I stood there, trying to digest what had just happened, while swallowing hard as if something were stuck in my throat. Well, in the end, it wasn't so hard to understand; it looked like I had just involuntarily released a lich from its prison. The problem was the consequences, but I didn't really have the time and clarity of mind to think about those things, drats, I didn't even have the presence of mind to identify it.

With a sigh, I turned towards the newly revealed area. After the door, another set of stairs appeared, leading to an even lower level. The mana density increased further, while the area now looked like a natural cave, and the air was stale, as if it had been closed off for eons.

While the things I discovered were interesting, they didn't bring me any closer to finding the catgirl. If I couldn't find her, how was I supposed to come up with a plan to free her?

I heard sudden screams, the sound of fighting, and spell fire. Probably the lich was making new friends not far away.

After a brief inspection of the newly revealed area behind the now broken door, I concluded that there was no way Meowra could have been imprisoned there; this part had been sealed for much longer. It must be that she either wasn't in the tower or I missed her somehow.

I decided to go back to the ground floor.

Guards and paladins were running up and down the corridors, the lich attacking here and there, constantly moving like a big cat playing with a colony of mice. It didn't seem to be in a hurry. Lucky me, I could keep my shadowmeld form now that the runes had been disabled and stay out of trouble.

The lich seemed to ignore me or couldn't see me either. I stayed as far away from it as possible; it gave me some unpleasant vibes and the impression of being much higher level than I currently was, so I didn't want to push my luck.

Once back there, I wondered what I should do. I didn't want to return to Mehorg and tell him I hadn't found her. While meditating on what to do, I remembered that there had been a lone paladin on the second floor who seemed to be guarding a small storeroom.

I found the lonely paladin still standing guard in front of a door. He looked pretty bored, pacing back and forth, glancing around at the stone walls and sighing. There wasn't even a small window in this part of the corridor, just the stone walls, the squared stone floor, and the mysterious door. I identified him: he was level twenty-two. What better subject than him to test my seducing abilities?

He occasionally turned his head annoyed towards the stairs, from where some noise came, as if he had heard that before and was not interested in the results. The lich had been at least six levels below and either was in no hurry to come up, or maybe it had already been cornered.

I materialized in a corner and dressed myself in a simple illusory white gown. I didn't want to use real clothes to avoid losing them if I had to shadowmeld again in a hurry.

I checked if my skill was on to mask my demonic identity and found that it was off. Why was that? It was the first time it seemed to fail me, but maybe it was because of the summon? I turned it on, checked again, satisfied to see that I did not identify as a demon, and stepped out of the corner so he could see me.

I appeared as a younger replica of Meowra. It was a lot of illusions to maintain and it was straining my skills a lot, but it still worked. I hoped I wouldn't have to keep it running for too long, or I might get into trouble.

"Uhm, hi?" I said, walking slowly towards him and then stopping. I didn't want to appear menacing or approach him too suddenly.

He turned and looked surprised at me. “Girl, what are you doing here?” he asked in a hushed voice, his hand instinctively moving to the pommel of his sword.

“I wanted... I wanted to see my sister before she dies,” I said, my long eyelashes fluttering as I gave him my best succubus glance. “Please help me,” I added, infusing the appeal with a bit of mana.

I remembered what Flo had told me: you have to give the spell meaning and intent but in a subtle way. I instinctively felt that putting too much power into the spell would be counterproductive.

He relaxed a bit, but his hand didn't move from the pommel of his sword.

“Girl, there's an alarm going on. The lord is certainly playing again with the poor fucks, ahm, pardon, guys, downstairs. They'll make short work of you if they find you here. Who are you looking for?”

“Meowra,” I said, adding another succubus glance in his direction. "I was told that she must be in this tower..."

His eyes widened and he sniffed as if trying to catch a wonderful scent.

“Are you Meowra's sister?” he asked.

He seemed to melt down now, his hands away from the sword and behaving as if he'd just met an old acquaintance. Actually, it worked pretty fast!

I let out a deep sigh. “There's nobody closer to me in this world than her, and this may be my only chance to talk to her. I need to see her!”

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“How did you get in here?” he asked, approaching me and eyeing me suspiciously.

Drats, I need to increase my succubus vibes.

