“𝘈𝘈𝘈! No, no, no!” Alicia screamed as the broom she was riding sped across the horizon expanse.

“Alicia, don’t move! You’re messing with our balance!” scolded a witch who rode a broomstick along with Alicia.

“I’m trying!” Alicia answered, but the frantic was yet to cease. “But my body is always swaying as if I want to fall! I am falling!”

“Nonsense! You’re still panicked. That’s why you feel like you’re falling!”

“Barbara, right? Can’t I just hug you?”

“W-what? N-no, you can’t! You have to keep your hands steady anyway, to keep the magic shield on!”

Alicia attempted to close her eyes, imagining beautiful things, instead of seeing the city of Eidyn a hundred metres from the air. Still, to no avail. The strong wind made her feel as if she was being pushed backward.

“Hey, how about you put your trust in me to fly safely, like you and Orb trust each other? You… won’t fall, I promise!” the witch suggested to Alicia.

Alicia’s eyes opened. The sight of Eidyn looked smaller when looking down, but looked taller and scary when viewed from the side. Alicia took a deep breath. Gradually her fear subsided a little.

“Awright. I got it. I got it.”

Barbara finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, now we’re back in balance. Keep your magic shield on.”

Within the billowing sphere of Arcane magic, Alicia and five other magicians pressed forward towards the burial grounds, braving the occasional eruptions of acidic slime from Leichenhaufen. Though their journey was shielded from harm, it was far from smooth, as Alicia's tremulous form was wracked with pain. Yet, somehow, she seemed to grow used to the suffering. Was this the power of the bitter elixir she had drank, granting her renewed strength? Or was it simply that Alicia, a young girl of immense fortitude, had grown stronger still in the face of adversity?

***

As Team Alicia advanced towards the sources of the dimensional tear, Haddock and Barthie’s unit finally managed to get close to Leichenhaufen, encircling the giant from every direction. The relentless barrage of Arcane magic was taking its toll on the giant living corpse, causing it to lash out even more ferociously, vomiting streams of acidic slime at its attackers. But behind this manifestation of destruction lay the true source of its wrath: Agosh Grendi, who had taken up residence within Leichenhaufen.

Agosh was filled with unbridled fury. He joined the battle, firing red sonar waves at the wizards. Those who were unfortunate enough to be struck by the sonar instantly transformed into the living dead, plummeting from their broomsticks high in the sky, only to commune with Leichenhaufen and its congregation of death.

“A hit! A hit and a hit! Return to Unkel Grendi! This is your kismet as my slave!” Agosh’s shrieks were deafening, as he countered every onslaught from the Magisterium magi. Fighting against a single powerful magus like him was proving to be troublesome for the wizards.

Barthie and his unit flanked him from behind. Looking at the historical castle that used to be the necromancer’s hideout, his brain was akin to a lit light bulb.

“All of you! Do you see that castle? We can use it to spin out the necromancer’s time, while Alicia and others race and destroy the totems!”

One of his men understood what he meant. “But, Sir Bartholomew! It’s a public landmark! We cannot destroy it.”

What a poor choice of words to respond to the Vice Grand Magus when facing the number one magic terrorist of Eidyn. Even when the wind brushed against Bartholomew’s face, it did not make his glaring eyes twinkle as he made a vicious mien at the dissident wizard.

“Ellie’s wrath, look at this idiot, kids! He loves the rickety castle more than his own mother,” exclaimed Bartholomew.

“My parents have passed, Sir Bartholomew.”

“No wonder you’re more aroused by inanimate objects!”

“Sir—”

“If historical objects you are most fond of, I’ll turn you to one like your fallen brothers right there!" said Barthie, pointing to the walking pile of corpses.

“I have been mistaken, Sir Bartholomew. I beg for your forgiveness!”

Bartholomew truly could not fathom the mind of his subordinate. He just shook his head. “If no one is protesting anymore, you better start working on crushing that derogated giant to the ground!”

“Understood!” cheered all his men.

They pointed their wands. Simultaneously, they chanted a magic spell:

“Distantio Pervenire!”

Bartholomew’s unit flew over Leichenhaufen’s shoulders. They held their sticks back; their gnashed faces with veins as if they were towing together a heavy weight—none other than that old castle on a hill!

The mossy foundation stones cracked everywhere, and the entire interior convulsed like an earthquake. Agosh, who was busy shooting human-altering sonar, sensed not a single thing before realising stone crumbs fell on his shoulders and grey hair. He heard a cracking sound, and suddenly a dark blanket overshadowed him and his pet. Agosh turned around, and it was too late. The entire giant palace crumbled down on him and Leichenhaufen! The formations of corpses fell scattered. Before they even assembled again, Haddock unleashed the lightning javelin, Fractionem Tonitrua Custos, at the remains of the demonic carcass several times. Leichenhaufen succumbed, for as long as the time allowed it to...

