Hints Of Madness

Elish exited the manor after he had finished his business there, witnessing the damage he had caused earlier in the night.

"Wow, I must have really been stressed," he said, surprised at just how messed up the compound was.

The blood and gore, the devastation that pervaded the vicinity… all due to his actions. 

However, that much was nothing.

He remembered something he had taken, the Jewel that caused the barrier around the manor. He brought it out of his pocket and looked at it closely.

"Looks like a Grade four treasure, or should I say Relic?" he said with a grin.

Of course, to the gods and owners of those relics, they were known as Treasures, like the ones he possessed. However, humans had named them Relics.

Relics were divided into several categories. They were ranked from Grade nine to one, and then there was also the Ultimate Grade. Grade nine was the weakest grade, while grade one would usually be considered the most powerful. 

Ultimate grades were even more powerful, but they were rare, and as such, only royals or those with equivalent powers possessed them.

There were also the Irregulars. Irregulars were relics that did not fall under any of those categories, and their full properties and uses remained unknown. 

Of course, the most powerful of them were inevitably the Ultimate Relics, whose power, according to the memories he collected, were akin to the gods. 

Elish guessed these Ultimate Relics would be the weapons or personal effects of the gods he had killed and the ones who were destroyed during the war three thousand years ago.

"I wonder what grade my own treasures would fall under if I were to classify them by human standards."

Even if he was being generous, his Special grade would be Grade two or so Relics. His Divine treasures would be their Ultimate Grade relics. 

Primordial grade treasures should be non-equivalent to any relic since all the Monarchs were good and well, so if there were any in the mortal plane, they'd be his own treasures. 

Even then, he doubted any human possessed any Primordial treasures. If one possessed such, then the world would have been long destroyed.

"Well, for a Grade three Relic to be classified as junk by Pandora, maybe Relics aren't so big a deal after all," Elish found himself thinking.

Though it could have been that the humans who had been using it did not consider refilling the relics with Essence in order to maintain its original power. If that was the case, then even weaker Relics could have been more powerful some time ago.

"So the more time passes, the more the proficiency reduces. After all, it seems humans don't know how to refill relics with Essence," he murmured.

That meant he couldn't underestimate any Relic as long as he didn't know their abilities. Some could be trickier than the ones he had faced already and could also contain more Essence concentration.

'They could even possess Authority over some problematic concepts.'

"Pandora," Elish said, and his ring responded with a glow.

"[Yes, master?]"

"Store this one also in the Treasure Space," he raised the compound's barrier jewel.

Pandora instantly absorbed the orb, and just as before… it too was categorized as junk.

"As expected," Elish's smile widened a little slightly.

Needless to say, he had to research the relics and learn more about the world. Thanks to the memories he had collected from those two, he had a better knowledge of this world now. 

Their sacrifice wasn't in vain.

"Well, this just got needlessly complicated," he said to himself.

According to the memories he collected, he was in it for the long haul.

'Maybe I can use this to my advantage…'

*******

"What did you just say?!" A man, appearing to be the one in charge, yelled.

His deep tone caused the very air to tremble, and his imposing build caused the knight before him to shake in response to his words.

"Sir, errm... We lost Sir Edward. His life signature has vanished," The knight responded, flustered.

"And the Relic?" The man asked impatiently.

"Also gone. We sent men to check his last known location. There seemed to have been a huge slaughter there. It was Duke Northenheim's manor," the nervous knight said.

"Tch. What of Sir Edward's body?" The commander asked.

"Nowhere to be found, most likely it was taken by the perpetrator," the knight said.

"Any survivors or witnesses?" The commander said, calming himself.

"A-About that. There appear to be two," the knight said a bit nervously and unsure of what to do. 

"Spit it out! Who are they? What are their conditions?"

"W-Well, it's better you see them for yourself," the soldier said, leading the commander to the shelter where the two survivors were kept.

It was dark out, but the tent that housed the two 'survivors' had sufficient lighting for the two men who now entered to see their current states.

"We had to place them here since they seemed to be unresponsive. We restrained one though. His behavior was too erratic," the knight said, leading the commander to the room where they were.

The commander's eyes widened the moment he looked at the two.

"My God…"

"Gahhhh! Arghhhhh! Wiooohnkadhbdalhbedylblawww!!!" Unintelligible words came out of one of the two survivors who were in the room.

The other looked lifeless, his mind was completely broken and only drool dripped from his mouth. A living vegetable.

"M-my God. Is that who I think it is?" The commander said, walking to the madman who was bellowing loudly, flaunting his fat body and screaming.

"Yes sir, initially we were unsure of what to make of him, but after proper identification, we confirmed his identity," the knight said.

"Duke Northenheim," The commander was shocked to see a member of high nobility in such an insane state.

"Who could have done this?" The commander gritted his teeth.

"Most likely the perpetrator behind the slaughter of the Duke's household and also Sir Edward's killer," the knight behind the commander answered.

"I know that already!!!" The commander shouted, silencing the nervous knight.

"But just who would have the confidence to do this to the Emperor's distant relative? His cousin?"

No one knew the answer to this question.

They could only look at the damage caused and think about the sort of madman who would wreak such havoc.

Such a person had to either be a fool… or an entity that defied human logic.

… Perhaps a devil.

*******

"Atchooo," Elish sneezed.

Maybe the cool breeze of the night gave him a cold?

"Nah, I'm immune to that," he smiled, laying down on the bed in the inn he had rented and looking at Astra who slept soundly beside him, completely oblivious to his exploits that night.

"Now then, what'll happen next?" he smiled in anticipation as he closed his eyes to sleep.

'Time will tell…'

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[A/N]

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