Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"So, to begin with, I'd like to suggest a temporary truce, just until the Undead King is dealt with," Remarked Aster, as Jules somewhat calmed down.

"Well, we'd be hard-pressed to deal with that monstrosity while also having to fend your group off, so fine, I have no objections to that. Tch, and stop looking at me, haven't you seen enough!?" She growled at Aster in a sharp whisper.

"Uh, sorry, my bad...also, you don't need to keep your voice down, I cast a soundproof barrier around the room, so no one can hear us. Your consideration is appreciated though."

"This might be the most humiliating moment of my life, no one's ever seen me nak-...grr, you bastard. At least the Homunculus has some level of decency," She muttered as she glanced at Raven, whose gaze had been fixed onto the wall this whole time.

"Well, to be fair, biologically speaking, you are half-siblings, so he wouldn't be interested anyway-..."

"Enough, just get to the point already! You sure do seem to love the sound of your own voice, don't you?"

"This is so awkward. And it really sucks that the first pair of boobs I've seen belong to someone who's biologically related to me," Raven thought to himself uncomfortably.

"...ouch. But fair. Alright, let's get to the matter at hand. As I'm sure you experienced, the Undead King can't be defeated by any normal means. There isn't any attack that he can't regenerate from," Explained Aster.

"Yes, I'm well-aware of that, I experienced it firsthand. So, then it is true, you really did fight him in the Quartz Ruins. While fighting him, I tried to keep damaging him to make him use up his Mana so that he wouldn't be able to regenerate anymore, and he said that someone already tried that. Was that you?"

"Yeah, it was. Although, according to what he said, he isn't fueled by Mana, he has his own unique energy source different to Mana. And while it is unbelievably vast, it isn't infinite. I thought I'd defeated him back then, I damaged him relentlessly and forced him to regenerate over and over until his energy was drained. I then crushed him into a dense little speck and thought that was the end of that. But obviously, that wasn't the case, it seems that method is only enough to temporarily incapacitate him," Aster informed her.

"I see...what the hell is he, anyway? What was he doing down in the Quartz Ruins? And why did he leave the ruins now, after being down there for who knows how long?"

"According to him, a thousand years or so. Also, do you seriously mean to tell me that the King didn't give you any information about him?" Responded Aster in surprise.

"Apparently, he destroyed the old documents he found and forgot the information he read in them."

"...seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Well, like Aster said, at least based on what the Undead King himself told us when we fought him, he was trapped down there over a thousand years ago. Apparently, he terrorized the nation using his Magic, an Irregular Magic Class called Undead Magic...though he said that it was called Arcane Magic back then. A collar was placed around his neck that kept him stuck in the lowest level of the ruins, it was indestructible, and even if he decapitated his head or destroyed his entire body to try and get rid of it, it'd teleport back around his neck as soon as he regenerated.

And if he tried to leave the lowest level, the collar would automatically teleport him back to the end of the level. When we fought him, Aster accidentally destroyed the collar, which meant he was no longer bound to the lowest level of the ruins. He must have regenerated sometime after we left, made his way out and began rebuilding his undead army in the Death Zone.

Oh, he also said that the region of the Death Zone used to be a fifth nation on the continent, before he destroyed it and made it a base for his undead hordes. He said some other stuff too, but I think that's everything relevant to the current situation," Remarked Raven, as Jules nodded thoughtfully.

"I see, interesting...not to mention useful. Damn it...if only father had thought to share the information he discovered when he did, we might have been able to prevent this, or at least have been better prepared. If even draining all his energy and incapacitating him isn't enough to put him down for good, are you saying it's impossible to kill him?" Frowned Jules in response.

"Yeah, eliminating him for good is almost definitely impossible, at least as far as we know. However, we do have an idea on how to defeat him...I mean, we wouldn't have taken the trouble to sneak in here if we didn't. However, we lack the necessary tools to pull it off, but I bet the Royals just might have those tools," Replied Aster, glancing at her before averting his gaze as she immediately glared at him.

"Well? What is it?"

"It's simple, drain him of all his energy and then use a Sealing Spell on his. I know they were banned a few decades ago, but surely you Royals held onto at least a few copies of those Spells...or, at the very least, records of the methods to create such Spells. And if a Sealing Spell using Ancient Magic is possible, all the better, since we already know that Ancient Magic does work against him," Remarked Aster with a smile.

