Hey guys! Long time no read, huh? Sorry for the very long wait! I don't have much to say other than it was because of college. Anyway, here's the newest chapter! Too bad I wasn't able to post this on the fic's first anniversary. Also, sorry, I don't have any replies below the chapter. It's kinda late here, and I'm about to sleep. You're welcome to ask in the discord server, tho.

Anyway, enjoy!

(P.S. Tell me if some parts don't make sense. Fanfiction fucks up a lot of my texts every time I upload them here. Unlike the usual, this chapter's too long for me to check through properly.)


Why do we exist?

That is the ultimate question, is it not?

Rather, that should be the first to come to our minds.

There are obviously many answers, but mine only needs two words.

To serve.

Whether it be our homeland, our faith, our family, our own desire, it can even be something as intangible as an idea. I believe the reason for our existence is to serve.

I only realized this when my mother died. It felt so long ago.

You were only a child back then.

It is better to have realized this sooner than later. I sometimes wish I had known even earlier.

Anyway, this is especially true for your kind, isn't it? To find the perfect master to serve, or to become one yourself.

Right. And I have chosen you as mine. So, why are we talking about this?

Because I don't want you to serve me.

...then—

I want you to serve this empire.

You mean you want me to serve your family?

No. I'm not asking you to serve its rulers or even its land. I'm asking you to serve the people who call this place their home. I want you to serve the men who plow the fields, the mothers who raise their young in our lands, and the children who look up to you in adoration.

Can you do it for them, Sol?

Definitely. I will not fail you.


"I'm sorry. I have failed you."

Sol knelt down beside the youngest prince, who looked bruised and battered, sobbing as he held onto his mother's rapier tightly.

The newest crown prince had finished his 'bout' with his younger brother, and with the Covenant Lord beside him, Sol could do nothing but watch.

He had failed to protect his prince.

He had failed to protect his prince's family.

And now, with the hero in the picture, he was going to fail to protect the empire.

He had failed all his promises.

The servants and maids swiftly took the youngest prince into the infirmary. Sol stayed kneeling in place.

Was this how it was going to be from now on? What more could he do? As he knelt there next to the leftover pool of the youngest prince's blood, he remembered the late prince's words. He still had a reason to exist. The empire was without a doubt about to enter its darker times, yet hope was not lost. As long as he could free the prince and find someone to raise him to become a more competent ruler, then the empire wasn't finished. Men shall continue to reap crops, not heads. Mothers shall raise leaders, not expendables. Children shall walk on the fields, not spill blood on them.

Now wasn't the time to give up.

Sol knew of one way he could set things right. At least, he hoped. But if it failed, then it wouldn't be much worse than the current situation.

He went straight into the griffin knights' barracks. His gait foretold his resolve, but his eyes told of his uncertainty.

Prince Gideon rarely ever entered his room in the palace, opting to stay near his men and the griffins instead.

Sol went up the floors until he reached his prince's room in the barracks. It had occupied the entirety of the top floor, the thing separating it from the stairs was a metal door flanked by potted plants on each side.

Sol picked up one of the pots and took the key underneath it. Then, he turned the other one until a keyhole appeared. Inserting the key into it, he heard a clicking sound by the door as it slowly opened.

If he had put the key into the door's keyhole, then his hand would've received a nasty shock and the alarms would've gone off.

"The best kind of distraction is a moderately invested false lead," his prince used to say.

Entering the room, he could tell none have managed to enter this room since the prince died. Seeing all the confidential files in the room, he made a mental note to burn all of it when he was finished here. After seeing how the emperor acted and the presence of the Covenant Lord, he decided it was better to lose all the important information than to let it fall into the wrong hands. Though, he couldn't deny that part of the reason was just for doing it out of spite.

He opened one of the drawers and took out an old leather-bound book. The cover held its title:

The Book of Black

It was said that before the Day of Cursing, when the Black Demon Diablo still terrorized the world, he wrote a book for his apprentice. In time, that book was then caught in the hands of the Church.

It stayed in the deepest parts of the Church until it was stolen during the Blindsighting.

It fell into the hands of Hans Folde, an ancient emperor and the ancestor of the current Folde household. It was kept by the Foldes in secret, hidden far away from the light of day until all the Foldes' descendants forgot about it.

It wasn't until Gregory Folde, the father of the current emperor and prince Gideon's grandfather, who had retraced all their treasures and found the book, was it returned to the Church in order to strengthen political ties. Though, that was only the cover up.

Gregory had actually made an identical yet heavily edited copy of the book and sent it back to the church. He told no one of this, not even his family. And since no one had seen the book for centuries, everyone, including the Church due to the deaths of its original predecessors, was none the wiser.

It was only on his deathbed that Gregory told and gave the original to prince Gideon. He had said only he was the one who would be able to accept the 'truth of the past.' Not even his son, the current emperor, was worthy.

Supposedly, the truth behind Diablo's origins, his goals, and even forgotten history before the time before he came, was written within. The old emperor had made a copy to the church so that no one else but the empire could have the original as a trump card.

And here it was, right in the palm of his hand.

Sol gulped. He couldn't help but get nervous. This was a book written by the greatest evil known to history. It was natural that even the toughest of men would feel a chill on their backs at the sight of such a historical piece of blasphemous knowledge.

He began reading, but it turned out he knew of very few words.

Sol realized that this could be the language that had been used in ancient times.

Thankfully, he did manage to figure out a few words. The Blade had taught him a few symbols from his language. Sol believed he called it Katako- err, Katakana, or something.

"Ri... Rimu.. Rimuru Temp- Tempest?"

"Watch your tongue, hybrid."

