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A stream of dark energy rushed from the artifact and formed the outline of a man above her. Ice, dust, and debris flew up and were sucked into the shape, where they accumulated into a crude simulacrum of the ancient Lich. The ancient being’s Abyssal eyes opened and took in the scene before it.
“Mira, dear. Did you summon me early? Where are we?” The hovering skeleton asked. The winds wiped toward the form as it pulled more and more magic into itself, forming shadowy robes.
“A powerful Undead Monster summons won’t save you, Thief! [Primordial Onslaught]!” Glaucus gestured and the levitating mountain of crates and shelving ignited, and the burning mass crashed towards Mira and the Lich.
The incompletely formed Lich Archivist of the Imperial Arcanum slashed one clawed hand into his other palm and bellowed, “[Aegis Sundering]!”.
The incantation split the room in half as space itself was torn apart in front of the Lich. The spell brushed the flaming wreckage aside. The tear in reality continued; its lead edge impacted with Glaucus’ void sphere where both exploded in twisting streamers of distortion.
Mira was stunned by the display of power. She clung to sanity as the shape of the void hurt her concept of reality. She had thought she had reached the pinnacle of power, but she was still sorely lacking. The warehouse was shattered and on fire. Both airships were ablaze and beginning to fall apart. She looked up at Thalorian. He peered down at her, concern showing on his skeletal visage.
“Shield yourself, pupil. I can’t fight him and protect you at the same time.” The Lich whirled back towards Glaucus, still greedily pulling all the Akasic energy from the room. Mira looked down at the Lore Warden still in her hands, despite the Lich’s release from the Artifact, its powers were still legendary.
She pulled the rune-lined edges of her cloak and settled over Tiamat’s cage like a mother goose protecting her ducklings. She brought the edges together, sandwiched the bookmark, and activated it. She was amazed that it worked. They binding artifact had interpreted her cloak’s rune etched lining as a book! They were locked in place and invulnerable for as long as she stayed still with the Lore Warden in its active shielding mode.
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The two titans of magic traded blows of power that tore at the palace walls and reshaped the room with waves of elemental power. Mira had to squeeze shut her eyes as the blinding energy whipped about her cocoon of safety. Reality itself seemed to blink and distort. Glaucus and Thalorian seemed evenly matched until Glaucus slammed his staff down.
“I grow bored of this. Watch carefully, you...you…pathetic gamer!” Glaucus yelled and his form pulsed with power.
Mira felt the pulse in her core, where it rebounded and surged outwards. He had activated her own Qi with his Qi surge! All her contained power surged outward. She couldn’t stop it as it triggered all the quiescent glyphs that she had in her stored spell array.
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All her prepared spells lit the warehouse with discharges of power, unleashing fire, lightning, bolts of power, and thundering winds. She looked in horror at the Liche's form as it also released all its power. Unlike her, Thalorian’s very form was made of magic and the Qi surge had destabilized him. Thalorian didn’t have time to speak, he shot her a look of regret as his energy rushed back into the Lore Warden in her hands.
Mira collapsed, drained of Qi and all her stored spells. The Lore Warden fell from its place as it absorbed the soul of the Lich. It was unusable while it worked to protect it's true host. Her staff and rod still had power but without a thimble of Qi to activate them, Mira was helpless. She looked up at the hovering Magus. Glaucus’s eyes still glowed with power and his smug face was ready to laugh at his victorious moment. Mira’s eyes narrowed with determination.
Mira grabbed Tiamat’s prison and rolled herself over the edge of the dock. Falling, falling into space. Winning this now was impossible, but she could try to escape. Mira had the smallest glimmer of hope as she fell into the wide-open space. Maybe she could regain enough Qi to form a spell manually and stop their fatal plunge from the cloud realm.
“[Greater Restraint]” Glaucus intoned from above and Mira hit an invisible wall and was stuck in place, unable to move. It was as if she were glued to a giant piece of flypaper. Mira and Tiamat were slowly pulled back up, back into the destroyed room.
Up close, Mira could see that all the quest threads for her had turned black and was stunned to see the threads' origin point. The center of the Faen web was Glaucus, not the quest itself. The ribbons weren’t helping her at all, merely luring her to the center of his trap.
“I congratulate you for being the hero to make it the farthest. I would say that you benefitted from lucky timing, but we both know that would be a lie. Any last words before I wipe your existence from the game?” Glaucus declared haughtily.
Mira was trapped, powerless, and completely out of options. She could laugh or cry. Mira snarled; she had long ago run dry of tears. Glaucus leaned in at her building hyper-ventilations, anticipating her begging or perhaps wails of despair with a twinkle in his eye.
When she brayed out with a great belly laugh, he was extremely put out and confused. Glaucus was stunned and confused by her unexpected outburst. Mira unleashed her greatest weapon. After years of study and honing, in a house of masters; she let fly her deadliest power. Pure, sharp, and merciless sarcasm oozed forth in a tumultuous stream of invective abuse.
“You complete and utterly useless fool! You call this mismatched travesty a DUNGEON. I’ve shat out superior narratives. There was no flow! No buildup, whatsoever! Jumping from unmitigatedly weak mobs to outrageously overpowered foes with pittances and godly artifacts mashed together without worry or care. What were you hoping to achieve with this train wreck of poorly thought-out concepts?” Mira spat.
“You have unimaginable treasures to lure adventurers of the highest caliber and power. This dungeon should be a shining beacon of avarice. An irresistible siren song; pulling in adventurer traffic from across the realms. But noOooOoo! All knowledge of it is locked away in dusty tombs. All attempts to uncover its secrets are rebuffed with certain doom. Hell! Everyone except for me gave up on it years ago.” Mira snorted.
“And to top it all, you broke from character at least twice now! Probably from sheer lack of practice. You called me a gamer and threatened my game. For all your immense power, it's clear it’s you’re a god damned rank novice…at dungeon design. A pathetic pittance of narrative devoid of any significance, meaning, or impact. Why Mythic Realms has given you even a speck of authority is beyond me.” Mira finished. She gulped as the Grand Magister’s angry visage loomed down at her. She knew this was the end, but she had hoped for a better exit than this. Mira got ready to meet her doom. At least she would hold her head high when it came.
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