"Yeah, I already know she's the daughter of the vampire princess."
"...You did?"
Well...this is unexpected.
Is that really what you should be thinking?
You're right.
"Sorry...but how do you know this?"
"It's thanks to this."
She takes out a dagger from her pocket. The blade is crimson, and the handle is engraved with dragon runes all over it. It's quite a beauty.
"Luna gave this to me."
She did, huh?
"May I see it?"
Claudia brings the Dragon Claw closer to her chest.
"Sorry, but Luna gave this to me. She never allows anyone to touch it. I'm not sure I can give it to you."
"... You're right. I'm sorry. But can I please just take a look? You can keep holding it."
After reassuring her, Claudia sticks out the blade, tightly gripping the handle. There seems to be a spell engraved onto the runes. Or rather. The runes themselves seem to form the spell itself.
Either way, it's quite interesting in its own way.
The spell seems to allow the user to share memories.
"Share memories?"
"Is that what you think this does?"
I didn't realize I accidentally blurted out what I was thinking.
"Yeah, the runes seem to allow a person to share memories. By any chance did you–?"
"See the memories of someone, yeah. I saw Luna's childhood. About how her mother died, and how she stayed in a barrier for fifty years."
As Claudia speaks, her eyes begin leaking. Whatever she saw must have been pretty terrible.
But wait, why would Luna give her something like this? What would be the point? To make Claudia feel pity or sorrow for her?
Not entirely. The spell seems to unlock memories.
Unlock memories?
Yes. The spell seems to hold memories in it. If this blade stabs someone or the spell activates directly, they view the memories contained.
Right. But you mentioned it's to unlock memories.
Yes. Let's say two people have a connection to each other, and one of them loses their memories of the other.
If they're stabbed with the blade, then they'll view the memories stored inside the spell. I'm guessing this will cause them to unlock a fragment of the memories they lost and, over time, all their memories related to that person will return, correct?
That's the basic idea.
So then, Claudia saw...whatever she saw because the spell activated on its own?
Yes. But the spell won't work unless you have a connection to that person. Otherwise it's just a regular dagger.
Got it.
"Ok, I seem to get how this works. But do you know why she gave it to you?"
Claudia looks at me and nods.
"She said I should give it to someone named Noir."
Noir... wait, me!?
"She said he should stab her father with it. But how am I supposed to find the Noir she's talking about? There are hundreds of people with that name all over the world." She says while holding her head.
I don't really wanna tell her I'm Noir. Then I'd have to explain absolutely everything and she'd know I've been pretending to be weak this whole entire time. My initial plan was to just act as if the training is went through is the reason for my sudden growth in strength. Telling her I'm Noir basically ruins all that.
But maybe...
"Let's come back to that later. I was in the middle of telling you about my side of this story."
Claudia immediately stops her whining and looks at me.
"Sorry, I'm bringing my own troubles into your world. Please, continue."
Ok, now I just feel guilty. Maybe I should come clean. As far as I know, she's the only one I have left. I cant lose her simply because I didn't trust her.
How about you finish narrating your story first.
Already doing it.
"Anyway, Once the files about that specific mission were no more, I began to directly look for anything related to Luna Dragonheart.
---
Once the files about that specific mission ended, he began searching for anything related to Luna Dragonheart.
He spent nearly an hour going through the remaining documents, but only managed to find a single file. It contained information from when she had worked as an adventurer three years earlier.
The file read:
***
Name: Luna Dragonheart
Age: 17
Parents: Lucius and Kira MorningStar
(Bloodbound)
Field of Expertise: Swordsmanship
Core Skills: Overdrive, Accelerator, Rebound, Night Claw
Soul Skill: Puppeteer
Astral Skill: Calculated World
Eather Level: 120
***
A few details immediately stood out.
Bloodbound.
That was the name of a ritual that linked one person's blood to another, essentially making them related by blood. So Luna had been bound to his family long before he was even born.
He started to wonder why he had only met her at the Adventurer's full, but he assumed it was probably her own choice to work there.
The other detail that caught his attention was the Soul Skill: Puppeteer.
He had read about it before. It allowed the user to take control of a target's body, but it came with a severe cost. Anyone who possessed the skill had weaker mental defenses than normal, making them vulnerable to mind control in return. The only way to protect themselves was to ensure they never used the skill.
A double-edged sword.
With this final peice of information in mind, the pieces began falling into place.
The cult's records had stated that they took Luna with them to kill Claudia. From everything Abel knew about her, Luna would never have agreed to something like that willingly. Combined with the fact that she was already connected to his family through the bloodbound ritual, there was only one logical conclusion.
She had used Puppeteer at some point in the past. That single use had left her open to external control. The cult must have exploited that single opening to take control of her.
The war against the MorningStar territory had likely been nothing more than a distraction. Something to keep his parents occupied and unable to notice the real objective. Unfortunately, his parents had already gone missing before the fighting even began.
That left only Claudia.
The moment the realization hit him, Abel stopped searching.
He resurrected the soldiers who had died defending the territory and asked if they were willing to follow him. Out of roughly seven thousand, only about a hundred answered. It was enough.
A few children's souls had also tried to volunteer, but he refused them. He would not force dead children to fight. No matter how much they tried pleading to him, he just wouldn't accept it.
Move onto the afterlife and allow yourselves to rest. Reincarnation takes a long time. I should know. Live out your days in peace. Leave the revenge part to me. After all, that is my only reason to live.
Once he gave them those final words, the souls of the children were finally able to pass on.
How much hatred did those children bare, for them to remain here for so long?
He clenched his fist and his normally golden eyes turned into red slits. His mana began to leak out of him like a torrent, blasting away the debris around him.
Aurelius. I may have killed you, but your deeds shall travel with you wherever you roam.Those sins latched onto your soul shall be the anchor that pulls you down. I hope we meet in your next life.
He continued walking through the ruined land.
I'll properly torture you then.
Once his rage had finally been subdued to a more controllable level, he absorbed the entire MorningStar land—ruined buildings, corpses, and all—into Infinity's Domain. He ordered the armored mana soldiers to rebuild everything and to create a proper gravesite for the dead. They agreed without hesitation.
Only once that was done did he begin searching for Shiro's mana signature as he rode Fang.
He had already lost his parents. His home had been destroyed. He was not going to lose his sister as well.
That's when...it happened. His Astral Skill, awakened.