***

The three totems that stood tall were fortunately not too far apart from each other. They had stumbled upon a totem teeming with the undead, their ghostly feet shuffling towards Leichenhaufen, heedless of the living passing by. Seizing the opportunity, the team rushed forward, destroying any hindering ghouls in their path. However, they quickly retreated a few metres from the totem, for the heat around it was blistering, a Tartarus burrow seeping into the realm. The totems were shaped like monuments, adorned with skulls arranged like macabre collections from catacombs. At their base, dimensional rips gaped, cracks in the ground that glimmered a sickly green, or sometimes a flickering red, as if a massive feast were being held inside. It was there that the cadavers escaped from their graves, seeking refuge from the scorching heat. The wails of tormented souls could be heard emerging from within. No wonder thousands of them were dying to escape, to taste fresh air once more. Being a servant to the necromancer was better than staying.

“Now is the time, Alicia,” said the witch who carried her, “purify this place, and let these poor souls rest in peace.”

“I dinnae even think those souls will ever find peace in Hades,” replied Alicia. “Of course, that doesn’t mean they have the right to disturb the peace of our realm!”

She was ready with her stance to hold out the purification ritual. “Please cast your protective spells and protect me!”

The first totem was instantly assailed by hundreds of Arcane threads but the totem apparently did not want to take fate for granted. The skulls atop it came alive and screeched, resisting Alicia’s Arcane might with the might of Khaos, providing resistance that turned out to drain the girl’s strength.

Despite using all her power to breach the Khaos barrier, the dark force was never a match for the superior Arcane. The Arcane struggled to spread through the recalcitrant totem, until it finally reached its Khaos core. The first dimensional ripping totem exploded! The skulls within tried to flee, but the Arcane stream swallowed them whole, sending them into oblivion.

It was only the first totem, and the girl had almost fallen from exhaustion. Alicia could hear her heart pounding behind her labored breaths. This was the most difficult purifying she had done so far, and she still had to demolish the other two. Correction, three more. She still had to neutralise Agosh Grendi, the necromancer. One could imagine the pain, yet the fatigue she was about to experience.

“You did it!” the other wizards cheered. “Great job, Alicia! Two totems left, and Leichenhaufen isn’t a problem for us anymore!”

“I.…” She was still panting. “Can I rest for a wee bit?”

“Are you joking? The units of the Grand Magus and Sir Bartholomew have gone to great lengths to distract the necromancer! We must make the best of it!”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Ah, ye're right, I’m sorry.” Alicia tried to stand up. Luckily, two mages wanted to share her burden. Seeing her pale face, Barbara offered her Stillmajik potion.

“Impossible,” Alicia refused the potion. “What if your mana runs out before we destroy all three?”

“We’re elite magicians trained by the Grand Magus himself, Alicia. We’ve practised allocating mana to our magic as efficiently as we can. You need this more than we do.”

Though still hesitant she was, Alicia drank the potion anyway, embracing the bitterness pouncing on her tongue. Was it true that people really enjoy this plant when used as a steak seasoning? Haddock must have been making it up, or his colleagues flattered him so he would not be offended and throw lightning javelins at them. But other than that, Haddock’s elite mages seemed more civilised than the ordinary Magisterium mages, she thought.

Now she was preparing for the second totem. “Hop on my broom,” said Barbara, taking Alicia on her magic broom.

They circled the steep hill and found a second dimensional tear. Alicia synchronised with Orb once again and launched another purging. The second totem shattered, and another dimensional tear was sealed for good. The number of rising dead dropped drastically.

“That’s insane. That girl actually did it,” said Strongbar, looking at the remnants of the totem explosion from a distance.

The ruins of the old castle suddenly exploded. Agosh emerged from the embrace of his dead lackeys' remains, but the wizards had surrounded him with wands flowing with Arcane. The necromancer was not finished playing. Knowing the two dimensional rippings were sealed, he could not help but smile behind his fury.

“That fucking Arcane bitch. Oh, she’s gonna be part of my slave collection this time.” Agosh muttered while chuckling.

“I’m sorry, guys. But I'm not here for you,” he continued. “It was really fun today. Let’s play again sometime!”

Agosh chortled, his entire being turning pale and rotting; he turned into a flesh-eating corpse like the others. The figure was about to pounce on one particular magician, but was thwarted by Arcane’s shot from all the men present.

Approaching the corpse, Haddock noticed something odd about it. Agosh’s hair, which should have been white, was now black and full of balding spots. Its facial features did not resemble the necromancer at all.

The remaining cadavers abruptly rushed out of the castle ruins, but instead of fighting the magicians, they ran as fast as they could in another direction.

