Phasing through solid rock, metal, and mana cyrstals was weird, almost making me feel like I was trying to swim in mud. Thankfully, it only lasted a short while, as I pulled myself free of the thick walls that had once enclosed the core area of the fortress. The sun shone brightly on my spherical form, as I rose up in the air to avoid a collapsed girder and got a good view of what was left of the place. I could feel the mana turbulence still permeating the space around me, but the sea of blue mana crystallization that covered the entire area was thankfully void of the color red.
While momentarily annoyed, I didn't let it drag my mood down, because I had discovered a couple of things after stabilizing my soul's trauma in the throne room. One, the holy power in the spear in my chest had weakened a certain amount for some reason. If there had some kind of percentage bar, I figured the holy seal integrity would have gone down about 15% or so. While it still left me glued to the damn throne, I found myself seriously contemplating various theories about why the seal had weakened.
The second thing was part of the reason why I had come back here. A dozen fellow ghosts floated out of the wall behind me and began spreading out under my orders. They were here to help me search the former battleground and secure it until my metal eaters finally dug their way through to here. However, I had a different mission for myself. Floating towards a mound of blue mana nearby, I began to dig using my ghostly form. It was slow going until I called a couple more ghosts over for help. Eventually, we had a small pit dug. “Alright, try breaking out now.”
“Eaattt...” The weak voice that responded at least told me he was alive, though when I saw a slim tentacle poke out below me, I knew he had been hurt pretty bad. When Slith was able to finally pull himself out his entombment, he just collapsed where he was. Looking at the beach ball sized wraith slime, I was amazed he could still survive in such a state. Still, I felt him slowly regaining strength as his soul trauma healed. Patting the deflated spirit ball a bit, I left a ghost to take care of him, while I made my way to a section of the wall a short distance away.
Three of my ghosts were already steadily chipping away at the wall, though I did not expect them to progress too far anytime soon. Looking at the blue, crystalline surface, it would have been a good substitute for a mirror, if it wasn't for the two, green orbs burning inside the wall. Getting closer, I finally made out the skull that went with the eyes and the rest of the skeletal remains. From what I could tell, Bas had come out of the battle much better than Slith. Though, seeing him missing all his limbs and large portions of his rib cage while encased in crystallized mana was still a depressing sight. “Dieeee... Dooo.. Goooood...”
Sighing, I replied back, “Yeah. Do good.” Then, curiosity got the better of me. “So, how'd you survive?” It was kind of a cold, insensitive question to ask someone who had miraculously survived, but I couldn't help it. I didn't think anything below a high tier existence could have survived what happened here.
However, excited images almost immediately flowed into my mind from Bas. I watched through his memories as the aberrant knight and I fought in the center of the core area and as the mana pool began tearing itself apart. The last few images were of the Soul Focus falling and crashing into the ground even as the Mana Pool finally imploded, sending out a pressure wave. However, what drew my attention was the dark cocoon of death mana that covered Bas at the last minute.
Floating backwards, I looked automatically to the center of the core area and where I knew Aida had fallen. To say my mind was filled with contradictions when it came to her was an understatement. The moment I had begun my search for her, I had been manipulated by what was left of Neduzar in me. However, while I felt uneasiness at the realization that my soul was haunted by fragments of his memories and emotions, I couldn't hold it against his creation, especially when she had helped me at the end.
As I approached her, I got a better view of her final resting place. Her diamond shaped, realm stone lay in the middle of a crown like formation of crystals, some of which were newly formed realm stones of different sizes. However, a couple others were nothing like what I had seen before. Shaped like eggs, the fist sized gems were a deep, dark blue, and even as I neared them, I felt an inexplicable attraction to them.
Still, I forced myself to ignore them for now, instead looking at the cracked and pitted realm stone that had once housed Aida's soul. I knew from Neduzar's memories that it had taken nearly a century for him to fuse the massive, car sized realm stone for her. It had made her one of the most powerful existences below a deity, and in many ways she had been almost indestructible with the spells and knowledge she had been given access to.
Yet, she had been hurt and even corrupted by something that even Neduzar didn't know about. I felt a sudden grief that was not my own welling deep in me, but I didn't try to quash the emotions. There was no reason to do so at this point, not standing in this place and at this time. I stepped back a little in my mind, letting the emotions wash through me and allowed myself to reach out to touch her broken existence.
I felt a jolt in my soul, and I found myself once again in the white space. Just as before, Neduzar's specter floated a short distance away from me. I thought he looked a little more ragged than before, but maybe it was just a trick of my mind. Still, I readied myself for another argument or maybe another barrage of insults. However, the former lich just remained where he was, staring off to one side.
Turning, I found an almost translucent figure floating a short distance away. Her body was barely recognizable as feminine, but her heart shaped face and narrow chin presented a beauty that would have shined brilliantly if she had been smiling. Instead, her face was frozen in blank stare, and her dead eyes remained locked on Neduzar. I knew her identity, of course. “Aida...”
“Traitor..”
Her whispered words changed the white space around me, leaving me floating in an almost 3D theater. In the images that flowed before me, I saw the fortress at the height of its glory, with its legions of undead and powerful constructs. The fully revealed, massive structure was too hard to describe, other than to call it a hive like city surrounded by hundreds of defense towers, trap zones, and obstacles, that only a fool would have besieged. However, as the view zoomed inside the fortress, I realized that any defense could be broken if there were traitors.
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Familiar looking figures from Neduzar's memory, most of them his former subordinates, began moving around suspiciously. There was no way to tell what they were doing until many of them started using teleporters scattered around the fortress to leave and some moved to key locations of the fortress almost in coordination with one another. I wasn't a fool as I guessed what would happen next. Almost as one, they began damaging key parts of the fortress and magic formations.
