Jack stared at the general, “From a friend, that is all the details you would get.”

“Those items are dangerous in the wrong hands,” The general stared at Jack, unapproving of him carrying the wakizashi. That thing was a relic from ancient times, known as the blade of Amaterasu, once held by a rogue hero from the east called Daraku.

“The blade of Daraku, the protector of the first priestess of Amaterasu, Miko. That’s not something a rogue should be playing with,” The general stood, approaching Jack. “Hand it over,”

Jack shook his arms, “I’m not strong enough to prevent you from taking it by force. But, beware.” He smiled, “The one who entrusted it to me won’t be happy with you taking it,”

“I have no care for those who desecrate holy relics. This one shall be kept safe in the holy house of the sun.” The paladin general walked forth and snatched the wakizashi from Jack’s hand with a swift move.

Jack smiled, “Then deal with it alone,”

Sizzle! The wakazashi started burning with holy magic, charring the general’s hand.

“What? Is it this unstable?” The general growled, trying to calm the magic, but the divine will in the blade itself rejected him. The relic was already attuned to Jack and won’t be held by anyone else unless approved.

The paladins in the back froze in place and the priest fell on the ground as a deep voice shook the inner sanctum.

“Mutt, drop that thing from your mouth, NOW!”

The general turned around and felt a sense of doom. A six-eyed demon glared at him, sword in hand. “That blade is my friend’s keepsake. It’s not for you to play with,”

The general immediately pulled his greatsword, Archon’s Smite. He swung the massive blade down at a blinding speed, shaking the ground.

As the sword approached the demon. The divine magic faded, and the blade crumbled. CRACKLE! Everyone in the room felt as if they were at death’s door. Nothing there mattered as the demon lord lifted his blade.

“This blade killed countless demons, devils, angels, gods, and abominations of the outer realms. PUT THE WAKAZASHI DOWN! MUTT!” Kayden growled, and the general dropped the blade, his soul almost disintegration.

Kayden’s aura faded as he sheathed his blade, picked the wakizashi, and approached Jack, “I asked you to keep it safe…But I guess you can’t do anything against this mutt.” He looked back at the general.

Jack took the wakizashi again and smiled, “Thanks, I didn’t expect you to come immediately.”

Kayden stared at the wakazashi, “My friend, Daraku left that blade. It’s blessed by Amaterasu and reforged and cared for by me for thousands of years.” Kayden smiled, his six eyes fading into a normal pair. ｎ𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｃｏ𝚖

“Darkau was like you, a rogue. And like you, he chased a woman of clothes following Amaterasu. History is repeating itself, and this blade is back to the assassin of the eclipse.”

ZON! Kayden disappeared as quickly as he appeared, leaving everyone puzzled.

“Who was that?” The pope gasped, and Arad stared at Him, “Kayden Daemon. The first rank of the world powers.”

“The demon lord? The gods’ slayer himself?” The pope cried. He knew that an absolute demon of unimaginable power had accompanied the first priestess and her guard Daraku, but he didn’t expect him to be alive.

Arad stood and approached the general. He stared at him with a passive glare, “Why did you even want to meet me?”

The general shook his face, he still hadn’t recovered fully from being hit with Kayden’s aura, but he at least stood and replied. “The pope wanted to open the kingdom to the dark elves. After excessive discussion with the king, we decided to accept anyone as a citizen if they just asked.”

The pope rushed in, knowing that it was better to bury the matter of the wakzashi. They want no beef with Zephry, let alone the strongest world power.

“The previous pope allowed dark elves in but didn’t let them get citizenship or build churches for Elis’s worship. I intend to change that. We will even build a garden for Zephyr.” The pope said with a smile. He knew they couldn’t keep at it like this.

“Now that sounds nice,” Jack smiled, patting the general’s shoulder, “Holy relics are bound to their user, don’t try taking one again by force. Even if you’re the strongest paladin of that god.”

