Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

65. Fort Void

"Fort Void is quite weakly defended, outside from the Lords, two of whom are dead," Darryl explains. "It's because the fort is camouflaged as a trade center."

Darryl produces a holographic image from an orb. "This is the outer ring of the fort. It's really just a regular market. Not very busy, but some antique collectors love it since there are some ancient artifacts here and there."

"The second layer is the primary inner sanctum. You usually need a permit, but the guards there are quite lax and you can bribe them. Slave trade is concentrated here. The secondary inner sanctum requires a permit since there is some high-level slave trade there, you know, nobles."

"You know a lot on this," Aelita says, eying Darryl.

"I was their ally, duh."

"Now this is the tertiary inner sanctum, the real fort. It's heavily guarded with hidden artilleries and elite mages. They still wouldn't be a problem for you, though, the real foe is Lord Eugene here. You definitely need a permit to get in here."

"Hmm ... permits, huh? Don't you have any, Darryl?" I ask. Valerie blinks at me.

"They would have revoked it by now," he shrugs. He pulls out two certificates: one gold with rose decorations and another black with silver ornaments on it.

"The gold one's for the secondary, the black one's for the tertiary. There are small serial numbers at the bottom."

"I guess we can launch a diversionary attack on the fort," Aelita says. "If John and I can wreck enough havoc, it will draw the defences out and Vio can infiltrate it easily."

"That ... is actually quite brilliant," Darryl agrees.

"But it's risky," I say. "The three of us combined could probably match Lord Eugene, but two of us couldn't."

"Excuse me, which part of this operation is not risky?" Aelita scoffs half-playfully.

"Good luck," Darryl wishes us.

Darryl lends us a (stolen, judging from the Erwingian design) motorboat, chock-ful of supplies and some jewellery.

"Brr ... it's freezing here," Aelita mutters, tightening her winter coat. "Where the heck are we?"

"Apparently, about six hundred kilometres north of Lutzia," John says, his hands struggling to hold the map. I pour in hot water into ceramic glasses.

"What on earth is your lover thinking, sending us near the north pole like this?" Aelita mutters to me.

"Neither warships nor merchant ships dare venture these waters," I murmur. "We're perfectly safe here."

John gives me a (surprisingly decent) haircut, turning my hair short. Aelita drapes a veil over her head. With her dark skin, she could easily pass as an Al-Azharian.

After seven days of miserable winter sending chill down our spines, the motorboat, which John captains, makes a sharp turn to the south. "Thank fuck," Aelita gasps in delight as she strips away her winter coat.

The motorboat lands on Fort Void at last in the afternoon. We don our brown cloaks as we land. I hold a bag of jewellery tightly.

Carnival songs blasts through the air. Street peddlers offer their products. This is just a normal market if not for the glaring translucent veil in the middle of the market.

As we approach the veil, a masked demon apprehends us. I throw him the bag of jewellery. He takes a peek inside and leaves after opening part of the veil.

"Disperse," I mutter under my breath after throwing John and Aelita a communicator each.

Now I don't have an idea. We're supposed to look for a permit, but that seems almost impossible ... without murder.

Wailings of slaves, most young women, some young men, terrorize through the entire sector. They are purchased and sold in the stalls and shops, crying and begging. The buyers order their new slaves, clothed or otherwise, to walk alongside them or to crawl beside them.

"Anything yet?" Aelita calls with her communicator.

"Nothing yet," I say. "What about you?"

"Same," John and Aelita reply simultaneously before cutting off communications.

"Hey! Whatcha doing here?"

"Magnolia!" I gasp. The peach haired woman smiles at me.

"Gee, it's been a while. You went without a farewell. I presume an assassin hunted you down since I was told I was attacked alongside you."

"Er, yeah. We decided it was too dangerous to stick around," I say.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, uh, hiding, you know," I say meekly. "Anyway, I kind of wonder what is in the area behind that veil."

"Oh, that? Noble slave trade," Magnolia replies nonchalantly. "I've got a permit if you wanna go there. Beware the price range, tho. Bloody expensive–personally, I find no difference between a princess or a duke's daughter with a common slave."

Magnolia hands me a certificate the size of half a regular paper. There is a serial number at the bottom, as well as rosy decorations all splattered across the permit.

"You-you are giving this for free?" I ask.

"Well, yea, I got that in a gamble and I have two anyway. Consider it repayment for your spoils last time," Magnolia says. She leaves.

"Aelita, John," I call. "I got it. Meet me near, uh, Rose Street."

John and Aelita rush to my position. Aelita grins. "You got one?" she asks.

"Yup." I show her the certificate. "Just the gold one, though, not the black one."

"Well, we don't plan on getting the black one in the first place," John says.

"Exactly. Wear your cloaks. We're stepping into hell," I mutter.

Aelita looks left and right as the slave trade rages on. Her brown face nearly turns white from disgust. "Terrible," she murmurs as we walk through the market to the center.

"I know," I whisper back.

We get to the veil. I flash the guard there the gold certificate. She waves her hand and part of the veil is torn. We enter.

"Holy hell!" Aelita gasps.