The Undead retreated through the sky, the leader of which was a Rank 3 mage that had lived, or better said, existed, the longest among the group.
"Sir, why are we running away? We can totally defeat those naive mages," a lower-Ranked Undead didn't understand why they were running away.
"A deal's a deal soldier. Our forces will grow immensely from all the bodies in the south. When we regroup, we'll be powerful enough to take all the land for ourselves," if the skeleton could smile, he would, sadly, all that was visible were the teeth clamped on top of each other.
"Besides, we wouldn't win. The amount of arrays that were covering the entire city would be a massive hassle to deal with. We wouldn't come out unscathed."
"But sir, a deal with a demon, what's the use in that? Why not just try it anyway?"
"Our great Sentinel staked his soul on the deal, we're not taking any chances here. And it wasn't a demon that came to us. No, something far worse arrived."
---
As the time passed, Agatha's estate was ruled over by Kasto, Agatha, and Astaroph. Without the funds from Augustinus and the support from the Underground forces, they had to manage it all themselves.
The bet with Protaris was easily won since they had to compare the current state of their counties. The fact that Protaris' county was first consumed by a plague and then overrun by the Undead, there was barely anything of the estate left. Most of the buildings had collapsed and all the citizens had either died or fled.
Through the combined effort of Duke Astaroph, one of his sons, Descartes, and Duke Vesper, they cleaned the county of the plague and the Undead, but all that resulted in was a dead land, similar to how Agatha's was like in the beginning.
Protaris was given shelter at the Duke's estate, put on house arrest for not manageing his own county well. The candidacy coin was handed over with a lot of annoyance and complaints, but Protaris never gathered enough proof to accuse them of anything. Even if he did, he still lost the bet.
From the beginning of the banquet to now, a year had passed. Asta was able to gather the candidacy coins from Protaris, Klaro, Isale, Descartes, and after asking for it, Agatha's as well. The competition he set up with Alastor, who had gathered Agares' coin, they each upheld their end.
Now, it was time for both to fight it out themselves. It was time to face their final opponent in the way to the seat of Duke. Lucas and Asta had come up with elaborate plans to force victory to their hand on multiple occasions, but with Alastor, Lucas knew it wasn't going to be so easy.
Going off on the information at hand, there was barely anything. Asta had been gathering intel on the man, while Lucas was figuring out how to properly scheme against him.
'There are only three points that matter. One, he's a monstrous genius capable of gathering information at a rapid speed and instantly putting it to use. Two, despite his brilliance, he's recently reached Rank 4, a direct battle is to be avoided, and finally, he's powerful enough to defeat Agares with ease despite not being a fighter.'
'In other words, we're fucked.'
'Not completely, we never stood a chance at the beginning of the year to gather all the candidacy coins, and now we're just missing two.'
'Doesn't change what I said. That bastard is more powerful than us and also beats us at an intelligence level. Even if we use sneak attacks or destabilize his mental state, the fucker can't be killed instantly.'
'Not even if we use the upgraded Dark Beam?'
'Ya think he's going to just stand still and let it happen? Besides, fart-face, we couldn't kill the siblings, remember?'
'Don't get me started, he was willing to take a risk on Agatha while in the temple and Isale with the Undead. I think we stand a good chance at convincing him. So, what do you think?'
'Hmmm.... Nah, can't see it happening, to be honest. Unless we would be able to lure him into a death chamber or something. Besides, if he's Rank 4, who knows what kind of defensive spells he might have.'
Playing with his food, Lucas was absorbed in thought during dinner. The others at the table were enjoying their meal while conversing with each other. If one had seen who the participants were, they would raise an eyebrow, as many of the supposedly competitive candidates for the seat were enjoying each other's company.
Asta sat at the head while Agatha, Klaro, and even Descartes were happily talking as if they didn't have a generational expectation placed upon them. Their respective maids and butlers stood behind the candidates, addressing any needs they might have.
Only Lucas sat by himself, contemplating how to move forward. As the only human present, he stuck out like a sore thumb.
"I have to say, you've grown little sis," Klaro said as he patted her head lightly. Agatha replied with a big grin, happy to be freed from her darker past. All her debts were paid off, annulled or passed to someone else.
Descartes couldn't help but agree, "You've turned this hellscape of a land back into something green. How did you stop the desert from expanding? In my territory, it's become an issue as of late."
Sabaoth was mostly a world covered in dark red sand. Considering the total amount of land, more than half of it was an ever expanding desert. The remaining land was split between the Dukes. As the Dukes dwindled in number, so did the available agricultural land, not that any of them present knew this.
"Galen told us his methods. From experience, he knew that if we let plants grow in greenhouses to let them establish firm and thick roots before planting them in the border region of the desert, it's possible to slowly greenify the desert. It takes a long time, so we've also changed the very foundation of the sand and added more irrigation channels pumped with magically created water to sustain the land," Asta spoke eloquently about how they did it.
