143 The Archmage 2 in 1

"Empress, he ..." The feeble lich was reduced to half of its original size, and his head was barely above the one of Leilade. In addition to his legs and the lower part of his body, his left arm was slowly crumbling as well. If someone was to take a look at Malakov right now, nowhere could be found his previous arrogance. Putting her hand on his shoulder, something she couldn't do before because he was too tall, Leilade was looking at the magical screens.

"Yes, indeed. Call everyone here, we can't defend this anymore." Nothing unusual was shown, the humans were as dejected as they should be. In fact, they were very close to completely give up, for some. All she could say was that they were good at hiding his arrival. Turning her head toward the three newcomers, she could only see them in a state not any different than they were at their arrival.

The body of Meridiana was once more covered in wounds, only far smaller ones. But in many areas, a purple liquid was covering her tender skin. As for Kardel, he was having a slightly hard time moving his right arm. When his insectoid limb had been cut, that had provoked a reaction that broke all the bones in his arms when he returned to his duvodiad form. The only one that was more or less in a good shape was Davion. After those days resting, he could be considered the only one reliable of the bunch.

"Empress." The three bowed slightly, not without looking at the empty shell that became Malakov. Seeing the undead reduced to that state was not appeasing them at all. "The Archmage has arrived. Unfortunately, he is as strong as we expected in the worst case scenario. Meaning that we need to get rid of him, or destroy the army. Prepare yourselves to kill as many humans as you can before we run out of undead."

"Yes, Empress." They all understood the goal here. If they wanted to reach Ymir in Archer and be safe over there, they needed to get rid of all the threats. More Heroes could still arrive, but without an army to protect them, they would be at the mercy of Kardel. Even the gods wouldn't be able to protect a lonely Hero from the clutch of a duvodiad. Fortunately, they had already damaged their main enemies quite heavily.

Calling the darkness within her body, she left an entire tentacle inside the body of the lich. "Use it when the gods will try once more to bless someone and sacrifice this body if you have to. After that, you can go to Ymir without waiting for us." Malakov nodded weakly, beginning to absorb the dark energy. Without this additional mana, even if he sacrificed himself, he wouldn't have been able to prevent those spatial leeches to do as they wanted. But now, he had a chance to even preserve a part of this body.

Looking at the three living beings that were in front of her, she wondered if having Meridiana was truly useful or not. Sensing the glacial gaze on her, the succubus understood that it was a very severe situation. "I will do my utmost to please you, Empress of the Underworld." Seeing the little girl waving her hand, she inwardly sighed in relief. However, as soon as she was out of the room, she rested a bit in the tunnel.

"Stay behind me outside. Do as much as you can." The orodil briefly passed without stopping, only giving her small advice. It was not necessarily out of goodwill, or even feelings like sympathy or love. Just that, if there was one less demon to help them later, it could become tricky in some situations. However, as long as the succubus did not become a burden, he will try to keep her life intact.

A few minutes later, everyone was prepared to fight. The armors of both Davion and Meridiana were shattered in multiple parts, with their weapons strangely not crumbling yet. Only the duvodiad was not in that case since he was completely naked. Walking in front, the small child was followed by the thousands of undead that were still standing. All the remaining humans had already left, or were all killed. Her white slippers were unfortunately dyed red by the time she reached the completely exposed entrance.

Breathing the fresh air devoid of mana, she could already hear the screams of the soldiers. Letting go free her undead minions, the skeleton warriors rushed forward, their sword raised. Slightly caught by surprise, the army of the coalition suffered many losses, especially now that they were on the receiving end. Even if some troops were already in battle formations beforehand, they were quickly destroyed by the liches, letting the skeletons slaughtered the survivors.

"TO ME, MEN OF MASSALIA!" Noticing the brilliant Hero in his shining armor, the duvodiad that had already turned into something else rushed toward him. Disregarding quietness and discretion for sheer strength, the nearly six meters tall monster slammed his head against the Ferrod, projecting him in the air. As impressive as it sounded, the former members of the Demonic Army knew that it was nothing compared to the real creature.

