Even though he was termed ' Stupid ' by Lord Alexuis and had a tendency to be unreasonable in a fit of rage, he was still Prince Dai's father. And in being so he was well aware of his son's personality. He only hoped that his plan wasn't something that would trigger Lord Marvolio to step in.
It's not like King Hegor and Prince Dai were bad people, they were simply under bad influence. There only mistake was that they allowed that influence to rule over them.
It was for this very reason that Lord Alexuis forgave them everytime and was working so hard to bring them back from the path of their own destruction. Because before that Supreme Power they were both equal.
When it came to Prince Dai, it was parental instincts for King Hegor and experience for Lord Alexuis that drew them both to the same conclusion.
The bloodlust glint that Lord Alexuis saw in Prince Dai was all he needed to be sure that the young prince had a deadly trick up his sleeves. Now his only question was what??
Leaving the uproared court room to its own device Lord Alexuis followed after Prince Dai.
Being the preserver, he was vulnerable to the demonic power of the hell. When in direct contact, the core of hell would react with that of Lord Alexuis's soul causing a massive cosmic explosion destorying hell as well as Lord Alexuis. Therefore, when the need for Lord Alexuis to infiltrate hell arose both Lord Marvolio and Lady Arika were strictly against it.
Only after Lord Icarus intervene with a solution was he allowed to continue his expedition. He created a special barrier spell for Lord Alexuis that blocked the actual contact of both powers, which in turn made his presence in hell go completely undetected.
Never the less, with every pro follows con and Lord Alexuis was no exception.
In order for the barrier spell to work properly, Lord Icarus had strictly forbidden Lord Alexuis from using his powers in hell unless absolutely necessary. This to Lord Alexuis's dismay handicapped him completely.
The reason was obvious and Lady Arika understood it well enough. Hence, she modified the barrier spell.
This change was not just precaution but, a well sorted action. The modification Lady Arika suggested was to change Lord Alexuis's aura.
It was bizarre but absolutely effective.
Because changing aura would change acceptance. Thus, unlike its predecessor, the new barrier not only blocked Lord Alexuis's soul from reacting with the core of hell but, also created a demonic aura for Lord Alexuis. When in use, because of the new barrier spell everything in hell would consider Lord Alexuis as a demon rather than the God that he is and spare him from harm.
With his new found aura, Lord Alexuis was freely able to move about in hell without facing any negativity. As a result, he was able to hide in hell using other objects as his medium instead of disguising himself using his powers.
Using the castle walls and ground as his medium, Lord Alexuis followed the demon prince as he strode outside the castle through the winding corridors entering deep into the Archives of Hell. However, there were more than just books that the archives housed. Lord Alexuis knew about it therefore, he frowned as he continued to follow him. By now, he had a hunch as to what the young prince was upto.
In the archives, leaving the endless stock of knowledge behind him, Prince Dai headed straight towards the center of the archives.
From the centre, the archive looked like an ocean with racks and racks of books, manuscripts and maps as far as the eye could see. Still, it wasn't of any interest for to him, what really interested him was the marking on the floor.
On the floor of the centre of the Archives of Hell, was a marking of an eight pointed star with a horned skull in the middle. When Lord Alexuis realized Prince Dai's destination, his heart skipped a beat in fear, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and alarms were ringing off the hook in his head.
Lord Alexuis stopped for a moment to calm down and think, for even the smallest misstep now would mean the end.
' When entering any forbidden zone use something or someone already entering or intending to enter the zone..' Lady Arika's words suddenly echoed in his mind, giving him a much needed guidance. Unfortunately, there was a problem.
According to Lady Arika, any place in hell where radiation of the demonic power was extremely concentrated or was in direct contact with the core was termed as forbidden for Lord Alexuis to enter by himself.
What stood before Lord Alexuis could be well considered as a forbidden zone and the only thing entering was Prince Dai who wasn't a fool.
' If you ever enter the Archives of Hell, then know this that it is the gateway of the core... ' Lord Icarus's warning replayed over and over.
