Chapter 34

The Three Professor Problem

Luke would have loved my setup for the fight. The layered barriers in front and behind our group made the tunnel feel like the power-generating facility at the end of The Phantom Menace. The fact that we intended to confront pure evil gave it a touch of authenticity, as if this was the final showdown between good and evil.

I was happy Luke wasn’t here, though.

His blood was too intoxicating. The ancient vampires would go out of their way to capture him alive and turn him into a never-ending blood bag they could throw in a corner and nibble on for decades. He’d be left without limbs or any of his senses, cut off from everything except pain, so he wasn’t a threat. It was a fate worse than death.

And I would do everything in my power to see that never happened to my children.

Five hours after we reached the dungeon, the last noncombatants left the entrance tunnel with Gorgath. I stepped away from the combatants holding the frontline to deal with my last three problems.

The list of people with the levels and equipment necessary to survive a master-tier destruction spell was short. Only Angelica, Davina, Sir Trent, and three of his people could engage the ancient vampires while they still had mana in their cores.

That meant there were seven of us in the front row, thirty-five in the second, and one hundred and fifty-eight in the third. Each row was more vulnerable to magic than the last. All most of them could do was exchange their lives to slow the enemy down and give the heavy hitters a chance to do what they needed. The exceptions were the three I needed to speak with.

Helen and Gregory offered me a small nod as I approached the second row. Mother and Father stood nearby, holding a powerful holy barrier to protect the six meditating clerics maintaining the hallowed ground spell.

Entering hallowed ground wouldn’t kill an ancient vampire but it would reduce their regeneration. That was enough of a threat to turn the eight clerics into high-priority targets, drawing magical attacks away from everyone else in the second row.

I made my way through the second row to exorcists in the third, who served the same purpose as the clerics in the second row. The unit of death lords guarding them stepped to the side as I approached.

Professor Burdin, the muscular head of the exorcism department, saw me coming and approached the edge of his team’s barrier. “We’ve locked down the tunnel like you asked. They won’t be able to summon demons anywhere close to here.”

I knew that already. There was a pressure in the air that felt stifling to me. Like it rejected my existence. Being here was unpleasant, but his anti-demon summoning field wasn’t why I needed to talk to him.

“I need to know if you can banish a vampire?”

Professor Burdin scratched his chin. “Vampires are only half demon.”

“That makes it harder but not impossible,” I pointed out.

“True, but you would need someone to hold them in place, and I don’t think anyone here will condemn themselves to hell voluntarily.”

“You’d have to banish them with it?”

“I would.”

“How long would it take you if I could find someone?”

“Too long. You’ve got a dozen faster ways to kill them.”

There was nothing more I could say without warning Angelica of her new abilities. But I’d planted the seed in Professor Burdin’s head. He would be ready if I needed him. “Keep it in mind in case I find someone.”

I turned to leave.

“Wait a moment.”

I turned back. “Is this important?”

“It could be. Are you the reason so many lesser demons have been plaguing Darksmith, or is it something you brought with you?”

There was no accusation in his tone, just curiosity. “It’s me.”

“The lesser demons have been claiming you’re a prince of hell.”

“Ancient royal vampire, so I’m not a prince of hell yet.”

“You’re wrong about that. You’re a prince. You just haven’t returned to hell to claim your kingdom.”

“That’s a matter of debate.”

“Only among scholars. Those of us who do this professionally know it’s a fact.”

“Does this conversation have a point?”

“If we should fall and they summon lesser demons, the demons will follow your commands, not theirs.”

His announcement ran against what I knew of his profession but aligned with my instincts. “You’re sure about that?”

He motioned toward those he knew. “I’m betting my friends’ lives on it.”

“Then I’ll do my best to take command of them should they appear.”

“That’s all I’m asking.”

I turned and headed for Professor Lan, the head of the planar studies department. She was hiding near the back of the third row. The woman was barely five feet tall and one of the few professors I considered a threat to my existence because she could shift objects to other dimensions at range. She was also the only person we’d had to force to be here.

The group of thirty death lords guarding her parted as I approached. Professor Lan noticed me and began nervously fiddling with the cuff of her robe.

“What do you want from me, now?” She asked without looking at me.

“I want to know if you’re ready?”

