Chapter 82

“Why!?” Desire screamed, the chains around her mouth loosening enough with her struggles to allow her to speak. Staring at the glowing spell matrix in the air above her, she could feel the corruption within her recoiling from the magic Wil was weaving.

“Don’t worry, Desire. I’m doing this to help you.” Wil said, not even looking at her as he watched the ‘Wish’ spell matrix form.

“Why!? Why are you doing this? Just kill me!” Desire asked again, and black tears began to run down her cheeks. A mixture of guilt, revulsion and terror filled her as she watched Wil craft his magic.

“I’m doing this to save you, Desire.” Wil stated, finally turning his gaze away from the magic and staring into her eyes. She could see the determination within them, like blue ice, firm and unwavering.

“Save me? Save me!? Don’t you understand, you fool! I don’t deserve to be saved! Do you think I was forced to do the terrible things that I’ve done? It was my choice, Wilhelm! Ever since I was brought back I-” She cut off what she was going to say, squeezing her eyes shut, trying desperately to keep the memories at bay.

“Back?” Wil whispered.

“This is foolishness, Wil. We should simply kill her. It would be a mercy.” Amora spoke from beside him. The prismatic barrier cutting them off from the Guild observers had finally expired. With Desire incapacitated, Amora’s vision had returned.

Standing next to the Illyrian, Amora stared with contempt at the bound woman before her. Even now, the oily feeling of corruption lingered in the air, making her feel unclean.

“The whore is right, Wilhelm. Kill me!” Desire screamed, thrashing against her chains, her red eyes staring daggers at the older woman standing in front of her.

“Back from where, Desire?! Where were you brought back from!?” Wil shouted, his tone firm as he sought answers. With a thought, he compelled the chains around her, their magic forcing the truth from her lips.

“Death! I was dead, Wilhelm, dead and gone. And there wasn’t paradise waiting for me in the afterlife, not after the things that were done to me.” Desire trailed off, her face becoming sorrowful.

“Did you know I was married, Wil? Years ago. It was wonderful, things were actually good. But everything comes to an end and I…I got sick.” Desire explained, her voice breaking. Looking down at the ground, she took a moment to compose herself, before continuing.

“My husband did everything he could to save me. He was a mage, an alchemist. He tried everything to help, but nothing worked. While I…grew worse…he… Do you know what’s worse than dying, Wil? Watching your approaching death affect the people you love. You don’t want them to be sad, or obsess on you, but…it’s comforting, in a way, to know you’re loved…” Desire fell silent again, lost in her thoughts.

The golden mana within Wil had stilled, its purpose complete, it only waited for him to speak his wish, and everything would be finished. But he couldn’t help but want to hear what Desire had to say.

“Abaddon! You’re his wife!” Amora whispered, her eyes widening as she finally recognized the woman in front of her. The corruption had left its marks on Desire, making it difficult to see who she had been, but enough traces remained, combined with the story, for Amora to finally piece it together.

“Yes.” Desire confirmed, still not looking up.

Wil remembered what Amora had told him about the Mad Mage, how he had lost his wife, leading him to walk paths in the darkness that should be avoided. Losing his mind, he summoned demons, experimented on innocent townsfolk, and used forbidden Necromancy, all in the goal of returning his wife to the living.

“He succeeded.” Wil stated, his tone tinged with disbelief.

Magic could return the dead to the world of the living, he himself had witnessed it with the Lich in Aachen. But there were limits. Deaths from sickness or age could not be changed. It was the will of the gods that those who died from natural causes were to stay dead. To violate the will of the gods…Wil shuddered at the consequences.

“No, he didn’t. My master brought me back. Abaddon made a pact, my return, for his eternal service…and that of my own. My ‘immortality’ is nothing but a slave collar. So, kill me, Wilhelm. I’ll be back…And I’ll burn your nations to the ground! Your families will be butchered, and I’ll make you watch while I do it!” Desire screamed, and the brief moment of sanity was gone once more, replaced by madness and hate. The black mana around her, nearly driven away by the golden chains, returned with force.

For a moment, Wil thought the chains would break from the Desire’s renewed assault, but the Tier 9 spell held, and he let out a sigh of relief, and sorrow. He couldn’t say she was an innocent, but she didn’t deserve the fate that awaited her. And if her master could simply bring her back, then this was the only way.

“I’m sorry, Desire. I’m sorry for what’s been done to you, what you’ve lost, and for the evil you’ve brought on others. I’m sorry that no one could help you.” Wil said, looking into those maddened, crimson eyes.

He could sense nothing but rage within, the corruption finally accomplishing it goal. Somewhere, deep inside, something of Desire may still be left, but the infection would never let it surface again.

“You need to kill her, Wil. It’s a mercy.” Amora said, comforting him when she saw him hesitate. Wil stood silently, staring at the raging woman chained in front him, before letting out a deep breath, and turning back to the Spell Matrix in the sky ahead of him.

Raising a hand, he reached out, making a grasping motion. Instinctually, he knew what he needed to do to make the spell work. Some leftover part of the Patriarch in the Shard, guiding him.

The Shard drifted back down from the completed spell matrix. Falling into his hand, Wil cupped it gently in his palms, lowering his face to whisper to it softly. The entire time he spoke, his eyes were on Desire.

“I wish…” Wil started, and the Spell Matrix above exploded with golden brilliance. Shielding her eyes, Amora squinted against the bright light, she moved next to the prone Astrid, and covered her with a layer of mana. The unconscious, silver-haired woman didn’t stir.

“I wish for the damage you’ve done here today to be undone, Desire. I wish for the people you hurt to be restored, their wounds healed, their minds and souls repaired.” Next to Wil, golden light covered Astrid, and she took a deep breath. Slowly, her eyes opened, blinking rapidly in the bright light.

She looked around in confusion, before her eyes locked onto Wil. Seeing that she was fine, he gave her a comforting smile and a nod, before continuing his wish. Looking back to Desire, he continued.

“Most of all, Desire. I wish for you to finally be at peace.” Wil finished, letting go of the Shard. It floated in front of him for a moment, shining with a bright light, before drifting upwards once more. Settling into the Spell Matrix, it shone with intense light for a single instant, lighting the entire sky with its brilliance, before disappearing.

In that moment, Wil though he saw the Patriarch, floating in the sky above, smiling at him, before fading away.

The golden spell matrix erupted in fire, the mana within burning through the complicated pattern as Wil’s wish took hold. From the sky above, a pillar of divine light fell on the still struggling Desire. The light burned away the dark corruption and black marks of infection in an instant, like fog against the rising sun.

Desire screamed, filled with rage and terror as the light burned the darkness from within her. Her grey skin gradually changed to its normally, beautiful pale white, and her black hair reverted to red. The rage in her red eyes faded, as their natural blue returned.

Tears streaked down her face, crystal clear rather than black, and she gave Wil a final, gorgeous smile, before the divine light swept through her body once more.

“Thank you, Wilhelm.” She whispered, before her body disappeared, burned away by the divine light. Small flecks of golden light drifted away on the wind, and Wil knew that the troubled woman was finally at peace, his wish fulfilled.

Taking a deep breath, Wil stared silently at the drifting sparks of light.

“You’re welcome.” Wil whispered.