Chapter 10 : A foolproof plan .
The famous hero of the previous chapters was now dead, shot by his own sister whom he loved dearly.
When the bullet passed through his father's embittered body, the town clock struck midnight and he gave up the ghost. Jacob, distraught at the sight, didn't know what to think, tears filled his eyes and his shocked mother Rosée fell to the ground, weeping for her husband. The storm arrived, strings of rain began to descend from the azure to wash away the jamil's blood spilled on the street pavement, the moon, which was at its three-quarter point, also eclipsed behind the black storm clouds. Perhaps it was the sky that was also mourning the departure of such a brave man, who spent his days in mercy and forgiveness. In the rain, the family of the deceased took his remains to a coffin and buried him to the sound of the tonnère, which jahissait sometimes behind the mountains and sometimes in the fields. Angélique didn't understand a word of the story, and her distraught brother was in no position to explain, but Jacob's eyes were full of incomparable hatred, and no one dared approach him during the burial ceremony, so strong was his desire for vengeance... The story was over, and Jacob's curiosity, which he inherited from his mother, was the cause of his father's murder ... The latter asked his mother to return home, needing to go into exile for a while to understand the whole story, which he didn't have time for. Rosée: accompanied by her daughter, returned home. Jacob went into the forest in despair. The murderess in turn, having fled, wept as never before for having murdered her brother. It was as if she had been possessed for all those years and had finally been released from her hold. She fled from justice and chose exile to purify herself of her sins, and rented a cottage where she would spend some time, living a modest life far removed from wealth and luxury...
In the spirit realm, maki, now the lord of the underworld, was waiting for the perfect opportunity to introduce himself to jacob, the chosen one of the prophecy. But to gain access to the mortal world, he first had to go to the cave of crystals, where he had once been the guardian, but this was also impossible as the portal leading to the mortal world was sealed by unbreakable golden chains. Maki was unable to open a dimensional portal to earth and keep it open long enough to realize her plan. Being in possession of the jade stone that could teleport anyone, the task was less difficult but the stone didn't work in the human world, it could open a portal but the latter only worked in one direction, Maki having realized this after his failure to bring back the servant who gave the talissement to Jacob, in the spirit world. What was needed was a potion that could keep a portal open to the earth and work in both directions at any time. The tebocle grimoire was the only resource available to Maki, who, ever fearful, didn't use it regularly. He opened the book and found the desired incantation in one of its pages. The incantation required the silver star powder found at the Fountain of Youth on Celestial Mountain, but whose presence was a secret, since its use was reserved for the supreme gods.The minor deities believed this fountain to be legendary, its powder having the power to cure all illnesses, and conferring powerful powers on its user, the reason for the immortality and power of the supreme gods. The minor divinities were bathed in the fountain's powder at birth to acquire their immortality, but because they were so young, no one remembered them. But maki, being cunning, appeared on the surface of the celestial mount's body of water to the basilisk he had transformed into a swan to spy on the two brothers, and ordered him to find the fountain's location and bring back the powder. The swan, not knowing how to do this, angered maki, who broke his wing. The swan then took refuge in the celestial palace and never came out. The two brothers had not seen him for several days and ordered him to be brought to them immediately. He was presented to the divinities with a distressing sadness. The two brothers loved the bird and took it to relieve its wounds in a secret room of the palace: the enchantment room, where a huge fountain rested, from which a trail of star powder flowed. A pinch of this powder was enough to heal the swan's wing, and the bird regained its freedom in the domain of the two brothers, now endowed with powerful powers through contact with the star powder.In the latter's absence, the swan returned to the enchantment room, bathed in the fountain and then collected the contents of a silver chalice in perfect silence. The swan was, however, very lucky to have managed to fool the two brothers without arousing their attention. The chalice was now in maki's hands, after the swan had flown over the abyss of oblivion and thrown it from the heavens...
With the artifacts present, the incantation could take place. The formula was unprecedented, but there was no room for error. With the potion on fire, Maki raised her sceptre in the air and the words were uttered. The jade stone then fused with the star powder and the brilliance of this amalgam was impressive. The stone was placed back on the sceptre of the former guardian, who could now open the portal effortlessly and as he wished. But maki knew that the gods would be aware of his work, since the opening of the portal would cause a crack in the crystals' cave: the landmark of all portals, this crack warned the new Taõ guardian that something strange had happened. The crack hit only the portal to the human world, from where a powerful wind began to blow, trying to break the chains.The guardian informed the two gods, who were powerless to prevent the third volume of the Golden Grimoire being protected by the force field for years to come. They told him to go and consult the four spirits, asking them for the identity of the being behind the crack. Having gone into the darkness, this new guardian was poorly received by the deities, but knew that maki was behind the phenomenon. Frightened, he went back to the celestial mountain and informed the gods of his desire to go to the city of oblivion to clear up the story. Authorization was granted this time, as the gods didn't know who to believe: on the one hand, the four spirits knew everything, but were in the habit of lying to avoid being visited, and on the other, maki's portrait had disappeared from the canvas of destiny when he was banished to the city of oblivion.
Taõ went to the underworld with a swarm of warriors in search of the former guardian, and one of the warriors found a trace of him which led them to a desert centred by a huge underground palace. The grayish palace was criss-crossed by lava flows. The palace's turrets were impressive and dizzyingly high. They entered the palace, which was deserted, but Maki, certain of their visit, had planned it radically.Suddenly, all the openings were closed and protected by a kind of luminous shield, and swarms of attrocious creatures invaded the castle, attacking them all. The warriors had to fight for hours against these creatures, but in the end they succeeded. One of the soldiers suddenly perceived a light escaping from the castle's basement, which drew the attention of Taõ, who descended with his army. They then all saw an immense portal leading to the earth, a dimension once banned by the supreme god, but as he was in charge of clarifying history and the palace was deserted, Taõ decided to pass through the portal, which immediately reformed on both sides, turning him and his army into wandering creatures in the infinite universe.
Maki on earth, having foreseen everything, burst out laughing, for when he returned to his domain, taõ and his warriors would be expelled to earth forever.
The master of the underworld was preparing his heavy vengeance, and so was Jacob.
......To be continued .......
Chapter 11: The diabolical pact