Horatio was silent upon Jack's request. The promise to send an army out into war was not a simple request. War consumed resources. Not to mention there was also the risk of losing, which would put the country in a worse position than before the war.
After a while, Horatio said to Jack, "Very well. You have my word. I will help you defeat Liguritudum and its allies if I become sovereign."
Jack nodded. He preferred Horatio to take the time to answer him. This meant Horatio truly pondered the term. If Horatio answered immediately without pause, he would be suspicious instead. Suspicious that Horatio would just deny the promise after becoming sovereign.
There was still the chance of that, of course, but Horatio had held his end of the bargain when Jack delivered the Book of the Damned. Jack figured this showed Horatio was a man of his word. But most of all, Jack didn't truly have many options to begin with. He had to deal with Emperor Marcus one way or the other.
Jack clicked the accept button on the quest offer. He then said to Horatio, "Tell me your plan."
"The plan is simple, we have to take out my father," Horatio said.
"By taking out. Is it like bringing him out for a walk?"
"How can you still joke at a time like this!" Peniel wanted to slap Jack's head but Jack expected it. He moved away when the fairy's hand came swinging.
"Sorry, I can't help it," Jack laughed. "But I think it is obvious about taking out the emperor. Do you mean by assassination or an active rebellion?"
"Any method is fine," Horatio answered. "Assassination is preferred since it limits the loss of lives. But several aspects made it very hard to claim my father's life. He has survived for a thousand years not just due to luck. My siblings and I could be said to already received approval from a majority of the clans in this empire to overthrow our father. My father is not a favored emperor. Most are displeased with him. Yet, they can't do anything to him.
"My father hides inside this capital most of the time. When he ventures out, no one knows how to track him. While inside this capital, he can be said to be almost invincible. This is because of his private army that is tied to this place and is completely loyal to him. No one can get to him as long as he is protected by this army."
"A private army?" Jack asked.
Horatio nodded. "A private army that is called the Blood Army. Rather than saying they are loyal, I think it is more appropriate to say that this private army is enslaved to him. This private army consisted of his past enemies, people who opposed his authority, or sometimes just prisoners whom he plucked to fill up the rank of his blood army."
"Why did these people want to serve him?" Jack asked.
"Because they have no choice," Horatio answered.
"Wait! Don't tell me Emperor Marcus has the Chalice of Blood?" Peniel asked.
Horatio made a surprised expression upon Peniel's statement. "I'm impressed that you know about this artifact, miss."
"What is the Chalice of Blood?" Jack asked.
"It's a legendary artifact," Peniel answered. "It bound someone with a blood pact. Once bound, that person will follow the chalice's holder every command."
"That's cruel…," Jack said.
"That's true. The Chalice of Blood burned the bound person's life force. Even the strongest one can usually last only a week. You said that Marcus has an army that is bound using this artifact?" Peniel asked Horatio. "How many are we talking about? Does this mean he constantly takes people to bind using the blood pact? The number of people being sacrificed will be tremendous. Are you saying he has that many enemies and prisoners?"
"He has almost ten thousand troops within this blood army. However, they don't expire like you say they will," Horatio replied.
"That's impossible! The Chalice of Blood…"
"I know the Chalice of Blood's function," Horatio cut Peniel's words. "The reason the bound person didn't expire is because something is keeping them alive."
"Huh?" Peniel made a confused expression.
Jack chuckled. "Rarely see you with such an expression. This is good."
"It's not the time for a joke!" Peniel scolded.
Horatio was amused Jack could still treat this all so lightly. Jack was practically stranded inside the enemy's territory. He did hear the Themisphere king was an easy-going outworlder, but he also heard that Jack was a reliable and trustworthy person. He had experienced this himself when Jack brought the Book of the Damned to him even when Jack could just keep this legendary artifact to himself. This was also the reason why he helped Jack escape his father's trap and asked Jack to aid him in overthrowing his father.
"Sorry, please continue," Jack said to Horatio. "Why are these bound slaves still alive when they should not?"
"It's because my father bound another entity inside the bound slaves," Horatio answered.
"Another entity? What entity?"
"Demons," Horatio replied.
"Demons? How did he…" Peniel's words trailed off before her eyes landed on the book by Horatio's side.
"Yes, it's because of this book," Horatio saw Peniel's gaze. "My father used the ability of this book to bind a demon from the underworld into the slave that has already been bound by the Chalice of Blood beforehand. The demon not only makes the bound person stronger but it also keeps them alive. The life force of the original person might have been sucked by the chalice but the demon inside the body was considered a separate entity, so the demon's soul was not affected by the chalice.
"Usually, such a possession would cause the possessed to become violent and uncontrollable. But the person was already enslaved under the effect of Chalice of Blood, so the demon was unable to resist."
Peniel made a realization. "He used the Book of the Damned to nullify the Chalice of Blood's side effect of killing the target, while he used the Chalice of Blood to neutralize the violent effect of the possession. That is a cunning way to combine the two artifacts' effects."
"My father is a cunning man," Horatio said. "He used these two artifacts to slowly build this blood army throughout his ruling years. He assembled a force of demonized loyal troops numbered almost ten thousand in this way, but this blood army stopped growing a hundred years ago."
"Because that book is stolen," Jack pointed at the Book of the Damned.
