was close to the door, she dropped one of the coins.

“It’s loud and clear.”

She moved a couple of steps to the left, sticking close to one of her ancestors’ statues.

She dropped another coin, but the butler frowned and shook his head.

“Barely audible, Miss.”

She repeated the process three more times, only stopping when the sound was completely cut-off. She, herself, didn’t hear anything, but the butler, being four to five meters away, soon shared her experience of only hearing deafening silence.

It wasn’t just that, the girl felt oddly disoriented. Her sense of touch was growing numb and she had a piercing headache that would periodically return.

“It’s underneath this statue… but it’s too heavy to move.”

The statue with a height of over 2 meters and made of white-colored stone, was that of her oldest ancestor, Gabriel Lernon.

Julie raised her hand and tried to use Magic, but the moment the Mana was emitted, it literally disappeared into nothingness.

“We’re dealing with something beyond our knowledge or capabilities, Miss. It’s better to leave it be.”

Julie had an expression of fear and worry as she drifted away from the inexplicable anomaly and studied the room for the thousandth time.

“How come no records mention any of this? What exactly is happening?”

Something frightening was lurking beneath the room itself, or to be accurate, right underneath the statue of Gabriel.

“Leave it be? We’ve been experimenting for a whole month. Albeit at a very small pace, it is spreading.”

For want of a better word, the anomaly’s influence was getting wider. Admittedly, it increased only by a few millimetres and wasn’t outright harmful if ignored, nevertheless, having something like that in the basement didn’t sit well with Julie.

She wanted to get to the bottom of it, but she lacked crucial information and didn’t have the needed abilities to conduct a proper investigation. Moreover, if she sought help from elsewhere, she feared that it would lead to worse consequences.

Archwood, Blackcrest.

“No! I don’t want to go! I want to fight too!”

Thomas Sidus, The Duke’s one and only child, was protesting and throwing a tantrum.

His son had learnt of the truth behind the sudden evacuation and adamantly refused to leave home.

In fact, Terden was surprised to see his son act like this. Usually, Thomas was a bit cowardly and avoided pain at all costs.

Upon seeing his son shout atop his lungs and object to forcefully being teleported away, Terden felt a bit of warmth. As his direct descendent, Thomas would become the head of the family if the worst were to happen.

“This isn’t your fight, Thomas. Listen to me and leave.”

“No! I can use magic too! Why would I run away from those bastards?!”

Thomas acted a bit childishly as he clenched his fists and became emotional.

Two tall and black-armored knights were guarding the entrance. One of them stepped up, bowed to the Duke and said,

“My lord, in my honor, I will bring him to safety.”

“Thank you, Cullen.”

The knight, without any hesitation, lightly hit the back of Thomas’s head, knocking him on the spot. He lifted the young man and soon departed from the office.

Near the window adjacent to the desk, Halric let out a heavy sigh.

“It isn’t too late, you know.”

Terden walked to his chair and slumped on it, his head raised and eyes staring at the roof. He seemed to have aged a lot in just two months, though the visible change was due to a lot of stress and worry.

Half of the treasury was used to please the stubborn civilians who refused to leave their homes. Now, the entirety of Blackcrest was devoid of any soul.

The nobles left on their own, unwilling to be part of this messy matter. Then again, if they stayed, the plague would kill them.

“You think I’d give up the land my ancestors painstakingly built? That I’d let those greedy fucks nuke it to oblivion for their own agendas?”

“Well, the remaining Seats share your resolve too, clearly. The 2nd Legion has been mobilised and it won’t be long before they encircled the city. They seem to be expecting resistance from both of us.”

“Bah! Let them come! You think I’m afraid?”

“Who isn’t afraid of dying, Terden? Still, with both of us together, we might stand a chance. There’s also the Protection Charm Vanessa had given us. The real issue is the plague itself, which I’m learning more and more about each day.”

Terden straightened his back and frowned, eyeing the frail young boy,

“It isn’t a mutated version of the White Skin Disease… it’s something else. The casualties in Spectral Steel have surpassed 5,000. Moreover, it doesn’t make sense for a plague to move from one place to the other. Subjecting the air or atmosphere itself to a translocation is a possibility, but would that really get rid of the plague? This is a much deeper and serious matter, Terden.”

“What exactly do you know, Halric?”

Halric kept his mouth closed for sometime before turning his head and looking at the ghostly city devoid of light or life.

“The few contacts I have left all told me one thing; The 17th Demon, Hell Abrigel, is involved.”

“The Blight Demon?!”

“Yes. However, I find it difficult that Olivia would collude with a Demon just to take you out. There must be something we’re missing, something that made her target Blackcrest. My current hypothesis is this; The plague was actually the doing of Hell Abrigel, but she struck a deal with him and the translocation was nothing but a hocus-pocus. Basically, she’s sending him to us.”

“Even if it’s the case, it can’t be the actual Demon. It would just be his manifestation, a weaker version.”

“He’s still one of the 72th Demons of Hell. I’m not confident in defending against him, the 2nd Legion, and whoever will come from the Seats.” Halric sighed and shook his head, “It’s at times like these that I wish I’ve made strong friends.”

A bout of silence flowed between the two of them as each was absorbed in their own thoughts.

Only after a while, when the moon shone brightly amidst the dark canopy did the Alchemist speak again,

“We still have time. We might find a way out.”

“Don’t put too much hope on that. In the end, it will be fight or die.”

2 months remaining before the scheduled Translocation.