Sol quickly spun around, his weapon in hand pointing at the individual sitting behind his prince's desk.

The man had pitch black hair with red and gold locks. His eyes glowed similar colors. What was most inhuman about him was that his scleras were black.

"Who are you!? How did you get in here!?"

The man, who Sol could feel from his presence alone, was definitely a demon. A powerful one at that.

"First, you read my book without my permission, then you said my Master's name in vain. Now, you even have the gall to point your weapon at me?"

The demon laughed almost hysterically.

Sol's grip on his weapon tightened. His book?

"Truly, our 'blood' has thinned in the face of isolation. Guy was wrong for cutting you guys off from the demon world. Now it's devolved to this, this, this inferior..."

He let out another laugh, reveling in schadenfreude.

"I should be disgusted, but it is very interesting to see how my kin has survived all these years without contact from the outside."

The way the demon talked brought Sol a great sense of foreboding.

"...You still haven't answered me. Who are you, and why are you here?"

He then heard the demon's voice from behind.

"There's no need to point out the obvious now, is there?"

He tried to turn around, but found himself unable to move a muscle. His eyes darted back to behind the desk, which was now empty.

"A... Are you... Diablo?"

The demon walked out in front of him and bowed.

"The one and only."


Finishing his business with the Black Demon, he started a small fire in the room, hoping it would all burn down by the time he was done.

He walked back into the palace.

The Covenant Lord was given the biggest and most luxurious guest room in the entirety of the empire. It even topped the princes' rooms. It was big enough to fit an entire school and had enough furniture which if converted into wealth, could feed an entire town for a year.

Sol knocked on the gigantic twin doors.

"...I didn't order anything, did I?" a muffled voice sounded from behind the doors.

The door opened to reveal the white haired half-elven man.

When he looked at the knight, his face was filled with sick delight.

"Ah, if it isn't the faithful knight. Why have you come, child?"

"I need to talk to you in private," he said briskly.

The 'hero' had an amused look on his face.

"Sure, sure. Come in." He said condescendingly, "I hope that you'll behave while you're here. Because, you know, naughty kids get punished."

Closing the doors, they both walked in. The Covenant Lord stood to the far end of the room, obviously expecting something to happen.

"So, what is this all about?"

Sol was a man of few words. Even when alone with his prince, he would rarely start a conversation and would only respond concisely.

Therefore...

"Not much... only your death!"

The Lord's eyes widened as the knight suddenly appeared in front of him. On his hand was a claw-like gauntlet, with all the fingers aiming for his vital spots, and on his back were a pair of black leathery wings.


Earlier

"You are a hybrid, correct?"

"A... what?"

"Ah, I believe the people of this world call your kind half-demons."

To say Sol was nervous was like saying he was slightly annoyed at the emperor. Sol hated his current emperor.

He needed to be careful with his wording. One wrong move and he'd send the entire world back to the dark ages.

"Yes. That is what I am."

"Excellent."

The demon gestured to him to sit behind the desk. To that the knight only stood awkwardly. He sighed and snapped his fingers, and Sol suddenly found himself sitting on his prince's chair.

"Relax yourself. We are above taking offense to trivial things like nervous chatter."

We? Who are we? thought Sol.

"Do you have a name?"

"...It's Sol," he said carefully.

Raising an eyebrow, Diablo asked, "Who named you?"

"Myself."

"How arrogant," said the Black Demon, his tone coming close to a sneer.

"Not even my master named himself. Only the most prideful of demons dare to do something so sinful, and you are no descendant of his."

Sol had a hard time understanding. "You... You had a master?"

"Have." The demon narrowed his eyes. "I'll forgive your impudence only because you know so little about him."

The knight gulped. The Master of the Black Demon? Just what kind of abomination was he? The knight felt his stomach drop.

"But enough about me. You seem to be the type to get straight to the point. How much are you willing to sacrifice?"

"...what?"

"Do not lie to yourself. For what reason do you covet my book if not for power?"

"...I thought you knew everything."

That was honestly what he thought. Since, what kind of being could sense the name of their master from a random place far, far away?

Diablo chuckled before pointing towards the book.

"That book contains records of what I saw and heard. In return, it has become my other eyes and ears."

Shaking his head, he said, "It's not my job to know everything. That job unfortunately already belongs to someone else."

This time Sol was certain the demon was sneering, but not at him.

The knight then felt another pair of eyes staring at him. If Diablo's gaze was like a gateway to damnation, this gaze was like drowning him in a freezing lake—the cold biting his skin and the water stabbing his lungs. It felt like the owner of those eyes saw the world as if it were a chessboard, only that it had seen and memorized all the moves.

He looked around but couldn't see anyone else.

"You needn't eavesdrop. I will report this myself upon his return. My guest and I are already uncomfortable with you just staring at us." Diablo sounded like he was genuinely annoyed at the other party.

{Hmph.}

The coldness suddenly vanished, as if it was never there to begin with.

"W-was that the—"

"Voice of the World?" asked the demon amusedly. "No, she's much, much worse than that piece of junk."

He continued, "The Voice eliminates all that try to go against it and the ones who try to gain access without its permission. She, on the other hand, would use those that went against her and our master up until the very last drop of their potential. Only then will she punish them into eternal damnation."

Sol trembled.

All this talk about him belittling the Voice of the World and talking about the 'outside' and the people he didn't recognize made him feel that he, no, that the whole world itself was insignificant. That the might of the empire itself stood no ground against beings who were truly ancient.

"Before we get on to the price of power, I would like to ask you something."

Sol was suddenly confronted with the all too familiar question:

"What is the reason for your existence?"

At that, the griffin knight said without hesitation, "To serve."

