A massive necrotic wave originated from the point of [Dispel]. This was the result of undoing a spell that lasted for decades without proper training or knowledge. The captain turned to dust in less than a second, and his followers came next.

They raised their weapons and spells to try to contain the massive wave, but it was useless. Their bodies, clothes, and weapons were all meaningless. As the fear of dying sank in their hearts, they tried to run, but it was expanding too fast. Even the casters that could fly were touched by the necrotic power.

"Necrotic energy, consuming everything it touches." The Wise Golden Dragon began to fly high, trying to escape. He had to burn the wave with his own breath. The golden flames extended across the desert, giving the impression that a sun was forming on it. As the fire pushed back the necrotic power, he noticed the wave was expanding behind him.

At the speed it was moving, it was going to reach beyond the continent, including the Draconic Empire. How far can it go? In the worst case, this spell could kill all life on the continent!

"Retreat! I’ll buy you time to go warn the city!" Zek put his hands together and unleashed his power. Three massive barriers of fire, ice, and lightning rose from the sand to stop the spell. He hoped to see which element was best to stop the wave, but all three collapsed at the same time.

Neither fire, or ice, or rays were enough. All of the mana dissipated into dust. Is useless. Any spell is going to get drained... I can’t stop it! The realization made his heart stop. He had to go back to the capital and work with the other wizards to stop the spell. The problem was that dozens of cities and towns were going to be wiped out. He tried to think of something as he saw the dragon flying over him.

"Please, Wise Golden Dragon, help us! Use your fire to stop the wave for a few minutes. I promised I'd stop this spell, but we need some time. You can keep it at bay with your breath. Please help us! I’ll surrender and offer my head if that’s what you want!" His voice was going hoarse after so much screaming, but the dragon turned to look at him for a moment.

"If I do that, then hundreds of innocents are going to die on the other side. They need me, I’m sorry."

"There are innocents who need you as well; please, they have no idea about this or magic!"

"Is no the first time I see humans brought a calamity by using power beyond their understanding, and sadly it won’t be the last… I can’t prioritize a few over the many." He flew away without looking back.

"Golden Dragon, please!" It was futile; he was gone, and the wave was coming. He looked back to his guards. "I’m sorry, I have to stop this…."

"We know Great wizard. They need you." "Please protect our families!" "You are the only one who can save them!" They knew their fate was sealed, but they still had hope in Zek and the other wizards of their country.

"You have my word. We’ll stop this calamity!" He saw their faces full of trust and teleported back to the capital.

***

The three Great Wizards were standing over the temple. Watching as the citizens ran inside the magic shelter and the army helped the old people and children.

"Follow the paths to the center of the city, stay close to your family!" The guards were doing their best, and the mages were putting the preparation spells on the border of the city.

They had already discussed the situation. Zek informed them, and they came up with a plan that made use of their powers to the maximum.

"Great wizards, the preparations are ready!" A man came flying to inform them they were ready.

"Then let’s begin!" Zek yelled as he raised his hands into the air. "[Mass concealment]!" The glyphs engraved on the borders of the city were designed to enhance his magic power. He wasn’t a master of obfuscation spells, but thanks to his knowledge of glyphs, he could use them to compensate.

A magic barrier covered the capital, but this was only the first step. Next was Fejin. "[Anti magic field]" fusing the two spells together, aided by the wizards all around specific points in the barrier, not only hides their presence but also dissuades magic. The last one was Ladun.

"[Earth capsule] He had to stay outside the barrier as he moved them below the sand. A small pocket of the city could survive the necrotic wave. This was the plan: to hide below the sand using a combination of magic and nature. Ladun moved the tunnels to make sure to make a path to the surface, so they won’t end up isolating themselves. It was located inside a giant temple.

As the city stopped burrowing inside the earth, Ladun came with the other wizards inside using an elevator.

"We saw the wave in the distance. It should arrive in two minutes!"

"Any signal from the cities?"

"No..." It was clear the wave had erased them all. Thousands were mercilessly killed by the stupidity of a single person.

"That idiot from the Faith! His mistake has cost the lives of hundreds of people!" Fejin was furious at Zek too.

"Shut up! This happened because you couldn’t hide your experiments!"

"So, is it my fault those fanatics doomed us all? What about the spell that caused this in the first place? Ladun should have found another way to cultivate food, and you were the one that spent all those months teaching the Faith child. What if she was the spy!"