The entire head of Kardel was covered with spikes, and a huge protuberance, sturdier than diamonds, reinforced the ramming potential. In fact, Leilade could hardly find any creature better at destroying things head-on. The thick leather was maybe less resistant than its head, but nothing weaker than an energy weapon could pierce it. Right now, only the Archmage could probably make a dent in what Kardel had become. But, for now, the duvodiad was free to run into the humans and either trampled them to death or broke all their bones by sending them in the air.

"YOU MONSTER! COME BACK HERE!" Ferrod was visibly angered by what he just experienced, as he was completely covered in dirt and blood. The very armor that was strong enough to resist the weapons of Master Agnil was slightly deformed in certain areas. Not by much, but even at this distance, it could be seen. Hearing that shout, Kardel did not wait before running a complete circle into the enemy lines, killing hundreds in the process.

However, the reality was more brutal than expectation. Right before getting hit by the gigantic creature, the Hero managed to jump on his back, his sword pointed downward to pierce its skin. What the human only managed to do was bouncing off Kardel, not even inserting his sword at all. Crashing his head first into the dirt, he did not notice quickly enough that Kardel had stopped right away. Looking above, he saw a huge foot blocking the sun, only dodging it at the last second.

Letting Kardel to his own battle, Leilade could only regret that he used this form. It will hardly be possible for him to kill the Hero, but it was also true that nothing in her memory was better at dealing with a large army. A bit farther away, the orodil and the succubus were happily fighting. Or at least, that was what she hoped for. Noticing that she was all alone, easily recognizable and without anyone to protect her, she wondered how much time did she had to wait.

Only staring at the ongoing battles between her forces and the humans, she was patient. There were only a few things that will force her to participate, and she intended to reveal them all. But when she felt something dangerous heading her way, she did nothing besides smiling.

ka-pow

Hundreds of meters away, the sound of a rifle resonated.And as powerful as she was, Leilade could not hear it, and even if she did, it would have been too late. Similar to how Kardel attacked Avirus, she was under the vision of a hidden sniper. But unlike a human Hero, those kind of threats were not enough to do anything to her. The deadly projectile was stopped by some shadows before touching her skin, only for her to see a white light exploding inside the darkness, only to be repressed seconds after.

"Mana bullets. Did they not understood how am I?" Almost thanking the shooter for the free energy given to her, she extended her finger to point where the bullet had come from. The white bone that was produced cut open the path on its way, causing many branches and even some trunks to fall. Knowing she did not hit whoever attacked her, she was in no hurry to do so. Someone that only hit from far away wouldn't have the guts to do so if he was feeling threatened.

And she was right, shaking in his very bones, a dwarf was tightly hugging his weapon, a mere meter away from a cleanly cut trunk. The tallest tree around had lost its head, and the dwarf almost had the same fate. Under him, silhouettes covered in dark were not feeling any better. The only thing they could hear was the shooter mumbling that he failed. Under the stupefied stares of the people of the Black Gauntlet, the dwarf hid the artifact he was carrying and left without any other words.

TCHLANK TCHLONK

The sounds of a string being released cut her thoughts. The humans had not been idled after encircling her underground base. Even without the presence of mages, they could still rely on the human minds for their terrible inventions. To create weapons capable of destroying a wall, piercing numerous bodies in one shot and such. Their only default was who they chose to target with those. Instead of dealing with the undead or even the rest, they aimed at the only one that was immobile.

"How long will it take for them to understand the simple truth? That's they can't deal with me by only those crude ways?"

(Not long, I am afraid. Another minute, at worst.)

Discussing with the Viscount while all the projectiles either vanished into nothingness or simply missed her, the little girl was completely unharmed. By now, she was no longer visible to the human eyes, the unknown thing that was residing in her body fully displayed to the outside world. The very soldiers that were shooting at her began to stop one by one, terrified by what they were seeing. Especially when that thing began to move toward them.

"Let's see if you can stay hidden any longer." It did not take long for an answer to appear. A man in his forties caught her eyes, as he was the only one impassive and walking toward her. Calling back Davion, Meridiana, and Kardel, she couldn't help but feel that he was familiar to her. In all honesty, that Archmage could be described as handsome and knew it. He was unlike the usual mages, that were reluctant to move their bodies. No, his muscles could be seen behind the simple robe he was wearing.

