“What…?” Gaius’ mouth hung open, his mind swirling in confusion. Wasn’t President Benedictus the White Locust? Who was this magi then?

He could see Felix tensing up from the corner of his eye. The White Locust did not come alone. An army of magis walked behind him; some were adorned in strikingly red hooded robes while the others were dressed in tattered dark clothes. They were brandishing wands and technomagick pistols menacingly.

“Well done, children.” The White Locust walked towards the teenagers. “For stripping away the protective seal from the last tome. Now I can finally destroy the counterspell altogether.”

Beams of light burst from his staff without warning, striking them before they could react.

Gaius fell to his knees as an abnormally strong sense of fear fell over him and quite literally held his body in place. He craned his neck; his companions were also frozen by some kind of terror inducing spell.

“You will forgive me for taking certain necessary precautions,” The White Locust said, removing his hood.

The trio gasped in shock.

Cleric Elpis Nerva smiled warmly back at them. She snapped her fingers, dispelling the illusion that kept her true identity a secret. Her associates murmured in surprise as well, shocked by the fact that they had not only been following a woman, but the Secretary Of Defence at that.

“Cleric Nerva…” Kleopatra strained to speak. “Why?”

“Mankind has grown arrogant,” Elpis sauntered towards them. “They have long forgotten about their benefactor. Without him, we would not have the powers we possess today. Without him, metas would have hunted men to extinction and destroyed themselves with their very own defiled abilities.”

“O divine Muriel, rightful ruler of the world!” She threw her hands in the air. “Witness your most loyal servant’s reverence!”

“Muriel… Muri- By the gods, how did I not see it back then?” Gaius breathed. “Your patron deity was Abaddon’s angel form all along!”

“Very clever, Deusdedit.” Elpis snapped her fingers and conjured her familiar.

“Just as the grasshopper and locust are the same creature,” she said, letting the arcane grasshopper rest on her shoulder. “Muriel and Abaddon are one and the same entity. Past, present, future; it doesn’t matter. All that matters is the eternal laws of existence. His purpose is unwavering, unfaltering. His purpose is the destruction of our world, even if it takes more than a millennia.”

The Cleric gestured for her men to surround the trio while she forcefully summoned the tome from Felix. She flicked her wrist casually, conjuring a ring of candles. Elpis tossed the two books in the middle of the circle, and the candles immediately lit up in response. The tome glowed purple again and began orbiting each other. She turned back to Gaius.

“Your magic, how are you able to wield magic from every other class?” Gaius called out to her. “Are you a wizard?”

“Curious to the last, even at your imminent death. Typical sorcerer.” Elpis frowned slightly. “No, the wizard class is long extinct. My magic is merely a boon from Abaddon. He granted mortals the ability to wield all different kinds of magic. What’s a few extra tricks of mine compared to that?”

“Hey lady, you promised to tear down society for us,” a man grumbled. “What’s all this nonsense about demons and spellcrafts?”

“Funny you should ask that. The President is dead. The Vice President is seriously injured,” Elpis chuckled. “And once I destroy this spellcraft, Abaddon will return to this world and tear down society’s pathetic laws. Have I not done what I’ve promised?”

“You intend to re-summon Abaddon?” Felix yelled. “You’re out of your mind, Cleric Nerva! Things are going to become so much worse under the rule of a demon lord!”

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“There will be no more distinction between meta and magi.” There was a crazed glint in the woman’s eyes. “No more racial issues! No more society! No more false laws! Only Abaddon and his glorious rule!”

“Shit, we’ve been tricked! The woman is crazy!” One of the Ruby Skulls threw his cloak back, taking out his staff from the side of his robes. The rest of the magis turned their attention to Elpis as well, wielding their weapons threateningly.

“Insolence!” Elpis yelled, cracking the concrete with her staff. A silver wave blasted through the men, and they fell silent immediately with a dazed look in their eyes. They turned back to the teenagers robotically, pointing their weapons at them again.

“Nice try, but I’m not someone you can brainwash so easily.” Felix let go of his companions and stood to his feet.

“No more stalling, this ends now.” Elpis gritted her teeth as she seized Gaius without warning and threw him into the circle of flames. A glaring glow emitted from within the boy as his body began oscillating together with the books. The White Locust clasped her hands together, muttering an incantation.

“She’s distracted. Now’s our chance,” Felix whispered to Kleopatra.

“No, wait.” Kleopatra grabbed him before he could stretch out his hand. She pointed at the small figures descending rapidly from the sky. “Are those…?”

A blast of red light whizzed towards Elpis, but was stopped by a barrier.

She turned around, glaring at the magi who interrupted her casting. More magis landed on the sky library, their levitation cloaks retracting into their robes with a small pop. They quickly rushed forward and surrounded The White Locust. The magis drew their weapons, pointing it at her. She hissed in response.

“Cleric Elpis Nerva. By the power vested in the Guardian Council by the supreme authority of Sirius city’s law, you are hereby under arrest for gaol break and the attempted assassination of the Vice President.” Cleric Cybele Vulcan stood imposingly with her staff anchored firmly on the ground. “Come quietly, or we will use force if necessary.”

Elpis turned to her men.

“Do what you are here for,” she snarled at them behind gritted teeth, before slamming her staff on the ground with a frustrated shriek.

Spikes of white energy burst from the ground in a circle that spread outwards from Elpis. The Guardians leapt out of the way, although a few slower ones were still caught in the attack. War cries filled the air as the criminals clashed with the law enforcers in an all out brawl.

Felix seized the opportunity in the chaos, turning his attention to Gaius. He stretched a hand out.

The Sorcerer wheezed, groggily getting to his feet with the help of his companions. The chain of light that connected his magic with the two other books broke off, dissipating into the air.

“We have to get the tomes as far away as possible from Cleric Nerva,” Felix said worriedly, looking at the woman knocking out yet another half dozen Guardians with a single magic blast. “By the looks of it, I think the Guardian Council is actually going to lose this fight.”

“Not if we complete the counterspell.” Gaius clenched his fists. “When I was near the books, I could feel my magic within my body attune to them. I’m the only one who can cast the spell, but you guys need to evacuate the library. The books have been passively absorbing arcani for over two thousand years. There will be a major explosion when the spell is completed. But if I’m not wrong, the magic within me would allow me to absorb most of the blast. Only the library will be destroyed.”

“What about you?” Felix shook him. “Don’t tell me you’re going to sacrifice yourself too?”

“This is what heroes do.” Gaius smiled wryly.

“No, wait.” Felix stopped him before he could say his heroic final words. “The explosion is an arcani-based one, right? What if I absorbed all the arcani instead?”

“No way!” the Sorcerer exclaimed. “Just one book has enough arcani to obliterate an entire continent. You would be absorbing enough arcani to literally power half the world!”

Felix looked at his hands as his eyebrows knitted in determination. “The Grand Shamans have told me that there is enough arcani in a single drop of my blood to lift a carriage. Let’s see how much power I can truly hold.”

“I’ll help my sister.” Kleopatra prepared to rush off, but she turned around again suddenly and threw her hands around both of them.

“You boys… Go win this for us,” she said with a shaky voice. “I’ll still be using your names to apply for the Guardian Council, so don’t you go dying on me now, alright?”

The trio nodded at each other.