Two men walk off the silver portal. Riou’s eyes widened when he saw that one of them was Harmon Skaralt, alive.

“I told you Dahmer, my triangulation was precise! All I needed was some argonian mana signature on this part of the land. And now, I finally found the little rats that I was looking for.” He looked to Ferdinand and then Sadon, “Did your master tell you? That I would be the one to kill you all?” He then laughed when he saw Riou. “You! You are also here? How lucky can we be, Dahmer!?”

“I don’t know… but by the looks of it, I’d say they are the lucky ones, after all, it seems they were struggling in a fight against an imperfect insectoid servant.”

“You may be right! Let them rejoice then, while I step on this insect.”

Dahmer grinned, “But still, I can’t believe that someone was dumb enough to perform that ritual I created on a grown man. Why does someone, in sane mind do that, Harmon?”

Max looked at Riou, “Harmon?” and Riou nodded, increasing the uneasiness on the old mage a hundred fold.

“Their master was an idiot, he asked for immortality, so I gave them a few ways to reach it. The Insectoid ritual was one of them.”

Sadon and Ferdinand despaired, they knew who those two were and why they were there. Both Council members listened with great apprehension while trying to find a way to escape that dire situation.

Ferdinand quickly rushed away from Gilles, “One thing at a time! First, I need a pawn and an opportunity,” as he got away from the lord that immediately began to feel the effects of a spell. He then looked at Harmon and Dahmer as if they were wild beasts ready to attack him.

Dahmer smiled, finding it very amusing, “Pulverization of Mana particles? Don’t tell me you even gave them that useless thing, Harmon?”

“Indeed, they were starving for knowledge, so they ate anything I provided as if it were the spell of legends.”

Dahmer released some of his mana that spreaded on the field similarly to Ferdinand’s, as it touched the other particles, both dissipated and disappeared. Without the particles nearby, Gilles returned to normal very quickly. “Unfortunately, it is useless in a fight.” said the Argonian Mage in a smug face.

“Now, let me handle these two, then we must talk, the master has a message for you” Said Harmon to Riou’s surprise. The Argonian leader then moved towards Sadon. “The thing about the insectoid transformation is that it is intended for a special fetus. Of course, depending on the ritual, different effects can be achieved, we can create a simple drone that has a low life expectancy or a warrior insectoid that can regenerate eternally, even if its head is taken off, as long as one of it’s hearts beat, the mana will regrow the body. But, what would happen if a grown man tried that ritual?”

Dahmer widened his eyes, very intrigued, “That’s a good question Harmon… I’d guess, in the very least, that he’d lack the most crucial internal metamorphosis, if not all of them. But certainly the lungs and the hearts won’t form properly.”

“Well, I can sense it, the hearts indeed failed to form, what a shame…” Instantly a shadow sword pierces the middle of the chest of Sadon, “Instead of 3 hearts, the one he had got bigger and migrated to the center of the chest. So, there is only one heart in this case.”

Dahmer nodded, “Quite an easy kill then, since the only way to avoid the bizarre regeneration a warrior insectoid has is to pierce its three hearts simultaneously. I mean, for a Beastmen, that is quite an achievement.”

Sadon falls dead before he hits the ground. Dahmer took a closer look at the wound, “The carapace is also a bit thinner. I see he forced the evolution through some soul power, that didn’t help him either, he needed time for his body to adapt, and he rushed through it.”

Harmon smiled, looking at where Ferdinand was. “One rat is down, where is the second one now?”

With all the attention on Sadon, Ferdinand had vanished from everyone’s sight, and a feminine voice spoke, echoing from all around them. “You may have ended Sadon’s miserable life, but I’m Gadora, the Master of Illusion of the Twilight Council! And you will see what I’m capable of!”

“Hahaha! The rat dares to stand up against the snake! Fair enough! Come, give me your best shot! Let me show you true despair!” taunted Harmon.

Gadora laughed back! “You think you are all powerful! But my master gave me something even you can’t handle! Something he prepared to fight even you! Now, tremble in fear!”

A black flame ring began to form in the middle of the room, floating in the air gaining size at every moment while aiming at Harmon.