Surprisingly, the typical arrogant tone was absent from his voice. Descartes nodded, as Klaro joined in. "Indeed, we've had similar tests running, and we've been able to recover a sizable portion of land without the use of magic."
"I'll have my people get on it straight away then," Descartes smiled, but not fully.
The atmosphere was pleasant for all but one, who couldn't focus on the present as his thoughts were stuck in the future or the past.
Lucas didn't even see the smiling faces of everyone present he worked so hard for, which, considering the context and the people involved, was an achievement in and of itself. Being partially responsible for the results, he should be sharing in the delights, yet he hadn't eaten a single bite.
Descartes felt strange sitting next to his siblings and not having to fear for his life. 'If this is the future he's trying to build, I'm starting to understand why he wants the seat.'
Unlike most demons, Astaroph cared little for power or strength, treating each individual as an equal based on acts. A meritocracy would be the most likely outcome, speculated Descartes. "Well, Astaroph, you've certainly cleared the floor with us. You could've gone a bit easier on your fellow siblings, couldn't you? It's barely been a year since the banquet," Descartes joked, not expecting Asta to turn serious.
"True enough, the only rule that I kept during the competition was that I couldn't kill any of you. I don't want to hurt you, and that's coming from the heart. Frankly," Asta sighed slightly before looking each member in the eyes, only being evaded by Lucas as he wasn't paying attention.
"I believe I owe you all an explanation as well. The reason for why I even returned and want to inherit my father's position. I kept it to myself since I didn't believe it was necessary for others to know, but Isale shook me awake."
"Hah, she has that kind of effect, doesn't she?", Klaro responded, knowing full well that each conversation with the minx was always quite a hassle.
"When I was young, I was focused on studying magic to the fullest. I was barely eleven years old before I started to experiment with what was possible. In my hubris and excitement, I wanted to show my powers off and receive admiration and respect from others, even my own siblings."
The people present couldn't really remember much, and the memories they still had already showed Asta making preparations to leave Sabaoth.
"You should all know that Isale's mother gave birth to two children of our dear father, Isale, and Cecilia, a daughter born in shadows. Publicly, it was stated she died young due to an illness, but in fact... it was done by my own hands. I can still remember the moment I lost control of my new fire spell and set her alight. The screams she made that day have haunted me daily.
From that point on, I took a vow to never use elements again, if I were to do so, my heart would explode. Lucas," suddenly addressing the one person who didn't fit in, he lifted his head, now fully listening in.
"I wanted to apologize for how I treated your elemental spells in the past," making a small bow, the genuine regret was visible on his face. Lucas didn't respond as he just kept staring at him.
"I ran away from my actions, escaping the consequences for a long time, but I decided to return to fix what I can. The current system where the strong prey on the weak is a ridiculous way of life. Cecilia believed that the worth of people came out of their actions. So my country will be ruled as such. Of course, I plan to aim higher, converting the entirety of Sabaoth."
Standing at the head of the table, Asta was finished with his small speech and apology. He expected questions and remarks, yet all he saw when he opened his eyes were smiles from his siblings. Turning his head towards his friend, Lucas was looking at his food. "Lucas?"
"I'm glad you were able to sort things out, Asta. But might I remind you that as long as we don't get all the candidacy coins, your words will be just that? Words."
Asta was expecting a more enthusiastic reply from him, but he seemed to be in a bad mood for quite some time. He didn't know what caused it, but fully believed the source came from the temple.
Descartes lifted his leg over the other as he grabbed his chin, "If you're going up against Alastor, you're going to have to play things to your hands. He knows practically everything about every topic, so you'll have to introduce an element of randomness."
"He can't know about everything," Lucas rebuked, finding such a statement ridiculous.
"No, no, I'm not exaggerating. I still remember when I was being tutored, Alastor always knew the answers before the teacher even fully asked the question. It didn't matter whether it was history, math, art, he knew it all."
"That's impossible. He couldn't have been more than 15 years old, and he already knew everything?"
"That's how it looked, I can only tell you what I saw."
Dropped into pensive thoughts, Lucas didn't understand, he couldn't wrap his head around the fact that someone so young could know so much without even needing a teacher.
'It's impossible. Even if he's capable of gathering knowledge from observations, that wouldn't mean he would know history.'
'Unless he read books and got it all from there.'
'The Duke would have a large library, making that a possibility. Still, in what world would it make sense for a young child to learn so much in such a short time?', neglecting the fact he was in similar circumstances, he was always taught by others.
Alastor seemingly got all his knowledge by himself, which simply couldn't be possible.
"Lucas, we'll talk about how to deal with him at a later date. For now, I just want to enjoy what we've accomplished."
