Chapter 46: Khaos Brigade (6)
Azrail Astaroth Pov:
"I… becoming your [Knight]?" Arthur was surprised by my sudden proposal, and it took him a few seconds to fully comprehend it. "Are you serious?"
"What? You don't want to become my [Knight]?"
"No, it's not that, but…"
"In that case, I'll elaborate my offer…" Noticing Arthur's hesitancy, I decided to throw the bait without delay. "Not only will you be allowed to train under Alice, the Strongest [Knight] in the Underworld, but I'll also make sure that you can bring out 120% of Caliburn's capabilities…"
That was something I had always wanted to do with a Holy Sword. It didn't matter if the mentioned sword was Caliburn, Duradal, or Excalibur.
When I watched some of Lyra's memories predating the Great War, I realised that after the Biblical God's death, the strength of Holy Swords had also decreased considerably.
Whether it was their Holy Aura, the physical buff they granted their wielders, or the potency of their abilities, everything had decreased.
The Holy Swords in our mythology received their power from God's Holy System, which was now running on life support after his death, so the power it could provide them wasn't comparable to the past.
It was also why divine protection, mercy, and miracles were much more prominent during and before the Great War.
The things that lost their strength over time also included exorcisms, holy water, crosses, bibles, and biblical quotes.
Things would stay like this unless God made a once-in-a-millennium comeback.
'For a single person's death to affect the powers of an entire faction this much… How did the Four Great Satans even manage to kill someone like that?'
There must be some hidden lore behind Biblical God's death that I didn't know about.
Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense.
'Well, whatever the case might be, let's focus on the task at hand…' After not hearing a reply from Arthur, I continued. "Is that not enough?"
"No. If anything, that's a rather tempting offer…"
For some reason, Arthur didn't doubt my bold claims of bringing out 120% of Caliburn's capabilities. On the contrary, he looked strangely confident in my capabilities.
Indeed, sword freaks were simple creatures.
There was only one condition to gain their admiration and respect: be a better swordsman than them.
But still, Arthur's potential as a [Knight] was phenomenal, especially with the Strongest Holy Sword being a much-welcomed bonus.
Even if I failed to raise Caliburn's strength to its original state, his growth would still be one of the best.
He was, after all, King Arthur's descendant.
And to top it all off, there was a high chance Arthur came in a package with his little sister, Le Fay—Morgana Le Fay's descendant and someone with prodigal natural talent in magic.
Recruiting him was a no-brainer.
The fact that I would gain permanat access to Caliburn for research made me want to recruit him more.
"Hey, don't try to recruit someone from my team as if I'm not even here, bastard…" Vali glared at me, the corner of his mouth twitching. It wasn't hard to tell that he was holding back some vile curses before he turned towards Arthur. "And you, don't be tempted by his offers. We already have a deal…"
"Don't misunderstand, Vali. I haven't yet joined anyone's team…" Arthur, however, remained unfazed and replied calmly, looking straight into the White Dragon Emperor's eyes. "Our deal depends on whether or not I can find Excalibur Ruler in this place…"
"You had a deal like that?"
"Yes…" Arthur nodded at my question, a bit apologetic. "I promised to join Vali's team if we found Excalibur Ruler in this place, so until we search this place, I can't give you a definitive answer…"
The meaning behind his words was clear.
If they found Excalibur Ruler here, Arthur would fulfil his promise and join Vali's team, so until then, he couldn't consider my offer.
As the saying goes, a knight would rather die than go back on his words.
After a few seconds, I sighed. "In that case, there's nothing I can do…"
Although, that didn't mean I had given up on Arthur and Caliburn.
If anything, I now wanted to take Excalibur Ruler with me, too, and leave nothing behind for the White Dragon Emperor.
Excalibur Ruler was the strongest among the seven Excalibur Fragments and granted its wielder the ability to manipulate any living thing, allowing them to control the will of their targets and fully subjugate them.
How could I not want a sword like that?
'Since Arthur doesn't want to break his promise, all I need to do is make Vali nullify their agreement, right?'
As long as I offered him something valuable enough, it wouldn't be impossible to make the White Dragon Emperor back off.
"Yes…" Arthur was taken aback by how easily I gave up on pursuing him further, but soon, he smiled at me. "Thank you for understanding…"
The admiration he had in his eyes for me also increased.
At this moment, Arthur's thought process must be, 'Even though he wishes to recruit me, Azrail gave up because he knows a true swordsman never goes back on his words,' or something along those lines.
Indeed, he was a simple creature.
"Still…" Since there was no point in discussing recruiting Arthur any longer, I decided to change the topic. "If both Excalibur Ruler and Gleipnir led us to this town in the middle of nowhere, finding one will most likely lead to the other…"
"Do you know anything about Glepinir's whereabouts?"
I shook my head at Vali's question. "My knowledge regarding Gleipnir isn't any better than the Tepes Faction. I only came here after receiving a report about their strange movements…"
"I see."
"What about you? Don't you have some hint about Excalibur Ruler's location?"
"No. We came here based on the general location and found this town while looking around…"
'Coincidences sure can be freaky, huh...'
In the end, nothing changed with the White Dragon Emperor's arrival.