“A Black Flame?” Said Harmon, surprised and showing signs of concern, but he soon smiled at it. “You fool, you think you can scare me with illusions? That’s clearly not a black flame, and do you know how I know it? Because I was the one that gave it to your master!” He then pulled a necklace from inside his robe and showed the pendant around, a small transparent stone, with a vivid black fire inside of it.

He pointed towards the ring and blew it softly, releasing a dragon-like black fire breath that reached and consumed Gadora’s fire, burning it completely. “Did you know that true Black Fire can even burn illusions down! You didn’t, or you wouldn’t have bluffed with it!” He turns to the side and sees Ferdinand by the corner. “For an illusionist like yourself, you chose the worst bluff of all.”

Gadora looked at herself, Ferdinand’s image was disappearing, her most powerful illusion was being dissolved by just being close to that flame. Ferdinand’s image melted and was no more, the face turned into an old woman and his long gray hair.

The moment Riou saw that black flame he swallowed hard, and looked at Galan, “Oh shit!”, the shadows had already begun gathering near him. Riou then stepped back and pulled Max away from Galan. “This is gonna be rough to deal with.”

“What’s going on Riou?” asked the magus.

“Just… just make room, Umbra is coming.”

“Because of the Black Flame?”

Riou nodded “Not only that…”

Umbra walked from the shadows with intent “This smell, this flame… Was it you? The wretched fiend who dared to ravage nests!?” Her dragon eyes flared with rage, her human image was already breaking into a dragon form as she walked towards Harmon.

Harmon smiled, “What? A dragon here? And a black one? I thought the black ones were long gone. How Interesting.”

Dahmer looked at him nodding, “It is said that Dragons hold grudges for life, it seems the saying holds true, after all it has been so many years now and the anger in that thing's eyes is very vivid.”

Max's legs trembled, “No, no, no… it cannot be. She is a black Dragon?” he looked at Riou, “A black dragon! You had a black dragon following us like that? Are you mad? Have you realized what you’ve done? We wanted to save this kingdom but now we are doomed! It’s the end of times! You brought death upon all this land! I knew you were reckless but I would never think that...”

Riou sighed and interrupted him “Relax for fuck sakes! Breath, before you get a heart attack, old man. She won’t destroy the kingdom, don’t worry!”

“How can you be so certain? What assurance do you have? Her words?”

“No… I know her father and she won’t disobey him.”

“Ahh you know her father… Wait, her father? Do you mean there is an even older Black Dragon? Alive?”

Riou forced a smile and shrugged. Max almost fainted after that response.

“May I ask why? Why have you destroyed those innocent eggs? What gain could you possibly get from searching for a dragon’s nest to ravage their offspring?” asked Umbra.

“I was younger at the time and had heard tales of the destructive power of the mighty Dragons and their extreme resistances. So of course I would check it. I killed many dragons on my way to the mountain peak, but what everyone called Dragons, to me were nothing but winged lizards. Far from the mighty beings described in legends. To me, your kind is nothing but weaklings. But amongst those eggs, one of them seems better than the others. I sensed the flame essence within a solitary egg. But I must say, the legendary fire made justice to its reputation, I was happy with my findings.”

He opens his hand commanding the necklace blackfire to move towards it, showing the flame to Umbra. He blows it and the fire promptly erupts into a massive flame that engulfs the dragon.

But she walks out of it unscathed.

“As expected of a Black Dragon. It’s own flame can’t harm you, can it?”

“You… you little piece of meat, you dare to use that flame against me?”

Umbra pulled air into her lungs, Harmon smiled and prepared to receive it with the power of his own black fire.

As she breathed the intense black fire and Harmon immediately tried to fight back with his own acquired black flame, putting fire against fire.

Harmons black fire breath was bigger and kept going more violent than Umbra’s breath!

Certain of his victory, the moment the flame’s hit each other, his bigger and more violen fire got easily pushed back and engulfed by hers.

“You fool!” said Dahmer, “What are you doing? Why haven’t you set up a defensive shield!” He speaks as he protects Harmon with a special mana barrier that is held on long enough to allow the black flame to pass by them.

Harmon blinked confused for a moment, “You are right, I don’t know why, maybe I was too surprised by this outcome.”

Dahmer noticed his confused state, “We should go, remember Juliu’s words, we can’t fight him or his people” said Dahmer, very concerned, “We’ve done enough, give the message and let’s go back.”

