Chapter 89 - The Plan

-- Aaris - PoV --

"I am okay, I am okay, just tired from all that walking. I am sorry!" Melvi put up a nervous smile, and Zia handed her handkerchief to her.

"Thanks." Melvi hesitantly smiled and we all moved our attention to the chief again.

'I am sorry for my rudeness but, I want to know what does the Pendant of Loki do actually? Why is it so important to you and why do they want it?' He never told us about the pendant.

"That's a reasonable question and I guess it's your right to know about it, the real power of the pendant is actually to act as a catalyst for assimilation." The Chief drooped and squeezed his eyes.

'Assimilation? Isn't it a normal alchemy magia?' Why is he so concerned about such a thing?

"It is,  but it's far stronger and more dangerous than the normal assimilation magia, where a mage can absorb minerals and elements but, if one has the pendant, he can absorb living things too." He suddenly looked enraged but maintained his posture and tone.

'How?! And why would anyone absorb others?' Is this even possible? I looked at Historia. She stood there like it was nothing new to her.

"Simply put, after absorbing someone through the pendant, the user can use one of their magia, or uptake their lifespan, their strength, knowledge, anything that person possessed physically and mentally, that pendant is really dangerous if fall into wrong hands, and unfortunately, it's in the worst hands now." The chief sighed and sat down on the altar dais.

'Why did you let such things exist in the first place? You could've destroyed it!'  My palms were sweating like hell.

"Easier than done young man, that pendant was created by an Emperor class Alchemist with a fragment of the philosopher's stone if anything that can destroy it, must have enough power to destroy a whole province in one lazy swing, there are some mages who can do that but our ancestral Emperors refused, keeping in mind that it was Divine relic, and its destruction could lead to this domain which is one the major economic asset of this kingdom." Suddenly he growled and stood up, gradually calming himself he frowned.

'I see.' I sighed and stood beside Melvi, who still looked nervous and reserved.

"Moreover, that pendant is more dangerous when it's used as a weapon core, imagine having a spear power of both a lightning spirit and a mermaid, then one can create a huge flood of the charged tsunami." The chief sighed again and shrugged.

'Spirts? It can absorb spirits too?'  I and others were shocked and stunned as their eyes were wide open.

"Did I forget to mention? Haha, my memory is getting worse these days, yeah it can absorb spirits too, it can also create spirits chimeras, it is a very dangerous relic you see." He chuckled and started walking to their door.

"Old man, you should have issued a queen-level quest for that," Historia smirked at him.

"Didn't have a budget for that, well then is everything clear?" He replied.

"I have one question why does this Duke Diesswrin guy want it?" Styrmir ran to Riger following him.

"I don't know but he was desperate for that pendant earlier and made many offers, I don't know how he knew about that pendant but he was desperate for it, moreover that guy is infamous for underworld slave trading and organ trafficking business." Riger suddenly stopped and scowled in displeasure.

"Who is this Diesswrin guy really?" Styrmir halted in horror.

"I'll tell you everything about him later, I guess that's enough for today, let's spend our night here and prepare to set out for the kingdom Seloud, it's not just around the corner, his domain Diesswrin is at a very isolated area between groves and rocky mountains, so let's take a good rest today and wrap there tomorrow early in the morning." Historia started walking behind Riger.

"Great, then let's go." Riger sighed and we walked out of the room and went back to his mansion, and we were given a separate room for all of us. I went into mine and crashed into the bed after a refreshing bath.

I was thinking about what I should do tomorrow, what is awaiting us. I saw my familiar cube lying on the shelf, I reached for it and grabbed it.

'Just what the hell are you?'

When Captain Hez said, a familiar reflecting its master's soul, I realized at that point nothing is going to work, and why did I repeat after that voice?

Rudra sounds so lame! I should've gone for Bob or Pedro!

Maybe that could've made it talk after they are existing names! Just who is Rudra?

I threw the cube in the corner and went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up early and got my breakfast in bed. Historia summoned us into the Riger's office.

"Are you prepared? Do you need anything?" Riger gawked at us with his piercing glance.

"Don't worry, we are more than ready. Thank you for your hospitality but we can't waste any more time here." Historia bowed and gestured to us to stand together.

"Haha, thanks for understanding the situation, please finish this as fast as you can, and try not to stand out, if the existence of such a relic goes out in the world it will create chaos." Riger laughed anxiously and leaned on his desk.

"Sure will," Historia replied

Chief looked at his maid and nodded and she opened a wrap gate again, 

"This will take you to the outskirts of Diesswrin province, it is not a welcoming borough so try to stay low and sneak your way in to avoid suspicion, well then may Allfather protect you, take care." Riger had a saddened look on his face,

We nodded and waved goodbye then passed the gate.

Ending up in a dark dense forest, with smog spreading in silence and a big hill in front of us, the place looked like a land of the horror of fairy tales.

I looked at Melvi and noticed something strange. She wasn't scared this time. 

I was expecting her to jump in the scare and whine after seeing such a scary forest but she was blank and clutching her arms like she was afraid of something else, something much more terrifying than this forest.

"Alright, kids take this." Historia handed us a piece of paper, with a map of the province Diesswrin drawn in it.

"Listen carefully, this hill in front of us obstructs the southern side of this province. We'll enter from here, there are a few checkpoints and guarding cabins on the hill too, I have marked them down so avoid them, and also the guards patrolling here too." Historia pointed to some marks on the map.

"You are saying like we are going to split from here." Styrmir smiled nervously.

"Correct! From here we are going to split into two teams, one with Zia, Rise, and Melvi, which will enter the province from the southwest side, and I and Styrmir will enter from the south." She smiled.

"Hell yeah!" Styrmir jumped in excitement.

"Be serious you idiot! You three will go to the black market and investigate any tips on the pendant or trade done with similar attributes, while I and Styrmir will head straight to his mansion, got it?" Historia smacked his head pounding him in the ground.

"Roger!" He said somehow...

"I am really pumped up now!" He pulled his head from the ground and never looked so spirited.

"Aren't you afraid? We are raiding our enemy hideout here, no matter how you look it's reckless."  Historia raised her brow at him

"I know it's reckless but what kind of member I am if I don't trust my beautiful captain in a crucial mission."  Styrmir giggled and shrugged  

"Great, I hope your pervertedness will help us in the quest too." Historia sighed and pulled out some orbs from her bag, it was an intercom orb.

"Here take this, and be in contact and report anything you find odd or useful." 

We nodded and walked away from them, all this time Melvi was looking down and looked anxious.

"Melvi! You can do this!" Historia called her name and gave a thumbs up with a wide smile on her face!

"All the best to y'all!" Styrmir yelled, waving at us.

'All the best to you too! Take care and be safe!' I waved back with a big smile.

We turned our backs to them and ran to the southwest.

We ran for like 30 minutes and reached the point where Historia marked and found ourselves in front of a big wall.

'Should we leap this wall?' I looked at the wall. It was tall but not too much. I could jump over it without much effort.

"We don't know who's on the other side, I have a plan." Zia sighed and walked close to the wall, Zia crouched and  touched the ground, 

[ MAGIA DEMON ART ]

[ STYX RIFT ]

A deep dark hole appeared in front of us, 

"We'll go from here." She and we jumped into the hole and there was a tunnel made from her spell.

'Where does this open?' I looked around and it was totally dark!

"It will automatically open to a dark place where light is not present, possibly an abandoned house or behind an alley, it won't open if there is light or a human touching the ground anywhere near 20m of radius." She walked nonchalantly like she knows no fear, 

'Then it would definitely open somewhere in the-'

"Black market!" She smirked with an evil grin!