"That's it. I knew it reminds me of someone." The three demonic commandants behind her, but not too close of the moving tentacles, she waited for his spell. Maybe a bit too overconfident, she did not even care about the nearly ten other magus that was behind the Archmage. Seeing him extend his hand slowly, she was stunned when she heard the words that leaked from his mouth. Something that shouldn't be possible, something only one man had ever say to her.

"ZA WARUDO! TOKI WO TOMARE ! "

Feeling the clutch of time surrounding her, she saw the equally baffled face of the ones behind her. As Kardel was beginning to open his monstrous maw, she saw him froze. Davion and Merdiana that had been slightly injured in the fight suffered the same fate, turning into statues before they could convey their thoughts.

(I am afraid it is time, Outlander. I wish you good luck in the future.)

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Hearing the impassive voice of the Viscount, she knew he was right. No one could escape this spell, besides her. Retracting the darkness in her body as soon as she could, she saw some tentacles that were already not responding. Trying to move forward, she felt like an entire planet was on her shoulders. Each step was harder than the previous one, but she could see the pale face of those magus looking at her like she was a monster.

"A monster I am. YOU THINK YOU CAN HOLD ME DOWN WITH THIS!" Shouting at those weak humans, she tried to raise her legs, only to find it stuck. When they saw the little girl having a hard time moving her limbs, everyone outside of the spell sighed in relief. For them, that last shout was just the final struggle of a trapped beast. Sensing that even her mouth was beginning to be insensible, she stared at the Archmage, that fit mage, before murmuring an "incantation".

"I call the darkness into me

To break the chains of my body

What's meant to move can't be stopped

Split my soul to turn it naught."

"OUCH, my head! Wait, what?" Opening his eyes, the man saw that he was seated in his favorite chair, inside his very room. Looking around, he could see the exquisite windows with careful inscriptions, his comfy bed and everything he interacted those past years. Approaching slowly from the door, he couldn't help but feel surprised when it appeared to be locked. Still perplexed, he reached one window, but this time, it opened.

Gazing at the familiar streets bustling with people, the hot climate and the numerous merchants haggling ferociously, he calmed himself. After all, he was in his own home, there was nothing wrong with that. However, he had this feeling, that he shouldn't be here right now. Picking the book he left on his desk, he stared at the empty pages. Checking them one by one, his new project about space magic had completely been erased.

"What is this place?" Asking himself, he did not expect an infantile voice to answer him. "You don't even recognize your own magic when you are standing on it." Turning around, he saw a very small child, a girl, floating near a closet. However, she was definitely not human, her entire body was completely black, except her two eyes and her hair. No pupils, no iris, nothing but a white of sea starring at the impressive collections of scrolls he had.

"Who are ... are you that little girl?" The child hand that was beginning to pick up a book suddenly gripped it tightly, crushing it in the process. But she soon relaxed, before picking another one. "No one calls me like that. I would prefer you to refer to me as Leilade. Leilade Octavius." Hearing that name, the man could only feel that it was something important, but what exactly, he could not remember.

Gazing at her for a few minutes, he finally managed to extract a few fragments of her memory. "You are one of them?" The floating girl that was reading the book with blank pages nodded to that question. "Why did you came to our world?" To his surprise, instead of being angry or things like that, she only laughed at him.

"Do you truly think any of us wanted to be here? Me, or the ones that came before? If you had to blame someone, you should blame the one you kept here."

"WHAT?"

Not expecting to hear his deepest secret revealed like that, the sudden shock made him remember what happened recently. But his oldest memory only showed him the little girl surrounded by darkness imprisoned in his spell, so how could she be here, whatever it was. "Don't worry, I will keep it a secret. Quite frankly, I did not expect to see this spell being used once again. Especially since it was a failure."

The Archmage could not understand how something that he had tried thousands of times during the last century, with major successes, could be called a failure. Even right now, if they could pass the door, he could show her the numerous animals trapped in time for years. Shaking his head, he had to remind himself that she was the enemy, and that showing her his magic was not a good thing.

"What do you mean by a failure?"

"He didn't tell you? I guess he predicted I would be the one to come. Otherwise, he wouldn't have shown you this. Let's say, your spell is extremely efficient. It can disrupt the flow of time in a certain area, something that can be extended to decades even. But, while it can deal with matters, it is flawed against the ethereal. Like a soul, mine."

