Chapter 112
“The Nameless Shadow.”
A delicate sculpture of finely carved white marble in the shape of a chalice rested atop the silent dais.
Four torches placed at the sides provided little illumination to the vast room. However, the feminine silhouette with her arms outstretched high and wrapped in a dark cloak seemed not to mind.
After reciting the lengthy incantation, the cloaked figure drew a ceremonial dagger from her elaborate robes and held it between her two palms extended upward, as if presenting an offering to an ancient god.
The slender figure took three steps forward and stepped over the three steps until she was directly in front of the white sculpture whose height reached just below her chest. The bluish liquid released a faint glow as a cluster of long, snaking shadows swirled inside the carved chalice.
The feminine figure continued the spell with her face covered by a hood, but her eyes seemed to shine in the glow of the mysterious liquid.
Her chanting continued, and she raised the ceremonial dagger in her right hand, then made a slash across the palm of her left hand.
A couple of drops of her blood were enough for what, until now had only been black smoke to transform into liquid, merging with the mysterious blue liquid.
And as her chanting grew louder and louder and a surge of power began to emerge from her body, the liquid contained within the chalice began to boil. Moving from side to side as if an invisible hand was stirring it.
But the dark figure did not stop.
And several minutes later, a blackened hand emerged from the chalice.
An arm followed soon after.
And as the group of hooded men lying on their knees in front of the dais continued the chant, in a collective effort to increase the power of the spell, another hand emerged from the chalice.
Followed by half a body.
The smell of putrefaction filled the air, yet none of those present seemed to care. And each of the hooded men continued with their task as the new creature crawled from the chalice to the ground. Its half-liquid, half-solid body continued to create itself as it slithered across the clean stone floor as its figure continued to take shape until it reached twenty feet in height.
The Sajhun’s two heads roared, its eyes barely adjusting to the light for the first time in its short life, as a thick, black liquid dripped from its two arms.
On the border of the Duchy of Brincy. Near the second tower.
Milo launched a flare of fire at the monster in front of him, keeping his skill active until the creature was completely scorched.
“It’s a pity I can’t reap the experience," he muttered after clicking his tongue. If the goddess hadn’t decided to punish all those who had the system after several groups of traffickers decided, more than fifteen years ago, to use the inventory to kidnap and steal, the rest of humanity wouldn’t have been punished.
And most kingdoms wouldn’t have as much trouble defending themselves right now.
In his opinion, the goddess Mhiralla had made a huge mistake in judgment, stopping the growth of humanity and leaving them forever stuck in a position where they couldn’t defend themselves against monsters that were getting stronger and stronger with each passing year.
Fortunately, every now and then they were lucky enough to get hold of someone who, in recent years, had acquired the system and was free of most of the restrictions the goddess had imposed on them. Or who could at least level up.
As was the case with the new saint, or the summoned heroes.
However for the rest of them, after rigorous training as their ancestors did, it could help the warriors’ muscles to grow. Kept blocked the growth of the mages and the ability of anyone who had a system to acquire more mana.
Or to acquire the experience needed to level up or go beyond the limits of a normal human being.
And on a continent where there were other races far more powerful than them, it put them at a great disadvantage. Even if the others had a smaller population than they did.
“Marquis de Riva, don’t you think it would be wise to send a couple of us to help the heroes?” Asked one of the court mages, as they all took turns attacking the enemy lines with fire and drinking mana potions.
“I think there are enough guards around them. They’ll be fine for now,” he gave as an answer. ”... I doubt very much that Miss Luna would allow the death of her companions,” he muttered. Even less so if it turned out to be true that she had something to do with the escape of the two shadow mages, as he suspected.
Unfortunately, I still have no proof to back up my theory. He thought with annoyance.