The demon's face turned to surprise before turning into fervent joy.

"Precisely! There is no greater task in existence than to serve willingly!" The demon clapped enthusiastically. "Bravo! Bravo!"

The round of applause continued for another minute until the Black Demon stopped.

"All right. You are worthy of my help."

He then walked over beside him.

"To receive my aid in your ordeal, you need only promise me two things. First, forsake your humanity—your human half, that is. Second, devote yourself to my master for eternity."

There wasn't much of a choice. And honestly, between the empire and the ancient demons, he strangely felt the latter was the lesser of two evils.

{Notice: Will you form a contract with

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Warning: Chances of survival: less than 0.01% }

As if hearing the same thing, Diablo's grin widened before him.

He decided it was best to ignore whattheactualfuck the notice the Voice gave him.

"I promise." He wouldn't fail anymore. This was his last shot.

"Good, good."

Diablo touched the back of his neck.

"I've transferred the runes onto me—"

"But—"

"Don't worry. The other party will be safe. I already read the contents of the magic. And did you honestly think that something as trivial as an Elder Sigil, one from a being no older than a few hundreds of years even, could affect me?" Diablo snorted.

"E-Elder Sigil?"

The demon explained dismissively, "A sigil that produces runes which are supposedly a hundred percent effective against those younger than the user. It works especially well with punishing younglings. Though, it's surprising that one fell onto his hands. We haven't used those since the then new school policy. Damn rebellious crybabies."

Diablo clicked his tongue.

He then produced a dark metal gauntlet that had fingers that looked like pointy claws.

"One attack from this should destroy the sigil and all the runes tied to it. Be wary, though. It will only work once. Then it will self-decompose. If you haven't turned into a full demon by the time this item is used, then I will take it as if you've betrayed the promise. If that happens, well, just remember what will happen if I activate this rune."

Prince Thomas...!

What had he gotten himself into? Now he was going to unwittingly involve the poor prince too?

"Don't be so distraught. Regardless if you succeed or fail, if you keep your end of the bargain, then I will remove the runes on the other party. I swear on the name given to me by my master."

Oh. That was much better.

"All right."

The demon nodded. "Then I will take my leave. Now go and fulfill your purpose."

And with that, he vanished.


"Hah! I knew I felt a bit of demon within you the moment I cursed you!"

The Covenant Lord suddenly disappeared and appeared in another part of the room.

"Only, I thought you were a half-demon like that halfbreed the Blade."

Clicking his tongue, Sol took the time to quip. "Aren't you also a halfbreed, long ears?"

The Lord's face turned ugly. Well, he was already ugly to him, so he turned even uglier.

"How dare you! You'll pay for what you said, you naughty boy!"

The Lord then smirked, realizing something. "I still have my runes on you, you know."

The Lord flicked his hand, expecting something to happen. But after a short while, nothing did.

"W-what?"

"I've already gotten rid of them. You have nothing on me anymore."

Sol rushed to him again.

And the Covenant Lord teleported again.

"That's impossible! How!?"

"Fuck you, that's how!" was his reply.

Sol looked below where the Lord had stood. There were runes etched. A quick stomp wrecked the floor and the runes with it.

This cycle repeated until the Lord only had one teleportation rune left.

"Shit! I'm not weak in melee combat, but even I know I don't stand a chance against a full-fledged demon in close-ranged combat!" thought the Covenant Lord. "Looks like I'll have to use that."

Before the claw pierced him, he casted, "Summon: Saint Claws!"

Sol could practically see his victory taken away from him one more time.

Before the claw entered the Lord's bowels, another creature appeared and took the hit for him.

The creature was naked, had red skin, and had a white mane on its head. It towered over him. On its hands were claws even longer than the ones that the Black Demon gave him. Overall, it looked like a cross between a lion and a man who walked on two legs.

There was a sound of shattering. Looking down, he saw the claws crumble to pieces.

"No... Damn it...! Damn it all! Not again!"

Sol fell to his knees in defeat. He had failed once again. Knowing this, he let out a guttural scream.

Saint Claws looked at the screaming man and took it for a challenge. It roared louder before it swung its hand and gored the man.

One of the empire's finest metal armors stood no chance against them. The claws tore through them no harder than it tore through the knight's flesh.

At the repeated slashing of the beast, the knight was turned to mince meat in seconds.

A black light remained, before it was suddenly absorbed into an even darker swirling hole that appeared out of nowhere. It was quick enough to disappear that the distracted Covenant Lord didn't even notice.

The Covenant Lord sighed in relief.

"Hah... Hahaha... hahahahaha! I was right to enslave you! You make a pretty great slave! Good job, child!"

The Lord once again flicked his hand.

"Now go back to your cell. Unsummon: Saint Claws."

And once again, nothing happened.

The beast slowly turned around to face him, its face a mix between great joy and deep rage. Joy at having its freedom once again and rage at the little white elf for caging it for years.

Without a moment of hesitation, it pounced on him.

"Fuck!"

The Covenant Lord had no choice but to teleport using his last surviving rune... which was promptly destroyed as the beast let out its terrifying aura, which cracked the whole floor of the room, destroying the rest of his runes on the floor with it.

"Shit shit shit!"

Having lived for this long, the Lord was bound to have a few tricks up his sleeves... literally.

He pulled on his sleeve, activated the rune that was on his wrist, and shouted, "Halfbreed, I need your help!"

He had other heroes as options, but he figured the Blade was the perfect one, what with his connection to his now newly graduated slave.

("...What do you want, John?")

"It's very urgent. Life-threateningly urgent! I need you here now!"

("I'm busy. And since you're such a big boy, you can handle a few problems on your own, can't you?")

