A few days had passed before Alastor and Asta met up. With Lucas and Bell, Asta's personal maid in tow, they arrived at a neutral party's mansion, namely the one of Descartes, who, considering everything, came out completely unscathed from the entire competition.
Being seated on opposing couches, Bell stood behind Lucas and Asta with a slight smile while Alastor was grinning from ear to ear.
"I have to say I am more than impressed by your results. You actually managed to beat everyone else within the year. You should be proud of yourself," it sounded genuine, but the massive grin on his face infuriated Lucas somewhat.
"Did you suggest such a bet without believing we would achieve such a thing?", while Asta wasn't sure at the start, as the days rolled by, his confidence in himself and Lucas surged.
Shaking his head, Alastor chuckled slightly, "I just wasn't expecting you to use the Undead to your advantage. Letting them reap the bodies of the south so you could employ them to scare Isale is quite a feat."
Asta's eyes sharpened, not liking what he heard. They were certain their plans were kept under wraps. Barely anyone knew about their manufactured epidemic, but the use of the undead was a secret even more closely guarded. Of course, Isale must've given the intel to him, but at most they would know they worked together, not to have such a deal.
The pressure from both sides started to slowly rise. Descartes leaned back in his seat, almost regretting the fact he hosted this get-together. Lucas had a rebuttal ready but stayed silent, not wanting to get in the way of Asta.
"Alastor, we're not here to debate over something you think happened. We both know that either you or me will become the next Duke. I pride myself on my intelligence, although it is lesser than you. So tell me, what scheme did you think of next to try and defeat me? Because your first attempt was a complete failure."
While Alastor was all smiles, Asta couldn't be more serious. Hating the fact that the man in front of him was better in many ways, Asta clenched his teeth to keep his demeanor calm.
Lucas on the other hand was staring at him, not letting a single action go unnoticed.
"Hahaha, oh, dear little brother. Do you truly believe I need to scheme to defeat you? I'm already more powerful and intelligent than you. Then again, I have to admit that I was surprised by your actions. Hearing what was happening made me happy to know I wasn't mistaken when we met each other at the banquet. You've grown tremendously compared to the past," Alastar praised him, not holding a smidgen of animosity, before adding, "Even if you're still incapable of using elements."
Yes, he was right. Unlike what Lucas initially thought, it wasn't that Asta refused to use elements because they were beneath him. No, if he dared to use it, he would die from his own vow. Only through items did he have a chance to replicate it.
Asta took a second to calm himself down, holding back a sigh of frustration. "That's right, I'm limited in powers, and I still pose a threat to you. So be glad I don't have access to elements or you wouldn't even dare act arrogant in my presence."
Lucas could feel the frustration, pride, and arrogance in that statement, but he could only grin in response. Just as Asta thought Lucas a monstrous being, Lucas thought Asta a monster as well.
"How incredible, to think you would even insinuate a battle to decide a victor. No, no, no, that would be far too boring for me. Even if you join him, Lucas, it would be way too easy, that's just not entertaining."
Despite staying silent throughout the conversation, Alastor couldn't help but taunt him.
"So what do you have in mind for the challenge, Alastor?", Descartes tried to prevent turning the situation worse, but Alastor's words had already pissed Lucas and Asta off.
"Challenge? Ah, yes, you see, I love reading about history and learning about the world. One of the things that has always interested me was the daily life of our progenitor Demon God. The first one to create a space for demons to thrive in. According to the legends, he held an artifact capable of harnessing the power of Demonic Energy to another level."
Glad the conversation was moving forward, Descartes wanted both of his brothers to leave his mansion as soon as possible. The people in front of him were capable of massive destruction and neither side seemed to back down.
"So you would have Astaroph gather this artifact for you?"
Waving the mere thought of it aside, Alastor smiled, "No, how boring of a suggestion is that, Descartes? What I propose is a treasure hunt. We each get two companions and have to search for the treasure, the first one who gets his hands on it, wins. Simple, isn't it?"
The massive grin on his face was asking for a punch, but both Lucas and Asta knew that would just be walking into a trap. The person in front of them was an absolute monstrous genius who knew practically anything, making whatever challenge they proposed unlikely to favor them.
