The ride to Hamilton was, as expected, way quicker. Considering the distance and the fact that we were travelling during nighttime it was an obvious result.
However, it wasn't pleasant in the slightest.
Yudher had requested us to bring Aaron with us, and knowing he'd try to follow us regardless of our answer, I just conceded.
Aaron was fuming with rage, he clearly didn't want to spend a second with us.
The feeling was mutual.
"Aaron, if you're to follow us, it means you have to follow orders clearly and without complaint."
"Ha! Why would I follow your orders?!"
I frowned at his remarks, was this bastard asking for a beating?
"I never said my orders, Odysseus is my captain."
The news silenced everyone, sure I had been the center of everything up until now, but Odysseus was still my captain, regardless of who was actually stronger.
Aaron oblivious of our status started trembling, for him there was no reason to follow orders of someone weaker than yourself and having experienced my prowess firsthand was terrified of Odysseus, who on the other hand just started laughing at my antics.
"That was refreshing, sometimes even I doubt your loyalty in missions, it seems I was scared for nothing."
That was what sealed the deal, and the rest of the trip proceeded as quietly as it could.
_______________________
The dungeon in Hamilton was on the top of a mall which had been enclosed and secured by the government.
Upon arriving, our driver took out a badge with the crest of House Damocles and we all were given access to the place.
This left me a little confused.
"What the fuck is going on? Why is the House acting openly like this?"
Aaron smirked at my question, but I could clearly see the cloud behind his eyes intensifying.
"Things have changed you fool. After the advent of mana we couldn't just stand by."
I looked at him, unwavering, and focused on the cloud. Which sensing my gaze shifted and tried to hide deeper within my brother.
"That is not the way a Damocles should act. We are to be unseen, unknown and most importantly, always forgotten. Or has the house stooped so low that they now want recognition?"
"Shut up you bastard, you don't know shit."
I shrugged and got ready to enter the next dungeon, it was useless to talk with a possessed human either way.
Atop the building we stood facing the crack in space waiting for Aaron to get ready.
The bastard requested armour and weapons completely forgetting he would be doing nothing and just wasting our time.
"D- Klaus, I swear that bitch of a brother you have there is getting in my nerves. Can't we just abandon him?"
I felt the same way and was honestly keen on letting this bastard waste his own life.
But someone wasn't.
"Regardless, if he's possessed by an evil spirit, we don't know what would happen upon his death. And even if Di- Klaus could do something about it, he's just starting to understand spirit magic. Not exactly the easiest of subjects."
Hali and I exhaled, this was exhausting.
After another hour and an half, Aaron was finally ready for war. Literally.
I swear if he dies even after all his preparations I'll double kill him.
Odysseus then spoke. It was finally time.
"Let's go."
____________________
The pulling force and teleport caused by the dungeon was as uncomfortable as the first time, but we were quick to adapt, even Aaron wasn't faring bad.
We found ourself in a dilapidated room, big enough to be considered a ballroom, filled to the brim with destroyed decorations and dead flowers everywhere.
No enemies on sight, but I knew better than to just trust my sight, I quickly expanded my Archana to trace the entire room, and surely enough I felt traces of mana hidden here and there behind the furniture.
"Odysseus, there are traces of mana there."
I pointed at three different locations and waited for orders.
"Go scout, check what they are and get back."
As soon as he said that my breathing changed drastically, the air around me grew colder and my presence started to flicker. Even if I was right in front of everyone, it was difficult to focus on me.
"Fucking bastard, his stealth technique is even scarier when you see him using it in front of you."
Aaron however was speechless.
"How the fuck has he reached such finesse?! It's on par with father!"
Their voices simply passed through me, mission first.
Shrouded in my stealth technique, I approach the corners of the room, and entering a shadowed space I completely disappeared. Moving from shadow to shadow I was able to reach the first traces of mana fairly easily.
What awaited me however, was not a monster nor a humanoid.
It was a carillon.
A carillon that used mana as a battery.
Picking up the musical box I made my way towards the next trace of mana and then the next.
When I was done I blinked back to Odysseus who immediately inquired about my findings.
"This is a carillon, it's a device that produces a predetermined music, it uses mana as battery."
We exchange a meaningful glance and turned to Hali.
"I know I know, I won't ask. Just give me and tell me when to activate it."
"Ok, then there's this violin, another music instrument. It's similar to the harp and I know how to use it, however I don't know it's use in this situation…"
Odysseus gaze was somewhat sad, but I just shrugged it of.
"And the last piece is where things become a little different."
"…"
"Well, it's a song, but this is not a human language…"
"What do you mean it's not human language?"
"Exactly that, I can read it thanks to… that… but this is not human, not even elvish or demonic."
Aaron, listening to my explanation, widened his eyes and snatched the piece of paper from me.
I was so shocked I didn't even try to react.
He analysed the song and shot me a furious glare.
"How can you read this!? It's impossible! Nobody should be able to!!"
"Hali."
She immediately sprung into action and created her waterways binding Aaron, as soon as there was water, I took some seeds from my internal space and threw them at Aaron.
Minor blessing of growth.
Thank goodness Merlin advised me to always keep forage with me.
Creepers started to grow from the seeds and quickly bound what was supposed to be my brother.
"Now this is interesting. Why would you say such things?"
Aaron was quick to be enraged.
