Four months after Alza’s necromancy was sealed.

Alza was now back to the same underground chamber where she had her powers sealed. Now was the time to undo that seal. Elysia stood to the side of the familiar pool of water which had been used to seal away Alza’s necromancy, its surface reflecting the torches on the walls.

"Submerge yourself back into the pool, Alza," the elf oracle instructed, her voice echoing through the chamber. "And I will unseal your necromancy."

Alza took a deep breath and stepped into the pool. She slowly lowered herself into the water, until she was fully submerged. As her body floated, she turned her face upward to the ceiling. She closed her eyes and waited.

Elysia placed both of her hands on Alza’s stomach and began to chant words of power. Soon, a familiar glow began to emanate from Alza’s form, and a searing pain wretched throughout her body. At least this time, she was able to withstand the pain a bit better.

Yet, suddenly, the bright light that once emanated from Alza’s body vanished, and Elysia was knocked back onto the floor by a mysterious force. Alza panicked and got up from the pool, rushing towards her old friend.

She cradled Elysia in her arms, and tried to get her up. "Are you alright?"

Elysia coughed a few times before she could answer. "I…am fine."

"What was that just now?" Alza asked.

"Help me up first, then I’ll explain." Elysia said.

After struggling for a few moments, Alza got Elysia back up onto her feet. The elf oracle brushed off the dust that had clung onto her clothes. "I’m not sure how to tell you this."

Alza sighed. "Let me guess, the ritual failed?"

"That is correct, and I’m not sure why."

"For goodness sake, I suppose I’ll have to make do with- "

Suddenly, Alza froze completely. She felt every muscle in her body stiffen, still like a statue. She felt as if she wanted to vomit, but she could not. Alza could only remain still.

"Is something wrong?" Elysia asked.

Alza wanted to reply, but she could not answer. Instead, she felt a gnawing sense of unease begin to seep into her mind. Her heart beated faster and sweat drenched her forehead. She had no idea what was going on, but she needed to focus.

And so Alza closed her eyes. But when she opened her eyes, she was no longer there.

***

Though she wore a blindfold. Elysia could easily discern the world around her in all of its colors. In fact, she was likely more sensitive to them than many would think. The essences of the arcane each had their own colors based on their nature, and discerning them from one another had been something the elf oracle could do so since childhood.

Which is exactly why Elysia was now trembling. She had known Alza for a long time, even before the necromancer had put on her mortal guise. It was a much darker time, when Alza still led the demonic legions. The elf oracle had wanted to forget those times, for so long, Alza had been an ally and not an adversary. But it seemed that things could change at this very moment.

Alza stood in front of her, but her friend was not truly there. The color of Alza’s essence had been tainted. Where before, there was only a brilliant azure hue, now, the smallest hint of violet began to seep in.

"It has been some time, oracle." Alza said.

"Yes…it has been some time." Elysia replied, her whole body tense.

Alza began to stretch her arms. "I must say, your seal was much more crude than Melchio’s."

Elysia responded with a bitter snort. "Not exactly easy keeping you down."

"Who? Me?" Alza asked sarcastically, pointing towards herself.

"You are not the necromancer nor friend that I know." Elysia said. The elf oracle began to pace around the room, readying herself for a confrontation.

"On the contrary, I am still Alza, as I always have been."

"What do you want?"

"I wish to return to my family, oracle." Alza said.

"I’m afraid that I can’t allow you to do that." Elysia said, readying her stance.

"Then I’ll just have to go through you first."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Elysia felt the ground beneath her feet crack and heave. She looked down and saw a skeletal hand erupt from the ground, clawing at her legs. However, just before the skeletal hand could hit her, the elf oracle used a gust of wind magic to propel herself backwards, allowing her to just barely escape.

Alza smiled cruelly as she slowly walked closer to Elysia. "You are more durable than I remember, oracle. Impressive."

Elysia gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand, her body trembling with pain. "Alza," she cried out, her voice hoarse, "have you forgotten your promise with Melchio?"

Alza laughed. "Ah yes, the Sun Knight. How could I forget?" She shook her head sarcastically. "But why should I owe him anything? He was the one who sealed me away in the first place."

Elysia muttered a curse under her breath and braced herself. "Then I'll just have to remind you."

In a blur of motion, Elysia dashed across the room towards Alza. But the necromancer was ready for her. She flicked her wrist, and a series of bony spikes erupted from the ground, launching themselves at Elysia. Elysia dodged and weaved, but one of the spikes managed to graze her right arm, drawing blood.

Alza lowered her hand, and the black skeletal hand she had conjured earlier followed her command. It extended itself and slammed onto the ground where Elysia stood.