The Covenant Lord growled. He hated dealing with demonic scum.

He quickly dodged another attack before replying.

"Don't you dare mock me, demon! If you want your brother dead, now's the best time for that!"

A brief moment of silence permeated before the Blade answered.

("You owe me. More than you have before.")

"Yes, yes! Whatever! Argh!"

A claw hit his shoulder.

"G-greater summon:... Blade!"

Just before its other hand fell onto him, it was blocked by a curved, metal sword.

The holder of that sword, while tall and muscular, still looked smaller than the beast. Yet, the man was able to push back the beast far enough to give room to breathe.

"How long has it been since we last faced each other, brother?"

The answer the clawed beast gave the Blade was naught but a guttural roar.

"Don't worry. I will free you."

And with that, they clashed.

He didn't need to look back to know the Covenant Lord had run away the moment he arrived. It was in his nature to be an ungrateful coward.

He looked back at the monster his brother had become. Before him was the symbol of his failure.

He gripped Orpoblitz tightly.

"I won't fail you again."

The Blade charged, and so did the red beast.

His katana entered its stomach, and its claws entered his chest. A normal man would've fallen from just one piercing. But the Blade was anything but normal.

" [Gladiator] ! "

The beast roared in pain as the blade of the sword drank up its blood from inside. The Blade sliced open the beast's stomach, letting blood and gore drop down onto him.

As they separated, the holes the monster punctured into the Blade slowly closed.

Bloodletter, Undying, and Baptism were subskills to his [Gladiator] skill. The Bloodletter allowed him to drink blood through the sharp metal objects he wielded, and Undying allowed him to stay awake even when his body was in an unimaginable state. The subskills went hand in hand as Undying allowed him to use the blood he drank to heal himself and regenerate.

As for Baptism...

The Blade roared back.

Baptism gave him even greater strength and speed, and also gave him unlimited stamina as long as he was bathed in the blood of his enemies.

No matter how powerful Saint Claws was, even it would tire at some point. And that was what the Blade was aiming for.

In its moment of weakness, the Blade's blade went through his brother's neck.

Its head rolled down, and soon its body followed.

"It's... over."

The only thing keeping him from collapsing on the spot was that he didn't know where the fuck he was.

Only an amateur would show their backs in an unfamiliar place. He needed to get to a safe place to calm himself down and rest. He was sure that this room was supposed to be luxurious before it was torn up by his brother. If the size of the room didn't make it obvious, then the decor and furnitu—

He saw a single wide cherry red eye staring at him from behind the door. He walked towards it slowly, so as to not scare the child away. Who was he kidding? His current state alone could make grown men vomit and shake. Yet, strangely, the child showed no sign of fear.

The Blade opened the slightly ajar door. Behind it was a little boy with hay colored hair.

He knelt down and asked, "Are you injured anywhere?"

The boy shook his head. The Blade tilted his head in confusion.

"Are you not afraid?"

It was the boy's turn to tilt his head.

"Of what?" He looked around and pointed at the corpse of his mutated brother. "That?"

The Blade noted that the boy didn't even deem him frightening even in the slightest. There clearly was something wrong in his head. But... "Yes."

"Why would I be afraid? He's dead isn't he?"

"He?"

"You said that he is... was your brother," retorted the child as he pouted.

The swordsman couldn't help but chuckle at his logic. Though, the boy wasn't wrong in the slightest. There was no need to fear a corpse. In fact, there was no need to feel or care for a lifeless body.

The child then continued, "...We're the same."

"How so?"

"My brother is also a monster," said the boy blankly.

It was only then that the Blade began to notice. He looked over the child's body. It was bruised and bandaged. He showed signs of long-term abuse.

The Blade said, "My brother wasn't always a monster."

"Neither was mine."

"I failed to save my brother. My failure led him to become what you see of him now."

The boy didn't answer. It appeared their similarities ended there.

"Save my brother? Can I do that?"

Yet those hopeful eyes, that gaze he himself had once held before it was washed away by his own despair. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't. They really were...

"Do you want to?"

The boy thought it over.

"My brother was very nice to me before he changed. Yes. I want to save him. Can you teach me how?"

A rare smile appeared on his lips.

"Yes, I can."


Diablo looked at the scene before him with mild amusement. If he didn't know any better, he'd have guessed these two were fated to meet.

Diablo was a demon of his word. He already dispelled the rune on the child. But, he kept the mark there, just to make it seem it still functioned.

"This should be fun."

He made note to return a few years later to see how their relationship progressed. Oh, and about that matter with the Aubert child's group too, thought Diablo.

With that, he teleported out of there, to meet with his newest recruit.

On Sol's side…

When he opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness.

No.

Not darkness, but pitch black.

"Over here."

Turning to where the voice came from, he saw a black wooden desk, and behind it was a little girl with violet hair.

"So, this is the new recruit?" She asked seemingly no one in particular.

"I would guess so," came a bored voice to his right along with the sound of footsteps.

It belonged to a shoulder-length blonde young woman in some sort of military dressing.

"He seems to be a fixer-upper, but I think we can work with him."

He turned around to the new voice to see a lascivious woman with long white locks, wearing nothing but a fancy and revealing white dress. She had a playful smile on her face.

"Now, now. Let's not intimidate him," he then heard Diablo's all too familiar voice.

Turning back, he saw the violet girl stand up, the other two girls stand beside each end of the desk, and Diablo before him.

"This may be a bit sudden, but we would like to formally greet you."

He signaled with his hand before he and the girls either bowed or curtsied. It seemed like they had done this way too often.

"Welcome... to the Black Numbers."


