Still hidden, Willem walked away from the scene while the inner guards did their best to pry open the butcher's mouth, hoping against all odds that he would begin to breathe again. Some even attempted to resuscitate him by pounding on his chest, to no avail.
It was of course a fool's mission, but having someone die while under your watch was among the greatest of dishonors for a guard. Especially a silent and ruthless kill that could not even be defended against like the one that had just occurred. Truthfully, even if they knew exactly who did it, were they even capable of revenge?
Many of the elven guards present had thought of abandoning their duties and hiding within the slums in order to avoid execution for not being able to accomplish what was supposed to be a simple job.
Luckily their knowledge of the battle between the human and elven forces were superficial at best, so they had no inclination to back up the Army unless specifically ordered to. To be more precise, the one to issue the order was already headless.
Therefore they were not burdened by the idea of gaining merit by helping the Army.
Willem traced the connection to Pacharus, whom was already making his way to the farms to hide himself among the other humans.
Upon arriving, Pacharus finally realized that he had been a fool and wasted all that time being whipped and caked in dirt and feces for nothing. More than anger, the fear that he exuded was almost physically tangible. His carefully planned escape was swept from under his feet with no regard for his own arrangements.
Willem understood that particular taste of fear all too well, when he had been stabbed back in the inn so long ago.
The fear that you would lose everything just from one small thing going wrong.
Having decided to stop playing with his prey, Willem confronted Pacharus as he tried to leave the farm.
"Pacharus the Undying, your time has come. The blood you have spilled has come to extinguish you." Willem whom was wrapped in a jet-black cloak, issued the old man's destiny.
"Do you not understand what Undying means? They sent a retard to do a God's work. Someone of your ability intends to kill me? Hmph. What a joke." Pacharus snorted.
Though he spoke harshly, the undeniable truth was that he could not truly grasp Willem's power, every time he tried to peer into the depths, it was like a vortex was snatching away at his life. He had read about spells to hide your general strength from an enemy, but nothing so openly ferocious and berserk in power. The tyrannical feeling could not be repressed.
"The conversation ends here, I kept you alive until now so I could tell you face to face who sent me to kill you. I am sure you are familiar with this name... My Master and the Grand Mage of Earth, Archus." Willem unsheathed the twisted dagger that still had a small amount of dried blood from his previous kills.
Pacharus could sense the aura releasing from the twisted dagger was not simple, in fact he could tell that there were multiple spells bound together somehow. Thinking for a moment, if he could unlock the ability to combine spells then his research might make another miraculous breakthrough.
"Archus? I guess he could not bother to pay me a visit personally? It is a shame he is not here, I would have sent him along the path to the afterlife to join his son. Anyways, where did you get that dagger? If you give it to me I will give you a quick death. Deny me, and I will show you the full extent of my previous works!" Pacharus looked like a ragged dog, his sagging cheeks tossing spittle around as he emphasized every word.
"..." Willem had said what he wanted to say, and no longer felt like keeping the old man company.
Clasping the handle of the dagger between his hands, he closed his eyes for a brief moment. Upon opening them, the dagger became clad in lightning, a pulse of electricity constantly reverberating through the metal.
Upon seeing this, Pacharus reacted as fast as he could and began to chant.
"Incantus Exponentia Deit. Sticks to stones, water to mist to bones to dust." Pacharus sliced open his palm and drenched himself in his own crimson blood as he finished his incantation quickly.
Willem allowed Pacharus to finish his incantation in order to see what effect the spell produced. The first thing he noticed was that Incantus was spoken first.
In all 4 base elements, Incantus was the third phrase meant for when the ability manifested and took a physical form. Solum Majore Incantus and Farah Majol Incantus were some of the most widely recognized spell-casts.
Envision, Gather, Manifest. The three stages of spell creation.
"Reverse the fate of flowing blood." Pacharus chanted as his body began to emanate a black glow.
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The large open cut on his palm had already begun to heal, the blood flowing in reverse from his face into his body once more. The skin stitched together as if time flowed in reverse, and after the incantation was completed he looked exactly as he did before.
Willem flicked his wrist and the twisted dagger flew toward the old man, piercing his stomach without any hint of hesitation. The blade sunk deep, enough for it to be considered a mortal wound even amongst Magical Beings and Mages with enhanced bodies.
Pacharus plucked the dagger from his stomach as if it was just a small inconvenience, and the blood that had spilled from the open wound slowly went back into his body like a reversing waterfall.
Slightly perturbed, Willem called out to his Servant. Someone who may know why the spell had a black aura and used Incantus first.
(Arania, have you heard of a spell with the casting phrase "Incantus Exponentia Deit".)