The view shifted to the throne room, and I saw Neduzar standing up from his throne, gazing upwards as though in doubt. He maybe had a second to react, as a shining, white lance flew through the throne room pinning him to his throne, releasing a flurry of holy mana that began to distort the surroundings. The last few images were of multiple portals opening in the throne room, as undead reinforcements began to arrive to confront the five 'heroes,' who entered the throne room ripping their way through their enemies. Then the image went dark, as a massive confrontation between holy and death mana blacked out everything.
“Defend...”
The images around me changed again, this time showing the outside of the fortress. In the distance, dozens of massive portals opened, and out came marching armies bearing a dozen different banners and standards. Large magic constructs walked, rolled, and floated alongside the mortal beings that composed the armies, and above them, two dozen high tier existences glowed brightly in three different colors: blue, black, and white.
“The symbols on the banners... The Griffon of Altas... the Bear of Martos,.. The Candle of Elmurst... the Scales of Ilyra... The Black Blade of Nefaris... Traitorous scum... Bastards, all of them!”
Neduzar's hoarse voice drew my attention back to him, and I saw his specter literally trembling as he had stared the surrounding images. I grimaced as I recognized some of those names as well, since a few of them had been his former allies. Watching as his so called allies attack his fortress alongside his hated enemies, I felt pity for Neduzar for the first time.
However, whatever they had hoped for, their siege turned into a nightmare for them. Undead armies and massive constructs under Aida's command marched out and met them head on, while Aida turned the massive Mana Pool of the fortress against them with a fury that would have done Hollywood proud. Massive explosions and distortions covered the battlefield turning the fortress surroundings literally into a wasteland as spells that I could only guess at were used. In the end, it turned into a battle waged between the truly strong with massive, white beams of light from the sky scouring the fortress surroundings until they struck the solid, black shield that Aida had thrown up around the fortress. I watched as the shield began to fail, and Aida did the last thing she could. A massive portal spell opened below the fortress, and it sunk through, finally reappearing half buried in a desert.
“Guard...”
The image shifted again. This time it was the inside of the fortress, as the remaining undead began repairing all the damage that had occurred. Hallways and rooms flashed by, some filled with destroyed sections and others intact but without any magic constructs working. The image finally focused on the entrance to the throne room. As various undead creatures tried to enter, they were literally torn apart by intense swirls of white and black. The images began to speed up, and I realized that time was passing quickly in the images.
“End...”
The image shifted back to outside the fortress, where the desert stretched out as far as I could see. There was nothing bizarre or particular... until in the far distance, a red column rose to the skies. The image zoomed in, and I found myself seeing more red columns further behind the original one. When the image zoomed back out, dozens of red columns were in close viewing distance in the horizon. The final few images were of the inside of the fortress, as magic constructs and enchantments began to fail and as the remaining undead collapsed almost as though their existence had been snuffed out.
Finally in the core area, a massive distortion formed in the Mana Pool and familiar red pillars shot out to grasp the large, realm stones. A storm of red erupted, and I saw Aida turn a deep black, as she cast out massive, dark tentrils to fight back. However, the red deluge literally encompassed and corrupted everything it touched, until a massive web of black finally coated all the walls, hallways, and rooms within the range of the red corruption, slowly stopping its spread.
“Loyalty...” Her last word was a broken whisper, and I finally heard emotion in her voice. It was a tired voice, filled with relief and a request.
The images shifted again, and it was of the core area. I could tell the view had been from her spot in the center, and I saw the slow distortion of her vision as it turned red even while the darkness desperately fought on. The last image was of me shouting for her help as I fought the aberrant knight and her final act of defiance and loyalty.
As the white space returned to normal, I saw Neduzar slowly float towards Aida. When he was close enough, he reached out a spectral hand and touched her cheeks softly. From the arrogant and vicious lich, I heard a determined yet despondent voice. “You can rest now... my love...”
Aida's translucent form began to fade, but I saw her eyes light up with life as she finally smiled peacefully at Neduzar in those final moments. He was soon left reaching out to a shimmering cloud that slowly began to dissipate, but he did not lower his hand until there was nothing left. I stayed quiet, not knowing what to feel or think. I already knew about his ruthless past, but for the first time, I wondered if I really knew who the lich had been and how much of his memories were hidden from me.
“Her name was Aidalyn Vallazar Methrallan. She was my wife, and I failed her once long ago. That sin forever haunted me.” Turning to me, Neduzar's eyes burned a deep black as he spoke solemnly. “Remember this, boy... Only strength matters in this world. Only strength will keep what you hold dear safe. Only strength will decide what is right. If you waiver... if you hesitate... if you compromise... you will regret and lose everything.” His spectral form then dissipated, and the white space collapsed.
Back in my throne room, I sat glaring at the ruins of the past before me as I thought about everything I had seen, heard, and felt. I knew now what had happened to the fortress, though I did not understand all of it. More than that, the image of the dozens of crimson columns of light that I had seen in Aida's memory told me that something catastrophic had happened to this world. Aida had fought against it desperately, but even she had not been able to fully endure as she had been at her breaking point, before I arrived. My own battle had been a desperate affair, and I would have failed, if it hadn't been for Aida's final sacrifice. Even my victory came at a price as I was left trying to sort out what memories I had lost from the trauma my soul had taken. This world was not as simple as I had expected it to be, and it made realize the importance of Neduzar's warning. “Only strength matters in this world...”