Looking at the black floating girl, he only realized now that she was the complete opposite of the image he remembered in his mind. Black and white, darkness and light. "So, I did trap you. But you escaped." Hearing her juvenile laugh once more, he wondered what stupid things he said. After all, didn't she just said the exact same thing moments ago?

"Do you know how magic is created?"

"I think I do, but maybe you have a different approach." If the strongest magus of this place, the Archmage, said that he did not understand how magic was created, no one would dare to say they understood it. He had spoken with dragons, and even they could only say that it was innate for their races. That they did not have knowledge about how exactly magic was created.

"Magic is a consequence, created by two causes. A soul and mana." As she was explaining, she showed him her left hand with two fingers raised and her right one with only one finger up. "With magic, you can create myriads of things or use it to interact with many things. But in the beginning, to create that interaction, you need your soul."

In her hand, a blue ball was slowly formed. The ball then began to float all around the room, touching some objects in the process. A plate, a book, the chair the man was seated in previously. "You can use other words for the soul. Mind, will, anything, as long as they convey a thought. Thoughts, even primitive one that could be considered as instinct, are the string that pulls the arrow."

The blue ball turned into a bow, with a blue string. At this point, even the Archmage could guess what was needed afterward. "And the mana is the arrow." "Exactly, bravo." Clapping her hand, Leilade seemed amused by that. In truth, the human couldn't help but wonder if that jovial girl was truly the demon he was meant to fight. Since the beginning, she had spent her time laughing and playing. Except when he called her a little girl.

"With mana as the arrow, you can finally use your bow. And what bow it can become. Fireball, a meteor, a skeleton, anything, as long as you have the will and the mana." Releasing the bow, it turned into a rainbow, lightening the entire room. Appreciating the short spectacle, the Archmage still had many questions to ask, with her presence here. Forgetting for one moment that she was evil, it was a unique occasion for him.

"That was very interesting. But, if that's true, why people need sometimes to use words to cast a spell? Shouldn't just think about it be enough?" Seeing the girl play with the rainbow and make it move, he wondered if she had heard him. But before he could ask once more, she interrupted him.

"I heard you. Like I said, will, mind, soul. Some are not strong enough and some are. Some have bodies capable of hoarding a massive amount of mana, not needing to siphon the one in their surroundings while others are completely dependent on where they are. Small tricks like speaking what is supposed to be unleashed can help, that's for sure. And the harder the magic is, the more those tricks are used. Like we both did."

Raising her hand, he could see a fireball appear in it. Right after that, he heard her saying "[Fireball]", only to see the exact copy in her other hand shortly after. Feeling the stare of those blank white eyes, he reddened a bit, ashamed to ask such basic question. "You said that you know someone that I am supposed to detain here? Why are you saying this?"

For the first time he saw her, her expression changed. Not looking any more like a young girl having fun, she was far more composed and harbored an evil grin. "Why? Do you have any idea how many people have the guts to call me a little girl in front of me?" Surprised by this statement, he realized that it was true. Based on what he knew, no one would be foolish enough to anger someone that strong, for no reason at all. Then, he also understood that if he hadn't heard someone call her like that since she had first appeared in his dreams, he wouldn't have said it.

"Also, you have that spell. It was created by that little space bunny. The possibility that someone like you could reach this level in space magic is none. And now, I know he is here. Well, not here, but here in the real world." Approaching the door, she only knocked on it. Relieved by that, the Archmage pondered about what she just told him and her earlier words. That he was standing in his own magic.

Sensing his thoughts, she could easily guess what he will ask next. Approaching the closet where she was previously, she began to tap with her finger on it. "Now that you know that it is your magic and now about magic, that would mean you created this. After all, I had never been inside such a luxurious room." Compared to his plain and simple robe, that was true that his own bedroom could be easily compared to the one of a king. Making quite a contrast, to say the least.

"However, I also lied. My bad." The Archmage looked at her, wondering if she was joking or not. With the huge smile displayed her blackened mouth, he was a bit unsure. However, in everything that she had said, he could not find a single thing that was wrong. Magic could truly be explained by what she said, she also knew about the one he kept imprisoned. She never had been in her room, so it made sense that it was him that created this place and she was clearly out of the spell he used to froze her friends.

