King Of Limbo

Bam!

Inside one of the many lecture rooms of the Galos Academy, Esmeralda's mother along with the other heads had gathered with their children while waiting for Aron to arrive. "Absolutely unforgivable!!"

The front table completely shattered under the pressure of her augmented bash as she gnashed her teeth the more and more she thought about the situation that occurred a few minutes ago.

"We've been thoroughly played, the fault falls on us for underestimating him so much." Lord Triess had sat on one of many seats while shaking his head in disbelief, he felt years of his life had been taken away from him today alone.

First he felt worry for his grand daughter, then he surprise at Aron's abilities, followed by anger upon realizing the truth before finally feeling helplessness once Aron revealed his cards.

He had truly given up and didn't dare to even scheme.

"Even if we paid attention Lord Triess, this far surpasses what any of us could have predicted. We should have listened the first time our children spoke of him, I understand Ezra's anger at the moment." The one to now speak was a gentle woman that beared resemblance to Anastasia.

The first time Aron's name had reached their ears was after the Journey when their children reported their loss to him. They however shrugged it off as the happenings of youngsters on focused on their own larger affairs with complete disregard to the schemes brewing.

By the time they realized he was a threat, it was too late to act. She could only sigh while looking at her son and daughter, not even having the energy to scold them. The situation would not change.

"What of Lamarck? He surely won't accept this. The same for Lady Victoria." Ezra, Esmeralda's mother brought up this point seeing hope in an otherwise hopeless situation.

"Even he can't do much in this scenario, we've already sent word yet he doesn't respond. What's more that child of his is said to have interest in Aron. As for Lady Victoria… she is also her to respond. I grow worried." Anastasia's mother commented respectfully due to Victoria being their elder from the first generation whereas they were of the second.

Before anymore could be said, Rose walked through the doors with Belle, Yohan and Lady Uva at her sides but no sign of Aron.

"I'm sure you've all got plenty of questions but we have bigger problems to handle right now with Pesia being at risk." Belle spoke with a smile on her face and looked incredibly happy despite having lost her father mere moments ago.

'This conniving little…' Ezra had nothing but curses for Belle once she saw her strutting in like it was her that just ascended to the seat of power. She had half the mind to slap her but focused on the bigger picture, settling for vocal warfare for now.

"Here's the thing, there's three stages to powering the device." Belle spoke softly and the eyes of the depressed powerhouses perked up.

If they really learned the method of control then they wouldn't need to hold back any longer. If the down Lord Triess looked attentive at this moment and longer slumped to the desk he was sitting on.

The atmosphere of the room had changed with that one sentence. Belle then chuckled before continuing. "However Aron has only revealed the first."

"…."

"You shameless little-!" Ezra felt her emotions were being played and she almost rushed to the front of the lecture hall to wring Belle's neck.

Both belonged to the second generation although Belle was younger. Being a head of her family already Ezra considered herself superior to Belle and often showed off this prowess, now Belle was simply being petty by rubbing the current situation in their faces.

"Calm down Ezra." Anastasia's mother patted her shoulder and asked her to keep calm despite the obvious wordplay Belle was employing to toy with their emotions. "But Ara?!" Ezra found this hard to bear but she quickly fizzled down after receiving a gentle smile from the kind looking mother of Anastasia and Henry.

"With such a temper it's no wonder you and your children got played. Oh well, at least he didn't harm your daughters, who knows you may even become a grandmother soon. Heh." Belle was having an absolute field day while a bulging vein had appeared on Ezra's forehead.

"That's not true!" Esmeralda was to protest but the conversation was now steering off track so Lady Rose intervened.

"Enough we don't have time for this so I'll be blunt. The first requirement to get the device working is mana, plenty of it. It can be from mana beasts, crystals or even… people. Unfortunately the amount needed is equivalent to one million tier one crystals." Lady Rose revealed plainly while brushing her hair from obstructing her face.

"Is this another ploy!? Not even the largest airship needs that sort of power." An impatient Ezra protested but was ignored.

"Everyone's duty here is to first gather as many crystals of preferably higher tier and mana beasts, if the amount is still not enough after then the house which produces the least will have to donate people to make up for the number." She added before causing further outrage.

"First you trick us! Now you ask us to act as your helping hands and folk over our wealth? Don't overstep your bounds Rose, push us too hard and we will fight back." At this time an angry Issac who had been silently sitting in the back finally decided to pop up in a fit of rage.

His mind and heart were telling him this was yet another ploy that would leave them looking even stupider than they did now.

"It's up to you wether you believe me or not, we can just peacefully wait for the Komi to arrive and we'll move the device and have them help us. Ettenheim can burn for all we care." Rose's words brought up a painful reality that left a sour taste in the mouths of the heads.

Right now Galos was safe but their territories weren't. If the threat wasn't stopped in time then their once precious lands would become nothing but infertile dry lands devoid of mana.

"Before we agree, I want to know if our positions will still stand even after this threat is over…" Issac was worried most about his singular wealth and power rather than the safety of the world.

What was the point in saving it if the would be stripped of his wealth and power? His greed as a human wouldn't rest easy until he knew the outcome.

Lady Rose gave a small nod to this and even smiled. "Naturally, no other candidates hold as much power or resources as you all so no changes need to be made. Satisfied?" Lady Rose raised her brow towards the doubtful man who nodded back.

Their words couldn't be trusted but hearing that there was indeed no one else that could replace them made their worry ease slightly so they could focus on the task at hand.

…

Meanwhile Aron was in another lecture hall with only one other person present in front of him, Queen Celes.

"I've been curious for a good while now but why don't you tell me about Sayiva in detail?" Aron asked so he could further connect the dots regarding her involvement with the mana demons / parasites.

"Why would I do such when my life isn't even guaranteed? You humans really are foolish."

The Queen chuckled at Aron's proposal as the dim lighting flickered in her cold eyes, this wasn't a woman who would easily succumb to fear.

Aron could see that her nature was that of a ruthless ruler who did whatever it took to keep her power and prestige up. This meant threats were hopless before her, if he was already going to kill her then he would have done so already.

In her eyes she was still valuable and even if not she would sooner die than help some human.

"Don't compare me to such a vile race, I am something far superior them and you." In that moment Aron's fangs grew longer and his eyes changed to resemble that of a beast.

"A Komi? No… what are you?"

The Queen now showed caution and a frown appeared on her face as she tried to make sense of what was standing before her.

"Like I said, something far superior." He showed a toothy grin and walked over closer to her and continued.

"You and I both share a hatred towards humans, so why not indulge my questions and save yourself and people from meeting the same fate they are about to."

"And what fate is that?" She asked while narrowing her look at him.

"Extinction."