Noir had been making preparations for a large assault. He wasn't going to intervene personally, but he liked having enough competent troops at The Holy Kingdom's call. He looked more serious than normal, which was hard to achieve for someone like him.
Walking through the large corridors of the Castle of Light, he came across one of his colleagues.
"Good afternoon, Noir. Your face tells me there's an issue, can I help?", the woman's voice was a pleasure to the ears while being a sight for sore eyes as well. Her long green hair was tied up in a ponytail, and despite her looks, she still held a neutral face, not that it diminished her beauty in any way.
She was an ideal for many, but Noir felt she was nothing compared to the Goddess. "Vert, I was just going to visit someone unpleasant. If you want to aid us, I would appreciate you focusing on mass-producing potions and vaccines for known and obscure diseases."
Bowing slightly, "I'll get to it right away," despite being on the same level and both being parts of the Colors, she was fully obedient to Noir, who was oblivious to her standing. He left right away, leaving her alone.
Staring at his back, she felt great devotion, not from blind faith, there were plenty of fanatics that could do that for her. No, she felt respect for him purely based on his past. Vert was one of the few Colors that dared to investigate the past of Aurora.
Hiding it from everyone else, what she found would break the current status quo, making it clear she wasn't supposed to reveal her knowledge.
'To reset the world multiple times, starting from scratch again and again requires massive determination.'
Through rigorous work, she discovered she wasn't the first Vert of the Colors. There were plenty of previous iterations that were removed from existence during a Great Reset. She knew full well that her position wasn't one she could abandon knowing what the future possibly held. The best she could do was prove her usefulness and show she was worth keeping around.
Her stare didn't go unnoticed, Noir was simply too perceptive and noticed it right away. Still, he cared little for her, so he moved on. 'She's a good worker, but lacks initiative, wasted potential.'
Arriving at a large teleportation array, he quickly stepped on it and entered coordinates that only two beings knew, man and Goddess.
Crossing space in an instant, the room he ended up in was bleak and gray, contrasting the bright shining light from the castle before. What Noir stepped into was the maximum level prison for evildoers that nobody knew the location of, except for him and his master of course.
There were barely any people worth keeping in here. To be kept here, there were two conditions. One, the prisoner had to commit a crime worthy of death, two, the prisoner couldn't be killed.
Not wasting any time, he moved to the stairs and descended them to the lowest floor. He hadn't visited this place often, rarely even. Despite the tons of arrays placed on every single brick in the prison, Noir knew full well it wasn't enough to keep them here forever.
Finally reaching two large doors, Noir opened them with both hands as the mere weight was enough for him to try his best. Behind the door was a large empty sphere with a small cross standing upright at the very center. The only way to reach it was through a small walkway that was lit up by small lights.
Entering the room, Noir closed the doors, this time with more effort than before. He could feel the magic being drained from his body. With each step towards the center, he felt the weight on his shoulders increase multiple times.
Reaching the small platform where the cross was, a single being was chained up on it. Staring at the being, it was far from human, mostly a black mass with a single mask serving as a face. His feet, or what served as it, had multiple nails pierced through them while magical chains were tightly wrapped round his legs and the cross.
His hands stretched out to both sides of the cross, the nails and chains were keeping them firmly in place. The white mask had a large smile, but no eyes. Cracks covered the mask, yet it mattered little as it was no part of the being itself.
"A visitor? At this time? You must be worried," the voice was calm and collected, as if expecting Noir to come here.
"I have nothing to worry about. With my Lady, there is nothing in this universe that even closely resembles a threat."
"Hehehe... always the faithful one, aren't you? Your Goddess is nothing compared to The Great One," it wasn't a boastful remark, anything but, it was stated as a normal fact.
Noir furrowed his brows, not taking the disrespect to his master lightly. "I've not come here to discuss this. With the current developments on Aurora, I need intel to make sure I can avoid the worst outcome. I've only come here to ask you if the Demon God is still alive."
"How would I know?"
"Don't bother hiding it, I know this prison couldn't possibly hold you."
"I beg to differ, you put quite a lot of work into it. I can feel my mana draining at such a fast pace, I believe any other mage would be dead by now. Even my brother wouldn't stand a chance."
"Stop your tricks, I know you already escaped with a small part of your consciousness," staring right at the mask, it cracked slightly, enlarging the creepy smile.
"Hehehe... what would you know, you child?"
"Just because you're a Primordial One doesn't give you the right to call me that, you monster."
"Of course, anything inhuman is a monster, isn't it? Hehehe, you have no idea what's waiting ahead, do you?"
Noir couldn't help but let his mind roam to the conversation he had with his master not that long ago. Gritting his teeth, he raised his aura, the darkness in the room seemed to come alive, not that the prisoner showed any change in expression. The creepy smile was all he had.