With no option and without a second of thought, Lord Alexuis took a deep breath and lept inside Prince Dai's cloak just in time.
Prince Dai, oblivious of Lord Alexuis's presence, standing before the marking he summoned the guardians.
" O Keepers of the gateway, I, son of Hegor, command you. Open your realm and quench my thirst. "
As soon as the words left him, the fiery lit archive blacked out completely. Blood red flame engulfed the floor. The marking turned alive as embers flared in the eyes of the horned skull, glaring at the young prince and then.....
" WHAT IS IT NOW THAT YOU SEEK, SON OF HEGOR ??? " The skull asked sharply. Seeming rather agitated and displeased.
" To the Chamber of Tribulation. " Prince Dai replied ignoring the guardian's displeasure.
At this, the guardian didn't reply much to Lord Alexuis's relief. The voice of guardian had sent jolts of sharp, burning pain to spread all over his body. Lord Alexuis clinched his fist as he endured the pain and managed to grab the gist.
' Now!!! Does that mean Dai has been coming here often, for what??? Chamber of Tribulation, what's in there?? '
A second later, the horned skull vanished from the surface as if nothing ever existed there. Replacing it, there appeared an eye.
At glance it looked like a normal human eye but, this was hell thus nothing was normal.
A cold smile crept it's way up to Prince Dai's lips as he waited for the to open.
Tension and pain intensified simultaneously as Lord Alexuis waited enduring them through. His calculations were going haywire.
As soon as the eye opened, a ferocious storm of blazzing flames erupted from depths. Prince Dai eyed the storm with mixture of victory and cruelty then stepped in confidently with Lord Alexuis on his toe.
However, Lord Icarus's creation wasn't so cruel yet.
In a blink of an eye, the blazzing hot flames that's meant to transport them to the Chamber of Tribulation turned into thick vapours of smoke. The flames which engulfed archive floors also transformed into smoke, choking up the entire archives.
The sudden change left the demon prince stunned with no scope of reaction. Taking the opportunity, the smoke filled up his system more and more. By the time Prince Dai recovered from the shock, it was too late. The smoke had made its way deep into his system and had already started reacting.
His body started to feel as heavy as stone, his head was fuzzy and his thoughts quickly fading away. The smoke had completely disabled his vision and soon he was knocked out.
Inside Prince Dai's cloak, Lord Alexuis was at the end of his endurance. However, it wasn't the smoke that was bothering him, it was the close proximity between him and the core that troubled him.
As soon as Prince Dai was knocked out, the smoke, the eye and everything related to them disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Lord Alexuis breathed a sign of relief as his soul burning pain was gone.
Sadly, his relief was short lived...
Immediately after everything returned to normal in the archives, a flaming silhouette rose from the depths of the mark.
" GREETINGS, LORD ALEXUIS... " said the silhouette, once again sending jolts of pain for Lord Alexuis.
However, it wasn't the pain Lord Alexuis feared this time ; it was the greeting.
"..."
Stunned!!!
Speechless!!!
Lord Alexuis couldn't name his state and he didn't care. All he wanted to know was how this being was able to detect his presence and whether its is a friend or foe.
Before Lord Alexuis could fully gather his thoughts and reply, the silhouette spoke again.
" I, YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT, BEG YOU FOR FORGIVENESS. I'M AWARE THAT MY PRESENCE IS THE SOURCE OF YOUR PAIN, MY LORD. BUT, I'M HELPLESS. I MUST OBEY MY ORDERS. "
" Orders?? What orders and who gave you orders?? " Lord Alexuis's curiosity got the best of him. He asked Dijin as he emerged out of Prince Dai's cloak.
He was in pain and looked a little pale still, effortlessly looked dignified and divine.