I'd still need to go through the hassle of finding intact human corpses to read their memories and find clues about Gleipnir.
'We'll have to search this entire area since my detection spells can't find anything meaningful…'
My best detection spell was [Gravity Detection], but its range wasn't enough to scan such a large area.
As for the spells that could cover large areas, they weren't precise enough to detect things concealed with magic.
'Since a person's senses naturally become sharper as they grow stronger, there's a lack of detection spells in most magic systems, especially ones that focus on locating inanimate objects...'
Even the ones I created weren't all that special because there wasn't a 'base' for me to build the spells upon.
The layout I created with [Sound Magic] also had nothing suspicious. Alas, it would've been a perfect detection spell if we were inside a cave or dungeon.
'How troublesome…'
While I thought about the easiest method to find Gleipnir, Lieselotte tugged my lab coat's sleeve from behind. "Excuse me…"
'Right, I couldn't ask Liese and Selina about Pythagoras or Gleipnir earlier…' I turned towards Lieselotte. "Yeah?"
The small gesture from her gained everyone's attention, and she spoke in a somewhat hesitant voice. "I… There's an old legend in our town. I think it's related to Gleipnir and Excalibur Ruler that you're trying to find…"
"A legend?"
"Yes."
.
.
.
"You're saying that because of the 'monster' sleeping near the surrounding forest, the residents will send sacrifices every year to prevent it from attacking their town?"
"Yes… Our aunt said that the monster awakens in the first two months of the year, and during that time, approaching this area is forbidden because many people have gone missing in the past..."
'To be honest, her story sounds like a story premise written five minutes before submission…' I kept my thoughts to myself and asked, "What about this story's origins?"
"I don't know, but... If there's anything that can have some connections with Gleipnir and Excalibur Ruler, it'll be this place…"
Lieselotte stopped walking, her gaze fixed on the towering stone doors embedded into the mountainside.
'Given how this mountain range is situated, it's impossible to spot these gates from the air despite their enormous size…'
The stone doors in front of us were over fifty feet tall and thirty feet wide. To make it even better, they had thousands of 'runes' crafted on them with the help of a nail and hammer.
However, what surprised me was that I didn't recognise these runes—not in the slightest.
Even though runes weren't the primary focus of my study, I had read about and practised the basics of most kinds of runes.
I also used them as enchantment methods to craft random items as a pastime. One such item was the bracelets I gave Sairaorg a while ago.
'How strange…'
I stepped forward and placed my hand on the stone door.
'There's no magic power in these runes, and channelling my demonic power in them also has no effect… Maybe they're the second type?'
For better understanding, I divided runes into two types at a basic level: Active and Passive.
Active runes required a constant supply of magic power to show their effects. When the user stopped pouring magic power into them, their effects would disappear, too.
As for Passive runes, they only needed magic power while crafting them and could show their effects even after the power supply disappeared.
'But there's a high chance that I'm wrong…'
I was no expert when it came to runes,
It could be that the runes had already lost their effects by now. After all—
"These doors are over twelve hundred years old…"
"How can you even tell that?"
Vali was surprised at my confident proclamation, only for me to shrug in response.
"I just can."
Great Sage's 'Analytical Appraisal' could do wonders in researching historical artefacts, but it became my favourite when it analysed Alice's body to find out that she was still a virgin.
On that day, I found a purpose to live for.
[^_^]
'…? Was that an emoji inside my head?'
[You are imagining it, Master.]
Great Sage was getting a bit too creative these days.
Maybe it was thanks to the less workload now that she wasn't running tens of thousands of online scams twenty-four-seven?
'Gotta restrain her unlimited internet access…'
[>_<]
"Twelve hundred years old…" Lieselotte muttered, holding her chin while looking at the enormous stone doors. "Then, I don't think it's related to Pythagoras or Gleipnir because they existed over twenty-five hundred years ago..."
"You're right." That was also the conclusion I reached. "However, the timeline fits perfectly for Excalibur Ruler…"
"It does…" Le Fay continued from where I left off. "King Arthur's era ended around fifteen hundred years ago, and Excalibur broke into seven pieces two hundred years after his death…"
At least someone here took their history classes seriously.
"It must've taken the Church some time to create the Excalibur Fragments, and with how Excalibur Ruler disappeared right after, there's a high chance that someone sealed it here…"
While I reached that conclusion, Vali walked over to the stone doors and lightly knocked.
Thud!* Thud!*
Moments later, he smiled. "These aren't all that strong. I can break them in a few attacks."
Being the gentleman my parents raised me to be, I wasn't someone who cursed frequently, but after hearing what Vali said—
"Are you a fucking retard?"
Those words came out from the bottom of my heart.
"Huh?"
I raised my hand towards the stone gates. "Ancient Runes inscribed on a millennium-old stone door are meant to be studied, not destroyed, dumbass…"
My raised voice and tone took Vali by surprise. He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, no words came out.
From the side, Arthur added. "I think Azrail's suggestion is correct. These runes might have clues regarding what's behind this door."
I doubted we'd find something like that, but the moral support was much appreciated.