"When I said it can't trap a soul, it was false. After all, Candaith hates me, as I do. He would never let me escape so easily by not making sure I can't use what I am best in. Leaving me no choice but to do this."

Tap tap

tap tap tap

For the first time, he found the sound of her hitting his closet irritable. But when he saw her pointing at the opened window, he began to feel scared. "Look at the window. That is your magic." Approaching it carefully, the human gazed on the apocalyptic state that Durthang had turned into. The previously lively streets had been consumed by never-ending darkness. "Until I got here." Starring at the innocent girl, he saw his closet beginning to also turn into shadows. And understood what she forced Candaith to do like she was forcing him to do right now.

Not even pronouncing a word, the Archmage saw the soul of Leilade beginning to invert her colors. Her eyes were beginning to be dyed black as the rest of her body took a more usual color. Waving her hand at the defeated human, she saw that he was preparing to fight back. "Goodbye, apprentice bunny." Seeing the soul floating toward the ceiling that looked like a black hole, the Archmage could only begin to protect himself from the shadows that were coming for him. But he knew at this moment that he had already let the most terrifying monster out. Otherwise, it would have been him the next to be consumed.

In the real world, on the other hand, the humans could only see Leilade and the Archmage starring at each other, neither of the two moving. Shortly after he activated that spell, they saw the small demon trying to escape, only to be caught as well. But, in the process, all the disciples of the Archmage began to fall one by one, with only the Archmage still standing.

However, the undead were still fighting, provoking countless casualties. But, only a minute after the Archmage used his spell, they could see most of the skeletons beginning to crumble. No one had the time to look at the sky that turned yellow for a brief second above. With only the liches still standing, it did not take long before Idhrenil Gwendhir killed the last of them. The Hero Ferrod had been completely crushed under the feet of that monster, knocking him down for good.

With the battlefield cleaned, everyone began to assemble and see what was happening. The few remaining magus that had been protected during the battle could only excuse themselves each time someone asked a question. They had no idea about what was happening as well. The only thing they could do was give their mana to the Archmage. However, as they were left drained, they noticed the small fissure in front of them.

Crack

The spell that was looking like a bubble showed sign of beginning to fissure. At the same time, they could see dark shadows leaving the bodies of the fallen disciples. They all began to repeatedly try to enlarge the fissure and nothing that the humans tried managed to scare them away. Also, the mages did not dare risk to weakened the spell with magic.

Soon, the darkness managed to dig a very thin tunnel toward Leilade, missing only one single centimeter. Only when they heard a body falling did that final centimeter was breached. Turning their sights toward the Archmage that had also ended on the ground, everyone shuddered. Quickly carrying the bodies of that unconscious away, the bystanders could witness the soul of Leilade beginning to escape.

"STOP!" The black and white girl turned her head at 180° degrees, as her body was at the opposite of them. Souls had almost no constraints compared to physical bodies. Sensing the stare of that demon on him, Lord Darkwater summoned all of his courage to not show anything on his face. By doing that, he was hoping that the magus would begin to target her.

Reality quickly reminded him that those he was expecting for were clearly not thinking the same. He could not find a single mage near him, even Arthar that should have been at arms reach having disappeared. Realizing that he was, in fact, quite alone all of a sudden, besides Amdir that stayed, he decided to remember this later. However, right now, he only had to keep his life. "Nevermind, you can go."

Seeing her neck returning to a normal state, the old general still sighed in relief. Massaging his forehead, he sensed the sweat that was on his fingers. Just being in contact with that thing was even more impressive than he first thought. But before he could speak to the pale young man that was truly reliable, he heard the sound an unfamiliar horn. Looking in that direction, his annoyance toward the coward humans found a new target.

In their beautiful armors and carrying their refined bows and swords, an entire legion of elves had arrived for help. They had been delayed a lot by the defeat of Avirus and the fall of Archet, but they had finally arrived to help fight the Dark Gods. Or, at least, that was what the elven commandant thought. Only to see three monsters standing still, numerous mages carrying away and an intense smell of blood. Before they could report their arrival, a very old man approached them and patted his shoulder, a disappointed smile on his face. "It's over, you can go home."