Haddock’s eyes started to widen. He immediately grabbed his magic broom. “Agosh hasn’t run away.”

Bartholomew shouted, “Damn it! Everyone! To the location of the third totem!”

***

Alicia took a deep swig of her third potion of Stillmajik, steeling herself for the final sealing of the last remaining dimensional rift. The energies of the Arcane began to flow into the skull-lined totem, but just as she was about to finish her work, the corpses recently arisen from their graves suddenly turned on her, lunging with vicious intent.

Alicia stumbled back in shock, but the magic barrier created by the wizards still held strong, protecting her from the snarling horde.

Barbara turned to Alicia. “Alicia, wake up! Don’t worry, we’re still protecting you.”

Despite being bombarded by the relentless attack of the blue-skinned horrors, their pupilless eyes blazing with bloodlust and their teeth gnashing with chunks of flesh, the shield held fast, resisting their barrage. But still, the dead persisted, striking against the barrier with their hooves, heedless of the Arcane energy searing their skin.

“They trapped us,” said Alicia, panicked, “that means Leichenhaufen….”

“In that case, you don’t have much time. Quick, carry out the purifying process!”

Panic permeated the air as they were surrounded by a horde of the undead. Instead of acting, Alicia voiced a desperate inquiry.

“Quick question? Don’t you pals feel pain when they paw at the protective shield?”

“We all will faint like you the more you ask! The totem, haste!”

“S-sorry!”

The Crimsonmane girl rushed to repeat the refining process again. Seeing them share the pain with the Arcane might, her morale accelerated even more. Motivated, the Arcane streams snaked their way through the zombies until they finally reached the third totem.

Suddenly, the army of the dead coalesced into a massive fist, hurtling skyward with a thunderous punch that struck the magical shield.

The magicians faltered in surprise. Likewise, their collaboration Arcane shield started to break.

“What on earth!” Alicia yelled.

The resulting shock wave certainly made the wizards frantic as well as the pangs began to manifest, “Alicia, how long will the purification last?”

“My Arcane streams just entered the totem. They need more time!”

“Well, we don’t have time! The giant carcass fist keeps punching our shield!”

“I’m doing my best!”

The wizards weakened. They did not have enough Stillmajik potion. Their muscles strained as they desperately maintained the fragile protection of their Arcane shields. All they could do was hope the other two units would catch up soon or for Alicia to vanquish the malevolent totem and deliver them from the infernal graveyard.

Agosh Grendi came out from above the giant’s arm, in the form of an undead that came out of formation, tearing his own face and revealing the sharp nose and dreadful wide grin—his renowned hallmarks.

“Crimsonmane, we meet again! Look at you, destroying my x̸̧̙͔͈̥̀e̴̯͖͕̥̞̊̋̐̕n̵̨̝̤͎̲̼͍̞̥̓͂͋̑͑̀͒́͐͐͘͝ĕ̵̢̢̧̛͇̼̮̹̪͌͒̓͒̒͝ẍ̴̨̦̼̫̬̭͔̼̺̬̼̟̈̀̈́́̐̐̿̅͐͝ą̷̨̤͍͖͉̹̣̘̯̥̄̋b̷̧̢̻̹͉͊̽̌̅͛̄̂͒̀͌̐̔̇͐̕͜ͅy̴̨̝͚̺̤̼̮̫͖͗͊̔̎̃͛̀̀̑̾̇̕s̶̟̹̾͌̓͛̈́̚s̶͓̪̙̬̦̜̺̆͂͌̄͋̑́ portal. And you share the Arcane might with all mages? The same mages who ridiculed you earlier?”

“Quiet, you rancid necromancer!” snapped the girl.

“I pity you. How low can you be, after willing yourself to be used by high-ranking mages, just so that they recognize you as part of them?”

Arcane’s threads faded as Alicia lost her focus. “I said quiet, you reprobate!”

“Don’t be provoked by him, Alicia!” said the wizards. “He’s preventing you from destroying the totem.”

“I’m just saying,” continued the necromancer, “rather than being a sycophant of the Magisterium, you’d be better off working with me. You are the most special person I’ve ever met in the world of thaumaturgy. An ordinary human! Chosen by what you name, ‘The Silent Divine’! I shall treat you better than them—even those who hire me. With the power of Khaos and Arcane, I sense a future where we will become controllers of the magic world! Just the two of us. To Hades with that crazy sect employer! See? That’s how amazed I am. As strong as that is my desire to have you! Unlike them, my intentions are honest as they are!”

Alicia almost filled the third totem with Arcane after she regathered her concentration.

Agosh laughed out loud. “You’re ignoring me? That hurts. It’s like talking to the dead!” He then raised his giant’s clenched fist, preparing to lay out another stroke. “Then I’ll make you die for real. Die! Die! Die!” shrieked the necromancer.