“Who do you think I am? I will not flee nor turn my back, not before my deed is done! And there is yet one rat to kill, right there!” he pointed to Gadora.

Umbra smiled, showing her dragon teeth in an inhuman mouth. “No… You won’t flee, not now that I found you. I will show you true despair, then I will crush your bones in my teeth and spit your remains on the ground then burn them with black flames until nothing remains!”

Riou sighed “Shit…” he then whispered “Noctis? Are you listening or seeing this? Your kid is mad and furious. She’s definitely going to go wild on some Argonians connected to that death god fellow. Are you sure you shouldn’t interfere? Shouldn’t we do something about it?”

Gilles and Gadora watched that dragon with utter surprise, Gadora smiled, “I can use this chance, now they are occupied, I can try again!”

Riou pointed to Gadora who started to move away towards the garden, “Max!” The old man immediately got back to his senses and changed his focus from the dragon to the enemy from the council.

He moved and intercepted her escape route. “No, you are not going anywhere!”

Gadora smiled “And you will stop me?” She then quickly opened her arms and spread her mana particles, pushing them against him.

Max defended it with a barrier, “The same trick won’t work twice on me!”

She frowned at him.

All that time passed and Riou received no response from the first born of the dragon race. He looked at Max “Can you handle that one, old man?”

“Don’t worry, this one is not going anywhere! Just make sure that the dragon doesn't go rampaging on the city!” replied Magus.

Gadora laughed at the mage, “Good, I can work with you alone!” Gadora’s image suddenly ondulated like an illusion at a hot desert and turned into a pretty woman wearing a black dress.

Max watched but could not see nor sense her spell, those mana particles were like independent spells with no correlation to her mana pool, it was hard to sense or predict anything against it, “That’s a rather peculiar spell, Mana Pulverization they called it, right? But that isn’t enough to save you!”

Gadora winked at Max, “Who knows? I might get lucky and catch you off guard, the way I see this, my victory is in my grasp already,” at that moment, a green spike erupted from the ground. All Max’s defenses were triggered, he moved away but as he landed a few steps back, another one was waiting for him as well.

Since it came from below, his shields weren’t as efficient and were easily pierced, Max's legs were scratched as he pulled away from it to avoid a greater wound.

“How terrible! Someone should check what is going on around in this garden, these plants are so dangerous!” taunted Gadora, that without Max noticing, she must also have done something to the ground around him. And now he was cautious about where to step.

Riou noticed Max being hit, “Max?” while his attention remained on Umbra as her image was now of a complete dragon.

“Don’t you worry about me! I’m fine! You deal with that damn monster!” shouted Max glancing at the black dragon.

Everyone’s attention changed to Umbra. “I can’t believe it, a black dragon this big? After all these years...” Said Gadora.

Max quickly conjured a fireball and launched against her while her attention was on Umbra, but without a movement or any sign of a spell from Gadora, Gilles immediately rushed and jumped at the incoming spell, blocking it with his own body.

The fire damage was big, he fell to the ground in flames, rolling over to put out the fire, but the burnt damage was quite heavy on him.

“Gilles? What are you thinking?” shouted Max.

“Watch out Magus, or you will kill the lord while trying to get to me!” she said mockingly, and from her hand, a ball of mana emerged and slowly floated towards Gilles, the spell slightly alleviating his pain, enabling him to stand up once again.

“You witch! What have you done to me? If you think this will be the end of it you are very mistaken, soon my people will arrive and when they take you I will make sure to skin you alive! Break your teeth in half and make you chew those eyes of yours!”

Gadora laughed at him “Such bravery! You can still talk this much after such damage?”

She pointed at Gilles “You are my pawn now, my brave knight!” but Gilles refused, “As if I’d fight for you!”

“Unfortunately, I’m not prone to fighting myself, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make others do it for me! Gilles! You are under my command, wanting it or not!” she blew a kiss towards Gilles, thousands of small mana particles were released in the air and specially around him fortifying his body greatly.

“What have you done to me!? I’m under nobody’s command!” said the lord, verifying what the spell had done to his body that had become bigger and more muscular.

Gadora smiled, “On the contrary, my valorous and strong knight. You will defend me like a good boy you are!”