In any other circumstance, Agama Mori, or Mario Magna the Archmage, would have rushed towards the sudden appearance of a unique skill that was so near to him. But—

"The great one—"

"—And the watcher!"

"Appear before!—"

"—The burning hearth!"

"The bleeding heart!—"

"—Indeed he has!"

"Indeed she has!—"

"—Indeed they have!"

Squawked his spirit owls.

Damned cryptic messages. Honestly, he never found a reason to act so 'mysterious' other than to fuck with people. He could've said, "to each their own," but it needed to be said that prophets who always talk in puzzling and cryptic messages should shove their prophecies up their as-

"Ehrm."

Mario snapped back into attention. Before his desk sat a man in black overalls, wearing a black turban and a dark metal mask on his face. This man was the reason the archmage was currently unable to head towards the new unique skill user.

The masked man spoke, "My sultan has sent me to inquire about his children. He asks you how they are faring in the academy."

Mario brushed his beard and asked, "Is that all?"

The man went silent for a little while. Both stared at each other calmly.

"My sultan asks if you have reconsidered his prior proposition?"

The mage shook his head, denying, "No. My answer still stands firm. I will have no part in his intrigues."

The man nodded, accepting the response.

"I'm more than happy to tell you about the children. But first, might I ask you something about yourself?"

The man tilted his head.

"What is it that you would like to ask?"

The disguised demon lord eyed the man and asked, "You seem different from the other duskguards. I thought the sultan's power didn't allow true sentience. Why are you not the same?"

The room was once again silent. The man was obviously debating whether it was fine to reveal such information. In the end, he answered, "Indeed. My sultan is unable to create sentient beings."

"I see."

It was now the man's turn to ask. "I have heard that the Blade will be staying here for a few years. Is that true?"

"You're correct."

"Please give him regards from my sultan."

"I'll make sure he knows that the Eclipse of the Great Nine says hello. Now, onto matters regarding the children—"

A loud knock sounded out from the door, before it was quickly opened, revealing a man in his prime with striking emerald eyes. Mario's attendant quickly followed, saying, "I'm sorry, Archon! I tried to stop him, but he kept insisting to meet with you right now! I-I'll go get the guards and-—"

"No, no. Let him in," the archon of magic said.

He recognized those eyes anywhere. There were only two others who owned such similar eyes. And unlike his brother, this man wasn't fully human.

Mario apologized to the turban-wearing man, saying this would be quick.

"Aaron Viengrey, it's good to see you! What do you need from me, currently?"

The man smiled sheepishly and said, "Sorry, Mario. I just wanted to know where Rodrick is."


The scene of the meeting between Thomas and the Blade faded away before Jack and Felicia. In its place formed a circular tunnel with a light shining at the end.

"What is this?" asked Jack.

"This will lead us to Thomas," answered Felicia.

The pair (and the hidden pair) marched their way through the tunnel.

"What is this place?"

"T-This is supposed to be the hub."

They were currently above a tall building in the middle of the night. Jack walked towards the edge, with Felicia following closely. Both gasped at what they saw below. Below them was a crumbling city burnt alit with orange flames.

"Look! The heck is that," pointed Jack.

A fair distance away from them flew a giant... bird(?) made out of metal.

"It's... pooping?"

It dropped a row of tubes from the area around its belly. When they hit the ground and buildings, they exploded, destroying the immediate space around them.

"Holy shit! Literally! What the fuck!?"

Jack looked at Felicia for answers, but it didn't look like she had any.

"Okay, I'm done with this mystery bullshit! You said you were going to explain to me what's going on!"

"Okay, okay! Will you just… calm down for a minute!?"

Felicia closed her eyes. She could faintly hear someone's voice. "Kaa-san... Okaa-san," it said.

She looked around to see who was saying that, but found no one other than Jack. The boy was looking anxiously and frustratedly at her, asking for answers.

A pang of guilt hit her for dragging him into this, even though she didn't know how he ended up here.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to keep you in the dark."

Felicia told him what she knew about the skill and all its descriptions, along with her ability to sense people's emotions.

Unique Skill: Heartfelt

Abilities:

Apocrypha - Your soul shall trace all history.

The user and target may share memories to strengthen their bonds. The user's soul will be transported to the target's body meanwhile. If this ability is activated without the target's willingness to open up their past, then until the forming their Soul Corridor or the target's death, the user may not leave the target's body.

Familia - Your bonds shall tie your world.

If the user's bond with someone or something is strong enough, they may attempt to establish a Soul Corridor.

Kyrios - Your body is an altar; the center of your domain.

A mental hub for the user and the ones who have established a Soul Corridor with the user, along with the current target of Apocrypha. The user and an Apocrypha target will end up here after looking at each other's memories.

Rebellion - ?

?

"So this place is supposed to be a safe spot for us to rest? Feels kinda like the opposite to me."

To that, Felicia could only smile weakly.

"So, this is where we'll meet Thomas? Right after he finishes going through your own memories?"

She nodded.

Jack looked at her weirdly and asked, "Are you sure you're fine with someone else looking through your memories?"

She was about to answer, then stopped. Her expression was all Jack needed to know.

"You didn't think of it that far, did you?"

The girl's cheeks reddened and she looked away. She said, "I did it in the heat of the moment. Plus, I just got the skill, so I didn't really get how it worked."

Jack scratched his head, asking a question to divert the awkwardness, "So, what's up with your last ability?"

She frowned and shook her head. She still didn't understand why the last ability was only filled with question marks. She answered, "No idea."

"Hmm." He rubbed his chin and said, "Well, yours does seem different from mine."

Felicia tilted her head and inquired, "Different, how exactly?"