Blow after blow kept launching, destroying the magic barrier completely! All the limbs of the mages went numb. Alicia was no exception. She had put all her strength into advancing the purifying process while more and more undead surfaced from the portal.

What a perfect time when Haddock suddenly leapt from his magic broom and lunged at Agosh’s jaw, sending him free-falling along with the death’s gigantic arm dispersed to pieces!

“Look! The Grand Magus and Sir Bartholomew’s units have arrived!” Alicia’s entire group hailed with joy.

Smoothly landed, Haddock swung his wand to blast Agosh with barrages of magic volleys without a second thought. That necromancer had not even woken up yet due to hitting the ground hard. Haddock's calm and dishevelled temper was nowhere to be seen.

The other magi flew around the creeping Agosh. He attempted to reach his staff, but unfortunately, the pure Arcane had sapped away his strength. With a swift kick, Bartholomew sent his skull sceptre flying out of reach, while Agosh gazed at him with disdain. The Vice Grand Magus simply looked down at the necromancer with a nonchalant expression, as if to say, "What's the problem?"

They shackled Agosh with the Static Ligaveris spell. Finally, the necromancer was brought to his knees.

Haddock turned and snapped at Alicia. “Hey, why are you taking so long! Can’t you go any slower?” he barked, his tone almost a mirror of Bartholomew's gruff demeanor.

Alicia wanted to argue, thinking that she was already familiar with the Grand Magus. But she became speechless after witnessing his long face, implying the Grand Magus was already overwhelmed and his emotions were nowhere near stable. Luckily, the girl did not try to tease him to find out whether he was pretending or not.

In a little while, the Arcane stream would reach the core of Khaos, and the totem should be completely annihilated. The girl was already trembling, her muscles numb. Without the rest by her side, she remained focused on snatching the totem's Khaos core.

But then, all rejoiced, for the last dark magic essence was finally devoured by divine might, and the stake of death died along with the portal!

The wizards forthwith exterminated the remaining undead. Alicia knelt down, looking at her fluttering, stiff hands. “W-we did it, Orb… S-so tired, but we d-did it…”

Bartholomew came near to the bespectacled girl, carrying the Stillmajik potion. “For a magicless, your performance is not bad.” The wizard dropped the potion bottle on the ground. “But don’t fill your heart with joy just yet. There’s one more creature to take care of.”

The rest came to Alicia and guided her to the helplessly bound Agosh.

“The Child of Miracles has made her appearance to the world,” sneered Agosh. “There’s no turning back for you, Alicia Crimsonmane. I hope you don’t regret it later, brat!”

Haddock frowned, his thoughts caught on the mention of "The Child of Miracles." It sounded familiar, like a distant memory from another world.

“What are you talking about?” asked Alicia, looking at him with disdain.

"Oops. I don’t want to tell you. I don’t want to tell you." Agosh taunted, sticking his tongue out.

“Don’t waste any more time, do it already!” the Grand Magus admonished her from behind.

“A-aye, Grand Magus. I’m doing it now!”

Here it was. Closing rites for the day. Time to take the power of Khaos out of this abominable being.

Alicia synchronised with Orb, injecting an Arcane surge into the necromancer’s body. The mad Agosh howled with laughter as the purification took place. Khaos grappled with the Arcane within him, He became more hysterical while the girl became weaker. Multiple pains were channelled to her on purpose, solely just to make her suffer.

“Miss, stop tickling me!” the necromancer mocked. The masochistic cry grew louder as Khaos was slowly pulled out of his arms. Alicia wept, unable to withstand the necromancer’s torture—the sensation of tearing flesh and breaking bones. But with all those torments, she still forced herself. The other magi shared her burden, encouraging her to stay strong.

“You’re tough, Alicia. Tougher than Agosh Grendi. You’ve come this far. Please hold on a little longer! Arcane is with you,” the witch Barbara whispered into her ear.

After the torturing battle of body and mind, Khaos once again succumbed to the supremacy of Divine Grace. The power of darkness exploded out of Agosh Grendi’s body, consumed by Orb’s might. The smiling Agosh surrendered as he entered the fantasy realm.

The Magisterium of Arcane Plane saved the day.

And Alicia? She completely purged three magical obelisks and one evil mage in one day. An extraordinary record. She had proven herself worthy of the epithet Champion of the Divine Grace.

Everyone present expressed their joyous serenade as if the fatigue was never there. Of course, this did not apply to Alicia Crimsonmane. Her gaze was blank. All the acclamation for her was nothing but muffled whale echoes. A pat on her shoulder felt like a blow, forcing her to collapse. Sure enough, Alicia stumbled amidst the cheers destined for her, which she probably would never hear again. []