Walking over the destroyed golems, Lucas found another door with an array carved into it. Placing his hand on the door, he was teleported to the next room, filled with golems, but a lot less.
Rushing towards the first one, he punched it only for him to hurt his hand. The golem was destroyed, but it was clear they grew in power. Clearing the room, Lucas moved to the next one. The golems were halved once more, but their powered doubled.
Understanding the rules, Lucas destroyed the golems and kept moving on until there were only two left. They glowed blue as blue flames razed between the gaps of the stones and were six times his height.
Staring at them from afar, Lucas knew his body would explode if he got hit once. A big smile on his face, Lucas rushed forward.
Before he got even close, one of the golems stomped the ground, lifting Lucas and half the floor into the air. Taking flight, Lucas flew towards one of the golem's fist that was rapidly approaching him.
Changing his flight patter, he turned a perfect right angle avoiding the fist in the nick of time, but that wasn't even all of it. The mere heat from the golems blue flames made his skin burn.
Getting hit meant death, getting close meant burning up, and running away wasn't an option. Truly, this wasn't a fight to be done alone, and yet Lucas felt a strange feeling. His heart was beating rapidly. This wasn't just the typical rush he felt when fighting, the adrenaline that pumped through his veins, this was something else.
To be challenged to such a degree would put many in despair, but Lucas felt exhilarated. This was a trial meant to be completed, meaning there was a way to victory, no matter how hard it may seem.
Dodging the attacks left and right, the room that was meant to house their fight got completely obliterated as the punches quite literally blew half of it up. Lucas had stopped getting in close for the moment as he was searching for a single thing.
As the golems grew in strength and intelligence, a clear center of power was being defined. The very first golems were being moved by the energy of the room, but now, that energy came from within.
Lucas was extremely interested in how it all worked, but this wasn't the time for it. All he knew was that if the center was destroyed, the golem would slow down significantly, making it easy to destroy. Firing a Black Beam at the center, the damage was negligible due to their size difference.
"Hey, give me that armor you made. I got an idea."
'You certain? The pain is pretty extreme.'
"Just do it!"
Activating a spell he had been working on, Lucas felt his bones grow towards the outside. Piercing his flesh, they grew to form an exoskeleton that provided immense protection. Between his stretched out bones, layers upon layers of blood started to flow, giving him another form of protection.
The only issue was that the pain was immense, the magic cost was great and the stamina he lost wasn't small. The benefits on the other hand were plentiful as well.
As he dodged the attacks, the heat wasn't a problem any longer as the blood took the brunt off it and quickly vaporized, keeping him safe. The bones on the other hand had a neat little trick as well as the bones covering his arms started to grow large, forming two massive blades.
"Hahaha!", Lucas had covered his blades with his own form of darkness, making them incredibly sturdy and powerful. Swinging them wide, massive waves of Darkness were flying through the room, absorbing anything they came across, turning it into nothing.
Still, his Dark Blades were still too small due to the size difference, but Lucas had already come up with a plan. By enlarging his bones and reach of blood, also meant his area of attack grew with it. His palm might only create a small Dark Beam, but if he used his blood and bones as conduits, the attack range grew as much as he could handle.
Placing the enlarged bone blades next to each other, a massive Dark Beam was formed by their combination, blasting a circular hole in the middle of the golem, instantly stopping it in place for a moment. Giving Lucas enough time to reposition himself and firing off another beam.
Their attacks grew slower as Lucas pummeled them with attacks, never letting up or slowing down. Finally finding a solution, the golems were defeated after some time. Landing on the ground, the skeleton armor and blood fell to the floor as his body was in urgent need of repair.
'Hey! You do know how much this takes right? I still haven't perfected it yet!'
"Who cares? That was incredible!"
'Just go near the golems, I need to gather their mana.'
Defeating them took longer than expected, his body in tatters from pushing himself too much, Lucas still wasn't finished. Taking a break to be in top condition and gathering his mana back, Lucas moved to the final room, which contained a single, massive golem that was radiating red flames made from pure energy.
Raising his head, the golem was at least twice as big if not three times as the golems in the previous room.
"Shit."
---
Asta and Bell arrived in a big room after entering their trial. At the very center a large circular disc was hanging vertically from the ceiling. A massive array was painted onto the disc.
Scanning the room with his willpower, there wasn't anyone else present, making him slack a sigh of relief. Normally, he would keep those little lapses to himself when he was with Lucas, not wanting to look weak. But in front of Bell, there was no need.
