76 A Predator turned into a Prey (2/2)

A New Dawn Innovation 47570K 2022-07-20

The process kept going, while Kardel silently began to step back as the creature managed to pass most of its body beyond the protection. Even with the nearby Leilade, the disastrous time he spent fleeing was still too fresh for him. Especially the fact that this thing was just fast enough for him to never have the time to complete a transformation faster than the black mammal similar to a big panther. For example, the white bird would have allowed him to be carefree, but the minute that was the bare minimum for him to turn was never an option.

”Truly interesting, you really don't know where they got that thing?”

”No, Empress. I did hear that it was a very costly device. Also, they had a few other, one was harnessing a huge amount of electricity, enough to incapacitate my entire body for hours. The other was just normal magical fire, even if I would have died if it was a direct hit. As for the name, I think I heard something like flaming fist, flaming hand, burning head maybe? They have a strong accent compared to the humans of Massalia.”

”It was [Burning Hand]. So it seems they still managed to condense a spell into an object, and even improve its might. Yes, I met two old farts that tried to kill me with this spell. Even when they used their life force to compensate for the difference between us, they were still not able to even be more threatening than Candaith. Even that space bunny would have been more dangerous. As for this…”

Without even moving a single finger, the darkness that was constantly following her ensnared the shadow monster. At first, the latter tried to fight back and at a certain point, knowing that it had lost, tried to escape. But it was not facing some mindless being, and its path was already cut off. In the end, most of its body was lost to Leilade and only a small part still alive was encircled in a sea of even more terrifying darkness. Finally breathing seeing that Leilade quickly dealt with the threat, Kardel could finally be at peace.

”As expected of the Empress, your ability is still as terrifying as ever.” Snorting at this lowly attempt of praising her, she was far more interested in what was in front of her. Toying a bit more and launching a few basic spells on it, she realized that the monster was still quite resistant. In a sense, it was the weaker version of her own creation, albeit a crude one.Looking at Kardel, she questioned him once more.

”Are you certain that you didn't hear anything unusual?” The duvodiad tried to remember, but that was clearly not his forte.

”Not really. They asked me if I knew the dark gods, hum, they may have talked about a certain lad. A lich called, the Lich Lord, with a big tomb or city at his name, Malekh, Moltekh, Palekht?”

”I see; I guess you will have to pay a visit at this Lich King. Once you have recovered of course, if you encountered something else like that, you will be defenseless. Malakov.”

”Yes, my Empress?” Moving out of the shadows, the lich never truly left the scene. He had seen the entire thing, even the destruction of one of his servant. Even if they were the weakest of the liches he could create, it was still an affront against him. He also heard the useless information brought by Kardel. If they hadn't learned the real names thanks to Leilade, they wouldn't have understood a single thing of his tale.

”Take this thing and find its weakness. Something that should be cheap to produce and that Kardel can use. As for you follow me, you have a lot to catch up.”

She didn't even bother looking back to see if the duvodiad followed her. Here, in this place, her orders were absolute. She also didn't care to see the two angered stares that her subordinates threw at each other. Whether they were friends or not, all she cared was that they won't attack their peers. When he entered, even Kardel was a little bit surprised by all the progress that was made in his absence.

Just in a few short weeks, and a quite impressive entrance was already created. As he saw the infinite waves of skeletons carrying rocks and minerals leaving the deep tunnels, he realized that it was just the tip of the iceberg. Instead of using the teleporter located right at the beginning, he and Leilade followed the lead of a lich that brought them inside the depths of the mountain.

In the end, they arrived inside a great natural cavern where they were seeing hundreds of undead working without any rest, trying to dig with their own bones. Of course, they were not human skeletons, but the same type of mole that Malakov mainly used. As they watched this spectacle, they saw one of them crumbling and being reduced to ashes. Immediately after, one of the liches that were supervising the entire thing summoned another one to take its place.

Feeling satisfied by this, the two living beings exited this area filled with the dead and walked back toward the main control room. But before meeting with Ymir and Davion again, Leilade had to see what master Agnil had in stock for the future. Because now, she was certain that their three groups had managed to cause enough problems to be taken seriously.