Supreme Magus - Chapter 220

Chapter 220

Chapter 220: Grieving

Handling two kinds of mana at once, on two different patients, was the hardest thing Lith had ever done . He had to repair all the injuries in a timely manner, using darkness magic against the wounds the Valor's life force caused, otherwise his companions would die of shock or organ failure .

At the same time, he couldn't relieve the pressure on the black mass, not even for a second . It was already only centimeters away from their cores, a single slip up and everything would be lost .

The memory of the kid dying in his arms during the plague was still etched into Lith's mind .

There was no way to repair a broken core . Lith only had one chance and had to make it count . His energy reserves were constantly depleted by his endeavor and replenished by Invigoration, but with every cycle, his breathing technique would lose part of its effectiveness .

Lith needed Solus's help from time to time, letting her take control of his mana flow whenever he felt his focus was slipping . Soon it became a battle of will, Balkor's against Lith's .

***

Ironhelm would have liked to let himself fall on the ground and rest, but Nalear was getting worse by the second . He placed his hand on the fallen Skoll's neck, caressing his soft fur for the first and last time before leaving .

Then, he felt a pulse . He immediately activated his communication earpiece .

"Manohar, Marth, get your as*es over here! Otherwise, I swear to the gods that I will kill you!"

***

Blood Desert, Balkor's secret lab

When Ilyum Balkor finally regained his senses, everything was already over . Kalla's opening move had caused a domino effect, making months of careful planning go to waste . The shock from the sudden death of the Valors had taken him out of the picture long enough for the battle to be lost .

Without his supervision, the Valors had let themselves be blinded by the hatred Balkor had infected them with, making them conceited and reckless . Each time one of them fell, all the others would become weaker, making it easier for the enemies to kill another one, rinse and repeat .

While trying to get up, he coughed blood again and again . Not only was almost all of his life force gone, but also most of his magic . It would take him years to recover, if that was even possible .

"Mother, father, my siblings, please forgive me . " He wept uncontrollably .

"I have failed you . Tomorrow, no blood will be shed . Your deaths will be forgotten because of my incompetence!" The Lords of the forests had proven to be way stronger than he anticipated and so too were their minions .

Many Professors had fallen, even the Lightning Griffon Headmaster had died during the attack, but only a few students had been harmed . The four remaining academies had survived, all of Balkor's efforts had been for naught .

Following Linjos's protocol, the other Headmasters had removed the academies' power cores, entrusting them to the Crown . When Balkor's minions had stormed the academies' gates, the castles were empty shells .

"I only have one choice left . I can't activate my last prototype . I would die in the process and without my control, it wouldn't be able to distinguish friend from foe . It could even harm my family . That accursed bear has ruined everything .

In the end, even the god of death dies . "

Before Warping out of his lab, Balkor activated the self destruct mechanism . The memory crystals, his method to fuse Abominations and undead, his whole life work .

All of it was too dangerous to allow humans to ever get their hands on it .

"It all ends now . " Watching the small mound collapse from afar, Balkor found himself sighing in relief . Even if things hadn't gone as planned, he still had his closure . Two of the six great academies were lost, several Archmages had died .

His legend would live on, instilling fear in the accursed old nobles' households for years to come . They would never know what had happened to him or why he had stopped his attacks .

For all they knew, the god of death would be biding his time, waiting for his enemies to lower their guard while building an even stronger army .

"Also, I would pay my weight in gold to see their terrified faces . Tomorrow night nothing will happen, yet their fear will make it the worst day of their lives . "

Balkor laughed heartily, cleaning the blood from his clothes before returning home . His children deserved to finally have a full time father .

***

When Lith regained his senses, he had no idea how much time had passed . His body ached with every movement due to the strain of prolonged excessive mana use .

He barely had the mental energy to open his eyes . His vision was blurred from physical exhaustion and he had a splitting headache caused by the severe lack of mana . Human figures seemed to be moving around him, but because of the haze, he wasn't able to recognize any of them .

- "How… how long was I out?" Even in his own thoughts, Lith couldn't avoid stuttering . Thinking was a heavy burden, he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep .

"A few minutes . " Solus replied .

"Just enough time for Friya and Quylla to wake up and infuse you with some of their life force . Try not to speak much, your core is almost empty . We already know what happens when someone forcefully goes beyond their limits . "–

Solus was worried too . This time Lith had gone too far, treating his companions' condition until he had lost consciousness . She wanted him to be more human and compassionate, but not if the price was his life .

She had even given him part of her mana without him noticing . She didn't care about her own hunger or the weakness that was numbing her senses, she wanted for him to be alright .

Lith nodded, using Invigoration once again . His mana core was still empty and his body exhausted, but at least now he was able to see and talk properly .

"Lith what happened?" Both Friya and Quylla were worried to death .

"Why won't Yurial and Phloria wake up? No matter what spell we use, their condition does not improve, nor do we understand what's wrong with them . Also, how did you get so exhausted?" Friya asked .

"So nice of you to think about me too, even if only at the end . " Lith rubbed his temples, trying to ease the pain .

Friya opened her mouth to reply in kind to his sarcastic remark, but remained silent .

- "Telling him that I can't help but see him as more of a monster than a human would be too cruel of a joke . Lith may be a bit scary sometimes, but he has always been nothing but a good friend to me . Thank the gods I can hold my stupid tongue . "– Friya thought .

