18 The scheme unfolds

Outside the doors of the Throne room.

" I can do this. Power is almost within grasp. I just need to..." Daruin Ashbinder thought.

" Your Royal Highness. Do you want us to open the doors to the Throne Room?" A Knight stationed to protect the entrance said.

" No! I'm in thought now leave me be." Daruin Ashbinder said in a rude manner.

" Yes, Your Royal Highness." The Knight said.

The other Knight on the other side titled his head to look at the Knight that just got reprimanded. He then shook his head to express his sympathy.

After psyching himself enough Daruin Ashbinder opened up the doors, walked in and with a bang it closed.

Daruin Ashbinder walked up to the stairs of the Throne room and stood at the bottom.

" Father, I understand your grief. We have been planning this for years. It is truly regrettable that with the number of resources we used we ended up summoning something so weak. It is truly regrettable." Daruin Ashbinder said this while clenching his fist tightly.

" But father, we cannot just sit back and blame the stars, the gods, our luck or whatever we feel, dealt us a bad hand. It is exactly at this moment that we should be strong and think of other ways to obtain what we want! Father with all due respect your appearance right now is not one a King should be donning. No less the King of Pentelan. The future country to rule all the lands. Everything under the heavens will be ours!"

" You have put your blood, sweat and tears into this country and everyone knows this from the richest to the poorest peasant. I, your son who has been by your side since I came of age. I know even more of how much you yearn for this country to gain the strength it once had. Father, you are not alone in the way you feel. Through the years your passion has been passed on to me. I have inherited your will. "

"I have a way that we can use to once again summon a soul from another world while the veil is still thin. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, it is rather crude. But I am certain it will work" Daruin Ashbinder said.

At this moment, Leonhard Ashbinder regained his usual kingly composure as he was curious as to what method his son had thought of.

" You know a large amount of energy is required to use the soul migration. We have used most of the Kingdoms Mages as a sacrifice. We do not have enough who are willing to lose all their mana."

" That's the beauty of it. We do not need new Mages we just need the ones who were here before. Father, you are aware of what happens to a mage when they try to cast a spell that is beyond their mana capability. Their bodies can no longer take the strain and then they explode becoming pure mana itself with a soul. We call this creature a Souma. Yes, this is considered Taboo but we cannot think of this now. Our future is at stake..."

" I see so we utilise the energy that the E Rank Soumas give to activate the soul migration array. However, Daruin even with the E Rank Souma's this would only give us the exact same amount of energy we had last time. How can you be sure we will not summon a soul of the same calibre. We need a lot more energy. At least a B rank Souma!"

At this moment Daruin Ashbinder breathed in deep and looked at Leonhard Ashbinder sadly...

" Oh, I see. You want me to be part of the sacrifice..."

" Yes, Father you are a B Rank Fire mage. I have thought of many other ways. But none of them come up to the required amount of energy. If you worried about me taking the position of King you don't need to be I have been watching you closely ever since I was a child. You have also groomed me continuously to be a King fit for the greatest Kingdom under the heavens. I am ready."

" I understand... Leave me!"

" Father..."

The King kept quiet as he sat on his throne in deep thought. Daruin Ashbinder saw that him being here would be counteractive to his plan so he left the King to think. But before he left the room he said: " Everything I do has been for the Kingdom and everything I will do, will be too."

Boom.

The door closed and as Daruin Ashbinder left the Throne room.

" It's all up to him now..." Daruin Ashbinder thought as he walked to the royal chambers.

....

" Is my mother inside?" Daruin Ashbinder asked the Knights stationed at her door.

" Yes, Your Highness." One Knight responded.

Daruin Ashbinder opened the door and then let it close by itself. When he walked in he saw Abigail Ashbinder lying on her bed.

" It is done. I have told him our plan. He hasn't agreed yet and asked me to leave so that he can think. However, he definitely will accept seeing that he has no other choice. If he doesn't, the ruin of this Kingdom is certain maybe not now but in the years to come. With that being said it's your turn to work your magic on the Mages. We need 100% control over them so that they do not object to giving their lives up." Daruin Ashbinder said.

" Good work. We should gain full control over this palace by the end of today and the Kingdom however months later. I will do my part. Make sure Leonhard agrees." Abigail Ashbinder said as she left the room. Daruin Ashbinder left the room after her.

....

In the public room waiting room, all the mages were waiting for their money that they were promised they would get for sacrificing their mana. They had been waiting here for over an hour but the official in charge of signing off large transactions was in a meeting. That's what they were told. The truth, however, was that the Treasurer had been commanded by the Queen not to come to the public room and work on his reports.

The Queen walked into the room. Everyone greeted her. After all the formalities were over. The Queen said " I want everyone to leave this room at once. Only the mages will stay behind."

" Your Majesty. We can't have you stay in this room alone, unprotected" The Knights protested.

"You dare defy me?" Abigail Ashbinder said.

"No, but if his Majesty finds out." A Knight said.

" The longer you wait..." Abigail Ashbinder said.

