Ch 121 – Southern Continent

As the four walked through the purple gateway in front of them, a flash of purple light appeared on a continent directly opposite to the Northern Continent, the Southern Continent.

The land of demons, the hell on Terra, where demons of chaos and destruction roam free. Many derogatory titles were given to that continent, yet the conditions there are far from the truth.

There are forests, plains, and deserts, it's simply just another continent that exists in the world, though it is a bit harsher in its conditions compared to the other four. With hotter summers and colder winters, one can say it's an extreme continent where the weak can't survive.

Yet, even with such conditions, the demons thrived and prospered under the rule of their Demon King. Cities were built, social hierarchies are set in stone, though the phrase "Might means right," pretty much sums up this land of strength.

Inside a certain city near the center of the Southern Continent, a large manor can be seen that encompassed a huge plot of land. With pristine white walls and golden decors, a beautiful garden surrounded by dazzling walls of white. Yet, out of nowhere, if one were to look inside its large glass windows, a flash of purple light appeared within the darkness of the night.

*Zwoom*

As the purple light formed a purple gateway larger than most doors, four figures walked through it.

Three were humans, and one was a green pig the size of a house cat. The tallest human was an old man wearing a scholarly blue robe, having wrinkly skin and golden eyes. His hair was long and mighty, while his beard was curly and regal as if holding all the knowledge that exuded from his brain.

The other was a human who looked like a young boy, yet held the aura of an old fox. His eyes were dark purple that bordered the color of black in certain areas. His hair was long and black, almost reaching below his neck and onto his back. He wore a dark purple cloak, covering his smooth white skin, while a purple cube glowing a luminescent light floated right beside him in the air, and it was as if countless souls were suffering within such cube.

The last one was a young boy who was almost taller than the purple-eyed fox. His eyes were crimson red, yet held the innocence of a young child. His skin was fair, while his hair was black and almost the same length as that of the purple-eyed man. He wore a red hoodie and black pants, along with a pair of black shoes. On his waist, a sheath can be seen that seems to be holding a sword the shape of a Japanese katana.

"So, this is the Stolas Family manor? I didn't know you were so rich as both human and demon. Though you must have held a lot more influence on the human side than on the demon side," Lute muttered nonchalantly as he looked out into the windows beside them.

Hanging high above the night sky was the large moon that glowed lunar lights, covering everything in its vicinity with a sheen of white light.

"Yep, being an Arch Demon does have its merits, though I'm pretty much the only one from the household left," Aldrich responded nonchalantly from the side, he then walked forwards with Raiden and Porky silently following from behind.

"So, Grandpa is a noble?" Raiden asked, his eyes looking all around the hallway they found themselves in.

"A Duke, to be exact. Being a part of an Arch Demon household means one is a duke in the Demon Lord's kingdom," Aldrich explained.

"Eh? Really? I didn't know you were hiding such a big secret from your own son. Though I'll still have to deal with the problem of bloodlines and such. Tell me, are the demons racist against humans?" Lute asked, following behind Aldrich who toured them around the manor.

"Most of them are, especially the ones from the noble households. So we'll have to find a way to make you two both arch demons. I'll also teach you later how to use Order Magic once we found a way to make you become a demon," Aldrich said. Entering a library, Lute raised his eyebrow in surprise and praised the large assortment of books he saw with a single glance.

"Hmm, it seems I'll have to do a lot of work to transcribe all of that to the Akasha later. But, Order Magic?" Lute asked, his eyes wandering around the place as they returned to the hallways to explore more of the manor.

"Order Magic is the magic all demons can wield. Though you can say it's Will Magic, due to the majority of its requirement is forcing your will upon reality. It's basically reality warping, where we use our magic to change the order of reality," Aldrich explained its "in a nutshell" description before moving on.

"So, tell me about its characteristics with this oh-so mighty Order Magic," Lute asked.

"No mana conduit. No physical chants, only mental chants. Need high will. High mana requirement. Mana requirement and willpower needed to cast magic is drastically lowered to spells that align with the attribute of the caster," Aldrich answered.

"Eh? Are you sure it's will and not something like Soul Strength?" Lute asked.

"The willpower I'm talking about is Soul Strength, so the higher the soul rank, the easier it is to influence reality," Aldrich retorted.

"Hmm. So basically Louis Crawford type of magic, just harder and less overpowered," Lute muttered.

"That's basically right," Aldrich said.

"Um… Dada, what is Order Magic?" Raiden asked by the side who stayed silent the entire conversation, probably confused out of his mind at the weird terms his grandfather and father were talking about.

"Well, Order Magic is a special type of magic where one can do anything with enough will and mana," Lute explained.

"Ohh, then can I make Porky bigger with it?" Raiden asked, his eyes sparkling.

"Oink? (Hmm, what is it?)" Porky asked, hearing his name, he was awoken from his light daze.

"Yep, you can do that," Aldrich answered.

"Really! Then does that mean I can make Porky as large as a mountain?!" Raiden asked, his excitement can be clearly felt.

"Indeed, if you have enough will and mana, that is," Aldrich said.

"Did you hear that, Porky? One day, I can make you a Verdant Mountain Pig!" Raiden exclaimed, he swung Porky around in excitement.

"Oink! (Verdant Mountain Pig!)" Porky responded, though he doesn't really know what was happening, he still exclaimed in excitement.