Le Fay raised her hand in a rather childish manner. "Me too. We've been looking for Excalibur Ruler for a while now; let's take a break and rest."
After that, Vali had no choice but to agree.
.
.
.
"Now, pour your magic power into them…"
"Yes."
"Mmh."
Lieselotte and Le Fay nodded at my words, placing their hands on the ground and pouring their magic power into the runes I drew on it.
Soon, the runes glowed in a dim light, and moments later, my sense of sight disappeared.
'So this is how blind people feel, huh…'
I could still sense the world around me with magic, but there was complete and total darkness in front of my eyes.
It felt similar to when I travelled through shadows.
'Great Sage?'
[Answer. As far as Master's body is concerned, he can still see the world as usual.]
'What a weird set of runes—both in functionality and formations…'
After a while, I surged my Demonic Aura to resist the rune's effects, and sure enough, my sight returned instantly.
'And for them to only work with a human's magic power. I've never seen runes with such restrictions…'
I had tried powering the runes with various types of energy, from Devil's Demonic Power, Vampire's Magic Power, Fallen Angel's Light Power, Angel's Light Power, and even Youkai's Ki and Youki, but nothing worked.
Only a pure-blooded human's magic power could activate these runes; even half-breeds and reincarnated devils didn't suffice.
The human race's magic power had a designated frequency it existed on, similar to all supernaturals, but it had no innate attribute.
That was why it paled in front of the powers used by other races and needed a calculation-based magic system.
However, that was also why a human's magic power could utilise these runes flawlessly, as having an innate attribute conflicted with the rune's powers.
"Nothing happened…"
"Maybe we did something wrong?"
Lieselotte and Le Fay looked at each other in confusion before turning towards me, and I lightly shook my head in response.
"I don't know much, either… How about pouring magic power in each other's runes?"
The two of them nodded and did as told, but this time, nothing happened. The runes didn't even react.
'So only one person can use a set of runes… That explains why nothing happened when Liese, Selina, and Le Fay poured their magic power into the stone doors...'
Unlike what I first expected, the runes on the stone doors weren't all that high-level since it didn't take much time for a novice like me to understand their basics.
'But if these work in the way I believe they do at a high enough level, having such limitations makes sense…'
These runes were interesting, much more than any other ones I read about previously.
"Alright, that's enough." I extended my hands towards Lieselotte and Le Fay, who grabbed them and pulled themselves up. "Go and get some rest."
"What about you?" From the look in her eyes, anyone could tell that Lieselotte was concerned about me. "You haven't rested in over two days…"
"You don't have to worry about that. For me, researching these runes is much more relaxing than resting."
And now that these runes had piqued my interest, I wouldn't be able to have peace of mind without at least understanding their basics.
Before Lieselotte could reply, Vali walked over towards us from the side.
"Did you find something?"
"Nothing of significance."
That was a lie.
I had deciphered over half of these runes, and the rest wouldn't take all that long, but I had no intention of revealing that.
Not to mention, it wasn't like I found anything about Gleipnir or Excalibur Ruler.
Vali sighed in disappointment after hearing my words, not replying, but before long—
'They arrived faster than expected…'
"Hm?"
Both of us turned around simultaneously, gazing in the direction of Lieselotte's hometown.
"An enormous magic circle just appeared inside that town…"
The fact that Vali could sense the [Transportation Magic Circle] from such distance was a pleasant surprise.
'His senses are sharp… Or maybe the caster's not skilled enough? There are no concealments in his spell formations...'
I raised my palm, and a hologram appeared above it.
"Another batch of Vampires from the Tepes Faction… They must've come here after not receiving a response from the group I killed…"
Everyone turned towards the hologram.
"This is…"
"I left some concealed magic circles in the town..."
As I spoke, the hologram expanded so everyone had a clear view.
Vali narrowed his eyes after noticing the hundreds of Vampires on the display. "That's a large bunch…"
"It'll be impossible to fight them all at once…"
"The leaders look strong, too…"
Arthur and Le Fay had the same thoughts as Vali.
The group this time was much bigger than the one I massacred, but that wasn't all.
'Two Ultimate Class Vampires…'
I could kill one in a sneak attack, and with Vali's Divine Dividing and Arthur Caliburn, killing the other would be a breeze, too.
As for the remaining vampires, massacring them once again wouldn't be too difficult for me.
However—
'I don't wanna waste any more Pure Holy Water or energy on these things…'
I'd much rather keep studying the runes than fight meaningless battles.
"If they search the entire area, it won't be long before they find this place..."
Selina's words silenced everyone, and I spoke as the hologram above my palm disappeared.
"I'll set up a concealment barrier around us. The vampires will leave when they can't find clues about the previous group or Gleipnir…"
Vampires wouldn't spend much effort looking for their missing comrades unless they were important people.
The ones I killed were only the force of a middle-ranking family within the Tepes Faction.
No one could care less about them.
Before I could move, Lieselotte opened her mouth. "I can help with the barrier…"
Following her words, a thin, translucent barrier appeared around us, covering both our campsite and the stone doors.
'Is this the same barrier she used to hide Selina earlier?'