"How do we know you're playing fair? We didn't know of its existence, yet it's clear you already know a lot about it. You could already have located it," Asta wasn't going to agree to such an unfair game.
Alastor's smile deepened, "Oh brother, it wouldn't have mattered what the artifact was. I already know about it all. This is the one I know the least about, which should give you the bare minimum to succeed."
"Why not just play a game of chance?", Lucas interrupted, hoping he would agree. If they didn't win in power and intelligence, they just needed something to circumvent both advantages.
Shaking his head in disappointment, Alastor faced Lucas, "Dear Lucas, I know of your power more than you wish. If I can't even see it in action, what is the point? A game of luck would make it fair between us, but the world is never fair. You have three options, the first is the treasure hunt, the second is a battle, and the last one is nothing. We just leave and wait for the competition to end."
It was a short list with only one true option. Fighting him was out of the question, and doing nothing left the voting to the people. With Alastor already being favored by many, Asta stood no chance in a popularity poll.
Of course, there were more than three options, it was a false dilemma, but both knew that appealing to that would result in nothing. Lucas stayed silent as he left the talking to Asta, he was here to support him. Making the decisions himself wasn't part of the job, whatever Asta chose, he would fulfill, no matter what.
"Then give us all the intel you have already gathered about the artifact, and it's a deal."
"Gladly, the first to get the artifact wins. I'll send over someone with the necessary documents. When they return to my place I'll start searching myself."
Asta stood up, with Lucas in tow, and left the room. Alastor was still smiling as he relaxed in the couch, clearly everything was going according to his own desires, which only pissed Lucas off.
Exiting the room, Lucas stayed behind with Bell, asking Asta to move on ahead.
"Bell, sorry to ask this of you, but I'm a bit of a historian myself and wanted to ask Alastor about something unrelated. I don't want Asta to know I'm asking him something aside from the competition.
Would you mind asking him who the progenitor was of the Order of Nature? All I know personally was that a woman created it, her first name should be Marie, but that's all I have on the topic."
Lucas used his fake smile to convince her, not that he needed to, since she had to follow his orders. This was just to make it feel more natural.
"Uh.. sure," turning around, Bell was glad that Lucas was her young master's friend. 'They're in a fierce competition, but Lucas still doesn't want Asta to know he secretly likes Alastor. What a nice friendship!', completely oblivious to actual reality, Bell improved her image of Lucas.
Going outside to meet up with Asta, he instantly went to work, "Lucas, I can have two companions, one will obviously be you. Who will be the other?"
"What does it matter? We didn't sign a contract so we can use as many people as we want as long as we keep it a secret," Lucas saw a loophole and instantly made use of it, caring little for honor or respect in a battle.
"I don't think that's a good idea," expressing his doubt, Lucas picked up on what he speculated. "You think since he figured out our previous plan, anything we try and come up with will be seen through?"
"Exactly. Of course, he might've learned it from Isale, she's probably still angry at us. I wouldn't be surprised if she tipped him off."
"Either way we're going to have to figure something out. If you're going to follow him, I'll do so as well," Lucas put himself on the sideline again, giving the options of choice to Asta.
"I'll take Bell."
Shocked by his decision, Lucas couldn't even remotely see the reasoning behind such a choice. "Why?", he posed his question with genuine confusion, not seeing Bell as a useful tool in the upcoming search. If they were going to have to look for an artifact nobody found yet, it either didn't exist or is hidden away. How would a simple maid be contributing to its search?
"She can only follow our orders. If we order her to keep everything she learns to herself, the contract will activate and place her under its conditions."
Finding some semblance of logical thought processes, Lucas still couldn't fully agree with his choice. Then again, he didn't know anyone else that would be a big contribution besides someone like Yaldor, but getting him on his side wasn't going to be easy.
The 13 Guardians under the Duke aren't meant to interfere in the competition between the heirs. So the possibility of one of the close guards joining their group was more than highly unlikely.
"If you think she's worth the spot, we'll make it work. Either way, I don't know anything about your Demon God progenitor or his supposed artifact. Do you know anything?"
