Steadily, line after line, Mila added to the tapestry of interwoven runes. Her trembling fingers struggled to pull and push her dagger.

The weapon in her hands had lost its sharpness. The blade was dull and misshapen and bent. The dagger was ruined and would not take any lives.

Mila dragged another line into the floor. She thanked whoever had made this weapon, as they had used the best metal and superb skill in its creation. And then, Mila silently apologised. What she had done to the dagger was a travesty.

“There is a change.” Lazlo - the one responsible for the illusions noted. “Outside, there is…” He struggled to formulate wherever he had noticed.

“I know.” Zemny’s snapped back. “Give me a moment. There seems to be a drift happening…” The voice began murmuring and vanished in the surrounding noise pollution.

Those were good news for Mila. The ritual was not aimed at the world the Nobles had wanted to.

Only… Mila consulted her companion. It was happening too quickly. She hadn’t made enough changes to the runes for it to be so noticeable.

Maybe Mila was wrong. Maybe…

“What was that?” Lazlo exclaimed, and a moment later, the ground shook, and the surroundings lost some of the warmth.

Mila had a bad feeling about this.

The following sentence by the Azan confirmed her fear.

“Something broke through the protective shell.” The Guard commander’s whisper carried over everything else. “The Inquisitors are returning to face it. Zemny,” He sounded increasingly alarmed.

“What was that?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t KNOW?” Azan roared. “You are the one who has control over the outer defences!”

“I don’t know,” Zemny repeated. “It’s… It’s something alien. I…”

This spelled their doom… Mila could think of only one being. And then she silenced that thought. Hopefully, It was not what she feared… It couldn’t be. With this corner of reality being cut off and vulnerable…

“No, no, no…” Mila whispered. She didn’t fear anyone overhearing. There was growing panic among the nobles, who began demanding to know what was happening.

The leaders of this group had not kept the conversation secret. It had been a mistake. Mila winced as someone accidentally kicked her back. The people around her began rushing to one side or another.

“CALM DOWN!”

But Azan’s shout had only a minute effect. The panic was setting in.

“Shit…” Mila dropped her dagger in pain. A large foot had stepped on her wrist. It had hurt. It had interrupted her work. There was no time. She felt the surrounding panic seep into her bones.

A loud screech rattled Mila’s bones. It came from outside and sounded like ten thousand pigs mixed with children being burned alive.

“REPAIR THE FUCKING SOUND FILTER!”

The screech continued. Mila’s vision began to swim. There was a taint that accompanied the sound. It wasn’t as bad for her but for the children and the weaker adults…

“I AM TRAYING TO-” Zemny yelled something.

It was impossible to hear what they were trying to do. Mila doubted it would work. Around her, people began to collapse. The child who had seen her before was one of the first to die. He rolled out of his mother’s arms as she fell.

The lifeless body limply settled into stillness, the boy's fading eyes watching Mila once again. And he wasn’t the only one. More died with each passing moment.

At first, it had been only the weakest, but now, even a guard or two could not hold back the corruption transferred through the sound.

Worse yet, the dead began to rise. Mila could not fathom what she was seeing. The lifeless bodies became animated again, clumsily lifting themselves up from the ground.

And their skin… It slowly became bark-like. Just like-

The dead collapsed on the ground, and the terrible sound was cut off.

“-Stopgap.” Lazlo’s voice became audible over the sobs and screams of despair as the Nobles began mourning their dead family members. They had taken so much, and now so much was taken from them. Only now did they have their humanity restored.

“-keep them dead. Without mana-”

“-Inquisitors-”

“-out of control-”

“-fighting-”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

While continuously labouring, Mila tried to hear the newest updates from the most powerful people in the room. From what she gathered, Zemny had used the ritual to steal away mana from the animated corpses.

And Mila tried not to think about it. As she rolled forward to reach the next row and hid beneath the seats, her eyes found one of the dead.

It was right before her eyes. Mila could see the skin turning into tree bark… It was a proof. She forcefully bit her tongue. “Don’t think about it… Don’t think about it. Carve, carve, carve…”

“-Holding It back-”

“-long? They can’t-”

“-have to-”

“-faster-”

“-Yes, there is no choice-”

“-No choice-”

“-kill them-”

“-no other-”

“-ill th-”

Mila was startled by a sudden gurgling sound. She grimly accepted the fact of what was happening. She understood the choice.

The strong began to kill the weak. Nobles slaughtered Nobles. They split into several factions. Their shouts and indignation filled the room, but soon…

There were only a handful of families standing. From the more than hundred, less than a half remained. The most powerful and most influential.

It didn’t mean they were unharmed, but now… Their attention and efforts were consolidated.

In addition, the slaughtered people were used to fuel the ritual. The fresh kills filled the room with even more mana.

So much that…

Mila stilled her breath and ceased all movement. Her fingers stopped the work, and she pulled back her limbs, trying to become smaller than she already was.

The surroundings had reached some sort of saturation point. Mila felt resistance settling against her skin. The heavy presence of mana disabled her spell, making her very noticeable to anyone who was to see her.

The only reason Mila had not been seen yet was because of the surrounding bodies. But if she did as much as breathe-

“Wait!”

Mila kept still. They couldn’t have found her so quick.

“You, check the bodies,” Azan ordered an unseen subordinate. “Make sure everyone is dead. We need every drop of mana.”