"The Demon God is alive, but worthless."
Retracting his aura, Noir showed a slightly mocking smile, "Didn't know you would be so easily threatened."
"Hehehe... you think you can threaten me? You couldn't even kill me properly, not even you Fair Lady could. No, there's only one being that has that kind of power."
"Your supposedly 'Great One'?"
The being got quiet as Noir felt the non-existent eyes pierce him. There weren't any eyeballs that he could see, yet the stare felt insufferable. The being spoke in a calm tone but somehow a hint of fear was audible.
"You know nothing, young one. Gods and Goddesses are aplenty, yet none stand up to the Great One. Enjoy the freedom you have, because soon, He will awaken again, and you will all be purged."
"I'd like to see that happen. My Lady has been perfecting the arts of her powers for eons, that Great One wouldn't even be able to hold a candle to Her!"
"Hehehe- HAHAHA! You fool! A Tiger can train all it want, when faced with a Dragon it will perish in an instant!"
"I'm wasting my time here, I got my answer," turning around, Noir left the being alone. It didn't respond with any words as laughter filled the hollow sphere. Even as Noir left the prison, the being continued to laugh to the point of insanity.
---
In an abandoned alley, a demon with a broken horn was being beaten. His skin, covered in scratches from the rocks that the surrounding mob had been throwing at him. Kicking him in his stomach, punching his face, the people around him laughed at his state. They were all humans, yet the sickening grin on their faces would make people believe they were more monster than anything.
"C'mon buddy! Get back up! Where's that rebellious spirit from before, huh?", laughing at their power difference, they cared little for the demon on the ground.
The men suddenly felt a chill run up their spines as a hooded man passed them. His hands covered in scars, he reached out to the demon. "Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing? We're not finished yet!"
Retracting his hand from the demon, the man summoned a Dark Sword, holding the blade next to the leader's throat, he instantly felt his life flash before his eyes. Standing completely frozen, one of his friends suddenly realized who the hooded man was.
"Boss, there's only one mage that can make his Darkness manifest like that."
"You're right, my apologies, disciple of the Magus. We'll leave you to it," the men quickly scurried away, not caring in the slightest about their honor or perception. In the war camp, certain unwritten rules existed. One of them was to stay away from the Magus in charge, especially his student.
The man let his sword vanish as he reached out to the demon again. Yet he only got a glare back.
"What? Do you think I would be grateful?"
The man didn't answer as his blank face had trouble expressing emotions. His hand stayed empty as the demon got up on his own, the chain around his neck rustling.
"Scaring them away will now will only intensify the next one."
'Why are you not fighting back?'
"What the-? Speaking in my mind? Think you can just invade my privacy like that? Just because I'm a slave doesn't mean you get to boss me around."
'You have great potential as a mage, so why sit back?'
"Hah! You think it's so easy fighting back? As long as I'm wearing this collar, I can't use any magic. Besides, they got rid of my horns."
'Would releasing you from that collar be freedom for you?'
"What are you on about? Forget it, I have to go. The master will be angry if I'm late."
Before the demon could turn around, the scarred hand had already grabbed the collar. "Stop it, you can't break a slave collar that easily anyway, you need the permission of the-"
An audible cracking noise appeared as the weight that had been weighing on his shoulders for so long suddenly fell to the ground. "What?"
Grasping his own neck, he felt the soft, vulnerable skin underneath. It hurt to touch with his rough hands. The man expected the demon to be happy and express some thanks, yet all he got was anger.
"What the hell do you think you just did?! Without a collar, I'm going to be hung when they find me! A collar is just a sign, they put a tracking device on me! I can't just escape, you idiot!"
'Follow me, I'll help remove the beacon for you.'
The man turned around and left, leaving a confused demon behind. Seeing the man not falter in his steps in the slightest, the demon hurried to catch up. Because while the man did break several rules, walking to his master would just result in punishment. If he could keep his promise of removing the beacon, he might become a free man again.
If he played his cards right, he could frame it as a kidnapping and diminish the possible punishment. If things worked out, he would be free, it was a win win scenario, for him at least.
Walking besides him, the man kept his stoic look.
"Wait a second, just who are you to openly steal a slave like me?"
'I'm nobody. I just want to help the greater good.'
"And you think helping me will mean anything?"
'No. I can only hope by helping you, you will in turn help others in their time of need.'
"You sound like an old man, you bastard. No mage does anything without expecting something in return."
As they walked through the war camp, many powerful mages passed them by, yet all ignored the free demon the moment they laid their eyes on his companion.
Arriving at a large tent, the man entered without hesitation. The demon recognized the camp's insignia.
'This is a tent for Magus Seoris Rigurus? That monster?!', the demon dared not enter, for what punishment he might incur walking into that place uninvited would be worse than all the beatings he had gotten.
