Chapter 168 - Jeweled Heart

The shawled man stopped brewing his potion as he peered into the crystal orb in front of him. The events that transpired inside the dungeon were beyond his calculations. 

But they didn't deviate from the predestined prophecy. 

The girl who he had observed since THAT night was now standing alongside the group she was torn from—and was beside the same boy he had given the mana revitalizers. The man who was clad in a dark shawl wondered how it led to this point. The undead queen was before all of them, readying her black magic. 

Black magic... Magierstadt believed that they contained it and reduced the malevolence that reeks death within. The researchers were convinced that they constrained and shackled the evil being unleashed by the undead royals... but they were wrong. They miscalculated something. 

They only shackled the inside. What of the outside? 

Malevolence could pierce through the space easily like a shroud of black mist passing along the night. It could stealthily wander before the n.a.k.e.d eye, unnoticed as it blends to the obscure darkness that is engulfing the vicinity. 

That was how he was able to pass through the barrier. 

It wasn't an easy task to do. Magierstadt is the most elite school in the country, but that doesn't mean it is always impenetrable. Normal mages wouldn't be able to pierce through Magierstadt's barrier, but HE can. He had studied both Magierstadt's magic and dark magic. He had lived into the underground market and sold different illegal items, whose mechanisms he had studied as well. 

All those skills he had learned... he had offered for money. 

And those siblings—dark hair and red eyes, with an aura of heaviness around them—were willing to pay thrice the price. Their appearance did not matter to him, as his paper-white hair and red eyes also played a role in his persona. He believed that those siblings were dangerous as could be, and by far more dangerous than he is—so he agreed to their terms and dismissed their appearance. 

"Just do things that'll shake her." That was the order. "You don't necessarily have to kill her. No. We're not here to give you that job even though you're an Albino. We're here to play with her." 

"Play with her?" 

"Father is still experimenting. He gave us a job—not to let her out of our sight. I tried playing with her with a marionette, but it backfired. So I'm using this opportunity to shake her and play with her for a bit," 

That girl they were pertaining to was Faustina Feuerlon. 

No... 

"Faustina Heilen." 

Heilen. They were supposed to have a black hair and similar red eyes. They were almost the same as Albinos, but a Heilen's value is far greater. Their clan was extinct. The nobles are only showcasing fake Heilen slaves to display power, but there was nothing more to it other than that. Slave merchants know the deal with these fake Heilens, so they are picky in selecting slaves. 

He knows all this very well; growing up to the black market opens one's eyes to the cruelty of the world. And that isn't necessarily bad, considering the skills he learned from it is helping him now. 

"That girl shouldn't be killed yet, but we need to frazzle her a bit. You can do that, right?" 

"Yes," 

"Entertain us on Magierstadt's exam. Use all means possible. If you succeed, we will be your patron... and you shall also be spared when the time comes." 

** 

Faustina had conjured several spells that were used on a large scale. All were on a defensive stance as the queen, who wasn't budging from her spot, continuously delivered lightning blows that had shattered their barrier multiple times. 

"We have to seek for an opening!" 

They cannot conjure attack spells as it would only clash with the lightning of the undead queen. The attack spells would only result in the creation of natural disasters. Using black magic means to derive from death, whilst using elemental magic derive from life or mana. When death and life clash, they would repel each other due to their dissimilar nature. One had to prevail than the other. 

That was why the queen was using large scale attacks. If she stops the large magic attacks, the examinees will have the time to uphold momentum and gain the upper hand. 

This was why the only thing they can do now is to conjure barrier after another in order to subjugate the lightning bolts. 

Of course, this wasn't a move one could sustain. If they would only be in defense—without the certainty of the queen's attack lessening—then one by one, their mana would near to its limit and deplete. They would fail. They had to do something. 

Search for an opening. 

Or create it. 

"Ah. Your mana," says the queen. "I want it!" 

The undead queen looked different than the undead prince and princess. She was more menacing and had an air that matched her magic. 

Powerful. 

She wasn't even moving from her spot and was only using her finger to conjure powerful lightning bolts. She had emanated black fume on her other hand and had combined it with the bolts. She delivered multiple blows that shattered barriers. 

At this rate... they will fail! 

