Chapter Twenty-Seven: Just Another Fantasy

A young dwarf sat across from an old dwarf. The old man was beside a young human with a green eye, and a blue eye.

"You want me to give you the last Vermillion Ore? Uncle, surely you jest!" The young dwarf laughed for a moment before he saw the old dwarf's one good eye. "Uncle Odis, you cant expect me to just give you the last of an ire that powerful! How would you even forge it without the Black Flame?"

Odis turned to the young human next to him, Prince Zach, and turned back to his nephew. "King Olof, ya heard of what is goin' on in the last human Empire?"

Olof nodded to his uncle's question. "An Angel fell from the Heavens, unleashing the forcibly enslaved Demons. Together, this Angel and these Demons, along with what seems to be a very angelic human, have burned the Empire to the ground. They have slaughtered millions of its subjects, including most of the Royal family."

Zach focused on the Dwarf King. "Then why won't you give it to us? If they breach the Empire's borders, then they'll-"

"How are you so sure these beings will attack the Dwarven lands? How do you know Vinland cannot make peace with them?" Olof shot up as he walked out of the room. "Now excuse me, Uncle. I have a meeting to get to. If you want to talk about the Vermillion Ore, bring some gold first."

Olof walked out of the room, leaving the two stunned.

"I can't believe that's the king of Vinland." Zach said as he rubbed his head. "He went on for so long about his kids, and the moment we brought up the Ore..."

Odis nodded. "Olof's been the guardian of that ore ever since he was twelve. Thirty years'll reinforce an idea, if given time. Well, let's go. Maybe we'll find somethin' more useful." Odis pulled out a teleportation scroll as they disappeared from the room, leaving behind a candle that flickered in the room.

Olof walked down a short staircase fuming with rage. "He comes back after fifteen years, only to ask for the Vermillion Ore? What kind of uncle is that?" He continued ranting until he arrived in front of a meeting room door. Pushing it open, Olof saw a very angelic man with white hair that had some pink in it, was sitting down and drinking a cup of water.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Kings have duties to attend to."

The angelic man laughed as Olof sat across from him. "Yes, yes. I understand. My name is Micheal, it's a pleasure to meet you."

In a corner of the room, covered in a shadow, Alice watched the meeting take place. She watched carefully with her glazed eyes as Micheal and Olof spoke.

Micheal and Olof laughed for a moment before Micheal continued. "Anyways, I invited one of my colleagues, my daughter actually, to attend the meeting. I hope that's alright with you?"

Olof nodded. "Of course! I would invite my kids as well, but they're too young for stuff like this. What's her name?"

Micheal closed his eyes as he tilted his head slightly. "Oh, you've heard it before. You know Alice Night right?"

As he said this, Alice appeared behind the king, who had a shocked expression on his face. "Wh-"

She quickly cut his throat with a matte black dagger, before stabbing him in the chest five times. She then turned her attention to the only person in the room other than herself or Micheal.

Walking over to a side table, she yanked a young girl out from under it and threw her on the ground as Micheal locked the doors.

Alice lifted the dagger to kill the girl frozen in fear, before she hesitated, as something tried to stop the dagger.

Micheal sighed as he walked over to Alice, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Alice. You don't want to disappoint me, do you? I'd be very upset if there were any witnesses."

Alice looked at the girl as her eyes became more glazed than before. She walked slowly to the crawling girl, grabbing her by the hair, before bringing the dagger to her throat.

———

Odis and Zach appeared outside of a very lively forest, where a single cottage sat. They're asked inside and threw their things down.

"What could be more powerful than Vermillion Ore?" Zach asked in a somewhat calm tone. "Is there anything like that?"

Odis shook his head. "Not that I know of. Was anyone able to discover the identity of the Angel?" Odis turned to look another person in the room.

It was a young man who appeared to have strange movements, and had dark brown skin, along with strange electric blue eyes. "Nothin', boss. I think it may just be a puppet. Still, I've heard it a Fallen Angel."

"A Fallen?" Odis squinted his eyes as he stared at the dark boy.

The young man smiled. "Ya know, when you brought me here, I thought it'd just be a random fantasy. It is, but..." he looked out the cottage window with a smirk on his face. "...I feel like this is going to be fun."

Zach rubbed his eyes as the young man spoke. "What happened to your dagger, Franklin?" He was staring at Franklin's dagger made of Mythril and a strange red crystal he found at the site of the last battle.

The crystal pulsed a red light every few seconds for an unknown reason, but it couldn't be smelted or duplicated using any alchemy, so it's was just decorative.

Franklin smiled. "I may have fought a man wearing full-plate Adamantium. He was tough, and had a bigger sword than me! If anything, I'm started to think I was cheated here!"

Odis sighed. "Yer mood changes quickly."

"Yeah, 'cause I was cheated! I was informed constantly if I was summoned, I'd get a-"

"Yes. A system. We know." Zach sighed as well as he picked up the dagger and threw it at Franklin. "You've said that over a hundred times already. Learn how to repair your own weapons by the way, if you're going to keep breaking them."

Franklin caught the dagger and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. "Yep, just another fantasy."

———

Micheal and Alice walked through a now empty, but bloody hallway as they arrived in front of a giant golden door.

"This looks strong." Micheal smiled as he ripped one of the doors off its hinges. "...or not." Three dwarves in armor came rushing at them from inside, before they began coughing up black smoke, slowly dying in the spot.

He and Alice walked in as he continued smiling. "Alice, would you be a dear and grab that for Father?" He pointed to a magically enchanted casing, where a large a black flame was calmly burning.

Alice walked up to the case, and grabbed the flame, breaking the case in the process, handing it to Micheal.

"Who knew your powers were this great? I'm glad I was able to get you when your defenses were down." He patted her head as he continued. "If only your mother could've been susceptible to the same magic, she wouldn't be dead now."

They walked out of the treasure vault, only taking the black flame, and teleported far away from Vinland.