Elysia barely managed to dodge out of the way in time. The resulting debris from Alza's earlier attack chipped away at her skin. A particularly large rock embedded itself deep into her stomach, causing her to cough up blood.

"What’s wrong, oracle? Is something the mat- "

A sudden, excruciating pain seized Alza, and she clutched her head, causing her to collapse onto trembling knees. With tear-filled eyes, she shot a desperate, pleading look towards Elysia.

"Elysia, now!"

In that critical moment, Elysia seized the opportunity. She dashed towards Alza as fast as she could, her blood-soaked hand pressed against her bleeding abdomen. She rubbed the blood from her wounded belly into the palm of her right hand. Her options were limited, and Elysia knew she had to craft the most potent seal she could in as little as time possible.

When Elysia was close enough, she pressed her crimson-stained hand against Alza's forehead, her voice trembling yet resolute as she chanted, "Sanguine Art: Blood Seal!" The blood from the palm of her hands resonated with her call, forming chains of vibrant crimson that coiled around Alza's form. The First Necromancer’s agonized scream filled the air as the blood chains began their work, sapping away her strength.

***

When Alza came to, her body felt weak. And when she opened her eyes, her vision blurred. She could just barely see that she was in a room, with Elysia sitting by her bedside.

"How do you feel, Alza?" Elysia asked.

"Ugh." Alza muttered as she placed a hand on her temple. "I’ve felt better before."

"I’m sorry, things didn't go as planned."

"What do you mean, what happened?"

Elysia sighed, crossing her arms. "I was about to undo the seal I placed on your necromancy, but your demonic powers managed to leak through in the process."

Alza’s eyes widened. "My goodness…did I- "

"Yes, you attacked me. But I still managed to seal your demon half away, for now." Elysia said.

"I’m sorry, Elysia. I- I felt like I was in my body, but I wasn’t completely there."

"Understandable, given your circumstances."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Listen to me, Alza. You’ve been repressing your demonic powers for so long that your mortal body is unable to adapt to it."

Alza sighed. "That makes sense, but I don’t even know what to do at this point. From the sound of it, if I keep repressing my demonic powers, things could get worse."

"You were awakened prematurely, weren’t you? I recall you telling me before that Melchio should have been to revive you." Elysia said.

Alza nodded. "Y-yes, my husband was the one who was supposed to wake me up, but instead, some other necromancer did the deed instead."

"And therein lies our problem."

"Did…my early reawakening disrupt my husband's seal?

"Seems like it did, and by a lot more than I had initially thought."

"Yes, I feel it now…there’s something at the back of my mind, yearning to break free."

Elysia bit her lip in frustration. "I knew the blood seal wouldn’t do enough, but I didn’t have a choice."

Alza shook her head. "No, I understand. So it seems I will just have to be more careful from now on."

"You’ll have to be very careful, actually." Elysia corrected. "The new seal I placed on you is not that strong."

"Can’t you just reinforce it then?" Alza asked.

"No can do. I don’t want to risk damaging the seal Melchio put on you any further. We were lucky that the blood seal seemed to work out, but who knows what could go wrong if I tried anything else." Elysia said.

"Then, am I just stuck like this?"

"I guess so, at least for the near future."

"This is not going to end well. Without my necromancy, I won’t stand a chance against Anzu and Amuria. I might not even be able to deal with only Anzu."

"Alza, I could try to unseal your powers again…but I think both of us know it would be a terrible idea."

Alza breathed out an exasperated sigh. "You don’t have to tell me that."

"Regardless, we will just have to make do with the fact that you are much weaker at the moment." Elysia said.

Alza arched an eyebrow towards Elysia. "Do you have a plan for this?"

The elf oracle shook her head. "I don’t, and if I did have one, I would have told you already."

"Well we need to have some kind of strategy, as useless as it may end up being." Alza suggested.

Elysia nodded in agreement. "I agree, but I do believe that our best chance is if you take on Anzu while I handle Amuria."

"Elysia, with all due respect, you won’t stand a chance against Amuria. She’s the strongest of the demon princes except myself."

"And if you have any better ideas, Alza, I would love to hear it."

"Can’t anyone else in the guild do anything?"

"Absolutely not, they are far too weak to even land so much as a scratch on a demon prince. I’ll have the adventurers help out civilians during the incursion, but that will be about the best that they can do."

"I suppose you are right on that end."

Alza’s gaze fell low as she stared at her blanket. She was intimately familiar with the capabilities of her siblings, and of the power they possessed.

But suddenly, Elysia placed a hand over Alza’s shoulder. "I’m sure Melchio wouldn’t be happy if he saw you like this."

Those words alone were enough to put a small smile on Alza’s face. "No, I suppose not."