"I do know a few details, but hmm? Bell? Why are you so late?", seeing Bell join them after some time, Asta was a tad confused.
"Sir Lucas asked me to question Alastor about something," directing herself to Lucas, she gave the answer Lucas had been looking for, "He said about the same, he doesn't know more as well, stating it's not a recorded story."
"Did he use the same name as well?"
Bell nodded, making Lucas nod in response as Asta stood with a confused look next to him. "What was that all about?"
"Hmm? Oh, don't worry, I was just checking something by asking Alastor something I found in a random book. Everyone says he knows everything, so I just wanted to check if that was the case, and frankly, he does know it all."
"You just couldn't believe us? Either way, we should start our preparations. I'll try to gain access to my father's library in the hopes there might be more clues there."
Moving on, they returned to Agatha's domain where they received the necessary documents not long after.
They talked about the stories and legends about the Progenitor Demon God, a being so powerful it claimed the entirety of Sabaoth for himself before letting the demons thrive on it. The actual name of the Demon God was somewhat obscured. There was no direct reference to it, only mentioning the title.
It was one of the things that confused Lucas, but the more pressing matter was something else entirely. Situated in a cozy lounge, Bell brought refreshments and cookies to keep the spirits of the mages high. Asta took a self-made chair made from Pure Mana as his seat while Lucas was lying down on one of the couches.
As they were reading through the documents, Lucas couldn't help but voice his thoughts out loud. "Asta, I've heard about these Demonic Powers a bunch of times, but I've never seen them. I don't like to brag, but I've killed plenty of demons, yet I've not seen them use it once."
Asta took a sip of some freshly made tea as he ignored the fact his friend so blatantly professed his murder. "Well, Demonic Powers are fueled by mana and influenced by emotions just like elemental magic. If you saw a demon use it, it must mean their life is in danger since it also consumes the lifespan of the demon. Burning it up to fight a bit harder is mostly for escaping or dealing a finishing blow."
"So you can't show it to me?"
"I'm not in the mood to lose years of my life to entertain you, Lucas."
Taking a cookie to eat, Lucas still didn't understand it. "You said the horns display the potential Demonic Powers. Is it stored in the horns?"
"Somewhat, yes. But it's just potential, because the user needs to practice their Demonic Powers to become proficient at it. Many demons have never seen it in action, so to most it's just a powerful weapon, but they don't even know how it looks. The bigger the horns, the more storage room for Demonic Mana, something that's added to the spells."
Lucas suddenly raised his back, almost getting out of the couch, he faced Asta directly. "So it's all just a front?"
Asta looked away from the book to face the serious look from Lucas before confirming his thoughts, "Of course, why do you think I want to change this world? The horns and power are all this world cares about, but the horns are mostly decorations since 99% of the nobles and the ones in power haven't practiced their Demonic Powers. Who would willingly throw away years of their life to practice an art that might not even be used in their lifecycle? Besides, magical spells easily rival it, your Black Beam for example already is more powerful."
Hearing Asta speak so brazenly, Lucas started to chuckle to himself. At first he thought the demons on Sabaoth were relatively different from humans, but now he was certain they were one and the same.
The snide look on his face didn't go unnoticed by Asta before he explained further. "Yes, if you're comparing them to the nobles who flaunt their wealth back on Aurora, you're not far off. The nobles there view money as power and the more they have of it, the more arrogant they grow. Here, it's just the horns and Rank."
"Got it. It's just a tad disappointing is all."
"What were you hoping for? Demons who practiced occult techniques you could learn? This won't be a potential source of power for you. Sorry to spoil the mood for you," almost instantly picking up from where the questions came, Asta poured cold water over his friend. Not out of anger, annoyance or even pride, but out of concern.
He knew Lucas too well to realize what he would do to grow more powerful. If he wasn't careful, Asta was certain that Lucas would figure out a way to mimic the Demonic Powers and burn his own lifeforce to gain power.
"No, better to be forced to face reality now than to be disappointed later on," slacking a slight sigh, he went back to reading. Going through all the records turned out to be a large task, yet they powered through the days and nights, not stopping until they covered everything.