Gadora floated on the air a bit above the ground as Gilles began walking to her front. Unwilling steps, but that forced him forward and to stand between her and Max.

“What is this? How are you controlling me like this? I don’t want to move!” said Gilles, but Gadora just smiled. He looked at Max, “I’m not doing this! You must believe me!”

“I do believe you, her magic is a strange one, I don’t understand how it works yet.”

-----

On the other side, Riou tried to talk Umbra down, but knowing the dragon, now that she was face to face with the so-called thief, he knew there was no chance of her backing down. “Remember our agreement! You shouldn’t be revealing your true form!”

“I thank you for this, if it wasn’t for you I might have never been able to fulfill my revenge! After that wretched pact I thought this moment would never come. But now it is here and there is nothing that could prevent me from fulfilling my desire for vengeance!”

“Shit… I thought you wanted a kill pass for that asshole!” he pointed to Galan who was watching Umbra with great attention, Riou looked at the shadows nearby, “Noctis! Things are getting out of hand here! I understand she is pissed, but I’m not sure what to do here. Should I interfere? Should I help her or stop her? Come on, give me something at least!”

But there was no response.

Dahmer nodded watching the dragon transform, “Harmon, since it comes to this, do try to preserve the body and the head, I’d like to take it back with us for study.”

“Of course… After all, it will be self defence against a lizard. I doubt Julius would reprimand us.”

“You are right Harmon, looking at that thing’s eyes, there is no way it won’t attack! So don’t worry too much, I’m certain the master would allow this.”

Umbra didn’t find those remarks funny, “You think you can fight me? Hahaha! Yes, yes! Please, do attack me, and try your very best! I will do the same as you, I will show you despair! You have three attempts to kill me!” Umbra’s dragon form towered over the house and shadowed everyone there.

Harmon began moving his hands, “Dragons… always so full of themselves, especially the big ones. But I will entertain you, let’s see how you fare against an old spell of mine, the same I used to kill several of your kind back in my youth days!”

Two large bones began to emerge from the ground beside him, their tips were very sharp and pointed upwards to Umbra’s upper chest.

With a moment’s notice, it launched in an incredible speed, hitting the dragon and shattering in thousands of small shards.

“That’s one, but I warn you, you will have to do much better if you even wish to crack the softest of my scales!”

Dahmer laughed “That’s what you get for underestimating your opponent and using such an old spell! Do it properly, Harmon! Try that new spell Julius taught us! It may not kill something this big but it will certainly put it in its place! Don’t you think so?”

“That would be a good experiment, indeed! The books said Dragons were weak to this element, let’s test it.”

Riou stepped forward fearing the outcome of such a spell and what Noctis would think if he didn’t help his daughter. But Umbra immediately turned her big head towards him, “Don’t you even think about it! He is mine and mine alone! Nobody will take this opportunity from me! You will stand back! I don’t need anyone’s help to deal with these humans!”

“Umbra… remember your father’s words! This is getting too dangerous!”

Her eyes burned with hate, her vengeance would not be denied, “This is different, I know what I’m doing! And nobody will take this from me, not you, not my father, not anyone!”

Harmon finished his preparation and a ball of mana and electricity began to form in front of him. “This is not nearly as strong as a pure lightning, but is completely controllable. And what I mean by it is that what it lacks in raw power, it compensates in duration, accuracy and aftereffect!” as he finished it the ball was launched and quickly hit the large black dragon, the electric ball expanded and engulfed Umbra’s chest, shocking her whole body for a long while.

“Umbra!?” shouted Riou, but the Dragon stood up during the whole trial.

Once the spell finished, Umbra looked tired, but she was standing tall and a satisfied voice was heard from her, “That’s two. Only one attempt remaining. Can you feel your time running out? Little human? Are you feeling despair already?”

Dahmer looked confused to Harmon, “Did you do something wrong? That was supposed to kill any living beast. A Dragon of that size shouldn’t be a problem for that kind of spell! Her heart should have exploded!”

“Of course I did it right! Maybe the black dragon has better resistances than the books stated, after all, it probably was never used in one!”

“Maybe you are right… then if that didn’t work? What will you try now?”

“I’ve killed plenty of dragons in my youth, I’m sure I can take this one down too with my next spell.”

