MaeveMcCarthy
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Chapter LVIII
🕑 Added 2024-01-19 19:04:14 +0000 UTCLily's world was a chaos of sounds and fury as she whispered her farewell to Manul, the [Necromancer] before her. The scroll, dropped into the flames with deceptive innocence, became the predecessor of death. As the fire consumed it, a low hum emerged.
The night air, once frigid, grew oppressively hot within the span of a heartbeat. The hum crescendoed into a roar, and Lily's vision blurred as a fierce light erupted from the fire. She felt the explosion more than she heard it; the shockwave of the nuclear–like magic that Hadrian had engineered tore through the camp as if it was divine smite.
The ground itself seemed to scream in agony as the force of the blast rippled outward, churning snow and earth into a maelstrom of elemental anger. Lily, caught in the eye of the storm, was buffeted by the blast's residual energy. Her body, even in the ethereal grip of [Wraithform], was riddled with invisible shards of force, each one a needle of ice and fire. The skill couldn’t handle all this volume at its current level. And so, she suffered more damage than she had initially expected. Immediately, she went to activate [Necrotic Restoration], hoping that the scroll would count toward the skill.
And so, through the maelstrom, she saw Manul, the [Necromancer], caught in the epicenter of her gambit. His cloak billowed, and the intricate black hand tattoo upon his cheek snaked around his skin, moving wildly as if it had a life of its own. His eyes, once filled with calm certainty, widened into a silent scream as the arcane energy enveloped him, trying to protect him from the explosion. However, the bright red flames were relentless, licking at the edges of the [Necromancer]’s magic with barbed tongues.
It was a vivid, pyrotechnical spectacle of death.
Lily watched, horror–struck, as the man’s defenses began to unravel before her. It was as if the very essence of his being was being stripped away layer by layer. Then, as she was about to look away, she felt her body starting to heal, which could only mean one thing: Manul’s skin blistered and boiled as the fire ravaged his flesh. The black mark on his face seemed to expand into a black hole that devoured his soul.
He reached out, his mouth agape in a silent plea or perhaps a curse. But no sound emerged as it was swallowed by the inferno's roar. The once fearsome [Necromancer], a master of death, melted away like wax in the flame, his form dissipating into the night, leaving behind no trace but the echo of his existence.
And the Undead, his terrible legion, were no match for the unleashed energy. They were reduced to nothingness, their existence snuffed out as if they were mere candles in the wind. The horde from the Necromonarchy's might was rendered to ash, their forms disintegrating into the night, carried away by the same breeze that had once whispered through the mountain pass.
Lily fell amidst the snow, a lone figure in a crater of smoldering destruction, her body riddled with wounds. Each breath stabbed her with pain, her strength ebbing with the crimson that stained the white ground beneath her. The silence that followed the storm was a deafening absence – the world held its breath in the wake of such power.
She knew, as her consciousness flickered like a faltering flame, that she had crossed a threshold from which there was no return. She had stood against the darkness and prevailed, but at what cost? As her vision was starting to dim, Lily saw the stars above, cold and distant, witnesses to her defiance.
As the remnants of the fiery maelstrom settled into a haunting quiet, Lily lay in the snow, her body a map of searing pain and exhaustion.
[*Ding!* Skill – Wraithform level 61!]
[*Ding!* Skill – Wraithform level 62!]
Not like this… she thought, reaching into the Aurum Ring and summoning the wand of [Major Healing] her father had crafted. With great effort, she aimed it at herself, invoking the power her father had sealed within it.
A gentle warmth blossomed from the wand’s tip, washing over her like the first rays of dawn. It seeped into her wounds, knitting flesh and mending bone. The blisters had receded, the boils had subsided, and new blood had formed in her veins.
Rising shakily to her feet, Lily took a moment to gather her bearings. She looked at the charred earth, the devastation she had caused, and felt the weight of her actions settle upon her shoulders.
But within her, a fire still burned – a fire stoked by the desire for freedom and the pursuit of truth. She had come too far to be swayed by the specter of guilt. The lives that would have been snuffed out by Manul's cruel intent strengthened her resolve.
Lily’s gaze turned upward to the same stars that had almost bore silent witness to her death.
Pretty, she thought with a melancholic smile.
She felt their ancient gaze upon her and wondered if one of them, in a galaxy far away, was the same sun that had warmed Earth.
She had crossed dimensions, had lived another life before this… and if she hadn’t, she might have faltered at the first trouble; actually, she was certain that the old her would have definitely stopped here, turned her heels, and gone back to her Dad. But this Lily, the one who had survived the trials of this world, who had been reforged in the crucible of its harsh realities, stood unfazed.
With determination etched into her eyes, Lily took out and consulted the enchanted map. The way forward was clear. She was no Liliana Ember: she was Liliana Claudia, a name reborn from the ashes of her past life, a soul for now bound by the chains of divine intervention. Chains that she planned on breaking.
With the map in hand and her father’s gifts at her side, she walked into the enfolding night, her silhouette a stark contrast against the backdrop of the mountains that loomed ahead.
…
The Next Day
Lily trudged through the snow, her path marked only by the trail she left behind. The quiet was so profound it seemed to absorb the sound of her footsteps.
As she walked, the monotony of a fully white landscape was broken by an ancient structure—an archway of ancient stone, standing alone amidst the snow.
“Is this it?” She muttered, her face fully hidden behind her cloak, save for her eyes.
She moved closer with reverence, taking in the ten–meter–tall construction. Despite its age, the arch was marked with symbols that were clear and distinct against the weathered rock.
She held her breath as soon as she saw the first mark.
The Ouroboros, a snake biting its own tail, was at the center, encircled by various chalices and a singular stone etched into the facade.
