Chapter 40

"Delicious?" Locke was stunned. But then he remembered that Ghost was a creature composed of dead mana.

"I think I would have to decline." Locke calmly replied to the Marquis.

"You are telling the truth." The Marquis nodded. "But can you escape from the undead?"

The Marquis suddenly grit his teeth, as the skin on his body began to shrivel. His human skeleton began to elongate until his height almost doubled. Inside the tunnel, he had to hunch his back to still be able to move. His flesh thinned.

"You are not actually human?" Locke was surprised as he looked at the Marquis in shock.

"I am a filthy half breed between a Vampire and Human. A Dhampir." The Marquis growled.

"Understood." Locke replied as huge explosions continued overhead. "That's why you are desperate to become a Vampire. But what about your Legacy? If I am not wrong, only humans can use legacies right?"

"Heh, what's the use of being able to tell truth from lies in the hand of a powerless person?" The Marquis snorted as he pounced towards Locke to tear him to pieces.

Locke didn't move at all. Selestia was about to give a wild scream when the bracelet on Locke's arm suddenly transformed into particles of sand that formed the shape of a girl. Her hand had been transformed into a terrifying metal claw that calmly sliced the Marquis torso into two and rushed forward without any hesitation.

At the same time, the Hibiscus flower transformed again into human form, twines emerging from her body and entangling the four other undead, who were surprised by the sudden emergence of two strong opponents. "This is so tiring." The Dryad yawned. "I don't like travelling."

Meanwhile,Ghost rushed forward, ignoring the Marquis who had been sliced in half. Her hand had changed into a block of metal that smashed into the entangled undeads' faces, crushing them completely. Their destruction caused black gasses to emerge out of their bodies, which were inhaled by Ghost like she was having some delicacy. The four undead had been quickly devoured in this manner.

Locke turned towards the Marquis. He was still struggling to survive, gasping for breath. His eyes were filled with horror.

"Where is the Duchess?" Locke asked.

"I...ate...her." the Marquis laughed before he died.

Selestia had burst into tears when she heard that, but Locke ignored her. He was more interested in knowing something else.

"What happens to the Legacy, now that he died?" Locke mumbled.

As if his words triggered something, a silvery liquid began to emerge out of the dead Marquis' body.

"Pthew! Yuck! Ugh!" The silvery liquid began to take the form of a young boy who was making expressions like he was disgusted by a bad taste.

"You are the legacy?" Locke asked the kid directly who was busy enacting spitting rituals.

"I can't believe how stupid I was to give my legacy to a trash halfbreed. Pthew!" The Kid was still busy feeling bad for himself, before he belatedly registered Locke's words. He quickly put his hands on his waist and stretched out his chest.

"I indeed am the legacy of truth!" He said proudly. "Why, do you desire it?"

"I don't dislike having a legacy, I'm just considering how useful it would be for me." Locke said.

The kid rolled his eyes. "I can tell you are lying. You want my ability, badly. You are unsuitable though. Your soul is being corrupted. This girl though...she is cute!" The kid was staring at Selestia, who was still busy shedding tears.

"A bit of a sobber. But her soul is quite clean. Little woman, do you want the Legacy of truth?" He ignored Locke and asked her directly.

Selestia glanced at Locke, who nodded. Selestia wiped the tears from the sides of her eyes. "Yes, I'm willing to accept the legacy."

"Very well. I wanted to taste a young woman since a while." The kid said as he turned back into a silvery liquid that entered Selestia.

Locke didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard the little brat's words. He had wanted to ask the kid about his soul corruption, but he disappeared before any conversation could even be had.

Selestia felt her body fill up, almost to the point of bulging. It eventually settled down, but she was sure that she had reached some kind of limit. When she explained it to Locke he nodded.

"I suspect that different individuals have different limits for how many legacies they can hold in their body. Yours should be one." Locke hypothesized. "Don't tell anyone about your legacy, that is how it is the most effective."

Selestia then looked at Ghost. Who had been looking unwillingly at the fallen undead. "Who is she?"

Locke sighed. Who indeed was she, he wondered. "It's complicated. Better not tell anyone about this." He said as Ghost returned to bracelet form and Hibiscus turned back into a flower in Locke's breast pocket. "Let's move."

The two made their exit from the underground tunnel. They had arrived at a distant area away from the palace, which they could observe was in flames.

Locke suddenly pulled out clothes from his pocket. They were commoner clothes that he quickly changed to in the darkness, before the two, one Baron and one Duke's daughter disappeared in the night.

---

The sun had begun to rise over a burning Lum City. Smoke plumes had covered the clear sky. The festivities that had been a marker of the entry had turned into chaos. The entire city was now covered with troops clashing all over the city. Many ordinary citizens were making haste in leaving the city.

In a wagon, leaving the city among many others, a boy and girl dressed in commoners clothes watched the silhouette of the city growing dimmer. From afar, it looked like a genuine warzone.

"Where are you folks heading to?" The driver of the wagon, a middle aged man asked his passengers.