"Looks like we were forced into our trials. At least it doesn't look like we'll have to do any fighting," Asta was relieved to know he wasn't going to have to protect her from any enemies. He was more than capable of using dozens of weapons at once, but if they were overwhelmed and Bell could only run, he wouldn't be certain of her survival.
"Then Lucas is with that woman? I hope he makes it out."
"You've gotten closer to him, have you? I still remember you hating him, but don't worry too much about him. If they fight it out, Lucas will win without a doubt, I'm more worried about the trial they'll face."
"How so?"
"This array contains a mistake. I could tell the moment I saw it, but if Lucas had to be here, he wouldn't know the difference between hexagonal circuit and a square one," proud of himself, Asta was glad to know they had it so easy.
"If he never figures it out... then?"
"He would be stuck in these trials until I can figure out how they work and free him. Even if he was to be trapped for years on end, knowing him, he would survive."
Praising Lucas enough for his liking, Asta corrected the mistake, opening the way forward. Entering the next room, a similar situation presented itself. This one a bit harder than the previous one, Asta solved it in a matter of seconds.
Going from room to room, the problems started to get more and more complex to the point Asta had to take hours to simply understand the array. Simply staring at the array, Asta couldn't tell what its purpose was.
'This is just an array to restructure mana, but the results are hard to gauge. It would mostly depend on the input, but what's the point of it?'
Bell, who was useless in front of the arrays felt terrible. Simply standing behind him, she tried to ignore what would happen if they made it out. All this time, she had to play along against her wishes. Her heart was being pulled apart, yet the light smile on her face kept her from breaking the mask.
Hours passed before Asta was able to find the tiniest mistake in the final array. The eye-bags under his eyes said more than enough. Standing still for such a long time without consuming water or resting would put most out. Unlike Lucas, who regularly conjured air and water for himself when necessary, Asta wasn't able to do so.
Not that he needed water or food to survive off on, since he had mana, but that didn't mean his stomach stopped producing acid or his mouth couldn't dry up.
Exiting the final room, Asta steeled his resolve. He wasn't sure what would be next, just hoping for the end.
Arriving in a large circular room with an extremely high ceiling. At the very top a small hole let the artificial sunlight through, lighting up the room slightly. At the center stood a small pedestal. The pedestal held a cube with three left handprints carved into the stone.
Standing still for a moment, Asta noticed he wasn't alone any longer.
"Well, well, well. You finally made it out, my dear brother. I hope you enjoyed the trial of intelligence somewhat," Alastor and Morior stood next to the small altar, clearly waiting for them to arrive.
"Alastor. I finally realize why you only wanted three people to join. It meant that no matter how we split up, we would have to wait until everyone was finished with their trials before we could compete for the artifact."
"Hahaha, oh dear, it seems my plan was seen right through. Good job, Astaroph," the praise felt genuine and sarcastic at the same time, making it hard for Asta to decipher.
"Well, I don't hope you were expecting that Kinetsu would be able to defeat Lucas. In case you were, I'm sorry for your loss, but this will be my victory."
The smile on Alastor's face grew deeper. "No, I knew that whoever ended up with that hound of yours would face the heavens sooner or later. He's more monster than man. No, no, I send Kinetsu with him not because she was strong, but because of her tenacity. You see, she's extremely hard to kill."
"What good would that do? You would just drag it out. Lucas will figure out her fighting style and kill her without hesitation."
Alastor nodded in response. "Yes. I'm aware. I have studied my companions' skill to excruciating detail, but dear brother, it seems you didn't do the same. You should really know who you're working with. Understanding your partners is important when fighting together."
"What are you talking about? I understand Lucas more than you think."
Shaking his head in disappointment. "Of course, that little boyfriend of yours is strong, but that's not who I'm talking about. I like to have a small back up plan in case things don't go my way. I think it's time for you to give up the play, dear," gesturing towards Bell, she couldn't stop the light smile on her face from turning down.
Walking towards Morior's side, each step was deeply felt by Asta as he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Bell?"
Bell almost hesitated in her steps, but couldn't due to the orders she received. Standing behind Morior, she felt unable to look at Astaroph, her dear master. The light smile on her face hurt Asta more than what she expected. The surprise in his eyes was something nobody had ever seen. A completely foreign look.
"Hahaha, you should take a good look at yourself brother. All your pride is seeping out. In your arrogance, you forgot to keep in touch with the people next to you. Bell was hurting for so long, yet you never even cared for her in the slightest."