" THE ONE WHO ORDER ME IS NONE OTHER THAN MY MASTER AND YOUR BEST FRIEND, LORD MARVOLIO. HE ORDERED ME TO NOT ALLOW YOU PAST THIS POINT IN HELL. "
" Lord Marvolio!! Does that mean you're Dijin?? " Lord Alexuis asked in confirmation as relief once again washed his soul.
" YES I AM, MY LORD " Dijin said humbly. " AND I MUST ASK YOU TO LEAVE THIS PLACE IMMEDIATELY. THE LONGER YOU STAY IN HELL THE MORE VULNERABLE YOU'LL BECOME. " Dijin warned.
" Leave!! Why??? What's going on here that you're trying to avoid, Dijin?? " Under Lord Alexuis's dominating presence and point blank interrogation Dijin recoiled in fear of offending him.
" FORGIVE ME, O MERCIFUL ONE. FORGIVE ME... I DONOT MEAN TO OFFEND YOU, I WAS MERELY TRYING TO WARN YOU. " He quickly explained.
" Warn me?? "
" YES MY LORD!! YOU SEE THE CORE OF HELL IS NO LONGER THE SAME. SOMETHING HAS CHANGED IN THERE. I FEAR THAT THE FORCE WHICH HAS BROUGHT THE CREATION TO THE VERGE OF DESTRUCTION HAS PAVED ITS WAY INTO THE CORE AS WELL. OTHERWISE, THERE IS NO REASON FOR LORD ICARUS'S BARRIER SPELL TO HAVE FAILED. I WAS TOLD BY LORD MARVOLIO THAT THE BARRIER SPELL WILL PROTECT YOU FROM THE CORE BUT, CLEARLY THAT'S NOT WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE.. " Dijin further explained.
" I understand what you're saying, Dijin. But what am I suppose to do now?? " Lord Alexuis said with a frown as looked at the knocked out Prince Dai, now laying unconsciously on the floor. " I need to know his actual plan at all cost.. "
" MAY BE I CAN HELP YOU THERE, MY LORD" Dijin said with smile.
" You can??? How?? " Lord Alexuis found himself asking unable to contain his surprise as it was way out character for a guardian to be nosey.
" IT SO HAPPENS THAT I HAVE BEEN KEEPING TABS ON EVERYONE ENTERING MY REALM EVER SINCE YOU STARTED YOUR EXPEDITION IN HELL.THEREFORE I'M WELL AWARE OF WHAT PRINCE DAI HAD UNDER HIS SLEEVES AND HAVE ALREADY FOILED IT BEYOND RECOVERY. " Dijin proudly replied.
" Excellent Dijin!! Thank you very much. Truly that's big help, I mean. " Lord Alexuis was genuinely grateful towards Dijin. Every foiled plan was like a chunk weight lifted off from his overly burdened shoulders.
" NO MY LORD, IT IS NOT I WHO DESERVES YOUR WORD OF COMPLIMENT. I'M ONLY FOLLOWING MY ORDERS. SADLY, THIS IS AS FAR AS I CAN HELP. " Lord Alexuis smile at this. He clearly remembered how worried Lord Marvolio was but, had no idea of how he has been protecting him all this time.
" Don't worry about it, you have done more than enough. I'll see the rest myself. " He assured. " By the way Dijin, what exactly was Dai looking for?? "
The smile on Dijin's face instantly froze. His flaming eyes that were filled with respect until a moment ago, were now filled with regret as he stood mum.
Seeing this Lord Alexuis was even more determined to get him to speak. " Your silence isn't going sort out anything, Dijin. Dai has been coming here often. What was he after??
Once again Dijin was forced to confess. However, what Lords Alexuis received as the answer robed him off his grounds.
" HE WAS LOOKING FOR THE MAP LEADING TO SOLARIS."
" Solaris!! " It didn't take Lord Alexuis anything more to fill up the gaps. Everything was beginning to fall in place. All his bottled up questions found their answers and in the process has eventually found a solid lead.
" For all this time we were so busy saving Lord Icarus's creation that we totally forgot about Lady Arika's. " Lord Alexuis said with self-deprecating laugh.