Moving forward, they eventually split up with Asta and Lucas taking the lead to head to the entrance of the headquarters of Isale, a large, bustling city, the kind Protaris' county was known for. But while Protaris had many such cities, this one could truly be considered the capital of Isale's lands.
Nearing the guards, they instantly raised their weapons. Two mages of a high Rank approaching the city never meant anything great. Rank 1's are mostly ignored while Rank 2's are treated like a potential danger. Rank 3's are just a walking mass of suppressed destruction. Without prior warning, most wouldn't like you visiting them.
"Good afternoon sirs, please be aware that we do not want any trouble with you. Your Rank is the only reason we have to take precautions. I hope you won't mind me asking why you've come here?"
The guards were polite, knowing full well what their positions were. Getting conflictual with anyone above their station meant their deaths were all but certain. Every day, they ran the risk of running into an impatient mage who cared little for them. Their life on such a miserable thread, they knew how to approach mages.
Asta smiled as he pulled out a certain item confirming his identity. "I'm here to see my sister. My apologies it's on such a short notice, but I have an urgent message that has to be given in person."
The guards could confirm his identity, but it didn't make his visit any more appreciated. To bring such a dangerous mage to the ruler without following standard procedure could cost them more than just their jobs.
Still, given the choice of risking it with their ruler or these visiting mages, it was obvious what they chose.
It didn't take long before they were brought over to a massive palace decorated with the finest little details. If Protaris was focused on the practicality of things, Isale prioritized the looks.
The amount of money invested in just the decorations would put many households to shame. Entering the palace, the walls were covered in the finest of the arts. Most were portraits of Isale's family. Arriving at a large throne room, it made it blatantly obvious what Isale saw herself as.
Surprisingly, the ruler in question wasn't on the lone throne. Instead, they were guided to the room behind the throne. Entering it revealed a beautiful room with a window for a wall. Two couches were positioned facing one another and little pastries were neatly placed on the small table between the couches.
Isale sat in one of them, wearing a red dress that accentuated her assets, she looked lovely, though her face didn't match her appearance, as she held a stern frown.
She wasn't alone as well, as five beefy men stood behind her couch, armed and hands on their weapons or wands, they were ready for a fight. They didn't hide their hostility in the slightest.
"Why have you come, Astaroph?", her tone as cold as ice, she truly didn't appreciate their sudden visit. Especially since Lucas was with him as well. She barely even looked at her brother, as his friend was the more troublesome one to deal with.
Taking a seat in the empty couch, Lucas and Asta made themselves comfortable. Asta brought his hands together as he took in the sights of Isale and the beautiful city outside the window. Were it not for the bleeding red sky, the sight would've been quite lovely.
"I believe you already know, dear sister," Asta spoke calmly, clearly caring for someone like him, but the feelings were lost on the recipient.
"Don't talk to me as if we're family. You abandoned your home for Aurora and only came crawling back when the competition started."
"I started my journey to see how people lived in a different environment, and through my years there I learned that our way of working is twisted."
"Shut it, Astaroph. Why even come back if it was so great there? You don't deserve to become Duke, and you know it."
Asta sighed slightly, before staring outside the large window. "Do you believe that strength is all that matters in this world? Do you truly believe that pitting our family against each other is the best way to achieve the best Duke?"
Isale simply stared intently at him, not speaking up despite her wanting to.
"Agatha is young, fragile, and naive. She barely held herself together, constantly haunted by the debts her family accrued. Her people hated her, her followers were bought, and the girl is having to rule over an entire county because she holds part of the Duke's blood. Do you think it's fair to fight against her simply because of that?"
Not answering at first, Isale shook her head in disappointment, "Is that all you had to say? This isn't a paradise, Astaroph, it's a fight to the death. The one who wins in the end can do whatever they want without any kind of rebuttal purely because of their strength. Does it have to be fair? Does a wolf leave a wounded rabbit alone because it wouldn't be a fair hunt?"
Isale wasn't interested in Asta's sympathetic view on the world. Even in Aurora, the weak were trampled by the strong, in Sabaoth, that reasoning simply became their core.
"You believe us to be on the same level of beasts? We are elevated, Isale, the only reason we were able to even rule over the planet was because of the first Demon God working together with others who were below him, not out of hierarchy, but out of cooperation."
"And if we still followed the ancient traditions, we would have to use leeches to cure a sickness. Times change, we learned from the past and evolved, if you're stuck in the past and love your predecessors, you can join them when you enter eternal sleep," the guards behind her quickly drew their weapons and wands. One of them prepared a spell, but simply kept it in their wand, ready to fire at any second.
Lucas hadn't said a word as he was simply observing. He agreed beforehand that Asta had to make an attempt first. Having plenty of shields at the ready himself, his entire body was a vessel for spells, making a wand practically useless. He grinned at the mage, before lazily grabbing a cookie from the tray in front of him.
"Isale, I want to change this world, from the very rotten core. If you truly believe that the strong rule over all, I'm sure you're glad your mother didn't throw you away because you were a failure in the beginning."
Bringing up the past so suddenly, Isale's eyes sharpened, her anger clearly visible. Her aura was barely being held back as her face was forced into her past mistakes.