"What?", the defeated tone in his voice made Bell almost cry, but she was unable to.
Alastor started to walk to the center with his companions in tow. "You see, my good brother, you're a great strategist, capable of arranging a beautiful play, but you don't look at the actors who are tasked with acting their roles."
Placing his hand on one of the handprints, it started to light up as it also froze him in place. Morior and Bell joined in by placing their hands on the other prints.
"You were great to play with, but I hope you didn't have any false hopes. I was always meant to be the next Duke, whether you came back or not."
As their hands touched the handprints, the cube started to light up before vanishing. In the space the cube previously held, floated a single amulet strung up to make a necklace. Alastor gazed at it for a moment before a deep voice echoed through the chamber.
"Bell, fetch."
Suddenly Bell lost focus in her eyes for a moment before grabbing the amulet and running towards Asta, who was so lost that he had no clue what was going on.
"Bell, what do you think you're doing? I order you not to hand it over to Astaroph," Morior quickly tried to save the situation but it was already over before he even tried.
Behind Asta, from the shadows, Lucas appeared with an amused look on his face. Snatching the amulet from Bell's hands, he threw it towards Asta, who uncharacteristically caught it clumsily.
Alastor frowned, "How did you do that?"
Lucas smiled widely, "What? Can't read my thoughts and figure it out yourself?"
It was only for a moment, but Alastor lost his composure before falling into a laughing fit. "Hahaha! Marvelous! Marvelous! To think you figured it out so quickly! And to even best me using my own tricks, incredibly done!"
Morior who stood next to Alastor couldn't see the fun in the situation. Lucas was here for longer than they were, and even got his hands on the artifact. This wasn't a time for laughter, "Alastor, what is happening? Why did Bell obey him?"
"Ah, Morior, you're not up to speed yet? We were foolishly thinking Bell had contracted only Astaroph, but it seems Lucas had received the same authorities. Cutting the chains to one master does not remove the others. I would've known she was contracted to two masters if she knew, but it seems you already knew about my trick back then."
Truly happy with himself, Alastor smiled almost wider than Lucas, who was more than glad his plan worked out.
Asta, and even Bell, had no idea what was going on, their looks of confusion were obvious enough for Lucas to shed some light. "Alastor has an innate gift to read minds."
"Correct. You're one of the very few that figured it out without me telling them. Frankly, I tried my hardest to keep it hidden."
Mulling over the words, Asta repeated it over and over before so much about Alastor started to make sense.
"Do tell me, what was the first sign?", amused by the situation, Alastor's interest was piqued.
"The Banquet. I studied the ants in that subspace for some time and figured out they didn't exist on Aurora, but after researching the bestiaries here, it's an ancient species that was presumed to have died out. Yet you spoke with full confidence that they were artificial, exactly what I first presumed. Later, I checked once more with Bell, and confirmed my hypothesis."
"Ah, it seems I put too much trust in you. To confidently think you knew the answer tipped me off too much."
Lucas and Alastor stared at each other with a big smile. Lucas had tons of thoughts racing through his mind, each one picked up by Alastor. He couldn't help but shake his head in amazement. "So that's why you poisoned your mind with your aura when we met. You didn't want me to read your thoughts. But how long have you been here?"
Pointing upwards, Lucas explained, "You can read the thoughts of people, but in the banquet you looked fine despite there being hundreds of people. If all thoughts arrived at once, you wouldn't be so carefree. This means you can either turn it off or you need to choose who to read. I just hid myself at the ceiling and minimized my mana consumption to make myself invisible."
"Then waited until we activated the shrine and have Bell retrieve the artifact using a command that was previously instructed," Alastor started to laugh again.
"Incredible, it seems I underestimated you more than I should. I was expecting Kinetsu to hold you busy with her techniques. But reading your mind now, I can tell she was too arrogant. What a wasted piece. Well, dear brother, it looks like you were victorious. I would love for you to experience this joy for a little longer, but I'm afraid I'll have to kill you here."
With a light smile, Alastor started to gather mana in his hands.
Asta suddenly slapped his own face. Wiping away his tears, he tried to focus on the battle ahead. "Lucas..."
"Don't thank me yet. You asked me to make you win this competition, this is the final hurdle in that road," Lucas had already prepared a few spells by the time Alastor started to float of the ground.
Asta closed his mouth, holding back some tears, he resolved his will.
"Hahaha, final hurdle? Do you think you can win against me? If you've forgotten, I can tell every move you make! Not only that, you're both a Rank below me!"
