Chapter 136: Chapter 136: The Secret Heritage

Jaden and Ishreth had escaped to a place where there were no longer any Kong Apes. Their escape was full of zigs and zags. Jaden knew that Rogue would be able to track them. But in this escape, they lost the trail of the Kong Apes. With their scent that still contained the many herbs, it was easy for them to escape it.

The pair waited for Amorien and Chad to arrive while observing the napping Dyne.

“Who is this mighty hero?” Ishreth wondered.

“What happened? How did he exactly appear next to us?”

“Remember that strong tremor that we felt? I could feel that the dark energies in this place rose to the point that I feared the undead would rise! But then, it disappeared! I don’t know how, but it happened so fast! And then, Master Dyne emerges out of nowhere! That magic is similar to the descriptions of what the mages of that other continent have!” Ishreth explained.

“It seems we have much to talk about.” Jaden nodded.

“We do. That Archbishop Lazarus seemed to be conspiring with several mages including Char the Evil.” Dyne spoke as he suddenly stood up.

“Oh. And good job with your escape. You did it marvelously.” Dyne praised.

“Young Hero…? What happened inside?”

“Where to start…? I guess it’s best if we wait for Chad and Amorien. But first, is there a way for you to send back word secretly to King Cireol? Preferably with people you trust.” Dyne added.

“With the Archbishop's betrayal… we don’t know. Most of the king’s trusted men are gone.”

“Just as I thought. And you know what this means, right? Do you understand what we have to do?”

“Inform the king? We’ll have to storm the secret-” Jaden stopped as he realized what he was about to say.

“Alright. I let it slide the last time, but you guys need to tell me how you managed to sneak in here. I didn’t have the luxury of chitchat the last time. So when you tried to change the topic that time, I ignored it. Besides, I understand that there are some suspicions on your part. But let me tell you this, Lazarus has already betrayed you. It’s practically pointless not to tell me how.”

Jaden turned to Ishreth, uncertain of what to do.

“And if you’re afraid that I’m part of the Trithefert, you are wrong. I am not from this continent. I got here by accident, and I’m trying to get back. So if you reveal the location of the secret path to me, it won’t mean that Trithefert would secretly invade your kingdom.” Dyne added.

“Then that is good. I’ve deduced that you are not of this continent. You are correct, Lord Dyne. You might not have known it, but you might have used a secret passage that we used to get here.”

Dyne had a strange expression but decided to play along.

"You mean that the um... place... in that um... cave... was a passageway? That light?" Dyne threw in a few broad guesses.

"Correct. It must have been that, Lord Dyne."

“Lord Dyne?” Jaden asked. Ishreth was a respected mage. Only a few people deserved that title from Ishreth's perspective.

“Jaden, this young hero surpasses us by power. He managed to sneak in and foil the plan of the enemy. He stopped a demon!”

“Erm. About that, I didn’t stop it. I weakened it. We have to go in and stop it.” Dyne explained.

“What?!” Ishreth was surprised at Dyne’s explanation.

“The demon that was sent here is an Afarit. I sealed part of its soul here. But its remaining soul is also wounded and in pain. So it may take a long time for it to recover to its full strength. But it’s still there. And it’s still an Afarit.”

“An Afarit! Those demons of legends!?” Jaden asked.

“Yup. It’s a young one. I managed to disrupt most of their plans, though. They’d have to kill a lot more monsters and humans if they want to recover that Afarit. And that’s why I need that passage.”

“I see. Then I guess it’s alright to tell you of the passage. As long as you vow not to do anything harmful to the true king of Martsirt, then I will tell you the secret passage. What is the plan that requires you to go to Martsirt?”

“Uhm. I plan to kidnap King Ciroel.”

Jaden and Ishreth blinked and gazed at Dyne with a confused expression.

“Let me explain. As you said, the king’s most loyal servants are there. I’m thinking that the Archbishop is serving the other political group trying to usurp the throne. The problem is, you can simply kill the king as the loyal citizens would rebel and do stuff, and it may cause more problems. So they have to make a good on why the king dies. And I’m guessing death by a demon is the plan.”

Dyne then remained silent and motioned to the pair by waving his two arms with an expression that waited for the two to gain enlightenment.

“Those bastards!” Jaden cursed.

“Who’s the bastard?” Amorien’s voice was heard.