She was an academic, not a warrior, and began to tremble after my question. “No one could be ready for this madness.”

“Yet, we need to be.”

“Please go away.”

She was truly terrified. “I want to, but I could smell your fear from the first row. I came here to ask if you would like me to compel you to calm down?”

Her eyes darted to her guards before looking at the other faculty members. “Is that how you got everyone to work with you?”

“No. Most don’t consider me a threat because they’ve accepted that I’ve been living safely among you for months without causing harm, and it is in my own self-interest to do my best to fight with you and keep you alive.”

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“You took us into the Abyss.”

“And yet you survived.”

“You said you were taking us there because we couldn’t survive a confrontation with these vampires.”

“And now we can.”

She gritted her teeth and dropped her gaze to her feet. “I’m not a brave person.”

Her fear stopped her from seeing the truth. “You travelled through the Abyss without giving into terror. You’re braver than you think.”

“Then why am I terrified?”

“Because you have common sense.” In a much softer tone, I said, “Let me help you.”

Her trembling grew worse. “What do you need me to do?”

“Look into my eyes and try not to resist.”

She slowly lifted her head and met my gaze.

With a gentle push, I invaded her mind. It didn’t take any effort. It was like reaching out to take her hand.

I started by trying to make her brain release happy chemicals to let her relax. Then, I tried to reduce the activity in the fear centres. After that, I move on to more complex changes. Her aura fought me the entire time, so the changes I achieved were significantly less than I desired.

Twenty seconds after starting, I broke eye contact.

You have leveled your ancient royal vampiric physique skill to level 16.

“That’s the best I can do,” I admitted.

She glanced at her hand, noticing it was no longer trembling. “I’m less afraid but still afraid.”

“That’s because you resisted me.”

“How?”

“You’re aura.”

“Does that mean I’m immune to your control?”

She sounded hopeful.

I had to take away that hope because it could get her killed.

“You’re immune to mine but not theirs. I also wasn’t trying to harm you. That prevented me from exerting my full abilities.”

She accepted my statement with an unhappy sigh.

It was time to give her more hope. I reached into my pocket for the item I’d borrowed from Princess Carolyn.

“This is for you.”

Her eyes widened as she snatched the medallion from my hand. “Is this a phase medallion?”

“It is. Do you know how they work?”

She pulled the athame from her belt and pricked her finger, covering the medallion in blood, before placing it around her neck and bonding with it. The moment she bonded with it, the blood sank into the medallion.

She immediately reached for the arm of my coat, and I felt her fingers touch my shoulder. “It doesn’t work.”

Carolyn had promised me it was working.

I peeled off my glove and reached for her wrist, testing whether the medallion was broken, or my Day Walker set was unique. My hand passed through her wrist.

“It would appear my equipment is immune to objects moving out of phase with reality.”

Professor Lan’s face lit up as her academic curiosity overwhelmed her fear. “I know a dozen magical theories which claim that shouldn’t be possible. But then, I saw it for myself, so either those theories are wrong, or there is some way to circumvent them. Can I study your coat? Not now, but when we get out of here.”

“It’s a cursed object.”

She wasn’t deterred. “What sort of curse? I can take precautions. Also, do you think the ability to interact with objects out of phase is because of an enchantment or a property inherent to the material? Or is it the curse doing it?”

Before I could answer, she had another question.

“How much mana does it take to sustain the effect? You know being out of phase is linked to serious illnesses, right? This could kill you. Except, you’re a vampire, which raises new and more interesting questions now that I think about it. If you ignore the detrimental effects a multi-phase material would pose, is it possible to create one? Well, obviously, it is. It’s right in front of me. Did you make the coat?”

“No, it was made by the Vampire Lavire.”

“Never heard of him.”

“He’s one of the most skilled dark enchanters of the last three thousand years.”

“I’ll need to borrow any academic material you have on him while I study your coat. This could revolutionise my field.”

We were getting off-topic.

“Professor Lan, take a breath and try to focus on the upcoming battle.”

“I will in a moment. I need to test a theory.”

She cast a basic fire bolt spell at my coat. It hit my shoulder and fizzled out.

“That’s interesting. It can also interacts with magic that is out of phase. I wonder if I could-”

“Goodbye, Professor Lan.”