“YES!” Zemny began celebrating. “We are almost done! We are about to leave this damned world! KILL THEM, TOO!”

“SHUT UP, ZEMNY!” Azan’s roar cowed the raving madman. “DO NOT SPEAK OF MY PEOPLE LIKE THAT! EVER!”

It was too risky to move. It was too dangerous to check how close the enemy was. Mila’s senses were blind. The ritual had entered the final stages. She had… She had been too late. Mila could tell the runes and pathways around her had set in motion.

Everyone would die. Mila had failed. She had been too slow and too weak to keep the promise to Isabel.

Zemny’s laughter resounded through the room. The man had realised the same. “FINALLY!”

“Will it land us in the correct place?” Lazlo sounded doubtful. “You said there were issues with the-”

“Pah! It doesn’t matter. There is enough mana to brute-force it! The sacrifices we made have been ENOUGH!” Zemny began laughing again. His maniacal joy stuck to the walls and then echoed back.

A sudden lurch stopped the shifting that had begun to occur. Mila’s body was yanked sideways, making it visible from above.

“What was that?”

“IMPOSSIBLE!”

“What was that, Zemny?” Azan was alarmed.

“Something forcefully-” For the first time, Zemny’s tone sounded sane. “Something grabbed the formed mana shell and is holding it still.” His voice was full of wonder. “Our attempt has been spatially locked. I… I have never seen anything like this before. It is… Almost divine. Definitely dangerous. The grip… It is crushing us.”

“We need more mana.” Azan was the first to snap back to reality. “Check everyone. Stab every corpse to make sure we got every bit of mana possible. Then go out and kill everything that moves.”

“Just mana won’t do.” It was scary how calm Zemny was in the situation. At this point, he sounded excited.

“But it will help, right?” Azan made a reasonable assumption.

“Yes, yes, it will!” The mad scientist replied. “Do what you must. I need time to think. This is something unheard of. No… Perhaps not… Back then…”

Meanwhile, Azan barked out another reminder for his subordinates to move. Mila watched one come into her view immediately after and stab one of the corpses on the ground with his sword.

It was too late to try inching back into the cover. Mila considered her ruined dagger. It was useless. She had seen a few, now ownerless, weapons around her. But to get those, she would have to move.

There was the last option. Mila poked the ever-present companion. She couldn’t fight, but perhaps…

However, the answer Mila got disappointed her. She wanted to curse the old fool but couldn’t. No sound was allowed. Silence would buy her a few moments more.

What had gotten into the senile ghost? Had the previous time Mila had given him control over her body left the old general too weak to repeat the feat? It couldn’t be…

The guard finally noticed her. Mila let out a sad chuckle. There was nowhere to run. Not that she could. Even with the healing she had received, she was in terrible condition.

“Is this the end?” Mila whispered as the guard loudly exclaimed and raised his sword.

Two more guards joined the first one. Three of them began walking closer to her. From behind, Azan told them to hurry up.

It was better to go fighting. Mila dropped her ruined dagger - now just a piece of deformed metal. It would be madness to try and use it. She would have to grab one of the nearby swords.

If only Mila’s body obeyed. It moved, but so slowly. The remaining guards were too strong. Azan had left only the best to live until the end. They were fiercely loyal, well-armed and resolute.

Mila could only take one of them. But three… And there were more, not to mention the leaders of this farce.

The sickle of death hung over Mila’s neck. She extended her hand and grabbed the nearest sword. It was too large for her. She weighed the weapon in her hand while rising from the ground.

Once more, Mila saw the glowing ball of pure energy. In front of it stood several people. Three of them were far beyond what she could handle at her best.

Which Mila wasn’t. She faced the closest guard and ignored his mocking words. Due to the environment, she didn’t have to worry about magic, but…

Mila dodged a swing, then jumped to the side thrust coming from the back. The guards kept her surrounded. They didn’t let her slip away. She tried to anyway.

A sword met a sword, and Mila tumbled backwards. Her fingers struggled to keep her weapon in hand. “Ah…” She ducked beneath a wide, powerful swing.

Mila glanced at the guards who were leaving the room to search for more victims to slaughter.

It was… A chance of sorts. With the transfer forcibly stopped, perhaps Mila still had some time… If she could get out of this room…

There was a chance! One of the guards attacking her tripped, leaving a minute chance for a counterattack or…

Mila darted towards the open doors… They were so close. She could get out. Just a couple meters more.

Of course, it was wishful thinking. Mila felt the fabric on her back be torn by a wild attack. Her steps faltered, sending her sprawling on the ground, and she painfully slid into the wall.

The collision took the air out of her lungs. Mila gasped for oxygen, trying to turn around. She had lost her weapon. It couldn’t end this way!

Outside of the room, the guards found more food for the ritual. Mila heard them shout and fight.

Mila spun around to be greeted by a guard chopping down with a giant sword, aiming at her head. She refused to look away. Her thoughts turned back to Isabe. Mila knew her girl would not forgive this outcome. She would be so sad and angry.

The thought of her girl and Isabel’s possible reactions summoned a small, sad smile on Mila’s face. She really wanted to see her girl one last time.

It was to the point that Mila hallucinated.

Powerful, warm arms wrapped around Mila, covering her from the incoming attack.

A familiar scent returned hope to the tired girl. Mila’s eyes widened as the noble face of her girl looked down on her.

Mila could not believe it. Had she died? Was this the afterlife? She felt all strength and tension leave her body “...Isabel.”