"Okay, okay, okay. Everyone out! The Queen has spoken." A Knight said.

Everyone rushed out the door until only one Knight was left in the room.

"Just scream if anything is wrong and we will come rushing in." The Knight said and then closed the door.

" I wonder what the Queen plans to say or do behind closed doors?" A Knight said to a Knight.

" It's none of our business." A Knight said to the Knight that spoke.

...

" Call the Crown Prince." Leonhard Ashbinder said to a Knight.

The Knight walked out to the Throne room expecting to search quite long before he found the Prince but to his surprise, the Prince was waiting outside the Throne room,

" Your Highness. His Majesty seeks an audience with you."

Daruin Ashbinder heard the Knight and walked in the Throne room.

"Father...?"

"I have decided to listen to your proposal. If we do not bet on this chance. The Kingdom will be doomed within a few years. I am willing to bet my life for this Kingdom because I know you will lead it to new pastures!" Leonhard Ashbinder said with resolve.

" Father. I take no pleasure in this but is truly the only way..."

" Go. Call the Mages we need to ask them are they willing to give their lives to further the Kingdom." The King said to a Knight.

" Not yet Father. Let's first get the soul migration array out first. Let's prepare everything we can first."

" You are right lets first deal with this."

Daruin Ashbinder let go of the pent-up air in his lungs as he was worried that Abigail Ashbinder was still in the middle of making the Mages submissive.

The Knights did the same thing as last. They moved the carpet, opened the vault with the keys. Went down the stairs. Unlocked the wheel, turned the wheel, in turn, raising the platform with the soul migration crystal on. Once it was fully raised the key was put in to lock it in its position. The Knight came out of the vault.

" Father we can now call the Mages. As the preparations are complete." Daruin Ashbinder said.

"Go and call the Mages." Leonhard Ashbinder said to a Knight.

" Yes, Your Majesty." A Knight said and left the Throne room in a jiffy.

Five minutes later all the mages walked into the Throne room with the Knight that had called them. Once things were settled down. Leonhard Ashbinder said, " Thank you all for your sacrifice. Because of you, we were able to use the soul migration array. Even though it was in vain your debt will still be personally handled by the Kingdom."

" But that is not why I have called you today. I have called you because we need to use the soul migration array again. But this time we need you to offer your life as a tribute so that we can use it to summon a stronger soul than last time. You are the hope of our entire country. No, you are the hope of all humanity. Your energy will not be sufficient so I will be offering my life as well. Allow me to die alongside you all. Your families will be awarded greatly for your honourable contributions in changing history."

The mages all agreed in unison not one of them disagreed. They were all "prepared" to lay down their life for the Kingdom.

" Mmm, this is true bravery. You will be rewarded well in your next life." Leonhard Ashbinder said.

Leonhard Ashbinder then said, " We commence in half an hour I need to go to the bathroom."

He lied he actually wanted to say goodbye to his wife and daughter. But if he had told the truth the mages might change their minds if they were reminded of their loved ones and how they could not say goodbye.

After the King said his final goodbyes to his daughter he said his goodbye to his wife. This took much longer than he had anticipated.

After 40 minutes the King returned to the Throne room and stood with mages around the soul migration array. The King then looked at Daruin Ashbinder who now was sitting on the King's throne.

Afterwards, Leonhard Ashbinder and Daruin Ashbinder linked their magic and made a barrier enclosing the King and the mages as well the soul migration array inside the barrier.

Leonhard Ashbinder started chanting the spell and the other mages chanted with him. But because they had no mana to give in the first place one by one they all turned into Soumas. They raged mindlessly around the soul migration array before they were absorbed by the array as pure energy. After every Souma was absorbed the array turned into a deep purple again.

Leonhard Ashbinder was still chanting the spell. He was a B Rank Fire Mage so he had a lot more mana to give. The more mana he gave the more the crystals colour changed from purple to blue. After 10 minutes Leonhard Ashbinder exhausted every bit of mana he had left. He was about to turn into a Souma now. There was no turning back now even if he wanted to.

Leonhard Ashbinder decided to see his son once more in his last moments. Leonhard Ashbinder was already half dead. He was moving purely on instinct. But when he looked in the direction his son was, his heart froze. He wanted to fight with all his might but he couldn't. With a petrified expression, Leonhard Ashbinder's body went from flesh to spirit.

The B rank Souma almost shattered the barrier that was now only being maintained by Daruin Ashbinder. Before the barrier shattered the B rank Souma got absorbed by the array changing it to a deep sea blue colour.

Daruin Ashbinder rejoiced in his heart now that Leonhard Ashbinder had died for if he somehow survived all their plans would be thwarted.

...

While this was happening Lucas was reading more books about the maps of the world. As he had just acquired a map and he wanted to know where the treasure laid. But soon his mind wondered.

"Aaaah, I can't wait to be free. I at first had to escape from here now I get to just walk out of here. Playing the weak card really helped me here."

[ Quest: Escape the castle with the new summonee.

Reward: 2000 Exp.

SP- 15

AP- 20]

" Damn! I spoke too soon!"