“You puny, insignificant humans. Only you would be proud and boastful of killing newborns. But today I will teach you to respect a superior race! Struggle as much as you can, show me your best and then despair in the realization that that it will not be nearly enough! You are beneath me and you will die!”

“I can’t die! I already died once and was brought back! Your threats mean nothing to me!”

“Good, then you already know the feeling of death’s embrace! Don’t worry, I will make you feel it again! Ahh, finally, I can finally smell fear in you! Probably because you know that my flame will keep you dead this time, don’t you? Nothing will remain for anyone to revive!”

Harmon took offence to her words. Noticing it, Dahmer laughed “Don’t pay attention to that lizard Harmon! Perhaps you want me to deal with it? I can take it down in one spell easily.”

Even more angered by Dahmer words, Harmon forced a smile “No! I will do it myself and nothing will remain of this dragon once I’m finished with it!” Harmon began chanting in Argonian, the air around him began to move, a purple circle of mana appeared by his foot and a green one appeared above him.

Dahmer stepped back. “Hey Harmon, there is no reason to get that serious against that thing! To use a sperimental spell of this level is an overkill! What will you do if it hits the others near it by accident? Julius won’t like that!”

“It will be an accident and then he can just revive them if he wishes to!” Both circles began to connect with reddish mana rays and lightning. They began to approach each other and fuse together in a great explosion of light and a small dark cube appeared on Harmon’s hand, its edges were dark green and pulsed with great energy.

“Behold, the new epitome of magic, a destructive power unlike anything this world has ever seen before! A knowledge bestowed to me by the god of death himself!”

Dahmer smiled and shook his head while stepping even further back, “Julius will be so pissed off with you! It will be so entertaining to see what he will do to you!”

“Now deal with this, black lizard!” A green light began to appear around the dragon, lines of light in the shape of the edges that formed a perfect cube around the dragon, as massive as Umbra herself.

Riou and Galan were within the spell limits and the lines were closing them in with her.

She quickly waved her wings and the air pushed Galan and Riou away, making sure they wouldn’t be caught by the closing of the spell.

“Do not interfere! Something of this level is nothing to me!” She shouted at Riou.

“For fuck sakes Umbra! What will I tell your father if you die?”

The cube closed, the spell walls turned into a blackveil that prevented a clear sight on the insides. In the cube, green and purple energies raged about, like streams of energy crossing from one wall to the other. The sheer power it emanated could be felt by both Riou and Galan, and they could tell that those things could destroy and disintegrate anything they touched given its power.

“Umbra!” Shouted Galan, fearing for her life amidst such devastating force, he rushed towards the cube but couldn’t get close to that spell, it was like trying to get near an open furnace with molten iron inside, he’d be burned alive before he could even touch it.

Riou as well, tried to get close to the cube. But the energy and power emanating from it was too strong for him to act recklessly. If he tampered with it while Umbra was inside it could cause an even greater explosion.

But as he was deciding how to act, he noticed it, between flashes inside the cube, he could see Umbra’s silhouette. She was still whole, standing and with her head locked in place like a predator, ready for the pounce.

Despite the punishment going on inside that cube prison, she was resisting and her eyes were still on her prey.

Harmon smiled as there was no movement inside the cube. “Did it die instantly? No struggle, no screams? How boring… oh well, let’s take a small peak, shall we?”

As the light and energy began to vanish as the cube began to open, a very excited voice came from within the cube, “Three!”

The spell broke from within as Umbra burst forward. The attack was done at great speed towards Harmon.

The great Argonian leader put up all the barriers he could in that fraction of a moment, as the massive head of the dragon rushed at him.

Even runes of time were triggered to gain momentum, but it was all in vain. Nothing deterred the dragon’s approach. She broke through every single barrier and defensive measure he created. And in a blink of an eye, Harmon was impaled by her teeth and pulled up.

Dahmer watched without belief, as Harmon was slowly pulled inside the dragon’s mouth, chewed up and minced amidst her razor sharp teeth.

“No! This can’t be!” Dahmer was clearly in shock. “A dragon can’t be this powerful! How could it break through his defenses?”

Riou sighed and put his hand on his head, expecting the headache such action would bring.

She then cleaned her mouth with her tongue, making sure every part of Harmon was spat on the ground. A pile of minced meat and dragon’s saliva was quickly formed and then she spit a small black flame on top of it. The flame lit up with the saliva and quickly burned the flesh with a black fire, quickly consuming it that not even the ashes remained behind it once it was gone.