"Hah! You like bringing up the past? So be it!", standing up, she walked towards the window. "I know why you're trying to become Duke, Astaroph. It's not because of those grandstanding ideas of yours, no. No, you're way more emotional than you let on. You always try to be a cold strategist, a mirror of our dear disgusting father, but you're a wreck on the inside," making wild gestured at him, Asta didn't respond as he narrowed his eyes slightly.
Lucas wasn't fully paying her attention as his focus was on the guards who had their weapons at the ready.
"You go on and on about changing the world for selfless reasons, but I know better. You're just trying to repent for Cecelia."
"Isale," it was a low, cold reminder of where she was stepping, one she cared little for.
"The oh so smart little boy was nothing more than a fool filled to the brim with arrogance. We all had trouble getting our spells under control, but you were the one who couldn't contain his excitement to show our late little sister your new spell."
"Isale!"
"You were incompetent and killed her!", pointing at Asta, Isale didn't hold back, "Running away from your deeds, you left us to grieve alone. Now you're back and want to fix things? You're the one who needs fixing!"
"ISALE!", Asta stood up as his aura started to seep out, pressuring everyone in the room.
"Don't you call me like that! Just because you're stuck in the past doesn't mean we have to be. I don't care what you think, but becoming Duke wouldn't bring her back nor would it mean anything!"
Asta stood with his back towards Lucas, who had stopped paying attention to the guards. Lucas had his own theories about why Asta refused to use elements, but it was clear he had it dead wrong. It was impossible to read his facial expression from his position, the tone of Asta's voice was clear enough.
"Lucas."
Nodding slightly, Lucas clapped once. A seemingly useless gesture, but everyone present could tell a magical signal was sent somewhere. Isale didn't know what it was meant to do, yet a quick look outside made it more than obvious.
Right outside the city, hundreds if not thousands of Undead started to float in the night sky. Seeing their Ranks, this wasn't a small group of random Undead, there were a few Rank 3's present, more than enough to completely wipe the city off the map.
"The Undead? Astaroph?! You're working with them?!", Isale couldn't keep her temper as she grabbed him by the collar. Asta faced her stare with a cold look.
"You said I was stuck in the past? The stronger are right in the end? That circumstances are negligible in front of power? Then fear it, Isale."
Pushing him away, she quickly looked to her guards who were sweating from just seeing the small floating army. The only respite she had was the fact they were just stationary, not attacking yet.
"If you think I'll back down so easily, you can forget it!", quickly pulling out her messenger, she hurried to write a line to message the Duke. By the time she was finished, Asta snapped his finger as an array enveloped the entire city.
"That messenger won't be able to reach anyone. Besides, father is with Protaris, taking all the Guardians with him."
Isale turned her head to face Asta, death in her eyes, she would kill him in an instant if she could. Staring outside for a mere moment, she hesitantly reached in her pocket for a hexagonal disc. "Fine, then we'll just esca-", her words weren't finished yet before Lucas shot a tiny Dark Beam that blasted a small hole in her teleportation artifact. The suddenness of it all caught the men in the room off guard.
"My apologies, I've been having some trouble controlling my mana as of late," feeling as he broke the entire mood, Lucas picked up another pastry from the tray.
The guards in front of him almost couldn't contain their shock and nervousness. The one in the center, their leader had kept his eyes on Lucas in more ways than one. Using Magic Vision, he had kept track of his mana movements, yet he still couldn't react. Not that he was slow or simply inexperienced, no, he didn't stand a chance.
'His entire body is filled with mana?! It keeps moving all around, it makes no sense!'
Comparing it to his own staff, the amount of mana that was constantly moving was equal to dozens of his own spells. Some mages held great control over their mana and were capable of storing spells in their pathways, but the limit was only a few. Lucas held mana in places were no pathways even existed.
'This isn't a human! It can't be!'
Isale felt like ripping her own hair out. She stared at the man who was despite the visible tension in the room completely relaxed. From the reports she received, this wasn't a human, but a monster wearing skin.
Sneakily looking at the leader of her guards, all she saw was a look of despair. His eyes clearly conveyed what he thought, suggesting anything but a direct confrontation. Isale barely held herself back from attacking, knowing how dangerous it was to make such a reckless move.
The tiny Dark Beam could've ended her life in instant, as she didn't even sense it, yet he chose to destroy her escape route.
Stepping close to Asta, her face mere inches away from his, she stared full swords into him. Veins on her forehead were visible as they contracted.
"Were you truly going to run away? Leaving all your citizens and followers behind? Didn't you love your people?"
Not a single word came out of her as she simply stared at the man her older brother had become.
"Give us the coins, and the city will live," Lucas didn't want to sit there anymore. The extremely heavy mood was even getting to him.
"Is this how you're going to rule over us, huh?! Is this it!? After all those years of so-called learning in Aurora you come back with this scum and make deals with the Undead?!"
Asta didn't respond as he patiently waited. Clenching her fists, she plunged her hand inside her bosom and pulled two coins from it, throwing them towards the ground.
"Leave!", turning around, she left the room, the guards followed her, leaving the two behind.
"Asta-"
"Stop. We got what we came for."
Clapping once more, another signal was sent out and the Undead quickly vanished from the sky.