He Who Owns The Grimoire
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of The Fallen! I've got some exciting news for you all, I GOT A NEW BOOK OUT! That's right, this time I've delved into the world of futuristic fantasy to bring you a spacefaring adventure known as 'Barons Of The Stars'! So if you like space battles, chases through asteroid fields, and clashes of skilled fighters using mystically powered weapons, this is a story for you! Purchase it as an Ebook on Amazon for only $2.99! Last thing, to answer some guest reviews, no, this is not a dead fic and I'll be updating until the story is done! Speaking of which, on to the story!
The Spade Kingdom: Royal Castle
It had been a decade and a half since the house of Grinberryall had fallen and the Spade Kingdom had been forcibly brought under control of the three Zogratis siblings. It had taken a little time to weed out all the opposition after that, but each and every challenge to their rule had been met with failure thanks to the power of the demons they wielded. Now they were in the process of gathering the necessary supplies, weapons, and personnel for invading one kingdom in particular. This meant lots of paperwork, lots of meetings, and lots, and lots, of boredom!
Even now they were sitting around a table discussing ways to safely transport an army across the grand magic zone. Or to be more precise, her brothers, Zenon and Dante, were discussing the matter while she sat and stared apathetically with her remaining eye at literally anything else. That is until Dante turned to her. "Vanica," he raised his voice slightly to get her attention, "do you have any ideas for this?"
"Do I have any ideas," she repeated while raising an eyebrow, "why are we even thinking so hard about this? We have demonic power so let's just attack already!"
"If it were that simple we would've done so a long time ago," Dante chided, "but the Clover Kingdom has the wizard king and some of the most powerful wielders of magic in the world. The Dark Triad can't attack recklessly, our moves have to be perfect if we intend to accomplish our goal."
"Who cares about perfect?!" Vanica practically fell on the table, "I just want to attack something and destroy it already! We've done nothing but sit around and talk about things that other people are supposed to be handling anyway and I'm bored!" She emphasized this by rolling around on the table, very much resembling a child throwing a tantrum.
"What would we even attack right now," Zenon asked with his usual deadpan look, "if you know about any other enemies within our kingdom, you should be telling us."
"There is this one thing I heard about," the Zogratis sister hopped up and pointed at the map, "right here, north of the Clover Kingdom, a little between the Diamond Kingdom and the grand magic zone is this funky flying fortress."
"Is the fortress making any sort of aggressive moves towards us," her brother raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"It could be," Vanica smirked evilly, "why take the chance?"
"Because it could compromise our plans," Dante pointed out, "you remember what happened last time with the silver-haired woman from the Clover Kingdom, right? We were lucky no one found out it was you specifically."
"So we'll just check and make sure it doesn't belong to them," she urged, "and besides, it won't be happening on the Clover Kingdom's borders anyway so what's the big deal?"
"It seems we have to remind you how things stand, again," Zenon rubbed his temple, "while it's true the Diamond Kingdom is more preoccupied with the lands near it, the Clover Kingdom will attack if they feel threatened and an organized assault from them at this stage would be difficult for us to repel and that's before we factor in the Heart Kingdom. They may appear neutral now but they're likely to side with the Clover Kingdom and that is, once again, not something we can repel at this stage. Right now our best defense is to appear neutral for the time being until we're ready to set our plans into motion."
"Yeah but that's only if that thing turns out to have anything to do with the Clover Kingdom," Vanica whined, "it could just be some floating rock that no one cares about!"
"And you think we should risk our entire plan on that?" Dante asked in annoyance, "No, this is a time where patience is paramount. Need I remind you that not only do we need to assault the Clover and Heart Kingdoms in the future but we also need to obtain the master keys to open the gate. If you want to destroy something then do it within the borders of our kingdom."
"But you won't let me destroy most of the stuff in the kingdom!" Vanica argued back as the discussion devolved into little more than childish bickering. Zenon, wisely, decided to pretend the two didn't exist while going through some documents. Eventually their sister got fed up and walked out of the room in a huff.
She walked down the hallways at a hurried pace but didn't have a destination in mind. 'Such a pain in the ass,' the woman fumed, 'I just want to have a little fun is all.' Vanica remembered something then and stopped. "Hey, Megicula, you there," she didn't care if anyone saw her seemingly talking to herself, she could always kill them later if they became a problem, "Megicula!" After a moment a familiar feeling washed over her as the connection between the two was strengthened and an image of the demoness appeared in front of her.
"What is it, Vanica," the winged woman questioned, "have you encountered a problem in carrying out your objective?"
"It's a problem for me," she held up her fists in a childlike manner, "I'm bored and my brothers aren't letting me do anything about it."
