chapter6

  On the planet of Eldus, there was a building “Hall of History” situated at the center of the desert. Two young men were running, echoing through a spacious corridor.

  “Faster! We’re late.” Young Eldus Lucifer urged impatiently.

  “If it wasn’t you being too occupied with the spell study,  we could’ve been on time to the monthly assembly.” Another young Eldus Michael grumbled.

  “Hey don’t blame me for this. You enjoyed it as much as I did.” Discontented, Lucifer glared at Michael while keeping the speed. Finally, they arrived at a splendid door, a place of solemnity.

  Taking a deep breath, both opened the door carefully——Then a low, hoarse voice came into their ears.

  “...Alien species were found to absorb the vitality of the planets. During the first contact we successfully defeated them to save the weak…”

  The silent hall was echoed with a burst of applause for a moment. Michael and Lucifer also followed as they felt great admiration for the honor. 

  “Great, we made it to the Saint’s speech.” Michael was relieved. The young yet awe-inspiring Eldus on the stage was Saint, the candidate for the next grandmaster.

  “But we must stay vigilant. As superior species, we take full responsibility to maintain the order of the universe, therefore——” Saint, who paused while looking at the young generation in the hall, continued with a resolute attitude, “I and the grandmasters are planning to set up a gatekeeping programme named the Keeper. We’ll pick young and skillful Eldus as Keepers of different planets to prevent alien invasion.

  A tempest of applause came again. Saint kept on the speech until it faded by accurate timing, so that the audience could focus on every word from him.

  “However, communication is always the option. Living together in harmony is our mission and goal, also the gospel of the universe ——”

  The speech was interrupted by an Eldus suddenly. He came over and whispered. The news made Saint grave as he announced, “an unfortunate news. Aliens spotted on another planet. I’ll be leading my fellows to handle it.”

  Hence, the assembly ended earlier than scheduled. Michael and Lucifer walked out of the hall but soon got caught——An elder in anger.

  “Lucifer! Michael! You two troublemakers again!”

  “Huh? We didn’t do anything! Don’t point the wrong finger at us!” Lucifer retorted for the injustice, but what the elder was going to say made him speechless.

  “Wrong finger? You two triggered the transformation spell in Woods of Sound, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, but Michael removed the spell when he left.”

  “Huh? Didn’t you remove it, Lucifer?” Michael questioned with shock. By that time they knew why the elder was mad.

  “So now you understand I point the right finger at you. The Woods of Sound is a mess.”

  “Sorry…”

  “Humph! Make yourself useful and make up for it in action!” The grandmaster put his hands on their shoulders with a scary smile.

  Then, Michael and Lucifer were brought to the Woods of Sound to fix the broken place. It took them one whole day to get it done. Exhausted, the two were laying on the lush meadow, and Michael had an idea suddenly.

  “Lucifer, I want to become a Keeper. Like Saint, I want to protect everything, and the equality of life.” 

  “Sounds great.” Lucifer sat up with a fighting spirit, exuding with the fearlessness of youth. “I support the Keeper idea. Only the strong can control power. That’s how we show the honor of Eldus!”

  “I know nothing about power and authority, but it’s a right thing to protect the weak together.”

  “Humph! What together...All credit has gone into Saint’s hand!” Lucifer was bitter. “Look! I don’t just wanna be a Keeper, but the best among Keepers!”

  “Haha.” Witnessing his ambition, Michael had a crack. “You admire Saint as much as before. I bet you can’t wait to be his right-hand man, don’t you?”

  “NO!” Hit the spot, Lucifer blushed to deny and walked away to the west.

  “I-I’m heading west to see if there is any place that needs to be fixed. Don’t slack off and get off your butt to check! Otherwise the grandmaster will be complaining again!” 

  “Ok ok.” Michael smiled as he stood up, heading to the east after a stretch. After the checking was done, he went back to the meadow but found Lucifer missing.

  “Strange...Lucifer is never late…” Suddenly a thunder sounded from the sky, which was covered with clouds. A dazzling lightning struck through the air to break the tranquility.

  “...Let’s go find him.”

  “To the west, Michael saw something unexpected——The severely-injured Lucifer was hanging on a tree.

  “Lucifer!”

  Michael tried to save him, but a shadow blocked the way——Laplace the demon with a child-like smile. Michael widened his eyes not only because he was an alien, but also his flawlessness beyond any creatures in the world.

  “Oh, you came, just in time. I’m lost. Can you help me?” Laplace’s voice was light as a feather.

  “...Did you harm Lucifer?” Michael pulled himself together after getting rid of the blankness. Despite his lowered head, his fury could be told judging from the tightened body motion and the sharp tone.

  However, Laplace was unaware, gazing up to Michael with a smile.

  “Right. It was his fault. I was asking for directions, but he attacked me with no reason. So I just lectured this bad boy.” Laplace stood straight and continued with hostility and offense, “look. I’m being nice to him you see? He’s not dead yet.” 

  “...You disgusting alien!” Michael drew his sword and triggered a spell. A large amount of mana was gathered on the long sword, slashing at Laplace.

  Laplace did not dodge nor strike back, but grabbed Michael’s sword barehanded. With astonishment, the mana on the sword was erased and its weight became much slighter, as if he was holding a toy weapon.

  “Oh, that dude used all his power to buff the attack, but you split half the power to maintain the solidity of the sword instead. Well, this is not important because…” Laplace closed his eyes to analyze, and opened again filled with bloodlust. “You’re as bad as that dude. Time to lecture!”

  Laplace pulled out an unknown weapon and conjured mana on its surface, just the same as Michael did!

  The attack targeted at Michael’s blindspot, right into the vital part. He was blasted to a huge stone heavily, smashing into a big hole.

  Michael bled hard, moaning with pain breathlessly.

  “Oops, that’s heavy. Seems he can’t answer me either. I’ll wake up that dude then.” Puzzled, Laplace stretched his head, came over to Lucifer and pulled his collar brutally.

  Although that scene was all in Michael's eyes, he was too weak to speak up and stop it.

  “No...I’m Eldus, the keeper of all...I have to protect my fellow at all cost!”

  Every inch of movement was bone-cutting. He managed to put his right hand on top of the sword and drew a spell with blood as his last-ditch effort.

  Enchanted by mana, the sword flew towards the enemy fiercely——Laplace stopped the weapon by pinching it with two fingers.

  “This can’t hurt...Em?” Laplace felt sudden warmth on the cheek. Blood stained his finger as he touched the face——The sword has left an half-finger-long wound on his right cheek.

  Laplace remained silent for a while. When Michael thought his life was doomed today, Laplace spoke.

  “Amazing! You’re just amazing!” Laplace was excited to shout. “My analysis indicated that you couldn’t have unleashed that kind of attack, but your bonding with the fellow exceeds my calculation...Oh, what a beautiful possibility.” 

  “Alright, I decided, to spare your life.” Laplace nodded and released Lucifer. “Train. Grow stronger. Then let me see the possibility of transcending the limit.”

  He left after leaving this message.

  “He...is not much the same as I thought about the alien species...Maybe I’ve done wrong...I shouldn’t attack but to communicate in the beginning…” Looking at the child-like Laplace, Michael was confused, about himself and his own kind.

  However, reality allowed no other option. He had to embrace the coming fate...