61 Her True Form

Even if the door appeared to be made out of wood, identical to the one located in the entrance of every room in this building, it was just an appearance. They truly asked the Archmage, a decade or so ago, to try and destroy it with one of his mighty spells. He did manage to make a dent in all the protections, but based on his knowledge, he would take at least a day to truly overcome everything. But in barely a few seconds, they saw one of their greatest pride being destroyed from the inside, prompting everyone to be on their guard.

Instead of seeing an opening, they were blocked by dark magic, some shadows were moving and twirling, blocking their sight. Sarah Meridil looked around here one last time, to see what was the reaction of everyone. The two centenary elders, that managed to achieve the 6th Circle of Magic, had already lost their usual calm. The hidden experts that were only slightly below them and the official magus were all ready. The two twins, Arthar and Artour were still missing, because they were ordered to search for the main artifact of power.

Suddenly, there was a slight movement from the darkness, and a body appeared. "STOP, STOP, DAMN IT! IT'S ALEXANDER!" Sarah quickly prevented any spells to harm their colleague. He was hanging in a precarious position, a tentacle ensnaring his neck and he was extremely pale. The man was visibly panicked but he didn't even dare to move a finger.

"Please, elders, everyone, just go! There is nothing to gain at fighting her, please. Not because I am her hostage, but, the reports were wrong. She already recovered too much power, it is useless. Whoever, will defy her will suffer a terrible fate, much worse than just death." The longer he was talking, the more expressive his fear became. If it had been in another situation, people could have listened to him, but because of the dark monster grabbing him by the neck, his words sounded as empty.

"I am disappointed by you Alexander, but I can understand. Who wouldn't try to save his life, but to betray your nation, your friends, just for your survival is pitiful. Sigh. She will be taken down today before she can provoke more casualties with or without your help."

One magus of the 6th Circle expressed his sentiments, those were shared by the rest of the group. They were assembled here today for one single thing, to kill a dark god. It had been a long time since this planet had one alive, and the progress in magic during that time was so important that they thought they could take on of those monsters by themselves. Seeing the pride and confidence in their abilities glowing in their eyes, the father of Leodagan realized it was over for his precious Academy.

"You just condemned us all. Please, don't kill my so…"

SPLASH

A geyser of blood happened when the tentacle violently threw back the body of the magus into the mass of shadows. Sarah that was in front even received some of it on her face, and she blanked out for a second. Everyone that had daily interactions with him was throw in the same state, having a hard time understanding that someone could die so quickly, especially someone as strong as Alexander Arastil.

Slooosh Slaaash

Two large tentacles tried to grab two additional victims while they were perturbed, but they ended up crashing on the magical shield prepared beforehand. The violent sound woke up those that were still confused, making them remember that the threat was still here. But to their despair, instead of just being repulsed, the unknown forms implanted themselves on the shields, sucking it dry of any mana.

Because they were always on the defensive, the two elders began to counter-attack. "[Arc Lightning]." A spell harnessing the power of thunder, extremely effective against living beings. They still didn't really understand what they were facing, so they were ready to unleash everything they knew. The potent electricity spread among the two tentacles and nearly reached the darkness still blocking the door. But right before it, it met its end, knocking on an invisible wall.

"Damn, a shield. TAKE THIS! [Burning Hand]!" "[Blizzard]!" They threw another type of spells, while the rest of the group transformed the magic shield to let it pass. That was one of the recent discovery of the Archmage, a magic shield capable of letting more than one type of magic be effectively used by the caster.

To protect against a specific element, one could just use an improved version of [Wind Shield] and such, but to truly protect something, one had to expand a massive amount of mana to create a complete shield, blocking anything from arrows to spells. But now, they were capable of creating a small opening in such protection, to allow a specific spell, like [Burning Hand], to still be casted. Both spells were of the 5th Circle, and already, the surrounding walls were being destroyed, letting the sun and air enter the battlefield.

Two tornadoes, one made of fire, the other made of ice, crashed once again on the invisible membrane surrounding the darkness. Even if it was not enough to truly make it break, it was still sufficient at harming the two tentacles. They retracted slowly their attack and just stood in the air, at a safe distance of the group of humans. Bolstered by that, the previously pale magus renewed their efforts and solidified entirely the magic shield.

"Akku" A weird sound was heard, and one of the two elders that were beginning to show a small smile suddenly had his entire head exploded. Following it, the tentacles profited of the small hole in the only wall between them and the humans to close the gap. No one managed to close it in time before two of their friends were taken and absorbed by the darkness. Because of this, they had to retreat and reform their defenses, but who would let them do that.

Three more magus died before they created another shield strong enough to repel the tentacles. But in their minds, only the warning of the late Alexander was resonating. He had probably seen this coming and tried to prevent more deaths. But they didn't listen to him, and now, their only was hope was Arthar and Artour.

The fight had lasted for less than half of a minute, but they already experienced 6 casualties, one of them being a magus of the 6th Circle. At the same time, they could hear the clamor from under them, since everything was displayed thanks to the destroyed walls. Many students and magicians could see that something weird was happening on the last floor. But no one was foolish enough to be distracted in such a crucial moment.

