Chapter 80

Power raged within him, an endless torrent of mana that threatened to rip him apart. But throughout it all, the familiar presence of the Patriarch could be felt.

His awareness was split into three parts, the first was internal vison of his shattered core, and the raging golden mana the Shard of Divinity was expelling. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t direct it at all.

The flow was a river, and he was being carried away by it, unable to stop it. It took all of his concentration and strength to keep it within his body, but it was a losing battle. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to contain it any longer. Once that happened, not just him, but everything within the portal would be destroyed.

His external focus was occupied by the renewed battle between Desire and the Guild Observers.

Through eyes squinted and watery from pain, he could make out the conflict between them. Over a dozen Guild members, ranging from Rank 12 to 16, were facing off against Desire. Her power hung heavy around her like a black and crimson cloak, Rank 18 and growing even stronger as the corruption within her spread further.

To Wil, it seemed that she had become completely unhinged. In their interactions, she had always been strange, but still focused on accomplishing her goal. Now, Desire was filled with rage and madness, launching attacks at the Guild Observers, laughing wildly at the destruction she caused.

“Mental Prison!” Desire screamed, pointing at Rose as the later had formed a barrier of mana around Anwir and the cleric, blocking the violent corrupted mana that was swirling around the red-haired, infected woman.

The crimson in her mana was nearly gone, replaced by oily black corruption that was draining the life from everything around it.

Rose saw the red lacquered fingernail point at her, but she was unable to dodge, the barrier she was holding was the only thing protecting the cleric as he performed healing magic on Anwir. If she were to move, he would be at the mercy of Desire’s attack, and both he and Anwir would certainly perish.

The 6th Tier Spell Matrix completed, and Rose felt the mental intrusion immediately. Desire’s attack ‘Mental Prison’ formed an illusion in the target’s mind, trapping them in their worst fears. But the real threat was that to the target, their fears were real, manifested by the caster.

To Rose, her vision of the battlefield was replaced by a stagnant swamp. The air sweltered with heat and her nose was overwhelmed with the smell of decay and death.

All around her, the rotten corpses of animals and humans lay strewn about, half rotting in the putrid waters. Flies buzzed around her constantly, and an aura of pestilence and sickness pervaded everything.

Rose’s clothes clung to her as she broke out in a cold sweat, and she couldn’t move for fear of touching the decomposing bodies. Shivering, she let out a whimper and tears ran down her cheeks from the horror she was feeling.

When Rose was a child, her town had been overrun by a plague. It had taken her parents, and she herself had nearly died. If it wasn’t for her youthful resilience and the traces of mana already manifesting in her body, she would have perished as well.

The sickness had left her scarred, both mentally and physically. She could not stand to be around the ill or infirm, and her body was marked by the pocks that the disease had left. She couldn’t look in the mirror without being reminded of what she had been through.

To the Guild members, Desire had merely chanted an incantation and pointed at Rose, only for the latter to scream and collapse to the ground. Her shield failed, and the corruption around Desire began to corrode both Anwir and the cleric.

From nearby, Abelardo watched as Rose screamed shrilly, tears running down her face as she collapsed on the ground.

With a roar of anger and fear, he ran towards her. Reaching for her prone body, he heard her repeated moans as he shielded her with his body and mana, protecting her from the corrupted waves of mana that were seeping the battlefield from Desire.

“No! Please no!” Rose pleaded, and Abelardo’s heart broke.

Ignoring Desire, he forced his mana to cover his surroundings in a protective layer, sacrificing any chance of attacking the red-haired woman, in order to guard Rose and the cleric behind him, from the black mana covering the area.

Abelardo’s body shook with the effort of maintaining the barrier, the strain forcing him to focus on nothing else. He was a warrior, trained to use his mana internally, strengthening his body and aiding his attacks. To use mana externally was nearly beyond him, but it was the only way to protect Rose and the others.

He could only hope that Desire ignored them, the barrier he created could only protect from the spreading corruption, leaving him defenseless against the woman if she chose to attack.

Wil watched everything occurring with an almost detached view. He was unable to assist them, and his concentration was further split by memories of the Patriarch. The visions were a third point of awareness.

He was drawn into the thoughts, feelings and memories of the Patriarch, they were bleeding into his psyche from the Shard of Divinity.