The barrier she created was, as expected, high quality. It hid our auras and sounds perfectly, creating an illusion by bending light for those outside the barrier.
No wonder the vampires never found Selina despite actively looking for any survivors.
As long as I helped her improve some of the flaws in the formation, even an Ultimate Class being wouldn't find this place unless they were within a few hundred meters of us.
"Where did you find such an amazing spell formation?"
Le Fay was the first to realise how well-developed Lieselotte's spell was, looking at the latter with stars in her eyes.
Lieselotte hesitated after looking into Le Fay's eyes. "I didn't find it anywhere…"
"Huh? How'd you learn it, then?"
"I… created it on the spot to hide Selina from vampires. I didn't know if it'd work, so I acted as bait, too…"
"…"
"…"
Le Fay and I stared at Lieselotte with our jaws dropped, exchanging glances between the barrier and her.
"Maybe I should retire now…"
"I know what you mean, Lord Azrail…"
Le Fay understood what I meant and nodded, our thoughts in perfect sync.
After that, I helped Liselotte improve her barrier to a certain extent.
Selina and Le Fay assisted her by supplying their magic powers to the barrier, and just like that, three more days passed.
.
.
.
"How big is this place? We've been walking for hours now…"
"We should've already crossed the mountain range... Why hasn't this cave finished?"
Hearing Le Fay and Selina's conversation, I answered their doubts. "The space here is artificially stretched beyond its limits. Even though we walked for hours, we are still inside the first mountain."
Lieselotte, Selina, Le Fay, and Arthur were surprised by that revelation. As for Vali, he quietly glanced at me from the corner of his eyes.
Despite his sharp senses, I didn't believe Vali could detect the stretched space by himself.
However, since he wasn't surprised by my words, Albion must have told him in advance.
'I wanna create something like a contract-type Sacred Gear, too…'
To capture a wild beast and place them inside a weapon sounded like a perfect plan for whenever I had free time.
But making some cliche weapon like a spear, sword, gun, or bow wouldn't be interesting.
There were too many of those in this world.
'An interesting weapon… Something unique…'
As we walked through the seemingly endless cave, I thought hard about what to create as a future project before suddenly reaching enlightenment.
'How about… a Beyblade? The sealed spirit would be a literal bit beast, no?'
Taking out and launching a Beyblade at someone in a life-and-death battle would be hilarious.
The idea was so fine that I internally patted myself on the back.
'Divine Dividing and Boosted Gear but as Beyblades would be cool, too…'
Their [Divide] and [Boost] abilities could remain the same while creating tornadoes and summoning Heavenly Dragon phantoms to fight for the user.
In the end, only one thing came to my mind.
'Maybe beyblade was that serious after all?'
While I was thinking about making DxD peak, our group walked towards the cave's end, only to arrive at an enormous underground dome.
The sheer size of this place left everyone speechless.
"Whoa…"
"So big…"
"Azrail, look at that staircase…!"
I looked around the dome, and from my rough estimates, it was at least thrice the size of an average football stadium, with it being over three hundred meters in height.
In the dome's centre stood a majestic platform, rising two hundred meters with staircases spiralling up on all four sides, one of which ended in our direction.
And at the platform's top was a sword, its blade buried inside the ground.
"That's Excalibur Ruler…"
'I know this is one of the seven Excalibur Fragments, but there's no way it deserves this kind of security and presentation…'
The resources and hard work it would've taken someone to prepare this place was already well beyond Excalibur Ruler's worth.
'And those runes…'
The entire dome, platform, and staircases had runes embedded in them that resembled the ones I studied outside this place.
And for better or worse, the complexity of these runes made the ones I studied look amateurish.
[Notice. Someone likely studied the runes inside this place and then created the stone doors outside 1200 years ago.]
That'd explain the difference in skills.
'Analyse and store all the runes I come across for later study…'
[Yes.]
'On that note, how is 'that' going?'
[Answer. The analysis of the connection frequency is 45% complete. Found the difference between it and regular ones, but more subjects with this connection frequency would be required to make a detailed analysis.]
'I see…'
"We finally found—!"
Before Le Fay could finish her words, Arthur grabbed her and ran away from our position.
Vali was the same, summoning Divine Dividing and flying forward without delay.
I also activated [Shadow Movement], causing my shadow to extend from the ground and envelop me, Lieselotte, and Selina. We disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the dome instantly.
A second after our group dispersed—
BOOM!*
An enormous snake monster smashed into the ground head-first, creating a massive crater on the spot we were at moments ago.
"Is that the monster Lieselotte talked about?"
"Should be."
Vali landed next to us, followed by Arthur and Le Fay.
Rumble!*
The snake pulled its head out of the crater, dismembering the ground and causing large rock pieces to fly around.
The snake's body was as large as one of Hydra's nine bodies and had dark purple scales covering it.
'I had no idea purple python snakes could get so big...'
Purple python snakes were a species of monsters known for their excellent concealment abilities, agility, attack power, and speed.
However, the maximum they could grow was around two meters, but this one was at least a hundred times that size.
Our eyes met, and the snake hissed at me.
'What a pain…'
Although Vali had more Demonic Power Reserves and bits of Albion's Dragon Aura, the purple snake considered me the most dangerous threat present.
