Nethermoor.
Climbing the hilltop towards the lake forest, Zerath and Gressil reached the place where he and Vivia had first found Eurus.
"There was a hidden underground cave here all this time?" Gressil studied it, kneeling near its entrance. "How could we never find it?"
One of the Syrevars from Draconis's Magic Ministry, equipped with the knowledge of magic and mana, hovered his palm over the opening.
"I sense some faint traces of magic, my lord."
"Is that so?" Zerath knelt beside him. "But didn't Sir Draconis already scour Nethermoor in the past for unusual magic sources?"
"It puzzles me as well, my lord. I had accompanied my master on all those trips, but we never sensed this kind of mana."
"This kind? I don't understand. Is it something different?"
"Yes. The mana lingering from this cave is a little unusual from the magic we normally practice. It's similar to this child's magic."
"Eurus?" Zerath turned to him, currently absorbed in chasing a butterfly.
"Yes, my lord."
Gressil touched his chin. "But isn't he an elemental demon like young lord Astaroth? What's so different about his magic?"
Arzan pressed his lips. "Master is still studying Eurus's magic, but we haven't reached a clear conclusion. But there's one thing Master feels."
"And that is?"
"There's somehow…a very natural element to this child's magic. It's a little difficult to explain. Like magic in its purest form."
The syrevar made a few slow gestures, searching for the right words.
"Ah, yes! It's the kind of energy that closely resembles what one feels near Mount Lavos or the Aetherios Tree - and of course, the Realm of Harmony."
Gressil's eyes widened. "You mean this child is connected to the Realm of Harmony? But how?"
"It's only a conjecture at this point, Sir Gressil."
Zerath tilted his head. "Is that why his ice is nearly impossible to break or melt?"
He nodded. "Master Draconis believes so as well. Though he has yet to determine the source of that purity."
"But why were you able to detect this magic now and not earlier?"
Arzan was thoughtful for a moment.
"My theory is that a protective spell was cast. Eurus was inside this cave this entire time, and perhaps the caster didn't want him found at any cost. The magic kept this cave hidden and out of reach."
"But Princess Clairette happened to stumble upon it. Shouldn't the magic have warded us off from this place?"
"I can only guess that the magic fell weaker over time? The spell perhaps lost its original strength, and it slowly began to disintegrate, which is why Princess Clairette stumbled upon it. But I'd need more evidence to support that claim."
"I see. Can you find anything about the caster from these lingering traces?"
"For now, I can conclude that the caster was certainly either Eurus's mother or father. The mana is too similar - almost like a blood relation."
Zerath's gaze turned solemn. "Can it tell whether…the caster is still alive?"
"She must be, otherwise this spell would've dissolved the moment she breathed her last. I can assure my lord that she's alive, but…"
"You don't know what condition she might be in."
Arzan grimly nodded. He took a small stone out that glowed faint yellow.
Gressil asked, "What's that?"
"It can detect magic," he coughed, "It's similar to the magic stone Master Draconis had used during the court proceedings to determine if my lord could use magic or not."
"Well it didn't find any mana, now did it?" Zerath said with a carefree smile.
"Ahem, indeed. But it's glowing now in response to these traces left by Eurus's parents. It'll keep shimmering as long as it senses this mana."
His eyes narrowed. "Which means it could take us to where Eurus's mother is?"
"Possibly, my lord."
Zerath rose. "Then let's waste no further time."
—
The stone took them considerably farther from the lake forest, almost to Nethermoor's border. The canopies turned denser and darker as the stone continued to flicker with energy.
Zerath paused and touched the hilt of his sword as it oddly reverberated in its sheathe.
"My lord?" Gressil turned with a questioning look.
"It's nothing. Let's continue."
At one point, Arzan stopped abruptly and trembled, his expression turning as white as a ghost.
"What happened?" Zerath asked.
A similar sense of discomfort and breathlessness gripped Eurus as well, as though nausea had flooded through his veins.
"The mana here…it's so filthy."
"Filthy?" Gressil knitted his brows.
"I don't know…it feels very dark and ominous here. It's difficult to even breathe properly. Th-This is not normal…As if something terrible has happened here…"
Zerath and Gressil scanned the surrounding forest.
"On the surface, I don't see any signs of violence or disturbance. This looks like any other part of the forest."
Arzan shook his head frantically. "Something is definitely wrong here! I just don't know where. The detection stone is flickering the strongest here."
Once again, Gressil and his troop of knights swept around the area, checking every nook and cranny but found nothing out of the ordinary.
"Where could be that place-"
Zerath stood still. Every last fiber of his cell awakened to a looming threat.
Someone else is here too…
A faint ruffle of leaves emerged from the tal tree beside him, and a shadow launched itself at Zerath. Without a moment's delay, his blade struck against his opponent's spear neck-to-neck. Metal clashed against metal, pounding a sharp screech through the air. As he met his opponent's eyes, his expression shifted entirely.
"Silas."
Silas's lips curved into a smile of light mockery. "Fancy seeing the Crown Prince here in this isolated forest. What brings my lord all the way here?"
Zerath's grip on his hilt never wavered once against Silas's spear.
"I could ask you the same. What brings a humble trinkets shop owner to this faraway forest?"
"That's the beauty of such artifacts. They turned up at the most unexpected places."
"Is that you, Silas?"
His eyes narrowed as a familiar voice reached him. "Commander Gressil. Long time no see."
"I didn't expect to meet you here."
Silas studied his complicated gaze. "Why the pity, Commander? I sense some remembrance of an unneeded past."
"It's not pity, Captain-General-"
"I don't serve the Royal Army anymore," his voice took a cold plunge. "Be careful of how you address me, Commander. Taking offense has become people's pastime now."
Gressil was quiet for a moment. "His Majesty have already punished that noble family who-"
"The past doesn't matter anymore, Commander. Don't bring up something unnecessary."
"It does matter to me. We lost an extremely capable soldier for whom I'd fight tooth and nail to have back."
"Is that why your lord keeps barging into my personal space despite repeated warnings of his murder by my hands?"
Zerath said, "That, and the fact that we're such close friends."
"Were, Crown Prince. You as well. Don't spout unnecessary things. Her Majesty won't appreciate the future Demon Realm's King being friends with a lowly knight from a lowly, no-name tribal village."
At that point, Eurus came rushing over, snapping the uneasy tension in the air. His earlier pale pallor now brightened upon meeting Silas.
"You're here too?" Silas raised a brow.
"Teach me!"
"Sorry to disappoint your expectations, but I'm not here to take you as my disciple."
He scrunched his brows. "T-Teach me!"
Silas sneered. "That's not how this works at all. Anyway, you have two very capable demons to become your masters, don't you?" He eyed Gressil and Zerath.
Silas turned - when a blade cut through the air right past his cheek, where almost simultaneously, his spear blocked it without a trace of hesitation.
"Crown Prince Zerath, if I hadn't known you better, I might have taken this as an attempt on my life."
"I need to talk. I need to understand why you're here."
"You're interfering in a trinket shop owner's life far too much to be suited for a Crown Prince."
"And if I hadn't known you better, I might have written this trip of yours off as insignificant."
"It is insignificant."
"No, it isn't. Something tells me that you're here for the same reason we are."