“What… What have you done!? Harmon can’t be killed! He can’t die… he is immortal now!”

“He seems pretty dead to me… and you? You are next!” said Umbra, clearly not satisfied yet and turning her head and body, slowly but menacingly, towards Dahmer.

---------------------

Meanwhile Max was trying to hit Gadora without killing Gilles in the process. Not to mention that he couldn’t move from where he was. By then, he was sure to be surrounded by a minefield of spells. He could see the glint of spell circles formed all around him.

“Shit! Shit! Let me move! Kill her already!” said Gilles.

Suddenly, Gilles started to dash forward towards Max in a desperate manner.

Quickly, the Magus raised a wall of mana forcing him to stop. Gilles hit it, head first and fell to the side, triggering a spell circle hidden in the ground nearby. A green vine emerged from the ground and wrapped around his torso, pulling him down very tightly and with enough force to make it difficult for him to breathe and threatening to break the lord’s spine.

“Ops… it seems my pawn was caught by one of those pesky roots from before. What should I do now? It seems that I lost my protector! Poor me,” said Gadora, smiling.

“Help!” He screamed with the little air left in his chest. Max looked at her preparing a spell, but at the last moment, he shot it on the roots of the Vines holding Gilles, the vines burned down and released the Lord that was clearly about to die.

Gadora applauded the act, “That was unexpectedly intriguing! Why didn’t you attack me instead?”

“Because it was another trap, and since I didn’t know what would happen if I attacked you, I chose the safer bet.”

“So clever!” said Gadora with a mocking smile. “But I’m afraid your time is out, and it’s time for me to leave.”

“My time is far from over! This is just starting. I can go on for a long time like this, Gadora!”

“Oh no, you can’t…” She laughed and pointed to him “Haven’t you noticed? You haven’t moved from that spot for a while now, do you know why?”

“Because of your traps, of course!”

She laughed, “What if I told you, there were no traps? I mean, aside from the first two attacks… All that happened after was just an illusion.”

“Impossible! I made sure to prevent your mana from touching me with my barrier, and if I cut the connection your illusions won't work!”

“You think that’s how it is? Well… then take a good look, because you, Great Magus, are at death's door.” she snapped her fingers and a sharp pain assaulted Max’s body.

He looked down, and his leg and half his body was wrapped in a thick root. As Gadora snapped her fingers some of these roots pierced deeply inside his muscles and organs, holding him completely still while causing a heavy damage and bleeding.

Gilles was nowhere near, he was hiding inside the house and didn’t seem to have left it, the whole time.

“You witch! How did this happen?” Max Coughed blood and the realization came to him.

“The scratch! It wasn’t just a scratch, was it?”

“No! The moment it got your leg, my Illusion activated! Everything that happened afterwards was just me playing with your senses! All I had to do for my spell to work was to make sure you wouldn’t move so my roots could grow taller and stronger to completely wrap around you! And you were such a good boy, you stayed still the whole time I needed!”

“Dammit! I fell for something so simple!” He turned to Riou but his attention was caught on the events with the Dragon. Max gathered all the air he could in his lungs to shout, but a room immediately pierced him, forcing him to release the air.

“And now, if you excuse me… I will take my leave from this place before that little fight over there ends and their attention turns towards us once again.”

“Treachery, trickery and deceit! That is all your Council is good at!” said Max with a faint voice, concentrating his mana at great pace inside his body.

“What are you doing, Great Magus? Haven’t you accepted your fate yet? No human can survive after having so many vitals perforated like this. Just turn over and die already!”

“I’m not just human.”

Max’s eyes turned into a blue light because of the mana rushing through his body and a golden light shone through the gaps where the roots were piercing.

“Elven blood? I didn’t think a half breed could use the elder’s spell, but it's useless now, nothing can save you from death!”

“No, there is someone that can! I just need to get his attention and in the meanwhile, I will take care of you too!”

Slowly the strange vines and roots began disintegrating from the inside out until he was completely freed.

“Fool! You are burning out what’s left of your blood inside your body, you are only quickening your death!”

“Let me show you what a Magus can do! Elven Crown!”