"Sarah, someone has to warn the twins and the Sword Saint of what is happening. It is already too late." The oldest human present suddenly aged like he lived twenty more years. He knew that he expanded too much mana trying to protect the rest, and still failed. Looking around, he only saw terrified and despaired men and women. Smiling at the principal, he ate a black pill that he always kept hidden. But magus Meridil recognized it.

"What, NO! You will die if you …" She was too late to stop it, and she soon realized that she was imprisoned magically. She hit the invisible walls, but it was useless.

"Farewell, little Sarah." He expelled the gorgeous woman out of the corridor and saw it fell on toward the ground. She will be safe if what Alexander said was true. The resignation could be seen on the faces of others because they knew the monster wouldn't allow everyone to escape. Sarah had the highest chance to cooperate with the two Rodil and put an end at this madness. They only regretted to have buried that artifact so deep.

"Are you done with your weeping?" A cold, infantile voice made the old man turned around. For the first time, they saw their enemy, even if they didn't believe it was her true form. If she had been a giant monster with three heads and eight arms, they would have believed it more. Instead, they were facing kiddo, barely taller than their waist. "Take whatever you think you need to take. Drugs, scrolls, love letters. This fight was a bit boring, I must say."

Not daring any more to be prideful, every magus quickly gobbled or ate all the stimulants they had. Similar to the black pill the eldest one took, mana was surging from everyone's body, and their initial pale face regained some colors. At the same time, the magic shield that was previously casted crumbled, since it was useless. They only got one shot at taking down Leilade, any defenses were, therefore, irrelevant.

"Good, very good. To be blunt, hearing that you managed to kill some Dark Gods with just that power, was hard to believe. Even with the blessings of those leeches, one could call god, it was weird. But it was just that you hadn't had a proper motivation." She extended her arms, and darkness was spreading everywhere on the ground, the only thing still standing. The line of sight was obscured everywhere, but a single tunnel channeled between them and Leilade.

"Gentlemen, ladies. I am sorry for betraying your trust. Let her experience the full might of magus from Massalia!" His voice resonated with authority, straightening the back of the rest. Instinctively, spells were beginning to be channeled, ready to unleash their terrifying powers at his mark. Standing in front, the elder was forming a ball made of sheer energy, mana leaking from every pore of his skin. In seconds, his old face was being mummified, his hands being dehydrated, his eyes turning white. "FOR THE ACADEMY!"

Even the men and women on the ground, that were watching from afar heard it, his voice possibly reaching the gryphons far away. Sarah that was still trapped was knocking as hard as she could against the prison that was detaining her, tears flowing on her cheeks. Students and magicians alike were shocked to see her in that state, sobbing while her colleagues were fighting. Right after the loud shout resounded, the magic vanished around her, making her fell on her knees.

She knew why it happened, and she cried even more, as she stood up. Not far from the entrance, she saw the two twins that were carrying a black orb. Now that all hope was gone, if she could prevent that monster to put her hands on it, she would do it. Artour was shocked to see the wretched state of Sarah. "What happened, why did he was shouting like that?"

On the other hand, Arthar immediately understood and quickly took back the orb while running away. "Hey, Arthar what are you doing?" The female magus quickly prevented the loquacious one to say anything else, especially when so many people were watching. "It's over, we lost. Everyone, Alexander, them, it's over. SHE MUST NOT GET IT! Otherwise, even the country will be doomed."

Letting the stunned man alone, she began to use [Fly], a spell allowing magus to levitate, for scouting the last floor. When she arrived, no traces of Leilade or anyone else. Only the completely destroyed corridor and walls were seen. Trying her best, she analyzed carefully everything, to find where that monster went, but without any success. Since that was the case, she quickly joined Arthar, to protect the artifact with her life if she needed.

On the other hand, Leilade was leisurely walking in the library, now empty of any living being. She had returned to her human form, the one she used to fool everyone. As for why the library? First of all, it will be the last place people will look for her and in addition, she wanted to achieve her initial goal. "What are you doing here little girl?" Not turning around, she smiled, thinking about who was talking.

The librarian was scared, not really understanding the situation. He heard that they needed to evacuate, but he stayed inside, just in case. Now, right in front of him, after that strange shout coming from above, the peculiar girl was standing. Today, he heard a lot of rumors, like that kid was taught by Arthar, managed to beat Istuienn in a duel. It was impossible with her trash talent, and the fact that she worked very hard was making her even more interesting. From his point of view, she was at worst capable of being a 5th Circle magus. And with the confusion all around them, escaping with a hostage will be easy.

Grabbing a small vial that contained a sleeping substance, he put it right under the nose of Leilade. But instead of falling unconscious, as he expected, she just faced him, with an evil grin. And when he saw the two tentacles appearing from her very body, his brain stopped working, not capable of understanding the situation. His very last action was a scream that made everyone who heard shudder in fear.