The four then continued to walk, talking with each other about random things while they explored the Stolas Manor.

"I'm surprised you still remember the insides of your own house without visiting it for years. I wonder how your own, abandoned daughter, would react to see her father just pop back into her life after being gone for so long," Lute said, his eyebrows raising as they arrived right in front of a large wooden door.

"It's not like I didn't contact her all this time. I regularly spoke with her through magic, especially when she was all alone. I'm more of a father than what you think I am, Lute," Aldrich snorted, before opening the large wooden door.

*Fwoosh*

A soft breeze greeted the four, and they saw a marvelous sight in turn. Colorful flowers, walls of rainbow leaves belonging to countless magical plants, a large fountain spewing water into the air, the night sky hanging above them, the giant full moon glowing softly, the sight of the garden under the night sky can simply be described with the word "beautiful".

Opening his mouth slowly, Lute muttered in praise, "I didn't know your taste for beauty is this great."

"It's not really my taste, it looks like this due to your late stepmother. She was very fond of flowers and nature," Aldrich muttered softly as if reminiscing the time of his past.

"Look, Porky!" Raiden went running off into the distance, and the duo of boy and pig went to explore the garden on their own while the two adults slowly explored the garden at their own pace.

"What was she like?" Lute asked.

"She was… Smart, kind, she adopted many of the animals currently living in my own realm," Aldrich responded, a sweet smile appearing on his wrinkly face.

"Hmm, she must have been a great mother. Or… Did she die giving birth to your daughter?" Lute asked.

Silence greeted him, causing Lute to also stay silent for a while. Yet, their silence was interrupted when a spear of blue light suddenly whizzed past his neck.

"Hmm?" Lute hummed, he turns his head slowly and finally saw the other member of the Stolas Family.

Dark blue hair, golden eyes brimming with intelligence that was hidden behind a pair of glasses, fair white skin, and wearing a dark blue dress, she was Via Stolas.

"Who are you two?" Via asked. Considering she only saw the backside of Aldrich, she doesn't know it was actually her father. Also, she has never seen the silhouette of Lute in her whole life, so her main focus entirely went on the shorter figure.

"Vi-"

"Shh, I kinda want to see how strong she is now," Lute interrupted, his voice was soft enough that only Aldrich can hear it.

Silently, Lute turned his whole body around that was covered by his dark purple cloak that almost appeared the color of black. His face was also covered, leaving the girl unable to see what he looked like.

'Staying silent, are we? Let's see how strong you are.' Via thought, before pouring mana into her glasses.

Instantly, her mind was overwhelmed by data before she focused her attention on the boy, intending to use her glasses' special ability to analyze the short figure in front of her.

[Strength: ?]

[Agility: ?]

[Vitality: ?]

[Soul: ?]

That was the prompt that appeared in her mind, causing her to almost halt in surprise.

'Huh? Questions marks? A cautious one.' Via thought. Regaining her clarity, she stands up straight and spears of wind appeared all around her, they spun around in the air rapidly to increase their piercing power.

"Oho, it truly does require only mental chants. Interesting," the short figure muttered in front of her, the figure's voice was neither masculine nor feminine, leaving their gender unknown.

Pouring more mana into her glasses, Via intends to use one of the glasses' most broken ability yet, 'Future Vision.'

"HA!" Via shouted, the spears of wind around her then shoot forward at breakneck speeds and arrived before the figure in less than a second.

"Speed of sound? Impressive," instantly, the figure disappeared from her vision before reappearing right beside her. The figure's pale white arm then grabbed her by the neck, lifting her up slightly to the air.

'Crap!' Via thought.

Stopping the mana transmission, her vision returned back to normal and she saw the figure looking at her in surprise.

"Future vision? That's a pretty broken ability! Is that your Demonic Armament? Being an archdemon really does have its merits," the figure muttered lightly.

Hearing the person's comments, she widened her eyes in shock. 'T-They know? Do they also have the ability to see the future?! Or did they sense the fluctuations in the river of time?'

Her thoughts then came to a halt as the figure in front of her then disappeared once more like last time. One glance was all it took for Via to see his absurd speed, 'O-One kilometer per second?!'

Turning around, she felt a hand patting her on the shoulders and looked to her side. There they were, their hood was unfurled and she saw a face belonging to a fairy. Pale white skin, dark purple eyes, eyebrows long and thin, similar to a sword.

"I didn't expect you to be that violent, sister," Lute said nonchalantly. His figure then disappeared once more in a blur, only to reappear right beside the other unknown figure.

"Via, how come you would attack strangers from the get-go? Have you become a brute with the principle of "Attack first, questions later"?" Aldrich said with a lamenting voice.

"F-Father?" Via muttered in shock, her golden eyes turned into saucers as she almost couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Huh? What's happening?" Raiden's voice was then heard from the far distance, and Via saw Raiden riding on top of Porky who was now the size of a normal boar.

'What's happening right now?!' Via Stolas shouted in her mind. The series of events just took a drastic turn and she almost can't keep up with the things happening around her. From strangers turned family, to a young boy riding on top of a green pig, it was like her future was looking a lot stranger.

AN: This chapter has 2156 words.

Writing is hard; give me power stones.

(August 15, 2022 – 264th day of writing)