Faustina knew her mana was indeed more than one could consider as 'above the average'. The undead prince was the witness to that. However, despite Faustina having that much amount of mana, lies the fact that her body couldn't deal with the repercussions well. The toll of her mana being continuously emanated was an enormous strain to her body. 

Faustina held her staff firmly as she fell to her knee. Her body can't take the mana well. She couldn't. Faustina tried to stand up, but she was stopped by Anakin. 

"We can handle this," Anakin exclaimed. 

Faustina blinked. "Anakin..." 

"This is getting boring." Says the queen. "I am ready to feed. Prepare yourselves." 

The queen then pressed her palms together-- 

"An opening!" 

"No, wait--" 

Faustina turned to Levi, who stared at the fume and lightning merging into one. 

"Barrier!" It was Leviticus and Anakin who was able to take full grasp of the situation. They thumped their staff to the floor and then conjured a barrier which had attempted to block the attack. 

The attack of the undead queen, which was too swift to even spot, sent all of the examinees flying and tumbling down. The barrier set by Leviticus and Anakin shattered, but it prevented casualties. Faustina slowly rose from the fall. The damage created by the queen was immense. 

"One more time!" The queen then pressed her palms together again. 

Faustina then stood up instantly and then thumped her staff to the floor, making herself fly using wind magic. She then pointed her staff to the undead queen, "Ignis!" 

The undead queen only smirked, and then with a flick of her finger, Faustina was sent athwart the room. 

"You're naïve." 

"No, YOU are!" 

The undead queen's eyes widened as she sees Leviticus and Anakin attacking her with combined fire spells. The fire spells unleashed by both of them set the queen aflame. This was the opening they needed, and Faustina sacrificed herself to provide them that.

"Ignis vulnus!"

The next thing to do is to search for the weak spot of the queen, and then aim for it. The fire wrapped around the queen, but there was no sign of struggle. 

And as the fire subdued, her figure was revealed.

The undead queen was unscathed.

"What a burnt taste."

Her rotten flesh was slowly rejuvenating, and her face was getting clearer and clearer. From a smile, it was replaced with a scowl.

"I am not pleased." The undead queen uttered. "Give me your MANA!"

Leviticus gritted his teeth. He had no choice.

"Terram!" Leviticus conjured multiple earth magic and spikes which attempted to pierce the undead queen--but as the spikes neared her, they just turned to dust.

"Ignis!" Anakin continued to use fire spells, but they were only absorbed by the queen who was now getting stronger and stronger. 

At this rate, they won't be able to defeat her!

They had to find her weak spot... but how? 

Faustina stared at her throbbing forearm. Her mana was still overflowing through her body.

She could do it.

Faustina thumped her staff to the floor, summoning a blue-colored light from the magical hex. 

"What are you doing? Electricity travels on water, you know!" Stella exclaimed. "We can't use water--"

"This..." Faustina murmured. "Is just meant to reveal her weak spot!"

The water then shaped into droplets, which then drifted across the air and then loomed above the queen. 

"Now!"

Faustina swung her staff down, making the water drop straight to the queen. 

"Oh, rain?" Anakin blinked--now this had rendered his fire spells useless!

"H-hold on..." The queen blinked as droplets began to reveal it--

The firefly insignia!

"How...?" Michelle blinked. "No... that's it!"

"She used acid rain!" Leviticus blinked, seeing the undead queen's insignia being melted away.

Leviticus and Anakin backed away, both exhausted from fighting.

"D-did we win?" Anakin asked.

"Oh, children. Aren't you entertaining?" 

All of the examinees stared in sheer surprise. The queen's insignia melted, yet she was still standing. The acid rain had also decayed her flesh, yet she didn't seem to have received much damage from it.

"Of course, you didn't win." A voice echoed across the vast. "Because that is not her weak spot!"

Faustina blinked as the owner of that voice landed in front of them -- the noble examinees -- along with the girl with the fiery red hair who stood in front of all of them as she faced the undead queen.

Claire!

"Claire..." Anakin murmured, staring at Claire who had pointed her staff into the undead queen. 

"Ah. Another one with a substantial amount of mana," the queen licked her lips. "But smarter than the rest."

Claire Fortunatorum sighed. She thought they would make the job easier for her, but it seems like she overestimated them all.

"If you want to win," Claire exclaimed, turning to Faustina with a sharp gaze. "You should have formulated a spell that would have destroyed her jeweled heart!"