“What? You even know how to use an Elder Spell!?”

A circlet of light appears above Max, shining a strong golden light in all directions, but especially over Gadora.

The light was so intense and so powerful that her body began to burn, but not with a normal fire.

No flame could be seen, but as the light pierced her flesh it destroyed the mana within the body.

Gadora desperately tried to activate her mana to flee, but that strange light was too strong and in moments her mana was completely gone.

Without mana and unter that intense power, her body bloated, the image of the pretty woman was gone, the old lady could be seen again and worsening in age and aspect at every passing moment as it became bigger and bigger.

“Tell me! Where is your leader,or I will kill you right here and now!”

“Stop! Please! I will tell you! I will tell you!”

“Where is he!?”

“He’s in the North! He has a hideout by the islands! Where nobody can reach him! Now spare me!”

“Liar!” and Max intensified the light.

“Aaaaargh!!” the speed of which she was getting bigger increased, her skin and muscles were stretched and at their limit. “It’s true! It’s true!”

“I know he hasn't gone north, don’t you remember that I’ve looked through Arstos and Tessais’ things? Read their journals! Even the hidden ones that the likes of you didn’t find.”

“Our master can go anywhere, can be anyone! Spare me and I will help you find him! Just stop this light!”

“More lies? I already know that he cannot change like you. Actually, from what I’ve read, the master is the only one of you that cannot change appearance because of the type of his ritual of longevity. Isn’t that so? But I’m sure you’ve seen his face at least once, so why don’t you tell me what he looks like then?”

Gadora went silent, clearly surprised that the Magus knew that secret.

“No? Then just confirm it to me, because I know that he is in Lentie, so why bother lying? Just tell me what you know and all this will stop!”

“Yes! Yes! He is there! He is one of the Barons there! Now stop this and I will tell you his name!”

Max smiled, “A proudfull Master Mage like him? Playing a lowly Baron at a lowly place like Lentie? Are you sure?”

“Stop this already, I’m at my limit!”

“I was certain that he was hiding in Iris amongst the Counts and Dukes, since they are all powerful mages, that is, it would be simple for him to mingle amongst them. Isn’t that right? After all I heard he does like to show off his abilities.”

“I already told you where he is! Now stop this before it kills me!”

“Now that I am thinking about it, he wouldn’t be in Longart either, since it’s abandoned. Brigantium has no prestige, it's just like Lentie. Not to mention that all the nobility there had come here after the plague incident. And by what Thessai wrote about him. He is in Allard, so he would never leave it, no matter the circumstances. Which leaves us with what? Sicia?”

“You are doing this on purpose, aren’t you? Magus? To torture me! Delaying this speech just to see me squirm in pain! Yes! He is in Sicia! Now stop this.”

Max smiled, “I would lie if I say I’m not having fun with this, after all, you must have killed and tortured countless innocents, this is just some payback.”

“You will die with me! Your time is ending as well!”

“Perhaps… but when I’m in this mode, I can control my mana fully and this gives me some extra time so we can chat. Sicia hum? Why don’t I believe you? But there is nowhere else… unless.” Max smiled at Gadora as he seemed to figure it all out, she could tell that he now knew.

“You… It’s no wonder why Arstos lost to you and why the council had not been able to catch you in all these years. You are a clever man, Great Magus. But rejoice in the fact that you talk too much… your blood is almost gone and I die here, happy, knowing that I will be the one that brought you down! Not the all powerful Arstos, not the Genius summoner Thessai… me! Gadora has proven that me and my Illusions were the strongest of the whole Council!”

He improved the spell, the light went brighter for a moment and completely destroyed Gadora’s body that burst like a balloon. At that moment, the light vanishes, Max's eyes go back to normal and he falls on his knees.

“If this doesn't catch his attention… nothing will.”

---------------

Riou notices the bright light coming from the other side of the garden but can’t see what's happening in it given it’s bright, “That must be one of Max’s spells, probably something to pierce illusions, perhaps?”

Not paying too much mind to it as Umbra was about to attack Dahmer.

“You damn lizard, I will pull all your scales, one by one and turn your insides out and pierce them all back into your body!”

Umbra smiled, “You don’t have the power to kill me! I could give you a thousand attempts and I wouldn’t lose a single scale! Go on then! Let’s play the despair game once more! I will give you three attempts!”