If it were any other monster, they would've been more cautious of the White Dragon Emperor instead.
"I don't think it'll let us take Excalibur Ruler willingly…"
"We just need to kill it; what's the problem?"
Arthur and Vali didn't panic despite the snake's intimidating appearance, but the others in our party weren't like that.
"I—I can't use [Transportation Magic]…!"
Le Fay's panicked voice caught everyone's attention, and I replied. "That means we can't leave unless we kill that thing."
I could leave whenever I wanted with [Shadow Teleportation]. However, there was no point in mentioning that.
Even though the snake's strength was higher than mine, it was, after all, a beast without much intellect. It wouldn't be too hard to kill it myself, but with Vali here to reduce its power, it wasn't even a challenge.
I summoned Arondight from my shadow and grabbed its hilt.
"Arthur, protect Le Fay, Liselotte, and Selina…"
"What about that monster?"
"I wanna study the runes here, so let's make it quick..." I glanced towards Vali. "I'll attack first; use that gap to activate [Divide] on it…"
"Don't drag me down, or I'll finish it alone."
At least Vali wasn't being uncooperative.
It was most likely because he wanted to watch me fight a bit seriously.
Otherwise, brushing off my words with a "Don't order me around." wouldn't be out of character for him.
Vali summoned Divine Dividing again and flew towards the purple python snake.
There was no doubt that Divine Dividing was fast, but even then, he couldn't keep up with the snake's speed and flexibility, unable to make physical contact with it.
After watching their game of chase for a few seconds, my grip around Arondight's hilt tightened before I ran towards them.
The snake noticed me almost immediately. However, it couldn't do anything with Vali chasing after it like a mosquito.
I enhanced my physical attributes with a Demonic Aura to jump at the purple python in full force, but—
"Huh?"
Nothing happened.
The skill I had been using for almost a decade… The centrepiece of my current fighting style… How come it suddenly stopped working?
No matter how much I tried, everything was perfect, from my Demonic Power Control to the Aura Enhancement Technique.
It was the same as it had always been, so why?
I looked down at my body and tried again, not bothering with the ongoing battle.
Once again, the Demonic Aura condensed in my body like always, but before it could enhance my physical attributes...
The power dispersed on its own.
'What the hell…'
The situation was beyond anything I expected, so much so that rather than being worried, I was curious instead.
There was only one bastard who could answer my doubts now.
'Hydra…'
It had to be related to my immortal body.
"Hey!" After noticing my expression, Vali's loud, borderline annoyed shout echoed through the dome. "Why are you acting like you can't control your body?!"
I retorted in an equally loud voice. "Because I can't!"
The purple python noticed its chance and swung its tail towards me.
There was no way I could dodge an attack like that without enhanced physical attributes, and Arthur's shout came from behind.
"Watch out, Azrail…!"
The snake's tail was only a few centimetres away from my face, and if it landed, it would completely crush my head.
Dodging it was impossible, and I didn't wish to expose my regeneration right now, so the moment that attack was about to land—
"Screech!"
"Squeak…!"
"Eek!!!!"
My body burst into a flock of twenty-six bats and spread out in all directions, dodging the attack with no effort while filling the dome with bat screams.
The high-pitched noises were so loud that Lieselotte, Selina, and Le Fay had to cover their ears.
For context, I was cursing in bat language. Children not hearing it was for the best.
'Damn… Watching the battlefield from twenty-six different angles feels funny…'
Without wasting the moment of surprise, all my bats charged towards the purple python and started irritating him from all sides.
I couldn't utilise magic in this state, so this was the next best thing to do.
"Are you a devil or a vampire?!"
Vali was dumbfounded, looking at the scene with his eyes wide open.
I flew one of my bats over to his ear and—
"Screeeeeeeeeecccchhhhhhh!!!!"
Shouted at the top of my bat lungs, causing Vali to cover his ear and shut his eyes in discomfort.
"The hell…?!"
"Eek!"
My wing pointed towards the distressed purple python desperately trying to kill my other bats but to no avail.
"Squeak…!"
"Ah, right…"
Understanding what I meant, Vali hurriedly flew towards the purple python to touch it.
"[Divide]."
Divine Dividing's wings flashed lightly and announced, surprising the purple python at the sudden loss of strength.
'Sure enough, this ability is a top-tier cheat…'
The twenty-six bats collected on the ground and reformed my body before Arondight flew back to me.
Since I couldn't enhance my body with Demonic Aura right now, there was only one thing to do.
'Great Sage, increase my physical attributes to the same level as Aura Enhancement….'
[Yes.]
I felt my body change rapidly, and within a second, my muscles, bones, tendons, flesh, organs, and everything enhanced significantly, including the five senses.
Crack!*
The floor beneath me cracked when I kicked the ground, jumping towards the purple python at full speed, but unlike what I expected—
Boom!*
I accidentally passed the snake and crashed into the dome's ceiling, using [Gravity Magic] to stand upside down on it.
'It'll take a while to get the hang of how to fight physically with actual strength rather than Demonic Power…'
If my Demonic Power control were ten, then my control over my body would be eight.