“Stop worrying about unnecessary things," Queen Tathiana had told him a couple of weeks ago when he had told her of his suspicions. “We have too many things on our plate right now to worry about a young lady with a broken system," complained the beautiful lady sitting across from him in the comfort of the queen’s study inside her palace. “Not when I have just lost a possible alliance with the Duke of Lanish to join our cause in exchange for helping him save her father’s life," she replied in annoyance. “Now the only thing I have to offer him is an agreement for the duchy to be declared an independent territory of the kingdom. If it wasn’t for that fool Medhas, we wouldn’t have to resort to losing a powerful source of resources and knights, or the possibility of them becoming an enemy we don’t want to have!” she growled in annoyance.
Milo kept silent and looked at the pretty pot whose edges decorated with liquid gold contained the sweet and aromatic tea she had prepared especially for him.
“I think she knows something..." the mage murmured after a few minutes.
The queen let out a long sigh.
“And I think you’re being paranoid," she muttered, annoyed at the fact that when they had finally found some free time in their busy schedules, all Milo wanted to talk about was work. “.... How could someone who is not from this world know that the zhalem flower can kill humans from other worlds? It’s impossible!” she said, looking him in the eye. “I’m sure it’s just a coincidence about her allergy…. Besides, there are always other ways to administer it, like in a tea or in food.”
“...” Several minutes passed before Milo’s deep voice broke the silence. “Legends say that the first humans were also allergic to them.”
The queen placed her teacup on the delicate plate that matched its decoration and watched her lover before replying in a soft voice.
“…From time to time, you see cases of children in the outlying villages who must learn to develop their resistance to it. That’s why I ordered all the doctors in the kingdom to report any cases they found about it and alert the kingdom guards to take care of finding the flowers and exterminate them. Just in case some other species decides to plant it on their own and use it against us.... There has only been one case in the last ten years. A child got a terrible fever after coming in contact with the flower. And although he was very sick, he did not die.”
“Have you ever questioned why the ancient gods would create a flower that can kill humans?”
“We’ve developed immunity to it centuries ago, so it’s no longer something we need to actively worry about. Besides, not all gods favor humans, Milo.” she added, looking into her lover’s pretty eyes. “We are very lucky that the goddess Mhiralla is among those who do," she commented before taking a delicate sip of her aromatic tea. “... My mother used to tell me stories when I was little. She told me that her nana was a half-breed, and in her species, it was always said that the favorite creations of the gods were the fairies, fae, and dragons. But that the preference always varied depending on the god they served.”
“You never told me about that before," he commented, the surprise palpable in his voice.
“We’ve always been busy with other things," she replied softly, and a flirtatious smile tugged at her full lips.
The mage cleared his throat, trying to keep his composure, knowing full well that Tanya, the woman knight that the Duke of Brincy had sent especially to protect his beloved daughter, was listening to the whole conversation from outside the room.
And although he had wanted to cast his usual spell of silence, Tathiana, who had full confidence in her guardian, had prevented him from doing so.
“Still, I think that girl is hiding something," Milo insisted, his cheeks tinged with pink. “When I questioned the Black twins and Mr. Grant, all three said that it was she who explained to them how to use the system. How is it possible that a being from another world knows how to use it? Never in history has there been a record of a hero who knew how to use the system before coming to a human kingdom!”
“Maybe in their world, just like ours, they have a system.”
“According to what those three told me, they don’t. Besides, they have other gods, different from ours," Milo replied.
“Then that would explain why her system fails in this world since we have different gods.”
“Isn’t talking about the existence of other gods considered heresy?”
“There is very little information about the gods and the worlds they created," she replied with a smile, “it may well have happened that the forgotten old god created other gods, or that the gods of our world never left a record of the others. What’s more, we don’t even know if there have been wars between the gods, so all we can do is speculate about them and their true motives,” she commented calmly. “And if you are so concerned about the situation with this young woman. Then wait until the whole thing with the demon king and the rebels is over. If after all that is over the girl decides not to join us, you and master Erlhas can play all you want with her system,” seeing that her lover continued in silence, she added: “Or you can simply use mind magic on her.”
No, Milo thought. Mental magic doesn’t work against her.
And he knew that because he had already tried it.
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