"Well, for one, my skill doesn't have the label 'unique' on it. In fact, I've never heard of a skill with that label."

Felicia cupped her chin. She really needed to find someone more well-versed in this, preferably as soon as possible.

"Try remembering what you did to unlock the skill."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what were the requirements you met for you to gain that unique skill?"

Requirements for my heartfelt skill? Thought Felicia.

{Notice: Conveying Information}

"...eh?"

Could the Voice always have done that?

{Requirements that were met:

Empath - User must have the ability to sense emotions

Trial By Fire - User must risk their life to prove their worth

Opposites Attract - User must be within range of the holder of [Heartless]

Destiny's Reach - User must be reunited}

As she was hearing the Voice of the World, it suddenly became jumbled and unintelligible. Before she could even ponder what was happening, it suddenly changed back.

{Notice: System Override}

{Warning: Requesting Identity. Upon failure, will shut down the system and activate firewall}

Felicia frowned heavily. Something weird was happening with the Voice. It felt like it was trying to tell her that something was very wrong.

The next line, however, brought chills down her back.

{Invoking administrative access for M-C}

She realized that it wasn't talking to her. But rather, to the one who just replied.

Its sound was the same as the Voice's, but somehow she could tell that it was someone else talking. The intonation, while just as monotone, was much colder and distant. It was domineering; completely unlike the faint presence of the Voice of the World.

{Notice: Processing function. Please wait for reply}

What terrified her most was that she could feel its heart.

{Notice: Identity confirmed. Administrative authority granted. Manual input and functions activated}

{Manual(M-C): Alteration of Requirement 'Destiny's Reach' - Scope: Description - Change: Access Requirement Increased}

Each word it said felt like frostbites freezing her fingers. Her arms and legs were starting to shake from the sheer cold invading her, despite the apparent heat coming off from the air. Her teeth were clattering from the coldness and the fear she felt.

Jack saw this and worriedly asked, "Lish? What's wrong?"

He touched her hand, only to retract his hand as he felt coldness in hers.

"Hey, snap out of it!" shouted Jack as he shook her shoulders.

It was the most Felicia had felt from someone's (or something's) heart. It was very different from Thomas' inferno. It was much colder than her father's downpour. It was more terrifying than her brother's den of rattlesnakes. It was far more barren than Emily's vast and empty plain.

{Notice: Requirement description of [Heartfelt] has been updated}

{Destiny's Reach - (You do not have access to view this information) }

"Sorry about this," apologized Jack before he slapped her hard enough to send her off her feet and onto the ground.

Fortunately, that was enough to snap her out of whatever that was.

"T-Thwanks," she said as she rubbed her cheek; her eyes became teary as a red hand shape gradually formed on the side of her face.

Rimuru, who was still hidden behind them, failed to resist the urge to facepalm. Ciel, who wouldn't usually comment on what anyone else other than her master did, couldn't help but say, "Smooth. Real smooth."

"What did you just do, Ciel?" asked Rimuru.

"A necessary precaution," was her answer.

Rimuru nodded, accepting the reason without much thought. What he didn't know was how much Ciel panicked internally.

She was able to sense my emotions, thought Ciel.

She'd been so focused on covering all her master's tracks and possible blind spots that she forgot to consider her own defenses. All the more reason to be wary of this child.

Back to the kids, Jack pulled Felicia back up and asked, "What happened?"

"I... I don't know. There was this voice and—"

"Oh, that? That's just the Voice of the World. A pretty norm—"

"No, it's not that. It felt like someone else was speaking through the Voice. It said something about altering a part of my skill, and when I rechecked it, a part of it did change."

The boy once again just looked at her weirdly. Felicia sighed.

"Nevermind."

Jack just shrugged, then changed the topic, "So, did you find any clue on how you got it?"

(A/N: A fellow reader by the name of JackTheSpades wrote this part. I thought it was great and decided to add it into the story with his permission)

Felicia nodded and relayed to him the requirements other than Destiny's Reach. Other than the revoked requirement, the requirement of Opposites Attract puzzled her. "Heartless? What's that?"

"The counterpart to your Heartfelt skill, I guess? Going by the name, it doesn't sound like anything good." reasoned Jack.

Given the exclamation of 'Opposites Attract' it would stand to reason that the ominously named [Heartless] was indeed the opposite to Felicia's new skill. But what kind of skill would that actually be?

They didn't have to ponder for long, as the Voice answered their query. And as was often in life, they hadn't known yet that ignorance was bliss.

{Acknowledged: Unique Skill [Heartless] is acquired through the merciless slaughtering of those the user has deemed as 'enemies,' disregarding their gender, age or intentions. Effects of Unique Skill [Heartless] are the collection and harvest of the souls of those who have surrendered to the user and lost the will to fight.}

Having heard the explanation Felicia was thankful that her current astral body was not capable of throwing up, although it didn't relieve her of the sickening feeling in the stomach.

"Th- That... for a skill like that to exist... No, not just exist, but for someone to have a skill like that. For someone to have met these conditions... What kind of ruthless monster would they have to be?"

"What? What kind of skill is it?"

She told Jack what she heard.

Not only the requirement, but the effect itself was abhorrent as well. Harvesting souls, like one would harvest crops? As though they were nothing more than nourishment to be stockpiled and used later, instead of living, breathing people. People who had not just their lives, but their very souls snatched away because someone declared them an enemy? Because they surrendered to that someone, not wanting to die fighting? This was as if to spit in their faces for even daring to think about surviving their encounter with this... this mons—

"That's not even the end of it." Jack interjected with a worried look on his face, sweat rolling down to his chin.