Although the difference wasn't big, it made a significant difference in close combat.
'Let's try again…'
This time, I used [Gravity Magic] and [Way of the Wind] to move instead, only using the enhanced physical attributes for attack.
Thanks to that, I blitzed past the purple snake instantly and—
Thud!* Thud!*
Its upper body split into exactly thirty-nine pieces before falling to the ground, leaving behind a bloody mess.
'Not as bad as I thought…'
My intention was over fifty pieces, but for the first time, this wasn't too bad.
"You…" Vali landed next to me as the light wings behind him disappeared. "What are you? A Devil/Vampire Hybrid?"
"Of course not. I'm a pure-blooded devil through and through..." I scoffed at his words, storing Arondight inside my shadow again. "I wouldn't even be allowed to have the Astaroth name otherwise."
"That's true… But how did you do that?"
"You have a Heavenly Dragon inside you, right? I'm sure he knows a thing or two…"
For some reason, that sounded extremely sus.
'Great Sage, bring my physical attributes back to normal...'
[Understood.]
"Azrail…"
"Are you alright?"
Selina, Lieselotte, Le Fay, and Arthur approached us from the sides.
"Don't worry. I'm fine."
Lieselotte didn't look convinced and walked closer to me, continuing in a barely audible whisper.
"I saw one of the bats being crushed by that monster, and only twenty-five bats reconstructed your body… Are you seriously alright?"
'She noticed something even Arthur and Vali didn't…'
Did she follow the movements of twenty-six bats at once?
That was surprising. After all, my bats were quite far away from each other and were hard to keep track of because of the purple python.
I smiled and patted Lieselotte's head. "You don't have to worry about me getting injured…"
"Oh…"
Lieselotte opened her mouth in realisation, and she nodded.
I brought her back from the brink of death in an instant. How could I not know how to heal myself?
Despite her capabilities and talents, Lieselotte forgot about that detail because she was worried about me.
"Azrail…" Arthur approached me, his eyes shining with enthusiasm and admiration. "The last sword technique you used was amazing. I couldn't even follow your movements at all..."
His tone became even more respectful and reserved now.
'That's because of the difference in our stats, dude…'
Arthur could barely keep up with my base stats. His current self had no hopes of following my movements when I used Aura Enhancement.
As for sword techniques, the last one wasn't even comparable to what I showed him during our spar in terms of skill, but Arthur's strong glazing kicked in, and he assumed it must be something fantastic because he couldn't see it.
At this point, even if I accidentally tripped, he'd probably find a convincing reason as to how that was intentional and part of some grand scheme.
No, wait. He already did that a few days ago.
After the situation returned to normal, Vali spoke in a solemn tone. "I think that monster under Excalibur Ruler's control and forced to guard this place. What do you think?"
No shit, Sherlock.
"It could also be that the one who sealed Excalibur Ruler here also started the old legend in Lieselotte's village."
Arthur nodded in agreement, and everyone looked like they reached the same conclusion as Vali.
'Their thinking is in the correct direction, but…' My gaze wandered off to the platform in the dome's centre. 'I don't think that monster was left here only to guard Excalibur Ruler…'
After all, this place was much older than even the True Excalibur.
"That snake…!"
Selina's panicked shout came out of nowhere, and we followed her gaze towards the purple python's minced body.
Everyone's expressions worsened as they watched the purple python's body reconstructing itself rapidly.
"It's regenerating…"
Before anyone else could say anything else, I let out a long, tired sigh. "Forget it. I'm done with this…"
The Astaroth Clan's Magic Circle appeared on the ground, and Le Fay turned towards me. "We can't use [Transportation Magic] in here…"
What she said was true, but unless a barrier completely blocked the usage of Spatial Magic like a Vampire's [Shadow Domain], my [Transportation Magic] was still unstoppable.
Hearing no reply from me, Vali asked. "What are you doing?"
He was the only one beside me who didn't panic after the purple python started regenerating.
"Summoning a regenerative evil snake of my own…"
Moments later, Hydra's human form appeared above the magic circle.
He still looked the same, a cute five-year-old child with an eerily similar appearance to me.
Most people would regard him as an immensely adorable and innocent child, at least until he opened his mouth.
"The fuck do you want from me now?"
'Every time this bastard speaks, it feels like a case of verbal diarrhoea…'
I held back my complaints and was about to order Hydra, but before I could speak, the purple python's roar came from the side.
The snake's body had regenerated completely, and it started at us with its pitch-black eyes, hissing uncontrollably.
"Huh?"
Hydra's expression became disgusted, veins bulging on his forehead as he turned towards the enormous purple python.
It was an expression that didn't suit his childish appearance, but when he met the purple python's gaze, the latter shrunk back in fear.
"Who do you think you are hissing at?"
Hydra disappeared from his position and reappeared next to the purple python's face, clenching his palm into a fist.
With the enormous difference in size, it didn't look like Hydra's punch would do any damage to the purple python, but—
BOOOOOOM!*
It instantly obliterated the purple python's body, creating a devastating shockwave that shook the entire underground dome.
If not for the hands extending from my shadow holding them tightly, Lieselotte, Selina, and Le Fay would have been thrown away because of the strong winds.