"And what do you expect me to do alleviate to your boredom," Megicula flashed a look of annoyance at her contracted host, "I'm stuck in a spatial prison, I couldn't even play a card game with you as I am right now."
"I don't know," Vanica shrugged, "do you know anything I could destroy around here? Or a way to speed this process up?"
"I've told you what needs to be done," the demoness narrowed her eyes, "I've given you what advice I can. If I knew a way to speed things along I would've told you already. Your inability to be patient, however, is not something I can fix. Just use some of your subordinates as target practice, I didn't give you that curse of undying for nothing, after all."
Megicula didn't hang around to hear what her other host had to say as her presence faded from the Zogratis girl's mind. But instead of heading back to her body, she projected herself into the mental space within Asta's mind. One could think of this as her section of the anti-magic user's mind, meaning it could look like however she wanted it too. In this case, it was a multi-room space and she was currently sitting in what could be considered the bedroom.
She didn't actually need to sleep but even demons could get tired after a while, especially when dealing with spoiled brats. That's why she had a good-sized bed in this room so she could stretch out her wings along with a small table and two chairs to sit at and read or eat and a bookshelf on the other side of the room. Not that she needed to eat anything in astral form but she liked remembering the taste of food from time to time. As for the books, those contained all the knowledge and memories she'd acquired over the years, though for obvious reasons she didn't tend to read the later volumes.
'I sincerely can't wait until I'm free,' Megicula thought to herself while staring at the ceiling, 'I'll finally be able to rid myself of that irritating child of a woman.' It was true she'd been useful but Vanica had only sought her out for the power she could grant and had little interest in how she wound up in the demon prison in the first place. But lately, the winged woman had found herself feeling a little differently about what she'd do once she was free. 'I certainly can't say I hate all humans anymore,' Megicula admitted, 'just a majority of them now.'
And speaking of humans, the demoness decided now was a good time to see what her more favored host was up too. Since he had a grimoire in his possession now, he qualified to take the magic knight's entrance exam. But he still had some time as it wasn't going to be held for another six months, hence why he was currently in the forest, honing his skills with his new weapon. After reaching another hundred swings with it, he set the black sword down and took a deep breath.
"Megicula," he called mentally while wiping some of the sweat off of himself, "are you there?"
"I'm here, Asta," she appeared by his side, "are you growing more comfortable with that blade?"
"As comfortable as I can," he examined the sword for a moment, "I don't know what kind of ore it's made out of but I can't think of anything, around here at least, that could break it. The downside is the blade's huge, even though I can swing it around in these open areas with no problem, I'll need to figure out another method for dealing with narrow spaces and fast attacks."
"That's something your anti-magic training can help deal with," Megicula reminded, "I get the feeling that's not the only thing on your mind."
"The main thing is this," Asta returned his weapon to his grimoire before holding it up for them to examine, "I know it appeared to me, but it doesn't feel like it entirely belongs to me."
"It isn't just you," the demoness assured, "I also feel this oddity. Open the grimoire, let's see if what is written can give us some answers." He did so and found that on the first two pages were a couple of scripts written in a foreign language, a language he'd come to recognize as the demon language. "Demon magic is within this grimoire, which could mean we have a new tenant within you."
"What makes you say that?" The ashen-haired boy asked. Megicula didn't answer, instead seeming to be deep in thought. During her years of studying magic she'd found that Grimoires always adapt to the language of their owners. The fact that she didn't sense the new demon's entrance into Asta's body meant it was either one capable of concealing its presence, or one so weak in magical power that she'd need to look for a very precise feeling within Asta.
"Found you," she finally broke her trance-like gaze and looked at the boy, "it seems we do indeed have a new tenant within your body. Fortunately, he doesn't appear to be all that powerful."
"Is there still a potential for him to cause any problems?" He asked, erring on the side of caution.
"A small potential but it does exist," Megicula confirmed, "the best thing to do right now is wait for the demon to regain integrity and then speak with him. We should be able to determine whether he's friend or foe then."
"I guess it's a good thing I've learned how to read demon text then," Asta studied his grimoire, noting the script seemed to indicate a type of sealing spell was present. Deciding to test something, he ran some of his anti-magic into it. The grimoire reacted and produced his sword, but now he recognized its name as 'The Demon Slayer Sword'. 'Wonder how accurate that name is,' the boy mused before using some of his sensory ability to try and analyze the weapon.
He quickly discovered it was more or less an ordinary sword, albeit one infused with anti-magic that gave it the dirty, dark appearance it possessed. Consequently, it was also heavier than it was probably supposed to be. Asta could only lift it thanks to his heavy physical regimen granting him far above average strength. A reaction occurred with his grimoire then as it saved the sealing spell that had just been undone.