Lydia stared at the general and the pope, Jack’s words ringing in her head. The church is at best dysfunctional and at worst unfaithful and dangerous.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, “Jack, let’s go,” She walked and pulled Jack with her, “We have several things to buy,” She said with a smile.

“Do you need money?” Arad said, looking at them.

“We should have enough,” Lydia replied with a smile, “I only need a new sword and Jack wanted some new trinkets,”

Jack looked at Arad, “But we could use a bit more gold,” He smiled, “Would be nice to pick a high-grade sword for Lydia, a pair of armor, and some extra black powder for me.”

With a smile, Arad gave Jack several gold coins, those two needed to arm themselves well, especially Lydia. Rare are the swords that can survive an action-surged divine cleaver.

As Jack and Lydia left, Arad stood beside the general, “Is that all?”

The general and the pope stared back at him, “What do you mean?”

Puff! Zephyr flew from Arad’s head, zapping around at high speed.

“I call a new contract!

The pope and general stared at her, “You can’t put a new contract without the dark elf patriarch present.”

Zephyr froze in her place. That was a term she put in the first contract. Scratching her head, “That would take a while…”

Everyone stared at each other.

“That’s enough for today,” Arad clapped his hands, “I do have some work to do. Thus, I must go,”

The general stared at him silently for a second. “We should talk more. Do you have time later?”

Arad turned back as Zephyr flew to him, “I don’t know. But I doubt I will have it today, probably another time.” He walked out, waving his hand with a smile.

***

Arad stretched his arms, almost hitting the ceiling of the castle’s hallways. “I should visit the guilds. Do you think Aella has time to come along?”

Zephyr shook her head, “I don’t know, but someone else just woke up,” She pointed forward. As Arad looked, he saw Eris walking across the shadows, carefully avoiding the sunlight.

“Eris, you’re early,” Arad said with a smile, approaching her.

Eris yawned, rubbing her eyes, “I want to sleep,” She stared at Arad with one eye. “Can I get back to sleeping during the day?”

Arad stared at her, “You’re the one who wanted to integrate into human society. You will soon get used to it,” He stared at the window and put his hand under the sunlight.

“We will find a solution for this as well,” He smiled.

Eris giggled, approaching him, “Probably, if I nibled a bit on your neck. I might be able to walk in it,” She giggled, her face approaching his neck.

Thud! Arad grabbed her by the face, “Don’t,” He pushed her back, “At least not now.”

“Fine,” She cried, looking sad, “But I would get some tonight,”

Arad nodded, “That depends,” He approached her, “I’m going to the guild, care to join me?”

Eris smiled, “The adventurers guild? Why?”

“I want to see what kind of quests they have here,” He smiled, clenching his fist, “I also have a letter from Nina to the guild. She’s asking them on behalf of Alina’s guild master Malta to send several appraisal orbs and scrolls.”

“Doing a favor for Sara, and a delivery quest for Nina,” She giggled, “Don’t tell me you have another weird mission?”

Arad smiled, “I don’t think so,”

The two stared at each other for a second in silence. A maid walked into the hallway, seeing them standing.

The maid approached, looking at them with a puzzled face. Why are they silent?

“You’re Sir Arad and Lady Eris, right?” The maid asked with a smile.

“You’re searching for him?” Eris growled, glaring at Arad’s face.

With a gentle smile, Arad replied waving his hand, “Of course. If I did missions for other people, I better do one for myself, right?”

“What can you even do if you found him?” She growled, “In Alina, he might have been alone and away from his domain, but if he really lived around the capital, you would die.”

“I won’t,” Arad replied, patting her shoulder.

“There are only two of us,” Eris grunted, “He might have hundreds if not thousands of spawns.”

“The more, the better,” Arad smiled and looked at the maid, “We are Arad and Eris. Care to leave us alone for a moment?”

As the maid nodded with a confused face, Eris pulled Arad by the hand and walked away, “We will go instead. We talk somewhere else,”

Arad was searching for Chuzuke. The dragon is on the hunt.