I blurred to the last person I needed to talk to.

Professor Firebrand was five-six and in her nineties. She’d tied her ash-grey hair into a bun with a defensive charm, replaced her academy robes with battle robes, and pulled out every offensive and defensive item she owned, making her jingle with every movement. None of that interested me, though. What interested me was the black cursed smoke that oozed from her pale, wrinkled skin.

Professor Firebrand saw me coming and raised her staff. She had been the highest-level professor at Darksmith before we entered the Abyss, and even after that had changed, she was still the most dangerous—and not because she was the head of the combat magic department.

Professor Firebrand’s family had a cursed constitution that allowed them not to pass out from mana sickness. But it also gave them access to something much more dangerous. Something we needed.

I could smell the hellfire in her veins, the unholy taint of the deal her ancestors struck. It made her dangerous to everyone, including ancient vampires.

I didn’t have time to play nice, so I stopped before her and raised my voice so everyone could hear me. “Professor Firebrand, I hope to see your hellfire during the coming battle.”

Professor Firebrand froze at my announcement.

Everyone else turned to stare at her with open hostility. Unholy magic was the most corruptive magic there was. There was no safe way to use it. Even those who dabbled in the occult refrained from using it before they were thoroughly corrupted.

Across the tunnel, Professor Burdin raised his hand and gathered mana from the environment, conjuring a ball of holy light.

I turned to him. “She’s not Unseen.”

Professor Burdin scowled. “I need to be sure.”

“Vincent possesses the evil eye,” Mother called out. “She would already be dead if she was Unseen. You have my word on that.”

Professor Burdin dismissed his spell before turning to Mother and bowing. The fact that he hadn’t drawn on the mana his core showed everyone that he had never intended to harm Professor Firebrand with so little evidence.

I turned to Professor Firebrand as her shock gave way to anger.

She gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to attack me. “Why,” was all she could say through her anger.

“I need your hellfire.”

“For that, you’ve condemned my family to death.”

She wasn’t wrong. There were a dozen different holy orders who would hunt them down if they learned the truth.

“I’m not that cruel. I know how to break your curse.”

She sneered. “You think a half-saint can fix this. It’s been tried with a real saint. My family has spent three centuries trying. It’s impossible.”

“It’s impossible for a saint, but not for me.”

Because Professor Firebrand was one of the few faculty members who threatened my existence, I’d taken steps to protect myself from her. I couldn’t kill her or confine someone with access to hellfire, so I figured out how to remove her family's curse without killing her.

Professor Firebrand continued to glare.

“I understand your doubt,” I said. “Your family has likely tried to remove the curse, died painfully in the process, and been resurrected only to discover you’re still cursed. It must seem like removal is impossible. But it’s not. A demon can remove it permanently without too much trouble, so long as they cleanse everyone in your family together.”

She tightened her grip on her staff.

“Let me put it another way. If you choose not to use hellfire, you will lower your chances of survival. If we succeed and you die, your family won’t have anyone to warn them that their secret is out. That could end badly for them.”

“The necrosaint will resurrect me.”

“That assumes there is a body left to resurrect. You’re also assuming she would resurrect someone who wields hellfire.”

“I would,” Davina called out from the front row. “Professor Firebrand was one of my favourite professors, and she’s a good person.”

I turned and glared across the tunnel.

Davina gave me a big smile in return.

I turned back to Professor Firebrand. “My first point remains true.”

Professor Firebrand growled through gritted teeth. “Do you know what you’re asking me to do?”

“I’m asking you to injure your mind, body, and soul to save people's lives. I’m asking you to risk becoming a monster to destroy a greater monster.”

“You’re not asking me to risk becoming a monster. You’re asking me to become a monster.”

“The addictive properties of unholy magic are immediate, but the corruptive properties are not. Cleansing the unholy magic’s corruptive influence from you will be the most painful experience of your life, but if you allow Davina to act immediately, you will come through this without becoming a monster.”

“You’re sure?”

“I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I wasn’t.”

“If you’re lying about being able to remove our curse, I’ll do everything in my power to kill you.”

“That’s fair.”

“I’ll give you hellfire.”

With her support, all that was left to do was wait for our enemy to arrive.