Above the symbols, dominating the keystone of the arch was a circle divided into four colored quadrants: black, white, yellow, and red. ThatLily had no idea what it was.
The quadrants drew her eyes upward and made her frown.
“Black and white? Is that... life and death?” She walked below the archway, repaired from the falling snow, and took out the Book of the Dead to examine it. “The circle is not here.”
For a second, she thought that she might have found the same circle hidden somewhere on the cover of the cursed tome, but it wasn’t there.
But why? Isn’t it connected? And why isn’t the Ouroboros in the Book of the Dead, by the way? Isn’t that the main Alchemical symbol?
She had just thought of it now that she finally had some time to herself without the need to train or heal an entire plague by herself. Why was the Book of the Dead not displaying more symbols of Alchemy? Why were there only the serpents and the chalice instead?
The most prominent among the symbols was a singular emblem that bore the image of a radiant sun encircled by two serpents around a stake of wood.
But Hadrian said that this was related to the Old Gods...
...
Two Years Prior
“Who are the Old Gods?” Lily suddenly asked as she raised her head from a book Hadrian had given her on the topic of [Mana Shaping].
The grumpy [Librarian] slowly ripped his gaze away from the scroll in front of him and affixed it onto Lily. He clearly pondered his answer for a second, something unusual for him, and then spoke with certainty: “Monsters.”
“Monsters?” She frowned.
“Where you come from, words don’t have a meaning. Here, they do. They very much do. Your question itself would have you burned at the stake with a gag by the Church, the Necromonarchy, and the whole rotten lot. The fake Gods that are around now fear the old stories and their progenitors. As for who they are, it’s...”
The [Librarian] stumbled on his words, not really knowing where to start. It was weird for Lily to witness Hadrian behave like this—he had the sharpest tongue she had ever witnessed. His stumbling on his words was actually worrying.
“These entities,” the man said, avoiding the word ‘Gods,’ “they are beyond the normal understanding of our System. The Immortals have been born many times. These entities, instead, only once. The reason is obscure to me. That is the kind of knowledge that would advance my class by dozens—maybe a hundred levels at once. You should ask your father the next time you see him. I must admit that his knowledge on the topic, as shameful as that might sound, is greater than mine.”
...
The Present
And Lucianus had indeed explained to her that he had brokered a deal of sorts with one of them. And the chances that it was an Old God, most likely Lucas, were off the charts.
It doesn’t matter now. Thinking about this is only going to put me more on edge than I already am. I’ll worry about it when I find more hints about the Book of the Dead, about what went wrong with the ritual.
That was another thing that Lucianus had not been able to explain. He had told Lily that if she had indeed failed the ritual, she should have been dead. That’s how it worked. Instead, she was still alive and kicking, even though she had lost her Light Magic.
Lily sighed and approached the arch further, her fingers reaching out to trace the carved lines; the stone felt warm, almost hotto touch. She raised an eyebrow and then shamelessly hugged the large structure, feeling its warmth seeping into her body and dispelling the chilling cold that had penetrated her bones despite [Alchemic Constitution].
Sighing in relief, she thought about her next move. Obviously, entering the Dungeon and looking for the portal was her objective. However, she was just about to...
[Name: Liliana Claudia]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 12]
[Time until System unlocks: 30 minutes]
There was only thirty minutes left until she unlocked the System. While she itched to cross the portal, she also didn’t know what to expect on the other side. Her father had said the portal led to a subterranean temple, where he had found the Book of the Dead. He said there was a town forty kilometers from there and had given her indications on how to find it once she was done exploring the temple. He had also said that the monsters around the temple were quite weak, around level 20 – nothing she wouldn’t be able to handle. In fact, there was hardly anything below level 40 that she couldn’t handle, at least in her opinion. Her skills were high level, and even though she didn’t have Attributes yet, she was elusive, thanks to [Wraithform], and mighty dangerous, thanks to [Death Touch] and [Inferior Mandala of the Black Rain].
She was about to sit down with her back against the arch when she felt a shiver run down her spine. She spun around, looking across the snowy landscape. There, two dozen white wolves had snuck up to her.
Her eyes went wide.
“Are those Wildsnow Wolves?” She trembled.
Wildsnow Wolves were among the creatures she had studied with Hadrian. Their levels ranged from the low 50s to the high 70s. They shouldn’t be here. They were far from their territory. But as soon as Lily thought that, she realized that the war and the frontlines must have displaced this pack, bringing it here. And while that information floated in her mind, she saw a wolf, much larger than the others, probably twice Lily’s height, walk out from the woods.
“An Alpha Wildsnow Wolf?” She trembled. She didn’t have the System yet, so she couldn’t assess their levels. But she was pretty sure that beast was an Alpha, which meant its level was around 100.
“Crap,” Lily slowly backed away from the monsters, noting that around the Alpha, pointy icicles started coalescing above his head. As soon as she remembered what the monster was capable of, she dived away from the arch. A sharp blade of ice had just impacted the arch where she had been standing moments ago.
“CRAP!” She scrambled to her feet. Alpha Wildsnow Wolves could use Ice–Attuned magic. And not only that, but that blade of ice had been Infused with Mana. She had seen it through her Sphere of Perception, the Perk from [Mana Sense]; that meant it wouldn’t go through [Wraithform]: instead, it would slice her in two if it hit.
Completely forgetting about her previous thought to wait here for a day to unlock her Class, she immediately ran into the Dungeon, weaving left and right while razor-sharp scythes of ice tried to claim her life.
Comments
Jonas Richter
Thanks for the chapter. There is a typo here: "Lily sighed and approached the arch further, her fingers reaching out to trace the carved lines; the stone felt warm, almost hotto touch." Should be "hot to touch".
Erebus
Thanks for the chapter 😊
