Kazius had managed to sneak into the Cathedral. They had all kinds of traps and the like, but it seems the Church as far from prepared for someone with his abilities. There were a lot of guard though, Edicts at that. It seemed a good chunk had staid to guard this place… Lazne and Elande had to be here somewhere…

There was also another fact that as strange. While the area of the 3 kingdoms was low on Mana in the air… Kazius could sense a rapid concentrated increase towards the lower floors… It was too big of a change to not notice, to someone sensitive to it, it felt like a strange gust of wind.

Below is where he would go… But he didn’t like the idea of leaving any Edict Knights breathing… Specially since among those standing guard were his former friends, Leo and Alex. Wasting time with them would be satisfying, incredibly so. But then he would risk letting Elande and Lazne flee… That was something he could not tolerate.

That didn’t mean he would allow them to live though, his new toy that Alice and Vidir had helped him create… A new power that he had put all his abilities into creating… It could take care of them and act as a blockade for any reinforcements.

Making up his mind, Kazius would have the cage made of shadow rise from the darkness. A black essence would creep out the bars, the thick miasma like fog was too thick to see anything into other than hatred filled yellow eyes.

Kazius would tsk mockingly, “Poor poor Luna… Unable to rest in peace… Forever tormented and tortured in spirit… You will never get any peace nor rest… Seems your anger hasn’t died any… But at least you aren’t screaming like before… You finally realize… Being obedient is the only choice you have. But don’t worry… You won’t be alone in there for long… You see all these Knights… Why don’t you drag them into hell with you? Why should you suffer alone? Put that hatred of yours towards something useful, won’t you?” He stated before leaving.

As he did so, the cage would shake violently, letting out a loud banshee like screech in quite the familiar voice. Of course, this drew the attention of the guards, including Leo and Alex.

Unluckily for them, the last thing they should have done was approach this cage. The screaming got angrier, bitter, and resentful. Like a beast from Hell throwing a tantrum. The sound itself made the weaker Edicts like Leo and Alex begin to grow deaf.

Before they could react, the cage would expand, the bars widening as two shadow hands would rapidly rush out and grab one of the knights and drag them in. Two hands became four, then 6… And son on. The screaming and shrieking turned slowly into a chorus of misery and anger that only got louder and louder.

Soon rather than fighting, the Knights would try to run, only to find darkness had already enveloped the place, doors, windows, it was all gone… From the distance, it was hard to tell who was screaming. Was it the cage? Or was it the living, it was hard to tell for Kazius. One thing was certain, he could not help but smile at the sound.

His good mood did not last though. After all, he was looking for Lazne and Elande… And the two he found indeed, where he had expected.

Below the Catheral was quite the structure. It almost reminded Kazius of the construction of the Temple of Mirrors. An old building, too well made to be the work of someone like the scammer Lazne. It was ruins, the walls full of tubes made of Mithril that glowed an odd blue just like all the walls in the room… The Mana in this room was unlike anything Kazius had felt. Waking around was almost like being submerged in water and walking in the bottom of a lake.

Almost all the tubes of Mithril were plugged into the back of a man that stood in the center. His hair was a purer white shade than Elande, his eyes glowing a piercing blue. Speaking of Elande… The Knight was there next to him… The two looked a lot like each other… So this was Lazne…

Looking into this room… and the structures… Even though Seselis had never seen anything like this… Someone as long lived as him could figure out what this place was for… This is likely where all the mana in the air for the area went… This place absorbed it… And then pumped it into people like Lazne and Elande… The Edicts… The lower mana in the air meant that the people in Ratier, Zelphar, and Thimdur were born weaker and weaker with less mana for them to draw power from… And were thus easier to control… While the Edicts grew powerful and prolonged their lives.

Had they not messed with Kazius, he would have found the scheme impressive.

“It seems I found two leaches down here… How unsightly.” Kazius stated.

“Well well well… You have a of nerve coming here… So kind of you to save us the trouble of looking for you. This is the gnat I told you about, father. Look at him, grey skinned… Pale… Did I smack you around too much last time that you grew ill? Let me put you out of your misery.” Elande stated with a grin.

Elande would move with a speed far too fast for the average person to catch. The Edict Knight, aiming a kick to Kazius’ face… But Kazius was not the average person. He caught Elande’s foot with ease. Elande’s grin would quickly turn into a frown. As this occurred, Kazius’ own smile would only grow wider… It was a warm expression, but the wicked delight behind was not hidden well at all.

Elande attempted to take back his leg, but would find himself unable to move it. Kazius intended to put pressure on it and snap it, but would end up letting go and moving to the side to avoid an energy blast of pure mana.

After all, Lazne was a magic user. One hooked up to what seemed to be a pure mana source… His attacks were far from weak despite his actual competence. Even in his mediocrity, in the state he was in, he was far from weak.

“Well aren’t you a rude one, Lazne…” Kazius stated.

“Be careful, Elande… He almost broke your leg… It also seems meddlesome Remus spoke too much before you got to kill him… I expected less sloppy work from you.” Lazne warned.

The two looked angry and irritated. It seems they had not expected to find Kazius at such a strength… Of course, they had the Oracle… But… As Kazius learned in the Temple of Mirrors, if you had no future to see…. Such an artifact was useless.

“There is only one of me, Father. That meddlesome old acquaintance of yours turned into a Lich out of all things. If anyone had been sloppy, it was you for not making sure he was dead.” Elande responded, the two were on edge and it showed… They were nervous.

Kazius could not help but chuckle, breaking out into laughter, wicked delight filled him at the realization of why they were so on edge. “The Oracle doesn’t work anymore for you, does it? All you see is darkness… Isn’t that the case? The artifact works just fine, you know?” He mocked contently.

“How did you… There is no way Remus would know anything like that!” Lazne exclaimed, enraged. Indeed, Kazius’ sudden strength combined with the Oracle not working… It was something that unsettled them.

“I won’t tell you how I know… You have no right to such information… Not when you are so weak… But I will tell you one thing… If you have no future… You won’t see anything… Even someone like you must have figured out something like that… Right?” Kazius chuckled out. He wanted to toy with them, at least until Alice got here.

“Lies! I’ve come too far! I won’t be beaten by a disgusting Monster! You won’t stop my plans!” Lazne exclaimed.

“Enough! There is no way he would have information like that… There is no reason to listen to him.” Elande exclaimed. He was so different now… That he was not the one in control… And despite his brave front, Kazius could tell he had gotten into their heads.

Kazius would chuckle again, “You know… I hate you both quite a lot… Not as much as my beloved hates you, but oh I despise you. You won’t find rest with me around… No… But I also feel like thanking you… You know… You two have a habit on strengthening your enemies… And that includes me… I lost a good number of things because of you. You even took Remus from us… But thanks to you… I am a different person… Literally…” Kazius trailed off, he did not understand what the two had even been planning with all they did, but after tonight, it wouldn’t matter.

At these words, Lazne and Elande attacked again. He promised Alice he would wait to kill Elande… But he promised nothing about Lazne… It was time to have some fun.