Hydra's original body was at least nine times the purple python's size, so when he transformed into a human, all that strength condensed into a child's body, which made him an absolute unit on the battlefield.
This time, the purple python's body showed no signs of regenerating.
No one spoke for over a minute, quietly looking at Hydra with stunned expressions.
The one who broke the silence was Arthur. "Azrail… What kind of a monster is he…?"
"That's my familiar, the Nine-Headed Hydra…"
"Nine-Headed Hydra…" Le Fay spoke next, turning towards me with some hesitance. "You mean the one from Heracles' Twelve Labors?"
"Yeah, that one…"
Le Fay's face paled at my confirmation. She appeared more scared of Hydra than the purple python, which was understandable.
Hydra's reputation as the most wicked immortal creature wasn't a lie. Anyone who knew even half his crimes would keep a distance from him.
My answer piqued Vali's interest. "So he's the son of Typhon?"
"Yeah."
Typhon was the King of Monsters and one of the strongest beings in this world, an absolute calamity with strength superior to all Greek Gods except Hades.
It was to the point where unskilled Gods wouldn't dare cross Typhon. He was said to be as strong as, if not stronger, than Fenrir, the God-Devouring Wolf.
It was obvious why no Greek Gods wanted beef with him.
"Don't mention Typhon's name. It ruins my mood…" Hydra walked over to our side and looked around before his eyes landed on Vali. "The White Dragon Emperor, huh? I haven't met one in almost three centuries…"
Vali narrowed his eyes, unable to hide his surprise about how easily Hydra discovered his identity without him even using Divine Dividing.
Hydra didn't bother with him any longer, turning towards me instead. "So, what did you call me for?"
"There's something I need to talk about…" I turned towards Arthur and the others. "You guys can go and check Excalibur Ruler; I'll catch up after talking with Hydra…"
"If that's what you want."
Vali, Arthur, and Le Fay went to collect the Excalibur Ruler.
As expected, Lieselotte and Selina stayed with me, standing at a distance to not intrude on my conversation with Hydra.
"You…" I created a [Sound Barrier] around us and turned towards Hydra. "How did you obtain your immortality?"
"Hm?" Hydra titled his head in confusion, almost as if he didn't understand why I'd ask such a question out of nowhere. After a few seconds, he replied as if speaking the obvious. "I drank the [Fountain of Youth], what else?"
"[Fountain of Youth]…?"
I had no idea such a thing existed in this world.
"The sacred treasure of the Fairy Clan… It allowed a short-lived species like Fairies to live for dozens of millenniums by letting their people drink a drop of it at birth."
'Fairy Clan and the Fountain of Youth…' I blinked at his explanation. 'What in the seven deadly sins…'
"We have a Fairies in this world?"
"Had…" Hydra corrected me. "I massacred their entire species to complete the [Fountain of Youth] long before Lucifer created the 72 Pillars…"
How old was this twerp in front of me again?
"Complete the Fountain of Youth?"
"Yeah. Parts of [Fountain of Youth] existed in each member of the Fairy Clan, so to collect all the fragments and complete it, I destroyed the Fairy King's Forest overnight and ate all their people alive…"
I asked Hydra to explain everything he knew about the Fairy Clan and the Fountain of Youth, but the information he had wasn't very detailed.
According to him, he only massacred the Fairy Clan to test if the rumours about Fountain of Youth were true or not.
As for the Fountain of Youth, Hydra said that the Fairy Clan's legends mentioned how it drew the power to regenerate our bodies from a 'higher dimension.'
From what the legends said, the old fairies created it to prolong the lifespan of their declining species with an unknown method.
'A higher dimension that supplies our bodies with infinite vitality to regenerate endlessly…'
Coupled with the 'darkness dimension' Lyra mentioned regarding [Shadow Teleportation], I now had two such dimensions to learn more about.
Not knowing the source of my powers was a bit unsettling.
"More importantly, why can't I enhance my body with Demonic Aura anymore?"
"We can't use stuff like [Touki], [Aura Enhancement], or [Enhancement Magic] because our bodies have infinite vitality. They passively negate when something tries to boost them artificially, even if it is our very own life force, as it hinders the connection we have with the dimension we draw our power from..."
Hydra's explanation wasn't far from what I guessed after learning about the Fountain of Youth and how it worked.
I let out a small sigh. "I miscalculated because [Aura Enhancement] worked perfectly after my body reconstruction…"
"It must've been because your connection to that dimension wasn't as well established as it is now…"
"Yeah…"
'Then again, with how useful these abilities are, losing [Aura Enhancement] isn't something to cry over…'
There was no room for regret in a decision I had already made.
Not to mention, I could make up for [Aura Enhancement] with Anatomy Control instead.
'I'll look into it in more detail later…'
.
.
.
"Woah…"
"Amazing…!"
Under the effects of [Wind Magic], Lieselotte, Selina, and I landed on the Excalibur Ruler's platform. Hydra followed closely behind, landing next to me as the wings on his back disappeared.
The platform was large enough for over two hundred people, with Arthur, Le Fay, and Vali standing at its centre.