Strangely, it too was in the demon language. 'Guess the second guy really does have ownership of this grimoire too,' he mused. Still, it gave him an idea. Asta went and formed a small orb of anti-magic before firing it off into a nearby rock. Again, the spell was written down and saved in the grimoire.
"Oh yeah, I think we can make this work," he grinned with a clenched fist as he continued using more anti-magic techniques. By the time he was done that day, he had at least a half dozen new tricks in his co-owned grimoire.
That Night: Church at Hage
One thing Asta hadn't anticipated was how much his little spell writing session would take out of him. Certainly he practiced his anti-magic attribute daily, but now that he had quicker access to it he may have gotten a little trigger happy. By the time he'd gotten back to the orphanage he'd basically grabbed enough dinner to be full and collapsed on his bed right after that. As he slept, Megicula watched him, waiting for any sign of trouble.
It wasn't a high chance but the possibility existed that the two of them becoming aware of the new demon might have also alerted him to them. The demoness had lost many people up to this point with the only biological family she had left being her brother. She was not about to lose someone else she cared about. And her caution appeared warranted as the winged woman sensed someone within her mental space.
Her astral form disappeared and she reappeared within the home she'd created in Asta's mind, specifically what she considered to be the main room. Megicula could not stay here indefinitely, but long enough to do what needed to be done in this instance. Looking around the room, the demoness couldn't help but feel a slight bit of peace at the setup. Large windows had an illusion of the outside world that followed the day and night cycle of the real world, even its weather patterns.
Despite it being night, however, the room was well lit, illuminating the book-filled, concave shelves that were carved into the wall. Much of the illumination came from the fireplace on the other side of the room whose light was also cast on the tables, plants, and various odds and ends Megicula had pulled from her memories for decoration. The light didn't reach the other room, the library, but it did reach the mirror above a small desk. It was here that her intruder was found, looking at a book on the desk that she'd only started recently filling out.
It was a book about anti-magic and it, like her other books, was constantly being updated with new information that she'd learned. This new demon was attempting to read it but was having no luck. It was understandable, this was her space and no one read her material without her permission, save for Asta. Another thing she could do, since he was an intruder but still close to Asta's soul, was read his memories.
Her eyes shined as his memories began flowing into her. Megicula gasped as she realized she knew this demon. His name, or rather the name he went by now, was Liebe, and he was merely a child when he was thrown into the prison along with her and the remaining demons. They'd tried countless methods to escape the prison during that time, not that they weren't now but many had given up after most attempts had failed. Liebe stuck out in her memory because he had been one of the strange cases of demons who possessed something known as an 'empty attribute'.
Such demons still had the ability to manipulate mana for several basic things like mana skin, physical enhancement, even a bit of telekinesis, but they're unable to wield spells as they don't have a specified attribute or type of magic. During her early youth, when demon civilization was at its peak, it had been possible to use a non-invasive procedure to implant a magical attribute into such individuals. Naturally they'd be weaker than one with a natural born attribute, wielding only half the strength in most cases. It was still considered far better than no attribute at all for many demons born with such a condition.
That's what made it all the stranger that Liebe had somehow come to possess anti-magic?! Annoyingly, he didn't seem to know, or at least didn't remember how he came to possess it, but it was similar to Asta's own anti-magic and had allowed him to exit the prison without setting off its security magic. 'What an oddity,' she mused, 'in the world of magic even twins wielding the same type of magic would still have a unique signature.' Megicula could only begin to fathom how all of this was possible, but there was a more immediate problem that could be fixed thanks to Liebe's presence: Asta's anti-magic core.
With this demon's cooperation, she could potentially repair the damage that had been done to it. Of course, first thing's first. "It's typically considered rude to go through someone's personal belongings," Megicula quipped, causing Liebe to jump in surprise, "even other races agree with this sentiment."
"Who are you," he asked, "what are you doing here?" The demoness got a good look at him now. He looked strikingly similar to Asta but with grey skin, black marks on his face and black horns coming out of the sides of his head. The sclera of his eyes were black and his irises were red. Most of his body was covered in a similar black material to what Megicula's dress was made of, including his small wings and forked tail.
Of course, what really made Megicula raise her eyebrow was his question. "What am I doing here," she repeated, "I was here long before you, boy, I'm the one who gets to ask that question. As for who I am, my name is Megicula."
"And how do I know you were here first?" The demon boy growled.
"Because I can do this," the demoness pointed downwards and an invisible force suddenly pushed him to all fours on the floor, "this is my mental space, everything in here is under my command. The only reason you were able to slip in here was because I hadn't anticipated any other guests within my host. But since you're here, know that I can rip you apart with a thought and that it's useless to lie to me, Liebe."