The mana in the room became unstable as Alastor started to release his aura, pressuring both Lucas and Asta. They were barely able to move. Were it not for the training with Yaldor, they would've collapsed.
As Alastor grabbed everyone's attention, a small rift started to open behind Asta. Without a sound the portal grew in an instant, the rift grew large as five large hands reached out to grab Asta, dragging him into the portal. They were decorated in strange charms and yellow in color.
"What?!", Lucas was barely able to sense the portal despite him constantly surveying his surroundings. Multiple stealth spells were used to hide the presence of the rift. In less that a second, Asta was pulled in. Lucas pushed his body to its limits to reach the gate, yet it closed up the moment Asta was pulled in. The pressure on him vanished as Alastor floated in the sky with a strange look. In just three seconds, Asta was kidnapped right in front of him.
A strange anger arose in Lucas' heart as he grasped the open air.
Alastor, who was ready for a fight started to calm down. "This isn't a trick of yours?"
"Can't you read my mind?! Of course it isn't! What just happened?", Lucas was in distress as he couldn't find a trace of mana anywhere. Had he not seen it happen, he would never suspect it. The level of such an operation could only have been done by true professionals.
Alastor gently floated down to the ground, "For once, I don't know. I need to see their face in order to read thoughts."
Lucas cursed to himself, losing Asta, he forgot about the artifact. It was a trivial toy to him compared to Asta's life. He gave up Thurin for him, he can't be taken away from him now! Not after achieving their goal. Channeling his anger and doubt, he faced Alastor, ready to fight.
Holding up his palm, Alastor put a stop to it, "There's no need to fight anymore. I was meant to give my coin to Astaroph as the deal stated, but since he's been kidnapped and the succession battle is almost over. As long as I don't see him, I will win. And since you clearly weren't in the know, fighting you would only be a waste of energy."
What Alastor kept to himself were the thoughts that came from Lucas' head. The brutal tactics and spells that were ready to fire off were incredible in their own form. Alastor was certain he would be able to live, but Morior would be dead without his constant protection. Unable to admit he was scared of someone for a small moment, Alastor retreated with Morior.
"Hey, at least destroy the contract for Bell."
Morior looked towards Alastor, who nodded slightly, making him pull out a contract and burn it to ashes. Not saying a word, he left the monolith with Alastor.
Lucas, now alone with a weeping Bell, didn't know what to do. His thoughts ran in circles until he kept ending up at the same place. With Alastor gone and the artifact out of the question, Lucas had some time to think it all through.
'It doesn't make sense. Why kidnap him?'
'Someone doesn't want him to get that stupid seat, that's all! Fuck! All that time wasted!'
'It's not over yet. I refuse to let it end here.'
'Shit, what are you thinking now?'
'That was a portal, but not one created from one of those discs.'
'You're saying a mage created it?'
'Yes. A mage with 5 arms and the capability of using space magic.'
'There's only one fucker that knows spatial magic.'
'A Guardian from the Duke.'
Realizing his next target, Lucas' face turned cold. Walking in circles for a moment, Lucas tried to think things through. Every path he explored led to the same place.
'Dammit!'
Heaving a heavy sigh, "Things just got a lot more complicated. Bell, I'll bring you back to Agatha's estate."
Bell, who had been on a roller-coaster of emotions was able to somewhat calm down. "Who took the young master?"
'I can't tell her. Asta values her more than I thought.'
'He should've given us more signs then. And yeah, if you wanna protect the gall, don't let her know. We're already fucked since we don't have any backing.'
'A slave without an owner,' Lucas was never a slave to begin with, but it's what the demons thought of him. It was because of Asta that he had a standing to begin with. Losing that small foothold, nothing was holding him up.
'What? No, we just have to show our strength, remember? Might makes right!'
'That goes both ways. If the Duke decides to kill us because we're too dangerous without a demon overseeing our actions. What are you going to do?'
'...run.'
'Exactly. If we tell her the Duke was probably the kidnapper, we'll just be giving her a reason to die. We have to do this ourselves without alerting anyone.'
'How the fuck?'
'That's for us to figure out.'
'Dammit.'
Trying to calm himself down, Lucas put on a mask he was all too familiar with. "I don't know Bell. The only thing we know is that whoever did it has no intention of harming Asta and is not affiliated with Alastor."
Avoiding the topic of spatial magic, he knew Bell wouldn't pick up on it, for it was not her area of expertise.
"Then what do we do?"
"First? Retreat."