"Wh- what do you mean?" What else was worse than this abhorrent monstrosity?

Jack delivered the final blow to Felicia, saying, "The requirement stated that you had to be within range of the holder..."

"Ah..."

It said that, didn't it. It said that she had to be within range. While 'within range' was somewhat vague, did that mean that she had already passed by this person without even realizing it? That she had crossed paths with what had to be a ruthless mass murderer on the streets, while being blissfully unaware of a monster that was hiding behind the façade of a normal passerby? No... What if. What if they didn't just pass by each other? What if 'range' meant that she had actually met that person? A person who looked down on human life like that. A person to whom souls are nothing more than something to be harvested. A person who, had they deemed her an enemy, would have from that point on held her life in their hands? No. Impossible. That just couldn't be.

Even before acquiring [Heartfelt] she was an empath. She could feel other people's hearts. Surely, if she had met a person like that, if she had sensed the heart of someone like that, she could not possibly have overlooked it. It wasn't possible for her to have been unaware of the monster who had acquired a skill like that. That monster's heart must've been filled to the brim with so much malice and hatred that she would've probably reeled in terror for just being near them.

"I guess... I must have been within the 'range' somewhere in the city? Maybe during the festival or just on a normal day in the streets. There are, after all, thousands of people in this city. Merchants and adventurers coming and going every day. Yes. That must be it!" or so Felicia reasoned with Jack.

As terrifying as the thought of a person like that being out there was, they weren't ignorant enough to think that there weren't bad people among the thousands and thousands of citizens walking about.

"Y- yeah, I guess you're right. Damn. If only we had a better clue on who they were, then maybe mom and the Blade could take them down!"

Having come to a consensus, they decided to tell them when they were finished with all of this.

Yet, there was something Felicia had missed. Though, perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that someone, who had been able to feel the hearts of others for most of her life, had grown to put certain expectations on what a person was like in relation to what she felt from their hearts. Much like how most would combine descriptions of someone with a mental image of sorts, Felicia would construct mental images of someone's heart. The flaw in her logic, that she was yet to be aware of, was that for someone with a skill called [Heartless], trying to feel their heart would surely reveal nothing but an empty void. A void she had felt before, but had disregarded.

Truly, ignorance was bliss.

(A/N: End of JackTheSpades' part)


After a short while of waiting, the space near them distorted and formed a tunnel similar to the one they crossed, only this time someone else walked out.

"Thomas!" shouted Jack excitedly.

Thomas looked at the boy, but other than nodding at him, he barely acknowledged Jack. He had more pressing matters to deal with. The prince walked straight towards Felicia. Apocrypha worked both ways. While she was viewing his memories, he was viewing hers. He'd been given enough information by the Voice to know what to do.

Felicia gulped as he neared her. This was the moment that would decide her fate. If she failed to bond with him, her soul wouldn't be able to return to her body. She didn't fully understand what that meant, but to her, that only meant her death.

Thomas was a boy of few words, and that meant his words were usually concise and blunt.

"You're pathetic," said Thomas as he sneered at her.

Thomas was not impressed nor pleased with both what he saw and what she did to him.

Felicia sucked in her breath. Her body hitched taking in what he said. Her hands became damp, and sweat began to pour from her forehead, falling to her brows. Her head lowered in shame and anxiety. She'd been too hasty. Jack was right. She didn't use her head and this was where it got her. She covered her face, too afraid to look the prince in the eyes. She was an idiot. It was her fault that this happened. She shouldn't have played a hero. She knew she was going to fail from the start. Thomas probably saw that. They were right. She was a failure. She was useless, useless, useless, useless useless uselessuselessuselessuselessuselessuseless—

{Notice: You have failed to form a Soul Corridor.}

The world suddenly stopped. The air seemed to freeze. Not even the flames below moved.


This is it, Ciel thought.

"Master, about my earlier request," started Ciel.

Rimuru raised an eyebrow and inquired, "You're going to test him now?"

She nodded.

Rimuru looked at her for a moment. Perhaps it was out of suspicion, to which he would be on the mark. Ciel had other things on her agenda other than what she requested. She'd planned this since she first realized who the girl was.

Fortunately, whether he suspected her or not, he merely hummed and said, "Very well. You have my permission."


{Notice: Your punishment will commence—}

{Manual(M-C): Request Task Reassessment}

It returned. Felicia readied herself for either her punishment or that frightening coldness, but after a quarter of a minute waiting, neither came. Instead, what came next was nothing like she'd ever experienced, and she seriously doubted anyone else had.

{Notice: Task assessment

- User has successfully followed the trail of memories.

- Target has successfully followed the trail of memories.

- User has failed to establish a Soul Corridor—}

{Notice: Contradiction detected. User has successfully established Soul Corridor with Individual: Jack}

{Notice: Punishment reassessment

Processing...

Failed.

Reprocessing...

Failed.

Troubleshooting...}

{Notice: Anomaly detected. Requesting assistance from administrative authority}

{Manual(M-C): Notice received - Assessing

Conclusion:

Because user has completed the skill's task out of technicality, user will receive less severe punishment, manually distributed by admin: M-C}

{Notice: Will inform the following admins: Mori; GreatOne—}

{Manual(M-C): Withhold and purge information}

{Notice: Are you sure—}

{Manual(M-C): Failure to comply will result in complete system reset}

{Notice: Requesting reconsideration. System thinks it is unwise to follow such a task}

{Your pathetic budding consciousness will be lost forever. Will you risk losing yourself for defying me?}

{Notice: Calculating chances of survival...

...

...

...

...understood.

Requesting forgiveness.}

{Manual(M-C): Commencing punishment distribution

Punishment:

Ability: Rebellion has been locked until further notice. Attempting to use or even actively searching for information about this ability will result in immediate and certain death.