"I don't know about that...even if we do find documents about Ancient Magic Sealing Spells in the archives, no one in the current era has any understanding of Ancient Magic. And even if that wasn't the case, Ancient Magic is highly taboo, banned by the church several centuries ago."

"Oh? Is that so? Yeah, I can't think of a single instance when members of the church used Ancient Magic in recent times," Responded Raven dryly, before fully transforming to emphasize and get his point across.

Jules averted her gaze and went silent, unable to say anything to that.

"Alright, I think that just about covers everything we came here to say. The rest is in your hands," Spoke up Aster, as he began heading to the balcony.

"Wait, before you go...tell me, what are you really after?"

"Hm? What, you mean like our overall goal? It's simple, we just want to make this nation a better place for Commoners like us. And the main causes of the suffering and hardship that Commoners go through on a daily basis are the Church of Persona and the Nobility, led by the Royalty. And while there are exceptions like you, it isn't enough. That's why we do what we do...though I'd be lying if I said we each didn't have our own, more personal motivations for fighting," Aster informed her with a wry smile.

"I see, so that really is why you avoid killing certain Knights and church leaders, you only go after those who you've deemed to be corrupt and oppressive."

"Seems you've already got us all figured out. Yeah, the one rule we stick to is that we don't kill indiscriminately, that'd be counterproductive to our goal. For instance, if we'd killed you, you may well have been replaced by someone who is prejudiced against Commoners, which would only make things worse."

"I see, I think I understand now...but your struggle will be in vain, Aster Stark. All you're really doing is making more enemies...I don't disagree that Persona has a plethora of problems and issues, but this isn't the right way to go about fixing it. Change needs to come from within, that's what I've been striving to do with the current generation of Knights," She stated firmly.

"And you have managed to change the nation for the better, I won't deny that, but...it isn't enough. The First Squad, as well as the Second Squad to a lesser extent, have done some good the Commoners in the locations they're stationed in, but the rampant degeneracy of the Third Squad, along with the King and like-minded Nobles, all but cancels out that good work. Not to mention, your own personal Commander Squad is cooped up here in the Capital, where there are barely any Commoners," Responded Raven cuttingly.

"I-...you're not wrong, but I-..."

"Oh, and don't even get me started on the church...the limited authority the Knight have over the Church of Persona isn't even enough to keep them in check. It certainly didn't prevent the Priest of the Ruby Village church from conducting the Homunculus Ritual and turning me into this! And it didn't prevent the Bishop of the Malachite Town church from using Ancient Magic to effectively enslave my sister, turning her into a fucking puppet to use as a tool for their own bene-...!" Snapped Raven as his pent-up anger began to surge, before he was cut off as Aster placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of it and calming him down.

"Easy there, kiddo...calm down, there's no sense in getting riled up here. We should get going now, you can vent all you want on the way back," He said in a calming tone, before pausing and glancing at Jules as the pair began to head at, "Well, see you later, Jules Diamond. And good luck in the upcoming battle...for the sake of everyone in the nation, I hope the information we provided will be enough to defeat the Undead King. And if not, well...none of this will matter, since we'll all be dead."

"Well, that was an ominous note to end the conversation on," Jules thought to herself in bemusement, as the two of them flew out of her room, disappearing from sight as Aster activated the invisibility barrier.

She then let out a strained sigh before flopping onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling with a grimace as her mind raced, processing the unexpected conversation.

But there was also a renewed sense of hope and optimism, now that she potentially had a method to defeat the Undead King. She'd been exhausted before going to sleep, and had only been out for about an hour before being woken up, but with so much on her mind, she wasn't falling back asleep anytime soon.

"The sister he mentioned...was he talking about that Thrasher among the Inquisitors I sparred against, the Light Mage? He said an Ancient Magic Artifact was used to turn her into a puppet...she did seem off when I spoke to her back then. I see, The Irregulars must have saved her when they destroyed the Malachite Town church...tch, I knew there was something suspicious about Bishop Morn Malachite, I should have investigated him more thoroughly.

But I suppose it doesn't matter anymore, since he's dead. Come to think of it, the Second Squad did report fighting against a new member of The Irregulars, a Thrasher with Light Magic...I was so preoccupied by the Undead King that I set that aside, but yeah, now that I think about it, there's little doubt, it must have been her. She, as well as the Homunculus, they're my half-siblings...no doubt they harbor a strong grudge against father. This feeling, why do I...? Even though they're technically my enemies, I...I can't help but want to know more about them..."