Dimitri

The majestic castle was shrouded in the twilight of the red moon. The castle hall had big pillars on both sides touching the high ceilings, which were glazed in greyish-silver engravings. From the roof hung a chandelier which added light to the brilliance of the hall.

Within the main hall, a stone bed of black color with mysterious gold engravings on all four sides was placed in the middle of the ritual circle. The four corners of the bed were inscribed in an exotic language, hard to read but the gaze will get captivated by its smooth strokes.

However, the most captivating was the man laid on the stone bed, face five points similar to the man who entered and shattered Cordelia's dream world. If she was present here, she should have recognized the man even though her memories were hazy. The dissimilarity in his appearance didn't make it less perfect, instead, it enhanced his beauty. With closed eyes, the serene face exuded a charm that could hold onlookers' gaze for eternity.

Two tall figures stood near the ritual circle worried about the handsome man on the stone bed.

"Why isn't the Lord awake yet? Old hag, did you not say that dream realm is destroyed, then what is keeping him bound?" The man in a white military uniform couldn't conceal his frustration due to anxiety.

The lady addressed was currently busy within the circle resiting the chants. She didn't stop to counter the man nevertheless a pleasant voice was heard, "It is Adrasteia Sir Nibrus if you may, and I am certainly not as ancient enough as you, now if you can keep quiet!" By name, she was the same Witch who met Cordelia on her college trip. However, the old lady was nowhere to be seen, in her place there was a young lady in the purple dress with a black robe.

Zephyr's anger rose a level, he was already anxious about his Lord and it didn't help the predicament that the individual who conducted the ritual was this notoriously difficult Witch to get along with. Who knows why his Lord accepted that burdensome contract, he could have rejected it and no one had the power to question him. Enraged he retorted back to the witch, "Quiet?! You dare say 'quiet' after what you did and to me no less!"

"I did nothing wrong and I'm still occupied with Your Lord if you can see!" Adrasteia calmly answered through telepathy.

'Witches are not liked by nearly every kind, and when it says everyone that even includes divinities like this one. She is not here for him anyway.'

"Are you threatening me?"

Throbbing veins were visible in his neck. He would have rushed into the circle if it wouldn't endanger his Lord. This old witch knew how to push his buttons. He turned to the man in brown military uniform standing next to him, "Sir Orestes! Aren't you concerned for the Lord at all, or are you just relinquishing Lord's safety to her?"

"Oh my! How dare I, who retains Your Lord's Life in her hand can let out something like that?"

The snide remark came and he couldn't control his divine aura for a moment almost blasting away the castle doors open, nevertheless, a more condensed spiritual aura encircled his and made it return to his body. Pointing his fingers in the lady's direction Zephyr again veered to complain to the man who stopped him.

"You... she is doing it on purpose!! Sir Orestes see for yourself how casual she is about Lord's safety! And why did you stopped my attack?"

"Silence Zephyr!!" Tone filled with impatience Orestes rebuked back. His monochromatic stare warned him to stop. "You are too aggressive and your attack could have disrupted the ritual."

Adrasteia although busy could still grasp elements transpiring in her surrounding. She did not wish to quarrel with these divinities. She was here for the sole purpose of aiding in that individual's awakening.

"Thank you for the assistance Sir Orestes but I'd appreciated it if you could have implemented it sooner." She transmitted the message and focused back to concentrate on the task at hand, it was almost completed.

"Zephyr stand down." Dimitri knitted his brows feeling a headache arising and slowly sat up. His mind though was fixated on that unfocused gaze.

"Who dares... Lord! Finally, you have awakened!" Zephyr eagerly rushed towards the stone bed but stopped before the ritual's boundary feeling the burning gaze of the Witch. He still couldn't stop his mouth from firing off his concerns.

"My Lord... did I not suggest to not receive that contract, nothing good came out of it!"

Disregarding Zephyr and face lighten up with a small smile Orestes bent on one knee with his right hand on his heart and greeted his awakened Master, "Welcome back Lord."

Humming a reply he asked back, "Found anything regarding that intruder?" Dimitri's closed eyes could still recall that small face without any expression giving him a cold look.

Orestes took a look at his Master, seeing the closed eyes he collected the words to answer, he knew the answer may end up making his Master angrier than he already was nevertheless he couldn't hide it for a longer time.

"It was from Praexorus, The Timeless Reach..."

If silence had a sound it couldn't have sounded louder than this time. The silence made everyone afraid to breathe. Even Nibrus knew it was not the time to complain about the old Witch. Dimitri lazily sat up straight and laughed huskily, yet his eyes were very cold.

"The Timeless Reach you have to wait a bit longer to get destroyed."

Adrasteia: "..." 'I've heard something that wasn't meant for me. Would I be silenced?'

Zephyr: "..." 'Lord your violent aura is leaking out.'

Orestes: "..."

Coming out of her reverie Adrasteia quickly took out the tonic and presented it to Dimitri, "Divine Lord please take this concoction, it will help you replenish your strength faster."

In her haste she called out his forbidden title, she wished to bite her own tongue to die easily which was not likely to be in her case. However, things did not go the way she thought out.

"Do not use that title and no need for the concoction either. Go prepare for a teleportation gate which could lead to a specific planet."

"Wha... Lord, you just destroyed a separate realm and now you want to enter a world? Though small in size, still you shouldn't go demolishing other people's homes..." Before Adrasteia could guiltily concede Zephyr couldn't stop himself from remarking.

She stepped back to look at the upcoming bout of entertainment. Forsaking the worries she thought to focus on the impending retribution of this high and almighty divinity.

Dimitri gloomily turned to look at the subordinate he ignored from the start. The corner of his lips tilted up like a smile yet eyes without any ripples he inquired lazily, "You are worried about a realm more than this Lord?"

Orestes couldn't see the foolish act of death seeking anymore and dragged him back by collar and answered in his stead, "My Lord the materials will be prepared according to the Lady Adrasteia." He tossed the ball back to where it belonged. He didn't felt sympathy for the Witch, after all, she was relishing it when it was Zephyr's turn.

Zephyr had a good sense of danger, which gifted him a long life even though he was a blabbermouth. He wanted to protest when Orestes dragged him but resigned the notion when perceived the frightening countenance of his Lord.

The sudden turn of the table made Adrasteia speechless. Feeling pressured by the predicament she thought hard to answer, "Ahem... This may take a large amount of magic and I don't think I could maintain it solely by myself. Furthermore, I have never performed this ritual, My Lord. I may need some time to study it."

Dimitri was in a hurry to reach out to the girl. He knew that the witch was not lying, in the first place she was the one to locate her sealed spirit. Nonetheless, it could not lessen the uncertainty he felt. So he commanded, "I'll provide the magic and you have till tomorrow to study the ritual. She has my tracer, so it should be easy to locate her."

"Tracer?!" Shouted Zephyr.

This time even Orestes was stupefied by his Lord. To use a 'Tracer' on this target, his Master is taking this contract a little too seriously.

Tracer in simplest terms was used to soul bound another individual to oneself. It has to be a very precise condensed spiritual aura to mark, well this part is not difficult for his Lord. The problematic part would be when you have to transmit half of your soul through that mark. You would be left with only half soul, so it needs to be performed two way, meaning the other individual should also place a tracer on you. Otherwise, a split soul can lead to many big issues and death would be the least of the worries.