Tales of Astora: Legacy

Chapter 18: The Children

Chapter 18: The Children

Alastor's POV

It has been several days since Charles was crown as the new king of Ceadric. Because of the archduke's mutiny, the palace has been in disarray ever since. Charles has organized a big clean up to root out every last follower of the duke, interrogating every noble from the lowest to the highest.

And there was the matter of Bishop Terrick. Thanks to the documents I received from that mysterious woman, we had proof that the priest was conspiring with Archduke Veldor against the crown by supplying him with men and weapons. It was clear that the two were the one behind the attacks of the frontiers villages, most likely because of Terrick. In return the bishop would help Veldor to become king of Ceadric.

King Charles has demanded explanation and accused the Theocracy of Light for attempting to overthrow him, plunging Ceadric in chaos. But so far the Church has denied all involvement and stated that everything was caused by the Bishop alone. Unfortunately we did not have anything proof linking to the Church so that affair has been stuck at a dead end.

As for me, I learnt from Asmodeus and the others that apparently Veldor did indeed show up in the Abyss but he most likely ended up being beaten to pulp by the mysterious knight for trespassing his territory. I have tried coming down there to thank him but the door was shut close. As usual.

One thing was different though. I remembered that the first time I was here, on the gate was the image of a great tree divided into six branches, each leading to a circle. However now, under the tree, in one of its root, I saw a circle with the character "Slime" on it. It definitely was not there before. How did it get here? Then I recalled what Azureus gave me that day to unlock Devas' <Replica>. Could it be from that time? Did that mean that each time I consumed one of those Pure Bloodline Scions, it would affect this gate ?

I should talk with Azureus next time I met him. For now there were more important matters at hands.

"Stella you said that this Anima lantern was created by the Artificer right?" I asked Stella as I pointed to the lantern placed on the table. Together with Ikarus, we were in a room inside the palace. Charles has insisted that we should stay in the castle for now until everything would be clear up.

"Yes. Father has always been interested in magical artefacts that allow even people with no magic potential to be able to use magic. The most potent are called the Tempus Machina. It's a collection of seven artefacts that are so powerful Father has to sealed them away because of their danger to the world.

This Anima Lantern is one of them. Aside from the ability to transfer soul between beings, it allows the user to use a few unique soul magic spells. However..." Stella showed a reluctant expression.

"The lantern requires souls to function. It must absorb souls of people before it can be used. The stronger the souls the more powerful the lantern can get."

"What ? Then then that archduke has really killed several just to use this lantern?" Ikarus shouted in anger.

"Not several. <Soul Transfer> is one of the most powerful abilities this thing has. But it cannot be used against someone that is too strong for the user. But there is another way: the user must compensate the difference in strength by absorbing more souls. Since king Charles is quite a capable man of level Imperatus and the lantern did work against Alastor even though it failed in the end, the Archduke must have killed hundreds at the very least!" Stella explained.

"That bastard! Thanks God he was already executed!" Ikarus fumed.

Tempus Machina. Era of machine. So there were still six left of these scattering in the world. Stella managed to take the Lantern without alarming anyone but I just got the feeling that there was more to this. Based on what Charles has told me, Veldor has been convincing the court to launch a crusade against Ragna to eradicate the demons. This was most likely what Terrick asked him to do. But why?