Lith used that respite to tell them about how he had escaped from the Valor bringing them with him . He also told them how the creature had infected their companions and his attempts to cure them .

Even if she meant it as a bad joke, Friya felt terrible for thinking those words .

"Please, go find a Professor . I don't know if I saved them or just bought them some more time . They need someone that knows what we are dealing with . "

Friya nodded, leaving Quylla to take care of her friends while she Blinked right above their house, her rapier ready at hand . From the higher ground, she noticed that the battle seemed to be over . The town plaza was empty .

Some skirmishes were still going on between beasts, Professors, and lesser undead, but the black creatures were reduced to a few handfuls . From the moment Scarlett had killed the Controllers, the hive mind had collapsed .

Without it, the Tox Spitters had no combat awareness, they had reverted to mindless blank slates . It was only a matter of minutes before they got completely wiped out .

Friya identified a group of Professors and went to ask for their help, too late to notice that, what they were battling against, students that were turned into undead . Her rapier cut and stabbed the reanimated corpses mercilessly .

Her hand didn't even hesitate when she recognized some of them as her classmates . The only things Friya felt were the urgency to prevent her sister and friend from suffering the same fate and gratitude towards Orion .

The blade he had crafted for her fitted her hand like a glove . While the multiple enchantments he had forgemastered it with made short work of her enemies, turning them into dust and smoke .

- "I swear that if I get back home alive, I'll start calling Orion 'dad' . "– Friya thought, realizing the depth of care and love her adoptive father held .

"Please, I need a healer! My friends have been hurt!" Realizing what was affecting her friends, Friya's worry increased tenfold .

Professor Wanemyre nodded, activating her communication earpiece .

"There isn't a second to lose, tell me where to find them . "

It took less than a second for Professor Marth to join them and open a Warp Steps back to Lith's room .

"How long ago have they been struck?" Marth knew that, once the dark energy entered the bloodstream, it was only a matter of minutes before the victim died, almost instantly resurrecting as a lesser undead .

"I don't know . " Friya pointed to him the two youths lying on their beds .

Marth cursed their bad luck, casting a diagnostic spell to see how severe their condition was, only to discover that their system was completely cleansed . The two students were simply exhausted beyond reason like they had fought and won the battle of a lifetime .

Marth had no idea what could have possibly happened, and he was simply too happy to care . His joy was short lived though . As soon as he saw Lith, sadness gripped Marth's heart .

Lith seemed exhausted too, he barely had the strength to eat the medical provisions Quylla was handing him . Marth didn't want to burden him further, but time was of the essence .

"Lith, I'm really sorry . " Marth placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him .

"One of your friends has been gravely injured . He doesn't have much time left and he is asking for you . "

"A friend?" Lith's sleepy eyes were suddenly wide open, checking his surroundings .

"What's wrong with Yurial?" He couldn't help but be surprised by the worry he recognized in his own voice .

"Yurial is fine . Whatever you did, it worked . You don't know how proud I am of you . " Marth smiled gently, he would have liked to ask him many things, but questions had to wait .

"I'm talking about Protector . He has something to say to you . I've never seen someone with such strong willpower . He is literally refusing to die before speaking with you one last time . Please follow me . "

Something inside Lith snapped, making all of his exhaustion disappear . Solus knew it was only a placebo effect, caused by Lith's desire to cry clashing with his firm denial that something might have happened to his old friend .

"Take me to him . "

Marth opened a Warp Steps, seeing ill concealed pain in Lith's eyes .

Protector's body was too big to fit in the field hospital and his condition was too severe to move him from the spot he had fallen . Lith's heart ached to see the flaming red fur blackened all over, the flames that made up the tails were reduced to embers . Protector's chest raised and lowered slowly, accompanied by heavy pants .

Manohar had done his best, arriving as soon as he had been summoned . He had used all his expertise to cleanse the toxin, close the wounds, and defuse the lethal effects that such a prolonged exposure to the Dark Star spell would induce .

He was called the god of healing, but he was no god . Just a gifted man that loved his job . There were things even he was helpless against .

"It's all your fault!" Manohar roared to Ironhelm .

"You should have called me earlier! I could have saved him . I never, ever fail!"

Manohar didn't care much for the Skoll's fate, nevertheless, he had done the best that he could . His work was his life, it defined what and who he was .

Lith pushed Manohar away, touching Protector to use Invigoration and check his condition . What he saw made his heart skip a beat . Protector's core was deeply cracked, his mana was slowly seeping out . It had already turned back to green and was losing strength with each passing second .

"Glad to see you before the end, Lith . " Protector's voice was still calm and serene like the first time they had met .

"Don't be sad for me . I had a great life, a loving mate and many offspring . If it wasn't for Scarlett, I would already be dead . I was living on borrowed time . I am really happy to get the opportunity to return her favor . "

Every one of his words was supposed to console Lith, to make him feel better . Yet every time he spoke, Lith felt a dagger piercing his heart . Tears started to stream from his eyes, but his voice was stone cold .

"This is all your fault!" He roared to Scarlett and Linjos that were standing at Protector's side after trying every single spell they knew to save his life .

"You screw up everything you touch! Who the f*ck is that dumb son of a b*tch that made you Headmaster?" Linjos could expel him for all he cared .

If something happened to Protector, Balkor would have to get in line to get his turn with the Headmaster .

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