"Don’t be absurd! It was the Golden Dragon who made the first move. We’re only human. We can’t keep everything secret from creatures that have lived for centuries."

They felt silent. There was no point in trying to blame each other now. The moment of truth was about to come, every second passed slowly, and the anticipation made the three old hearts feel like they were about to burst.

Zek held on to the doll he gave Gina. She had dropped it after the other members of the Faith took her away. He didn't know why he picked it up; it was just a doll, but right now he was holding on to it for his life. Counting the seconds... 118…119…120…121.

Nothing happened. They were okay. It worked... no, a sharp sound came from above as the magic barrier began to slowly dissolve. The spell was still coming for them.

"What do we do?"

"It seemed to have lessened his velocity than when I saw it outside. It wasn’t completely useless; we need to do more to stop it!"

"How? We are already using our mana to keep this barrier up. If we try another thing, will we only weaken our last protection?"

Zek thought about it. His brain worked at full force trying to find a solution. How could they strengthen the barrier? Suddenly, he got an idea and looked around at his colleagues and saw their expressions. They must have thought the same thing. Everyone went to the school and made a circle. It was a sacrificial altar.

"Our only option..."

"Divert the power by spending a great deal of mana to consume the wave..."

"Inside this circle, the damage would be minimized."

"I’ll do it. I already secured the route outside, and you two must keep the barrier." The apprentices and wizards tried to offer themselves, but Ladun refused. "None of you have the capacity to hold so much mana at once, if you want to make something useful work for the people’s future."

He stepped inside the circle and the mana began to flow inside him. His body irradiated light as the mana overflowed. "AAAAHHHHHHHH!" It was painful, like a surge of power tearing your very essence apart. His body was collapsing on itself and... BOOM.

An explosion destroyed the room and killed a bunch of apprentices. Zek looked above and saw that the barriers were still disappearing. "Not enough, everyone else. Get away from here. I’m going to enter the circle!"

After they left, only the two Great wizards remained. "Go with them, Fejin. They need at least one of us alive to rebuild the country."

"They are old enough to do that on their own. Ladun couldn’t do it alone; we need to work together to have a chance." There wasn’t anything else to say.

The two wizards stepped inside the circle and suffered hell.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Zek felt the mana flowing inside. It was like trying to drink an ocean; it was impossible. And yet he had too. He glanced to the side and saw Fejin suffering and glowing just like him.

The two of them couldn’t do it alone. In the maelstroms of power, they began to fuse. One body but two souls. Was it by chance or destiny? In the end, the one that survived was Zek. His soul made it past the pain and channeled the wild, uncontrollable spell inside him. That massive amount of mana and the necrotic nature of the spell fused with his new-found necromancy power from Fejin. He made a ritual and ascended to a new form. At that moment, he wished he was the one to die and Fejin was the one who got to live...

Darkness surrounded him. He stood up with his hands, but they felt different. They were skinnier and darker than before.

"Fejin? Are you alive?" He asked as he looked all over, but he wasn’t there. "Fejin you..." he said a prayer for his friend and walked out of the destroyed room. He couldn’t see anyone, but...

"The barrier is still standing. Hahaha we made it Fejin, Ladun. Your sacrifices weren’t in vain." He smiled, but he couldn’t feel his face changing expression. It wasn’t important; he had to reunite with the wizards and the citizens.

He could feel he had mana, so he cast [Fly] and went directly to the shelter. He opened the door and called for the guards and soldiers, but there was no answer. The torches were still lit up. How much time has passed?

As he descended deeper into the shelter, the silence began to fill him with anxiety.

"Is me Zek. The spell has passed. You can come out now!" no response. He reached the last hallway and opened the door, hoping to see them, but only despair was inside this place.

"Aaaahhhh! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" He felt down to his knees as thousands of skeletons lay on the floor before him.

All the people were dead. Not a single person was spared. Zek started to cry inconsolably as he grabbed his head.

"WHY? WHY? WHY?" He tried to find an answer, any explanation. "This can’t be real! Please stop! This is just a nightmare!" He noticed that his tears didn’t come out. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t cry.

Because he had no eyes, no nose or skin. He was only a skeleton. "No, this wasn’t supposed to happen! I had to save them. Anyone please, talk to me tell me you're alive. GAAWWWWHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

A ritual that was never meant to be, the flip of a coin that turned him into an undead by sacrificing the lives of thousands. This was the truth of the fall of Rabase.