“A paladin told me where she is, but he left me alone and didn't want to go further. I'm afraid I won't find her!” My hands hugged me as if trying to protect me from the cold, and my eyelashes fluttered furiously as I poured more mana into my skill. “Please help me,” I said softly.

He sighed and approached me.

“She's not here, she's up there. You'll get caught if you try to go there.”

"Up there?" I wondered, shocked. I had been up there and didn't find her!

He shook his head while taking my hand in his, all the while looking at me with worried eyes.

“It's dangerous to stay here. The Lord may come any minute! You should go away, young lady.”

Huh, this succubus thing was more fun than I previously thought. Why didn't I try this from the very beginning?

“But Meowra is innocent,” I insisted. “I know this now, and I must tell her that I believe her. I need to talk to her.”

He sighed, shaking his head.

“Even if I told you where she is, you'd get caught before finding her. Besides, it's not simple to get there. She's on the roof.”

Time was running out, and I feared that someone might come at any moment, even if the tower was strangely silent now.

“On the roof?" Damn, I hadn't thought about checking there! "Can you help me and bring me to her?” I pleaded.

He hesitated and looked back and forth.

“Follow me,” he finally said.

He led me through a couple of corridors and then up a circular staircase. Soon, we encountered a patrol. The two guards stopped in front, blocking our way.

"Hey Greg, what are you doing?" one of them asked.

My paladin shrugged. "Captain's orders. I have to accompany a visitor."

"You lucky boy!" the other commented. "Do you know what's with the alarm?"

Greg shrugged again. "I have no clue. Maybe just another test of our gracious lard, as was last week and the week before, and the week before that..."

The two exploded in laughter. "Gracious lard! If this comes to the ears of our gracious lord, you are in for big trouble!"

“He is not that gracious,” the other guard commented.

The paladin chuckled.

"Demon!" one of the guards exclaimed, slashing his sword toward me.

The paladin parried. Damn, my skill must be failing me again. I turned it on again, and while the other guard hesitated, the paladin dispatched the first guard with a deep slash to his neck.

"What have you done!" the first guard screamed. "You killed Anton!"

"He must have caught the basement sickness," the paladin mused, looking at the dead body at his feet, blood still flowing.

"You are crazy!" the guard yelled.

"But you saw that he attacked me, calling me a demon!" the paladin protested.

"Not you! That girl behind you!"

"But she is no demon?"

They both looked at me as I gave my best confused puppy eyes.

"No, he had slashed at me!" the paladin insisted.

The two exchanged looks.

"Damn sickness!" the guard said. "He hadn't shown any other symptoms today, but was freaking out each time we went into the basement." He sighed. "What do we do?"

"I need to go with the lady upstairs!" the paladin said.

"You can't leave me with the dead man!" the guard protested. "I need to finish my rounds. Help me bring him to the guard's room!"

"I can't, I have to go the other way!" the paladin stressed.

"I'll tell the captain what you said about our lord!" the guard threatened.

The paladin shrugged. "Do what you must do! Come, girl!" He started walking up the stairs, and I followed. For a moment, I thought they'd come to blows, but it didn't happen.

"I hope to be far away from this cursed tower soon. I knew Anton. We weren't friends, but I knew him. He wanted to buy a farm and settle down somewhere far away from here, but every week he said he needed a bit more money to buy a bigger farm. Now all he'll get is six feet of ground," the paladin mused as we walked upstairs.

"The legend says," he continued his rant, "that the tower was built on a dungeon, but you're not allowed to say that. Everybody knows that if you stay too long in a dungeon, you go crazy. All dungeon delvers know this and avoid staying more than a couple of weeks, but we stay here the whole time. I think even the higher levels are influenced. Why else would the whole tower turn black? But no, if you say this, you're a liar, an enemy of the people!"

"Is there a lich here too?" I asked.

"You heard that too?" he asked, turning to look at me. "That's another legend. They say that old Krimatough, the former owner of the tower, turned himself into a lich. They tried to kill him and even succeeded a couple of times, but they never discovered his phylactery. That's why he was sealed somewhere in the basement. That's what the legend says."

He was now climbing a wooden ladder and pushed up a wooden cap that covered a trap door. We arrived at the top of the tower.

"Who goes there?" a voice asked.

"Mytrides, I brought a visitor!" the paladin said.

"Ah, it's you, Greg. Nice of you to visit me here!"