We walked over to them, and my eyes landed on the sword in Arthur's hands.
Naturally, it was the Excalibur Ruler.
"Did you find anything here except this?"
"Yes…" Arthur nodded, turning around and glancing at the floor ahead of us. "There's something written where this sword was, but we can't understand it…"
From the side, Vali added. "It resembles the runes in this place. You might be able to read it…"
"Let me see them first…"
I walked over to the centre and crouched down, sliding my middle finger over the characters written on the floor.
"For those who wish to enter the trail… Their blood shall reveal what they consciously desire the most right now… When all those present have revealed their desires, the path will open on its own…"
The translation I did was lacklustre, but it got the point across.
"Do we need to drop our blood on it?"
"Most likely, yeah…" I stood up from the ground and turned around. "So, who wants to try first?"
Since there were no contenders, Lieselotte slightly raised her arm. "I'll go first…"
"Go ahead."
Liselotte bit her thumb and pressed it against her index finger, causing a few drops of blood to fall on the golden text.
The floor absorbed her blood, and moments later, an image appeared mid-air in front of us, showing Lieselotte vigorously writing something on a notepad with a strangely enthusiastic expression.
Soon, a line of text appeared below the image.
[To calculate everything in the world.]
'So that's how it works…'
While I observed the scene with interest, Vali turned towards me.
"What does it say?"
"A small description of the target's desire. I won't reveal it to everyone, so rest assured."
"I see."
The next to try was Selina, and the image her thoughts generated was of her and Lieselotte spending their time together in peace.
[To stay with her big sister.]
After that was Le Fay. Her dream was relatively simple, with her sitting atop a mountain peak and reading the book in her hands.
[To learn more about magic and travel the world.]
In Arthur's turn, something unique happened.
Clang!* Clang!*
Along with the vision of him fighting numerous swordsmen at once, there was also the sound of swords clashing.
[To become the world's greatest swordsman.]
Vali's vision was the same, with it being far more vivid than those before it.
In the image, Vali stood near the corpses of two men with the same silver hair as him while wearing the Divine Dividing's Balance Breaker.
[To become the strongest White Dragon Emperor and kill my father and grandfather.]
Hydra also decided to play, and the image his desires generated was not out of my expectations, as it only consisted of him beating the living shit out of me.
I shot Hydra a glance, and our eyes met before he avoided eye contact in fear.
We both knew… He just won another trip to the mixer grinder.
[To kill Azrail Astaroth in the most brutal ways possible and eat his corpse.]
Last but not least, it was my turn.
'From how it looks, the stronger a person's desire, the clearer the image…'
A few drops of my blood landed on the ground.
'I wonder what my desire will be… Maybe something about learning everything in existence?'
[Notice. That would be the case if these runes brought out the target's deepest desire, Master. They are designed to bring out what the target consciously wants the most right now.]
'Hold up…'
My movements paused at Great Sage's words, but before I could do anything—
"You worked hard, didn't you?"
Alice's voice echoed inside the underground dome.
However, unlike her usual calm and gentle voice, this one sounded extremely enchanting and alluring.
My head slowly turned towards the translucent hologram above me, showing the scene of me sitting next to Alice, who wore her usual red-themed armour.
"Good boy…"
Alice smiled, patting my head before leaning forward and pressing her lips against mine.
After the kiss ended, she pushed me to the bed and brought her face a few centimetres above mine.
"In that case, I'll give you a reward…"
Maybe it was because of the runes' inherent limit, but the video paused there, and slowly, I turned around.
I could tell from the look in their eyes… The mysterious and strong image they had of me disappeared in an instant.
The disappointment in Vali's eyes was almost tangible.
Even Arthur couldn't glaze me anymore after what he just saw.
"To have such impure thoughts about your master and hold them back because of the respect you have for her as your teacher… This kind of control over one's emotions is praiseworthy. I'd expect nothing less from a capable swordsman like you, Azrail…!"
Nevermind. His glazing knew no bounds.
"Uwaaa…"
"Huaaaaaa…."
Le Fay and Selina were in a world of their own. They covered their flushed faces with their hands while making incomprehensible noises.
On the other hand, Lieselotte quietly stared at the image with her mouth open, completely dumbfounded.
Not even her ancestors could have calculated this outcome.
As for Hydra, he made a peace sign with his right hand, staring intently at his index and middle finger before—
"I've seen enough. I don't need these anymore…"
Stabbing his own eyes. He even made sure not to remove his fingers and hinder his regeneration.
I turned back towards the text which revealed the thing I consciously desired the most right now.
[To be groomed by Mommy Alice!]
---
Words: 7865
A rare occurrence in fanfics: The main character isn't grooming children but wants to be the victim instead.
Side note: Only Azrail's desire was strong enough to end with an exclamation mark instead of a full stop.
His desire to be groomed surpassed Vali's desire for revenge lol.
Horrendously down bad.
A/N:
I swear Azrail will have a blast during the Evil Dragon War while mass-producing Dragon-type Beyblades and creating an army of Beybladers. (I might seriously do this cause it sounds so random)
Since it's been a while, an almost 8,000 words chapter. Hope none of you died while the fic was gone.