“Amorien! Chad!”

“You really didn’t go that far, I see. You just made a lot of zigzags to throw them away.” Amorien laughed.

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“Amorien! Chad! Let’s kidnap the king!” Jaden declared.

“What?!” The pair was confused.

The pair was quickly brought up to speed as Ishreth explained all that Dyne had already said.

“As to why I’m not sure yet. Lord Dyne must explain why.” Jaden then turned to Dyne.

“The first, we need the king alive and safe. Right now, we messed up the plans of Archbishop Lazarus. The ritual failed, and although they have a demon, it's wounded. But this changes the plan. If I were the political enemy, I’d try to force the king and whatever loyal subjects to attack here with their full force and get massacred by the demon. So we kidnap the king before that happens.”

“Why do we have to kidnap him? Can’t we just go there and inform him of what the Archbishop of Lazarus did?”

“This will result in a forced battle between the two political parties. In short, an all-out war. Without his most loyal retainers, he will die. But, if he comes back as King and Hero, as one who has slain the demon, he will gain more followers. His strength will be unquestioned, and he can reveal the plot made against him and rally the people.” Dyne explained.

“…” The group was silent. But Dyne’s arguments and proposed scenario seemed valid.

“Ho-How did you come up with this?” Amorien asked.

“Mostly, I just make it up along the way. But really, I’ve been trained by this. I used to go on missions that could possibly worsen the relationships between two nations. Not to mention the place I’m from has a lot of erm… groups and alliances that I have to consider. So on missions where I am bound to fail, I look for the best alternative.” Dyne explained.

“What continent do you belong to?” Ishreth couldn’t help but ask. From the way that Dyne explained it, it was as if that continent was far terrifying compared to The Scattered Kingdoms.

“Erm... Drake of the Legaian Plane. Anyways, we have to act quickly. If we fail to reach them, then Lazarus will go back to your place first and fool King Ciroel.”

“Alright. I’ll say it. We are so secretive about this because it’s a passageway that connects to various lands towns in the Scattered Kingdoms. We have only explored about ten percent of the passageway as most of them lead to very dangerous locations with monsters of great might.”

“Oh? How is this secret passageway unused by monsters?”

“It has to do with the secret heritage of this planet! You know about the ancient ruins scattered all over the world?”

“Ancient ruins, you say?” Dyne grew interested in this.

“Yes. What ancient ruins have you found, Lord Dyne? The place deep inside that cave ought to be an ancient ruin.”

“Erm... On the ancient ruins that I’m familiar with, it had large robots...” Dyne tried his luck. He recalled the stories of Xenogears and Vanguard Bandits wherein the world had a lot of buried gigantic robots that would later be used for war.

“I see. You found the Mech legacies of the former inhabitants...” Jaden nodded.

“Wait- what?!” Dyne was stunned. It's real?!

“What the fragment?!” Strafe cursed.

“Lord Tieg?” Jedo asked as he was unsure why the two reacted the way they did.

“It’s another of Dyne’s games. This world hides several secrets that are similar to the games that Dyne had played. Vanguard Bandits and Xenogears both share that trait! But why is it real? How can Eternity desire these things?” Strafe was bewildered.

Dyne ignored them and continued to ask Jaden as they had to act quickly.

“Let’s not get too ahead with ourselves. What use can these secret and ancient ruins have?”

“It's because some ancient ruins have very inconspicuous places that are teleportation chambers! So that’s how we got here!”

“I see. How can we activate the teleportation chamber?” Dyne asked.

“It requires us to pour in magic on it. By chance, our Town had acquired heritages on how to activate the incantation of the spell. Of course, depending on the number of people being sent, we would need to expend more. But for the five of us, then my magic can suffice.” Ishreth explained.

“Then let's go. We have to go to the teleportation chambers, rescue the king, and return here. If there are any other loyal knights and warriors that you can convince, then they can join us.” Dyne explained.

“Follow me.” Amorien suddenly spoke.

“Luckily, I’m one of the few survivors that can lead us back there without getting lost.” Amorien smiled.

The group immediately set out to move.

“Jedo. Give me sight in the dark. You should be able to do that much. I have to get whatever herbs I find along the way.”

“Understood.” Jedo immediately agreed without complaining.

“?” Dyne wondered why Jedo was so obedient all of a sudden.