"Free me at once! Do you think father would let you go!?"
"Oh Aaron, I'm not talking to you."
His eyes clouded soon after and a crazed smile appeared on his face.
"Since when?"
"It doesn't matter. Now were you originally from this dungeon or did you all possess my family from before?"
This answer was actually quite important for me… if they had been possessed from before… maybe, just maybe…
"Of course we came from this dungeon, your family was stupid enough to enter without a healer to keep us at bay and we quickly possessed them. It's too late however. Nobody can use spirit magic in this world."
Never mind, I shouldn't have even thought of forgiveness.
I got closer to Aaron and snatched the song back. Reading the song in my mind it was clear what kind of song it was.
"Ballade of the lost souls… this seems like a ritual. Why wouldn't you destroy this piece?"
He scoffed and just answered.
"It's forbidden for a spirit to destroy the testaments of rituals, it actually destroys us, but since there's nobody able to use spirit magic, it doesn't really matter."
"Ok, then where is the core?"
Aaron was shocked at my indifference.
"You want to destroy the dungeon? That only means that when your family dies we'll become fully rooted in this world. Doesn't it worry you?"
"No."
"Well, the core is inside the treasure room…"
He was clearly suspicious of my actions, but I decided to play his game for now.
"So? Are the five of you the only spirits in this world or are there more?"
He chocked on his saliva, but eventually answered.
"Just the five of us… why are you asking?"
"Well, Hali can you charge the carillon?"
Not missing the beat, Hali immediately injected her mana inside the carillon that not even a second after started producing a gloomy yet frantic sound. I gave Odysseus the song for him to hold it at my face level and soon enough I starter to play the violin.
The tune was hard to get accostumed to, its melody an unimaginable blend of La danse macabre and Clair de lune.
Yet there was something fascinating about it.
The melody was hypnotic and when my violin started to get more and more in tune with the carillon, a shift happened in the room.
The previously destroyed decor started to mend itself.
The flowers were getting back to life and blooming with vibrant colours.
Aaron started trembling.
"This… this is impossible! There can't be someone who uses spirit magic in this world!"
I ignored his mindless blabber and continued to play, until it was finally time to sing.
"All love, all life, all hate, all death,
Are lost in this dark night.
All might, all fear, all beat, all breath,
Meet in you, chained by fright.
How dear and sweet the traces of life,
To have you succumb to sin.
How sad and mad this cutting knife,
To claim others for your win.
Come dance with us,
We will lead you to rest.
Forget the past,
We never jest.
To eternal peace and evermore damnation,
We'll lead your souls to the unending nation."
I stopped playing the violin, the song had finished and the carillon long stopped playing. Both Odysseus and Hali were crying, looking at me with a sense of reverence clear in their eyes.
Aaron too was crying, but for a different reason.
The cloud that previously was hiding inside him was trying his best to cling to his life force. My ritual clearly had some deep effects on him, but the lost ballad wasn't enough.
I rummaged my mind for details I received when evolving my trait, and there it was.
[to perform the exorcism of an evil spirit, three conditions need to be met: 1, a medium to weaken the link between souls.]
This song was exactly that. Through the use of the lost ballade I had been able to completely weaken the link.
[2, a medium of transfer, an object that contains life force, without being actually being alive.]
This could be a little problematic, but I thought I could put a drop of blood on something and that would suffice for the moment. Of course I needed to find another way in the future.
I'm not even sure if this will be a recurring event, but better safe then sorry.
[3, sufficient affinity with spirit magic to completely banish the soul.]
And that was something we were going to find out.
I tore a piece of fabric from my sleeve, bit into my forearm and dropped some blood on the piece of cloth immediately healing myself afterwards.
With the bloody sleeve in my hand, I approached Aaron and held it up, near his face. Soon enough the evil spirit possessing my brother started to release him and rush into the fabric, fully absorbing my blood.
Now all that was left was to find out if I could effectively banish him.
I wasn't sorry to experiment on my brother, he would have died anyway, so at least he could have helped me with my research.
I focused on the cloth before me and willed fire to envelop it. I then started to inject my Archana to the fire. I wasn't sure what spirit magic was, but Archana was the only source of magic for me, so it felt like this was the only possible thing to do.
And soon enough, the color of my flames started to change.
From orange red, to magenta then blue and finally black.
When the flame became completely black, a world shattering scream echoed in the room. The evil spirit was about to be banished.
[the constellations of the underworld are awaiting your decree.]
Once again, I was to decide where to sent this soul, but this time the answer was already made.
"The Father to whom all go."
[invalid choice, the Olympian nebula and their myths have no authority on this dimension.]
What the fuck?!
With all the similarities between my family and Zeus I was sure he had something to do with my transmigration, but now the Akashic records say they have no authority here?
"Then… what are my choices?"
I didn't know if this decision held any importance, for all I knew, it was just an underworld.
[1- The brightest star
2- The darkest liar
3- The 72 pillars]
The first and last options were clearly Lucifer and the thrones of Ars Goetia, but the second one was actually confusing.
However, since this exorcism was only possible thanks to my newly acquired trait, there wasn't even a choice to be made.
"The 72 pillars."
As soon as I decided, the flames extinguished and a new notification appeared before me.
[Save the best for Lust salutes his old friend.]
Fuck, I forgot.
Asmodeus.