(Reporting to Master, it is a Demonic Technique called "Reversing Blood Magic", at the cost of an exorbitant amount of magical energy, any mortal wound is healed. Any one can use it, but if you exhaust your magic the blood swirls inside your body and you will slowly bleed out from the ears, eyes and mouth. The activation method is to let your blood flow from an open wound. The more damage you sustain, the faster you will run out of magical energy.)
Everything Arania had said was exactly as Pacharus had done, except it did not explain why he had such an ability, especially when it was a Demonic Technique and he seemed to already have it when he was in the Bastion of Hope.
(How many demons would know of this technique?)
(Master, any and all demons would know this Technique, it is an basic spell that protects precious blood in exchange for magical energy, which demons have a massive amount of, it is one of the first spells we are required to master.)
To Willem, the investigation of the Demonic Technique took a temporary higher priority over the subjugation of the elves. Given enough time, the elf royalty would eventually die by the hands of the humans anyway, without even speaking of a revolt or in-fighting.
Pacharus did not just stand around while Willem stayed his ground. He was carefully studying the blade in front of him, seeing for himself what made the enchantments connect in such a way that it could combine effects. Despite his best efforts, he was not skilled enough to determine what was a part of the spell structure and what was not. The analyzation of the dagger would take time, possibly a few months, but it was well worth the investment.
(Is there a way to dispel the effect or restrict it?)
(Yes Master, the Demonic Technique is called Blood Branding Magic. The chant is "Incantus Solis Ignatio" and you must be in physical contact with the blood to ignite it. The cost is that you must give the same amount of blood as you wish to ignite. The good news is that it does not have to be your blood.)
Simple. Too simple.
"What spell is this that makes your blood flow in reverse? And that black aura that emanates, are you a demon?" Willem feigned ignorance and shock, lowering his head in a mock show of defeat.
"A question for a question, an answer for an answer. My question to you is, where did you get this dagger? My answer, this is a special spell I found after meticulous research in the restricted section of the Grand Library. I am quite sure you know of the place I speak." Pacharus licked his lips greedily. Now that this young black clothed man showed humility, getting information from him should be simple. The rewards for this were too big to pass up.
Willem thought for a moment and decided to play along, since Pacharus would be dead soon anyway it is not bad to divulge a bit of information.
"I made the dagger myself, after learning from a book in the restricted section of the Grand Library. My question, what experiments were you performing while with the elves." Willem quickly caught the pace of the questions in order to control the conversation.
"The elves have a naturally long life, but the royalty are greedy, they saw my age and how I am still alive and they beg for that power. I told them in order to give them results I first need to experiment on both elves and humans. They willingly gave up their own kind. Of course I had no intention of giving them my immortality. My question, do you still have the book.? Pacharus spun the dagger between his fingers nimbly.
"Of course. The details of spell-combining is intricate, one mistake and you waste alot of resources. I always have the book on me to ensure everything is done correctly." Willem nodded and took out a fake book from his Spatial Spell.
"You indeed have some tact, give me the book and I can let you walk away." Pacharus sneered as Willem tossed him the fake book.
Pacharus had long since stopped being wary of Willem as an opponent. With his misunderstanding of Willem's power from his mention of being Archus' disciple, and the Reversing Blood Technique, Pacharus felt untouchable. The only incomprehensible thing to Pacharus was why the elves were so worked up about the humans who came. Most of them were not even Mages. If there was any more races within the vicinity of the Bastion of Hope, Pacharus would not have willingly come to the elves, he would much rather stay with any other Magical Being race.
Willem straightened his fingers to a single point, as if his hand was a sword meant to pierce the most dense of metals. Leaning forward slightly, he worked his left hand to grab a bucket of beast blood from his Spatial Spell. Every ounce of his magical energy went to his right leg as he catapulted forward, easily closing the gap and piercing the weak defenses of the old man.
The old man just stood with a grin on his face, the book still open in his hand.
Dipping his left hand in the beast blood, Willem shouted. "Incantus Solis Ignatio!"
"Wha- What the hell did you just-" Before Pacharus could finish his sentence, all the blood in his body ignited and burned him alive inside out. "Why, this is impossible!"
Even in his death throes, Pacharus refused to believe he was not invulnerable to harm.
The results of the battle were obvious, and Willem quickly retrieved both the dagger and the burning book.
Putting out the green flames that charred the edges of the book, Willem took one last glance around the vicinity before liberating Pacharus' head from his shoulders.
When the head was removed, it was immediately placed in the Spatial Spell.
As the contents of Pacharus own Spatial Spell spilled out, Willem also took note of a peculiar vial Pacharus seemed to be grabbing at during his death.
"Interesting..." Willem picked up the vial from Pacharus' pocket and put it in his Spatial Spell with all the other loot he gathered, including the extensive notes Pacharus had on his person.
Willem took one last glance at the headless Grand Mage before slipping into the Void, heading back to the entrance where the battle should be in it's final stages.