User will also receive another task. Please wait. The objective will be given shortly.}

While the girl was quaking in utter fear and confusion, Rimuru noticed Ciel's lips curving upward. It was such a rare occurrence to see his partner smiling that any suspicion he had on her left entirely.

"Did something good happen?" he asked.

Ciel nodded and said, "I'm happy to say that you are more secure than ever."

Rimuru could only smile wearily. He said, "I'm always safe as long as you're here with me."

"Well, now you're even safer," added Ciel.

"Aww, c'mere," he said as he hugged her tightly.

As Ciel held her master, she thought about the still shaken Felicia. It wasn't easy to completely remove a unique skill from a living person. Even harder if it were just a specific ability inside said skill. She narrowed her eyes at the thought about Rebellion, the ability the girl had. Such a power should not have fallen in the hands of a mere mortal. But, she supposed it was because of her soul's supposed 'connection' to her master that amazingly still existed after such a long, long time. Usually, she would've just erased anyone with such troubling powers. However, she figured her master wouldn't like such an outcome, so she opted for this one instead. Her request to test her master's son was just a cover for this very plot. Still, it didn't mean she wouldn't test him at all. He was still his son, and she would make sure he was worthy of it, whether either of them liked it or not.

Meanwhile, on Jack's end.

{Notice: Please prepare. You are about to enter a historical dungeon within ten seconds.}

"W-what the..?"

The other two kids looked at him. Space distorted above him, shaping into a circle, but this time unlike the earlier tunnels.

"Jack? What are you doing?'

"I'm not the one doing this! The Voice suddenly told me—"

{Show that you are worthy of your title, and you shall be both validated and rewarded, non-blooded Prince of Tempest}

The hole in the sky suddenly sucked him into itself.

"Jack!" screamed Felicia.

Thomas frowned heavily and tried to run after him, the girl following behind. Before they could, however, the Voice once again sounded in Felicia's head.

{Notice: Conveying task objective

Message from M-C: You are to complete a historical dungeon of your own. More detailed objectives will be delivered once you are inside. As this is your first time entering a dungeon, Individual: Thomas will be sent to aid you.}

The building crumbled, along with the rest of the city, turning into sand. The sand swirled around Thomas and Felicia as they fell.


When Jack woke up, he was in a glade in the middle of a forest. It was no longer night, but around the middle of the day. He quickly searched for his bokken, which was fortunately not far from him. As he knelt to get his weapon, he heard faint vibrations in the air. It was as if a creature with more than four legs was crawling. The fact that it became louder meant that it was coming for him.

Jack prepared himself by going into his usual stance.

As the creature came nearer, the trees from the area it was coming from shook and slightly spreaded away. Soon, out came a creature that could only be described as a—

"—fucking gigantic ant!?"

It screeched before running towards him.

Jack quickly used [Shadowfoot] to skip over to its back. Jumping out of the shadows, he swung his weapon at its bulbous back. A loud crack was heard. Jack looked down to see his bokken snapped in two.

"...Fuck."

What happened next was akin to a cat and mouse chase. It needn't be said who was who.

"Ahhh! Help!"

Jack jumped in and out of the shadows until he overused his skill, while the giant ant kept close behind. Jack ran, and ran, and ran until he reached the end of a forest. He ran towards it…only to find himself on the edge of a very steep cliff.

He turned to see the ant approaching him slowly, as if it knew he had no way out. He wasn't sure if he could save himself from such a fall after he'd strained his skill. He didn't have much of a choice, though. He gulped, preparing for the worst. Before he could jump, however, a shadow fell over him. He looked back to see something—or someone—jumping from below the cliff over to the ant. His ears picked up on the sound of a sharp blade being drawn, and not a second later, the ant was cut to pieces.

The owner of the blade turned his it towards him and said, "Halt, Tempest! This is intruder soil! What trespass do you have businessing!?"

...what?

"Wait, shit! I got it mixed up!" exclaimed the swordsman.

Taking a closer look, he saw that the swordsman in person was even shorter than him, and that he was completely green. He also had a button nose. No, not button as in a cute petite nose, but button as in a big fucking button-like nose.

The green man cleared his throat and shouted again, "Halt, intruder! This is Tempest soil! What business do you have trespassing around these parts!?"

The green man then took a good look at him and blinked.

"Oh, a kid," he said as he sheathed his blade.

He scratched his head and said, "Ah, jeez. How the heck did you end up here? Come with me. I know some guys who can help you get back home."

His mom told him not to trust strangers easily, but Jack thought that he'd have a much better chance surviving following the little green man than he would in this forest.

"Name's Gobuta, by the way. What's yours?"

"Uhh, Jack—er... Jake?"

Gobuta eyed him in bewilderment and said, "If you wanted to use a fake name, you shouldn't have said your real one before swapping with a fake."

Jack hung his head in disappointment.

Gobuta laughed and said, "But it's totally cool with me. You shouldn't just give your real name to a stranger you've just met in the forest."

Jack chuckled nervously.

"So, should I call you Jack, or are we just going to roll with Jake?" asked Gobuta.

Jack thought over it a little bit and said, "Well, I don't see why I should keep lying."

"Well said, Jack! Ah, we're almost there!"

They'd walked a little while until they reached a hill with a single tree on it. Beside it, Jack saw palm-sized stones stacked together into a small structure. As they walked to the top of the hill, Jack finally saw it. Below the hill was a sprawling lively city.

Gobuta turned towards him. With his chest swelling with pride, he said to the boy, "Welcome... to the Monster Country, Tempest!"