“I think I have to stop my lectures, I can’t risk being away from the academy.” The headmaster said, Most other teachers staying quiet.
“A professor was killed, and her soul doesn’t return anymore, it is important that we do not show weakness in this critical moment.” The undying teacher countered, the others pondering this decision.
“Listen, I know this is going to be hard for you, but we need your best work to pretend everything is fine. The southern states whisper of rebellion, the northern ones are asking for help, ever since that massive snowborn raid they talked about, this is the worst time to appear weak, the kingdom needs us.” The Aqua teacher agreed, engaging in a conversation seriously for the first time in ages.
“I understand, but I will need increased security, so do whatever you can to keep the place safe against anything, I would not be surprised if a demon was somehow involved in all of this.”
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Every day was a panic to bring the pieces together. At night, I helped the snowborn army by giving them an Idea of the tactical map in the headmasters room, which I scouted as part of my daily routine, immediately after the headmaster went to grab food and start his briefing with the other teachers about that day.
I knew everything I needed to know, one of my friends hadn’t appeared to lectures for a while, but Ember told me it was necessary, so I trusted him.
I had skulk steal the decay crystal during one of the undying professors classes, shortly after which shade brought it to me, telling me he had tried to run off with the crystal, and was now in a better place.
“Two betrayals in a time span this short, and I hoped they would help us. But no, they are heroes, aren’t they? Trying to stop us, I can’t believe it.” I gave her a hug in thanks and took the crystal from her, bringing it to the deathgate as fast as possible, while trying to calm my heart.
This had to go right, or I would end up dead before this could be done.
Finally, the day had come that our trap would spring, the last day of Aqua, and the last day of this Academy.
The headmaster and his retinue were gone, and most of the school had become empty as I walked into his room, no alarm starting until I went and took the keystone out of its holster, which immediately sent a shiver through the school.
I used my every resurce, spells and mutations to increase my speed, running right towards the paining, as armors and statues animated all around me, and students came from their rooms to stop me.
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The guards had a very boring month or so, until suddenly a mass of people dressed in black stormed the gates, most of them armed, and their robes enchanted. A cat ran at the front, and while they managed to stop a few of them, most managed to pass through. Then, the academy alarm started to flair, prompting every security division in the city to run towards the second ring,
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
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A “For Ragnar” Scream assured me in my steps, as the sound of steel meeting steel reverberated through the second ring. I almost got speared several times before finally arriving at the painting that would lead to the Deathgate.
I entered and ran to insert the key, a few people hot on my tails as the gate opened, and began consuming the necros crystal for its stabilization. Undead immediately began pouring out, and I became secondary to the fight, as students and statues had to stop zombies and skeletons from creating more of their kind.
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The guards did their best to get inside the second ring, but the Cultists kept the gate shut with their bodies. They Chanted “For Ragnar” whenever they could, and cast whatever weak spells they knew to stop the assault. Suddenly, screams came from their back, and an entire army of gray skinned hulks pressed into the city, forcing the guards to split their attention.
Teachers dispersed, some heading to the academy, and others going to confront the Snowborn invasion, both sides fighting for their lives, as more and more powerful undead started to fill the academy, some leaving the building, only to meet with the cultists, whose coats made the undead ignore them, and instead pass further through.
In this sea of bodies, it was my sacred duty to keep the gate open, until the other deathgate members would leave it, and finally return to the world they had been banished from. Hulking mounds of muscle, and even snakes of bone were on the other side, every shambling corpse yearning for the freedom this side provided.
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The Professor of time was shocked, he had rewound time until his head hurt, but he had no impact on this wars outcome. He was in the hearing, helping his fellow teachers dodge arrows and flaming projectiles It was embarrassing, he was the master of time itself, but the flow of a hundred different events turned into this torrent that was the current timeline. He collapsed when a stray arrow pierced his head, the weird saliva these arrows were coated in directly harming his soul.
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The professor of space moved to the great disturbance as fast as he could, suffering many hits as the world seemed to reject his presence for the first time. It was his Arcana that currently destabilized the world, and when he finally arrived at the center of this attack, he started weaving a spell to close it, only to find his attention drifting away at the final moment, and an eight year old grinning madly in his direction.
I simply messed with every Arcana in this room, drawing it towards the core, where it was turned into more energy for the fight, something I had to stop when my opponent suddenly plunged a dagger in my heart, the rude gesture answered by me hugging him tightly. His head was outside my tongues reach, and the damage e was doing to me hurt on more than a physical level, but zombies tore through his back, and my best efforts to make him stop were painfully rewarded by my life slipping more and more from my fingers. I bit into his side, accelerating his death as I did so.
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The Vitus professor tried to heal everyone, only for the Necros one to counter his efforts.
“Why are you doing this? We agreed to not fight, once that dread empire of yours fell!” He asked, confused at his friends sudden shift in loyalties.
“Don’t you see? There is a tide of undead and cultists, a deathgate has been opened, and somehow, no one manages to stop it. The Avatar of Necros might or might not want this to happen, but with this sheer increase in power, the dread empire might rise again! What is it they scream? Oh, right, Hail Ragnar.”
With that, they fought until both were on the ground, powerful spells at first, simple beatings later. It was impossible for either of them to die, but they would try.
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The War outside the second rings walls had almost stopped entirely, and a path opened for the few remaining evaders to attack the castle. They would die, bur so would everyone who wasn’t somehow immortal. More and more people fought and died, massive spells and spit soaked arrows taking life and souls.
I was delighted, and the world was in pain. The gods would try to intervene, send a group from the holy empire or something similar, but that would take another month or so, and until then, my attack would be complete.
I drank the spatium professors memory, and then teleported into the fray, where I noticed the signature of Geos standing as a wall between the undead and the students. When I arrived at his back and liquefied his brain, all his magic became useless.
Many died, and my tongue touched every powerful corpse I could see, and turn them into zombies to fight on my side.
The fight between death and life was stopped, when I decided to simply eat both of them at once, Aqua and Lumen dying fast, too.
My final opponent was the professor of Null, headmaster and lord of the between, the King himself currently struggling, as the entire horde attacks his castle.