Riou sighed, “You got your vengeance already Umbra, there is no reason to continue.”

“There is all the reason to continue, this human must learn to fear my kind so he and his kin will never again set foot on our mountain!”

“He knows! He knows, you already killed his brother! Let’s stop here and let me deal with this! Before you get hurt and your father gets angry or something.”

“Why would he care? He cares about nothing but the humans!”

“Come on, if he didn’t care he wouldn't have come that time, remember? You are his daughter, of course he cares! We talked about this already! You shouldn’t underestimate your opponents!”

But Umbra just went silent, contemplating what her actions should be next.

On the other side of the garden, the bright light vanishes and Riou immediately feels the need to check on Max, he searches for the Magus and notices him falling on his knees with his clothes covered in blood.

Concern instantly filled his mind “Max?” he shouted, but there was no response. Riou immediately rushes over him abandoning Umbra with Dahmer.

He sees the dead body of Gadora nearby the mage and the many holes on Max’s body. The blood was not even running anymore. He had bled out.

“Shit! Shit! Max? Can you hear me!?” Riou immediately casted heal and Rejuvenation on the Magus body.

But the old man showed no response. He got closer to Max’s face, and he couldn’t feel any breathing.

“No, no, no, you aren’t doing this.”

Riou increased the power of his healing spells and tried again.

No response.

“For fuck sakes Max you said you got this! Don’t you dare die on me!”

He increased the power of his spell once again.

You old man, why didn’t you say you were in trouble, I was right there!” He lowered his head and closed his eyes.

Suddenly he shook his head and got angered with the Magus, “I won’t allow you such a stupid death!”

He then focused his mana, made it push air into his lungs, and introduced it into his body, gripped the old man’s heart, and forced it to pump whatever blood he had left once again.

Riou focused on his mana, slowly filling his heart with it, grabbing whatever blood cell he could find in his arteries and veins. With the mana in contact with them he amassed, pulled them back into the system, and closed all holes.

The mixture of mana and blood seemed enough to make the arteries and veins full again.

Suddenly, Max coughed blood and took a deep breath, coming to his senses.

Riou sighed relieved.

“What happened? I’m… I’m alive?” asked the old man.

“Barely!” Said Riou not sure how to feel, if angered with the old man for almost dying on him or happy for him to be alive. “Why didn’t you call for me? I was a shout away!”

“I… I didn’t realize it until it was too late. I let my guard down”

“From now on, you are forbidden from fighting alone! Do you hear me?”

“I’m old, but I’m not a child. I’m still here, aren’t I”?

“You were gone for a moment.”

“But I knew you would see me after my spell was over and that your healing spells would save me, so I used the opportunity to gather more information.”

“Goddammit old man, information? Don’t tell me you almost died because of it. It is not worth it if it leaves you at death's door!”

“I’m the Great Magus, ain’t I? I have a responsibility, if my death brought an end to the Council, it would have been worth it. That’s my life’s goal, don’t you remember?”

“You… you and this Great Magus thug? What’s so great about it? Every time I turn around you end up in a pool of your own blood! I hereby revoke the Great from your title!”

Max laughed with pain, “I guess you are right, I’ve indeed pushed a tad too much. After all, I’m too old for this.”

“Good, if you understand it… you won’t do this again right?”

Max smiled “I know where he is Riou, we can finally end this!” Riou sighed relieved that the old man would survive another day and was back to his normal self.

“Fine... we will discuss it when we are back in the village and after you recover. For now rest, you lost too much blood. What’s running in your veins right now is mostly my mana, so don’t you dare think getting hurt”

“Your mana? But how…” Max just sighed and nodded “Thank you,” Max smiled.

“Stay here, I will check on Umbra and take care of that situation once and for all.”

Riou looks back and sees Galan falling down on the ground, blood all over the place he can’t be sure if it’s his. His eyes go to Umbra, a large, bleeding wound in her chest, a broken wing with all membranes pierced, and also bleeding.

To the side, near the house, Dahmer and a new Silver Portal had appeared beside him. And in Front of the Argonian mage, standing and staring at the dragon was the man worshipped by the Argonians as the Death god. His expression was an unhappy one as the dragon was clearly preparing to attack him.

---------------------------