Standing up from the table, Lucas nodded with a fake smile, "Of course, my apologies for ruining the mood. If you'll excuse me, I have something urgent to do."
Running away from the confrontation, Lucas didn't know what was wrong with him. Asta was right, his plan, while extremely risky and dangerous, paid off. He got it right in the end, he won, figuratively speaking. A victory landed right in his lap, yet Lucas didn't feel the usual satisfaction of a succeeding plan.
He could still vividly remember his final conversation with Augustinus, it left a stain on his mind, one immovable by thought alone. Combined with the fact that while the present was enjoyable, knowing the near future would put them in dire straits made him unable to enjoy it.
Stepping out of the room, he left for a secluded room with a balcony. Standing on it, the somewhat dark red sky was a sign night was approaching. Lucas was disappointed in himself for being so weak and unable to rein in his own emotions. He was in control, so why were his emotions ruling over him?
Asta often ridiculed him for using elemental magic, as it was fueled and empowered by emotions. Finally discovering why Asta refused to use them, he understood it wasn't just, ironically enough, an emotional decision to scrap elemental magic from his repertoire.
"Lucas, are you that worried about Alastor? Or are you having trouble with something else?"
Asta stood behind him, not entering his personal space in the slightest. "I know I'm not the one who should be saying these things, but open up, friend. I've been struggling with Cecilia's death for years, and today feels like a step in the right direction. I'm barely holding myself back from crying, and I can tell you're in the same situation."
There was an emotional tone to his voice, one Lucas recognized instantly, yet he tried to steel his heart.
"Your powerful persona, even your split personality will not shield you from your emotions. I analyzed your aura, I know you're dealing with a traumatic past, but I can tell that's not what's bothering you. It's the temple isn't it?"
Lucas didn't answer as his firm back was the only thing Asta saw. The clenched fists drawing blood were carefully hidden.
"The temple only reacts to sin, in your case, it can only be a form of weakness. What memory did the temple reinforce?"
Lucas barely got the words over his lips, the moment he tried to speak, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. "I... Elam..."
While a lot of time had passed, Lucas never had the room to think about it. Fully involved with his plan to lure the Duke out of his castle, isolating Isale, and making deals with the Undead, his personal feelings were stored away for later.
Now that there was a moment of rest before going up against Alastor, Lucas couldn't help himself but think strange thoughts as the floodgates of his heart burst open.
Asta closed his eyes, realizing what he was trying to convey. He approached Lucas. Standing behind him, he wanted to hug him, yet as he stood there, he didn't know how to do so. Part of him held back, not wanting to make a mistake in comforting him.
"He...he's dead, because he had to... protect me...", as someone who strove for power more than anyone else he knew, Asta empathized with him. Lucas was supposed to be the one who protected others, not the other way around. Especially if someone had to sacrifice themselves for him, it wouldn't make sense.
Lucas played with lives he didn't care about, but for the ones he did care for, heaven and earth would have to make way.
Throwing his worries to the side, Asta grabbed Lucas' shoulder and turned him around. Tears were almost streaming down his face, making himself emotional as well. "Elam protected you because he wanted to! Lucas, you know that he would just run away if he thought his life was in danger. He only did so to protect you!"
Lucas didn't answer as tears started to roll over his cheeks. Asta joined in, as his own worries and trauma started to burst into the open. Grabbing him close, he hugged Lucas, he couldn't even remember the last time he hugged someone. Asta could feel Lucas' hands grab his back.
"He.. was like a...," the words got stuck in his throat, unable to give them sound, but Asta already knew.
"A Father? Yes, it was clear you weren't just a student and teacher. And I can tell he treated you like a son as well. Otherwise he wouldn't stake his life on saving you."
Clasping one another, they silently cried for a moment. Asta never expected Lucas to have such a side, but he was human in the end. 'All the strong fronts he put up weren't fake, it's just that he never had to deal with loss since he detached himself from everyone else.'
A few moments later, Asta and Lucas were sitting around in some chairs. Asta didn't even bother creating his own, using one already available instead as they each mourned in silence.
"Asta," his voice sounded normal again, making Asta focus up.
"I don't have any plans for Alastor."
Closing his eyes for a moment, he wiped them with a handkerchief before nodding slightly, "It's fine, we'll figure something out, like we always do."
After some time, Asta eventually left Lucas to give him some space. Being alone, Lucas felt his heart slow down. Without the warmth of another person, Lucas reverted to his usual self. If it wasn't for the fact he was able to process some of his feelings, he might've been struggling with it for a long time.
Eventually he stood back up and paced around the room. His demeanor turned around so much, one would think it was all an act. His cold and calculative side took over as he tried to think about what he could possibly do to win.
Even with a clear mind, not a single realizable idea showed up. Only after an hour of thinking, was there one single idea in his mind to turn the tables. One so out of touch and stupid, only a certain part of Lucas could've made it up.