She let the pressure off of him then. "You…know my name," he grunted while struggling to his feet.
"I know a lot of things about you now," Megicula informed, "but I want to hear it from you. Why are you here?"
"I intend to get revenge against the demons like you," he sneered, "this boy will be a vessel for that revenge."
"And why would a demon desire revenge against other demons?" Megicula raised an eyebrow. "You and I were both put in that prison. We all suffered together until you escaped. Your fellow demons did nothing to you while you were imprisoned."
"They took my mother from me!" Liebe yelled, "She never hurt anybody and they killed her! That's why I'll get revenge on all the demons, including Lucifer!"
"The demons killed her?" The demoness looked through the memories, noting a couple of discrepancies. "You're only half right. A demon did kill her but it wasn't Lucifer."
"Don't lie to me!" The demon boy took a stance and tried to summon up his power, "I know what I saw that day, and I won't allow you to confuse-huh?"
"Do I have to explain it again," Megicula sighed, "this is my mental space. Even your powers aren't usable here without my permission."
"RAAAAH!" Liebe swiped at her. The demoness evaded it easily along with the next one. The boy demon clearly had no experience in fighting, at least not without his abilities. As opposed to Megicula who'd learned a thing or two during her youth.
For example, dodging and kicking Liebe's feet out from under him, causing him to stumble. He crashed into the wall but leapt back up with a high swipe. Megicula grabbed his arm and flipped him over on the floor. He rolled and attempted to leap up in a tackle but was stopped by her hand on his head before she slammed her knee into his face, knocking him against the wall.
"Flailing about isn't going to accomplish anything," the winged woman stated calmly, "no one's ever taught you how to fight but it wouldn't matter even if they did. What you need to do now is listen. I know the truth is going to hurt but you need to hear it. The one responsible for your mother's death is-."
"DIE!" Liebe sprang at her again but this time she stopped him by suspending him in the air.
"I see you're still not ready to listen," the demoness breathed out in resignation, "we'll try again another time. For now, go back to where you were before." She sent the boy demon flying away then where he seemingly phased through the wall, effectively kicking him out of the mental space. "This is going to be harder than I'd like it to be."
She told Asta about this interaction the next day. He more or less accepted the current situation and that Liebe wasn't a technical threat to him. It was decided, however, that the next time Megicula spoke with him, Asta would be present. With luck, the next conversation would prove more fruitful than the first one had been.
A Few Months Later
Intensive training continued for both Asta and Yuno as they refined their mystical and fighting abilities over the next several weeks. Those weeks turned into months and before either of them knew it, the time to depart had arrived. The church sent them off with what supplies they could along with several well wishes and even a couple tearful goodbyes. The duo's journey began in earnest then.
It turned out to be a relatively peaceful affair, save for a couple of odd instances. There was one point where they had to travel in a downpour to keep from losing any time. Yuno generated a swirling wind above his head to act like an umbrella and offered to extend it for Asta, but he declined and used his anti-magic to create a similar barrier in order to continue refining his technique. Then they had to hunt down a boar when their food started to run low, a task which Asta was able to accomplish thanks to his enhanced physical abilities and his Demon Slayer Sword.
The duo then had to traverse a thick fog. Asta had little trouble thanks to his sensory abilities but Yuno opted for a different approach and blew it all away with his wind magic. He hadn't been convinced it was safe but then found himself agreeing with his adoptive brother once it was clear. The ashen-haired boy didn't give it much thought afterwards, especially with the next little event.
A rockslide happened while they were in a more mountainous area. Asta reacted faster and with a sweeping gesture of his hand unleashed a wave of anti-magic that reduced the falling rocks to dust. When Yuno asked him why he didn't use his sword, the boy simply replied he hadn't thought it necessary for such a small emergency. Next it was Yuno's turn to get food when they started running low again and he used his wind magic to catch a good number of fish.
The last leg of their journey saw them trekking through a desert of sorts. They had to conserve water, naturally, but Asta also used some leaves to make juices for drinking in an emergency. Thankfully, they proved to be unnecessary as the duo finally reached their destination: the Royal Capital of the Clover Kingdom.
And at last the duo has arrived, or at least gotten very close, to the Royal Capital! But how might events change with Asta being made aware of Liebe much sooner than in canon? Tell me what you think in your comments and reviews along with what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! And once again check out my new book, Barons Of The Stars, for a dose of Futuristic Fantasy action! Last thing, stop in next time as our heroes enter the Royal Capital and meet all kinds of new challenges! 'Til then.