Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 103: Brother?

"Lord Alaric, here you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you."

Hina steadily climbed the rocks, trying to get to Alaric, who was seated at the very top.

From there, he could see the barony, his very own barony.

He could very much hear Hina’s voice, but he didn’t bother to change his view.

Once she was up, she stood behind him, the warm breeze blowing against her skin.

"How many have you gathered?" Alaric suddenly asked.

"Uh, thirteen. The remaining five should be towards the north; I am not sure," Hina replied.

"I see."

Alaric didn’t say any more than that. He already knew what he needed to do.

It had been a couple of weeks since he ran away from the world, watching everything unfold from the shadows while he secretly made his plans.

The Duchess had been struggling to contain the war; her last hope of avoiding it was Alaric. Now that he was no longer present, she got ready to battle Dergen.

Ava, on the other hand, went back to the Montclair Barony to report the issue to them. Best believe they were shocked, unable to believe it despite it being from Ava herself.

For weeks, they waited for Alaric to return, but he never did. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Slowly but surely, they began to accept the fact that he had indeed gone and would probably never return.

Only four people knew of his location: Hina and the three summons Alaric had with him.

Not once did the summons question him; they simply obeyed as they were willing to support Alaric no matter what.

Meanwhile, Alaric had been doing his research carefully and analyzing the situation.

It was just as the goddess told him.

Due to the return of the Devourer god, the world seemed to be getting filled with Yang energy; good things were happening, many people smiled, and barely anyone was suffering.

A sight that Alaric would have loved if only it didn’t lead to life extinction.

It didn’t take him long to think of ways he could quench it, one of which was the use of an ancient magic once used by the demons.

By gathering the remains of the 18 demon lords, he could awaken them and use their powers to plunge the world into darkness.

So far, he had been able to gather thirteen of the demon lord remains from abandoned cities home to demons.

Somehow, he managed to get the demons on his side, making an army of them. Since they also despised humans, it made it all the more easier.

"Two of the demon lords’ remains should be with Lord Velmo. I didn’t think he would have such a thing. Not that I’m surprised."

Alaric sighed, now standing to his feet.

"I can’t be too sure. Still, I need to find it, and for that, I need her."

Staring at the barony, a sharp pain grew in his chest, one that almost made him crumble to the ground.

But he couldn’t show any sign of hesitation, not when she’s watching—the creator goddess.

He couldn’t risk her having second thoughts and sending him back into the zone.

To save humanity, he needed to destroy it.

He had his means, a means he couldn’t let the goddess find out about.

"Hina, gather the army; we are moving in." He walked away.

Hina bowed her head. "As you wish."

Since the incident, Hina and Alaric had not had a serious discussion, nor did Alaric ever try to bring it up.

He didn’t question her about poisoning him or listening to a goddess.

Hell, for the better part of the first few weeks, Alaric was isolated in a room, all by himself.

Hina felt guilty.

She tried to reach out to the goddess multiple times to ask why Alaric was back in the real world.

The deal was to poison him with the parasite and have his soul sucked out so he could be saved from what’s to come.

Alas, that didn’t seem to be the case.

If anything, as long as Alaric was still tolerating her existence, she was more than willing to make up for it by giving him her undying loyalty.

Sigh!

She leaped down from the rock, landing right in front of her personal army.

Three demons that Alaric had subdued from the east.

They each had horns and were all diamond ranks thanks to Alaric’s upgrade.

"We have a job to do; be prepared," Hina relayed, ready to walk out.

"Is Lord Alaric alright? He seemed out of it," Muki, the first demon, spoke.

She had purple skin, long blue hair, and black wings behind her.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Hina asked back, her brow raised a bit.

"What Muki is trying to say is, it’s obvious Lord Alaric has some connection to this place. Wouldn’t it be better if we went on ahead and cleared them out for him? That way he wouldn’t have to force himself?" Pisla, another female demon, uttered, her arms tucked under her breasts.

Hina glared a bit, but not one that was hitched with anger; rather, sadness lingered under it.

"You don’t have to worry about that. Just get the rest of the demons ready to head out." Hina walked away.

Leaving the demons standing there, completely unfazed by her words.

...

(Montclair Barony.)

Ava was seated on the bed, her legs halfway inside the blanket while she stared outside at the window.

In her hands was the box Alaric had left for her, holding it as if holding her own heart.

Since she had arrived back at the barony, Ava had not stepped foot outside her room.

The Montclair family had not been the same either. Kika took the barony’s upbringing into her own hands, while Rashin was out trying to look for Alaric.

Most of the people in the barony were oblivious to this fact since they were used to Alaric going on business trips a lot.

No one knew what had happened or what they should expect.

Bang! Bang!

Someone knocked on the door.

"May I come in?"

It was a girl.

Ava looked at the door, her eyes blank and devoid of life.

"Yes," she replied.

The door slightly opened, and then right after, Erica peeped through.

"Uh... sorry to disturb you, Ava... it’s just... the maid told me you haven’t been eating. I just thought I should come check up on you."

Now walking in with food stacked on a tray, she closed the door with her foot and gently set it on the table before sitting down on the chair beside the bed.

Ava only watched; not a word left her mouth.

"So... h-how are you feeling?" Erica asked, clearly uncertain as to what she should say.

"No different than I was yesterday, Lady Erica."

"T-that makes sense. You can’t quickly recover." Erica smiled slightly. "But if you think about it, that shouldn’t stop you from eating, right? I’m sure my brother would feel the same way."

Ava faced the bed, almost as if completely ignoring Erica’s words while at the same time not trying to be rude.

"Did my brother... say anything before he left?" Erica asked, the pain now showing on her face.

Of everyone, she was the only person to keep calm after hearing about Alaric’s sudden change.

It wasn’t that she didn’t believe or wasn’t affected.

But if Alaric was no longer there, she felt she was the next person to make sure everything was in place. Showing weakness didn’t seem right.

Of course, there were times when it accidentally slipped out, times like this.

Ava slightly opened her mouth, about to respond, but she hesitated, the flashback about what happened playing in her head.

Eventually, she replied,

"Rest now; you no longer need to look after me."

Erica’s eyes were wide open; shock quickly turned into a small, nervous smile on her face.

"Doesn’t sound like something my brother would say at all," she said, trying to hold back the urge to cry.

Suddenly, she stood up from the chair.

"You should eat; starving yourself won’t do any good. I need to go check up on the mining ground. I’ll be back."

With that, she walked away, heading towards the door.

Just as she opened the door, Erica froze up.

Her body was stiff, her eyes bulging with stupor.

"Brother?" she blurted out.

And she was right.

In the passageway was Alaric, dragging Fiona down the hall by her arms.

Alaric in question paused and looked at her.

For a brief second, his mask almost slipped.

Erica was right in front of him.

But then, the sound of footsteps got louder.

"Intruders!!!" a guard yelled, racing towards Alaric.

"Huh?" Erica looked at the guards. "Intruder? That’s my brother!"

But alas, Alaric’s face was back to being stoic.

A mask found its way on his face as he grabbed Fiona and sped forward.

"Wait! Brother!" Erica tried to call out to him, but he was too far gone.

Zoom!

Ava, from nowhere, charged out of the room, her eyes solely fixed on him.