Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 569: A journey to the east i

As Elkar had borne a treasonous thought in his mind and in his heart, even though he still did not yet realize that he was thinking of such thing, below the abyss, deep inside the tombs of ancient kings and emperors, of empress and Queens, Astiel open up a crystal sarcophagus.

He was excited even as there is injury that riddle his body. There are some wounds on his chest and on his stomach.

He had expected as such when he enters this place. Such places would be rigged with traps to deter tomb raiders.

His hand is bleeding as purple blood showered the area around the sarcophagus. 

Creak!

The crystal lid was thrown to the ground as the dust of the floor rises up. His hand is trembling. 

Who knows whether it is out of fatigue or it is out of excitement. It is hard to tell with Astiel.

The weight of the crystal lid falling to the ground of the room causes the entire room to shake, like a mini tremor before the real earthquake comes

The tile on the ground cracked even more as dust rises up.

'It is here. I could feel it' he mutters to himself.

Opening the sarcophagus, he could see that there is a skeleton wearing a golden crown inlaid with probably the most precious gems and diamonds the world had ever seen.

This skeleton might be one of the great rulers of this forgotten dynasty. 

But none of the splendor of the skeleton attracts the eye of Astiel more than the blue vials on the right side of that skeleton. 

'There it is' he said with a wide smile on his face. 

He laughed and someone beside him also laughed.

Jurgan is beside Astiel. 

He too had some injury but because of his tough body, the wounds are already recovering in the speed that could be seen with the naked eye

Wounds are closing up by itself. It is clear that in this ruin, the traps are not simply a normal trap

The trap could hurt heavenly demons. It is then easy to see that such a trap is probably not a normal trap simply to deter tomb robbers.

It was almost like the people buried here knows what beings would come to them to take the vial.

So, Astiel is bleeding and Jurgan is injured. And the only thing that could do this is divine weapon. 

Fortunately, this ruins are in a state of disrepair and many of the traps did not activate because of how long it has been inactivated.

If not, maybe even more injuries would riddle both of these demon's body. But, after all of that hardship, they were rewarded.

The vial is here.

Now, that Astiel was right, Jurgan was also happy. Jurgan also look toward inside the sarcophagus and he also notices the blue vial

They did not need a light source as their eyes could easily see through the dark. 

And the Liquid of reality itself is glowing with red colors that seems to push the darkness away, causing the entire area of the sarcophagus room to be dyed in red.

It is not a red light. It is a red aura that seems to push Void away. That is how magical the thing in that vial really is.

Illusion begin to appears and birthed more illusion. Thing appears in the minds of Jurgan and Astiel. 

Things that they remember and wanted to forget, thing that never happened but happened in their minds and so on and so forth.

Jurgan clicked his tongue

'I should have expected it would create this kind of mystical phenomenon. Stone of Life was easier to store than this' he said

Astiel frowned but he was calm. 

Something expected would not break their calm

If this is mortal men that come to this area and open the crystal lid and see upon the vial, then Astiel and Jurgan would have been lost in the sweet temptation of illusion that the Liquid of Reality wood show them

But Astiel and Jurgan is no mortal. 

And they are not normal demons. 

While they were dazed for a second, their mind easily breaks through the illusion. 

Astiel did not have many wishes and desires hence it was easy for him to break through the illusion. 

Jurgan on the other hand is chaotic in thought and actions. The illusion could not keep up with his chaotic thought.

There is also the fact that the Liquid of Reality is ownerless and attacked without no direction. 

If there is a person controlling it, Astiel and Jurgan might not have the power to endure such magic even with all of their knowledge and abilities.

Astiel then grab the blue vial and hold it tight even as he feels his mind is being assaulted by many illusions that tries to make him lost inside his own mind

'Tch. The Seals is really not something that should be underestimated' he thought to himself.

He could feel the enormous energy inside the vial. 

If not for this vial, how could Astiel dares to be so close with something that has been touched by the power of primordial creation?

Not only he would be assaulted by illusion, there is always a chance that the Liquid of Reality would possess his body or worse melted his body.

'Jurgan!' 

Astiel shouted and his shout echoes inside the empty room

Jurgan understood what Astiel is trying to say as he brought out a rectangle box from his sleeve

His movement is very fast as there is no time to lose.

It seems mechanical with screws and all kinds of springs on the surface of the box. It size was small, around one feet height and one feet width.

And the box seems to possess some kind of aura that it distorts the space and time around it.

He opens the box and Astiel quickly and carefully place the vial inside the box.

It is only after Jurgan close the box that he felt truly relieved.

Astiel sighed. 

he seems to have been infected by human emotions after being in the human world for so long. But he quickly drove that thought out from his mind as he said

'We're going back. We need to quickly gather the other Seals quickly' Jurgan nodded as he brings out his wings and then fly upwards with Astiel following from behind.

They now have gotten their hands of the Liquid of Reality. It would not be long now before they would have all of the seals.

Astiel and Jurgan then arrived at the top. They saw Elkar waiting for them. Elkar look at them and said

'Are we going back?' Astiel did not say anything. He seems to be thinking about something. 

But then he suddenly raises his head and look toward his left.

His eyes narrowed and there is a smile on the corner of his mouth and then he said

'Elkar, I have a task for you'

Elkar nodded.

Astiel close his palm and then he closes his eyes. An aura of magic seems to be swirling around him

This aura is translucent at first but then it slowly become more solid as the second passes. Elkar look at this puzzled with what Astiel is trying to do

Astiel is now extracting his memories and condensing it into some kind of glowing orb.

Then he opens his palm. 

Floating on the middle of his palm is a glowing colorful orb. Then he pushes that orb toward Elkar who was on the ground.

The orb flies slowly toward Elkar. Elkar look at the slowly approaching orb and he ask

'What is this?'

Astiel smiles and he answered.

'Darkness grows. And Father had sent me a revelation. It is the location of those Knights. Seek them. Retrieve the Seal from them. And you will gain the approval of my Father'

Elkar nodded but there is a glint of mischievousness in his eyes. But he is very adept at concealing it.

After all, he had a lot of experience of hiding his true intention

The orb arrives in front of him and it enters his body. 

Elkar did not feel any pain when the orb enters into his body. 

In fact, he did not feel anything. Not a single thing. 

Even if wind blows, one could feel its touch. But this orb that enter his body did not give him any sensation at all. 

But as he was thinking of this, his mind is filled with vision. 

The vision is the vision of men clothed in heavy armor and wearing artifacts all over their beings.

Some of them are people that Elkar had seen before and he understood what kind of memory that Astiel is showing to him

It is the vision showing the location of the Knights of the Round Table. 

Even though the location is given to Elkar, it is still hard to pinpoint where it is. There is a river and he could see these knights is drinking water from it.

It appears like they are in some kind of thick forest. He heard the neighing of a horse, saw a trail of flowers and saw some huge boulder.

But this kind of scenery could be seen in many of the forest in the New World.

There is nothing distinct or obvious that could make Elkar goes "They were there" or anything like that.