While he was trying desperately to control the flow of mana and keep an eye on the battle raging around him, he saw images of the Patriarch’s life, his successes and failures, his triumphs and losses. The man had lived for nearly a thousand years, and flashes of that long life bled into Wil’s mind.

Superimposed over the image of Rose laying on the ground, weeping, was a figure from the past. The Patriarch stood over a young woman, her face bloody, while she wept softly. The details were blurry, but Wil knew that she was important to him, and that he had failed to protect her.

“I swear, I will never fail again.” The Patriarch promised, as the young woman breathed her last and his heart broke.

In an instant, the vision was gone, replaced by Desire, standing triumphantly over Rose and Abelardo. Again, Wil was helpless to save her, as his enemy prepared to end her life. He was nearly overwhelmed by waves of despair, and he had no idea if it was his own, or the Patriarchs.

“Ah, true love conquers all!” Desire said, sarcasm dripping from her words. Her face had an expression of disgust as she looked at the kneeling Abelardo and the prone Rose.

“You’re pathetic. Nothing like my Wilhelm. Our love transcends all, while yours is nothing but an eyesore!” Desire screamed, and her mana swirled around her, midnight black, with all trace of crimson gone. Her pale skin was now a sickly grey, with thick black lines of infection creating a spiderweb of corruption across her body. Her stunning beauty, like her rationality, was gone, drowned in poison.

“Circle of Death!” Desire cried, and a Rank 6 Necromancy spell matrix formed on the ground around her. With the infection, came access to a vast reservoir of negative energy. With ease, Desire tapped into it, the School of Necromancy opening itself up to her, welcoming her with open arms.

The Rank 6 spell matrix, a black circle of death, grew swiftly, as it drained the life from around it to fuel its magic. The negative energy rippled outwards, creeping towards Rose and Abelardo. The ground blackened and died, and the earth lost its vitality.

Even the light faded, the darkness growing thicker as the circle swept forward.

To Wil, the circle of death rushed towards him, before coming to an abrupt stop. The Shard’s golden mana, pouring endlessly in his veins, responded to its presence by overflowing from his body, creating a swirling vortex of golden flames that drove everything around him backwards. The negative energy, confronted by this conflagration, dissipated as soon as it made contact.

Rose and Abelardo, not so lucky, brushed against the Rank 6 spell, before they felt a tug on their bodies from behind.

“Telekinesis!” Amora chanted, the Rank 5 Transmutation spell pulling the pair away from danger. With a wave of her hand, and intense focus of her mind, she lifted her companions off the ground, carrying them to safety, before setting them down. The cleric and Anwir, already plucked from safety by her magic, were now far removed from danger.

Out of the reach of Desire, the spell affecting Rose ran out of mana, and the vison of sickness and decay that filled her thoughts faded away. Blinking her eyes rapidly as the world came back into focus, she saw Abelardo covering her body with his own. His flesh was covered in sores and marks from his contact with the negative energy.

“Abelardo?” Rose asked tentatively. The large man lifted his head, favoring her with a smile, before he collapsed, exhausted, and wounded on top of her.

“Abelardo!” Rose screamed, and she struggled to get up and look at his injuries.

“Get him away, Rose! There’s nothing more you both can do here! Look after the others!” Amora shouted.

Using ‘Telekinesis’ she lifted a large boulder from a pile of rubble, her mind strained under the massive weight. She hurled it at Desire with a tossing motion of her hand.

The large stone sailed through the air towards Desire, but as it passed the ‘Circle of Death’ the black mana of Necromancy coated its surface, eating away at it. By the time it landed next to Desire, the large boulder turned to dust.

Waving her hand lightly to brush away the powder floating in the air, Desire laughed at the attempt, before pointing her finger at Amora.

“Oh, this should be fun!” Desire cackled with laughter, her crimson eyes filled with insanity.

“Let’s see... Blindness!” She cried, and the Tier 2 spell matrix “Blindness/Deafness” flashed into existence for a moment, before the Necromantic energy consumed it, completing the spell.

Amora, unable to look away, saw the Spell Matrix form in the air directly in front of her, and she felt intense pain from her eyes, before her vision turned black. In the darkness, the only thing she could see was the Spell Matrix, burning with black flames, while the world around her was gone.