'He's my master, don't worry,' just as he felt uninvited to this tent, the sudden voice reading his thoughts and answering was just as unpleasant.
"Stop reading my mind!", the demon almost stormed in only to halt in his tracks. The grand magus wasn't present, but a few others were. Each one was a powerful figure he heard about, yet never saw in person.
On the right a beautiful Mermaid was present. She had her legs, but her fins, webbed fingers, the gills in her neck, and her obvious blue skin gave it away. She had a small tiara on her head and a soft smile when she saw him. "Please don't be angry at him, he can't control it."
She smiled at him as she waved her hand, healing all his injuries. Feeling better certainly improved his mood, but he wasn't finished yet. On the other side, a beauty of a dryad sat on a small wooden chair. A tent filled with two beauties and a seemingly cursed man in the center, the demon had no idea what was going on.
"Hello there red boy, what's ya name?", the dryad asked with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.
"My name, it's Astaroph, I don't have a second name," the man looked down, feeling embarrassed to be of low birth, yet both the dryad and the mermaid couldn't care less.
"Where you come from matters nothing, little Astaroph, it's what you do with the body you're given," the mermaid spoke eloquently, never losing her elegance.
'You have potential to become a powerful mage. Will you join me? Then I will aid you on the path of magic.'
Astaroph frowned, not liking the fact he kept hearing someone else's voice in his head. "I'm not even Rank 2 and I'm already 29 years old. I don't have the necessary talent to grow as a mage. I've been at it for almost two decades, and barely got anywhere."
"Hihihi, doesn't matta, boy! You never stop growing," the dryad had a green radiance behind her, vines had grown to cover a side of the tent.
"Like she says, I was also Rank 1 a few years ago, yet now I'm already Rank 4. If you join us, you'll grow quickly, but, young man, you have to promise to never use your powers for evil."
The mermaid gave an extremely tempting offer, to grow so fast in a few years was unprecedented. Seeing how things turned out, Astaroph had a ton of questions.
"Is it because you gain training from the Magus?"
"No, not in the slightest, he doesn't even look at us. We have our private tutor to thank for our powers."
The man in the middle hadn't moved in the slightest as he sat in a small but comfortable chair.
Astaroph stared at him, scared to think of something for he might see it. Gathering his courage to speak up, he suddenly heard someone enter the tent. A massive shadow covered the ground he stood on.
"You brought another one? Are you trying to create a zoo?", voiced with a hint of annoyance, the massive antlers in the shadows were unmistakable. The grand magus was right behind him, sweat covered his back in an instant.
'I have no intention of that. He was troubled and I helped him.'
"You say that, but I can hardly believe you. The first time, you said you saved a small plant on the cusp of drying out and it turned into a rare dryad harnessing the power of a Rank 5 over time. Then you said you came across a small girl being robbed who turned out to be a princess of an underwater kingdom. Weak as she was, she now has more power than the average soldier in my war camp."
Walking past the demon, he pointed his gloved finger at the man. "Now you bring a demon here? What is he going to turn into? A demonic god or something?"
The man simply stared back at the Magus, not making it clear if he answered or not since he always spoke directly to the mind.
"Fine. Just don't cause too much trouble for me, you know how I hate the unnecessary attention."
'My apologies, master.'
"Not very sincere when you keep bringing people in," the Magus turned around and quietly left with a sigh.
Astaroph felt like he had just seen his life flash before his eyes. To meet the grand Magus from up close and still live is a reward someone of his standing would never get.
'So they got training from him and got so powerful?', Astaroph wasn't exactly convinced yet, but to see the massive growth from those two did put him in an awkward spot.
'Exactly.'
"Stop it already!"
The girls in the room started to laugh, clearly already used to his antics. "So what do you really want from me."
The man didn't respond as he knew who would step in. "Oh reddy, we want nothing from ya. This is an opportunity for you, join us and we'll help you grow as a mage."
"And in return?"
'Don't use your powers for evil,' hearing that voice in his mind again, he felt like glaring, but refrained from doing so.
"And?", to Astaroph it made absolutely zero sense to help someone for no reason at all. They were mages, no deal would be left unexploited.
'That is all.'
"That's it?"
"Hihihi, looks like you're not used to having someone care for you, right?", the princess couldn't help herself from intervening, her light smile was extremely attractive, but Astaroph shook his head.
"Care for me?"
"Yes, he only helps people who he empathizes with. The ones with talent get invited. The choice is up to you, you wouldn't be the first to refuse."
While the girls looked incredible and were very friendly, the man in the center hadn't changed his stance or look throughout the entire time he met him. He was a stone cold surface.
"Fine."
---
Waking up with a slight headache, Lucas had another dream he couldn't place. It didn't feel like a dream, more an experience if anything. It put him off, both sides of him didn't like the unnatural feeling, not that they could control their dreams.