Chapter 61: Last smile

In the Dorell kingdom, also known by many as the magic kingdom, there were many different titles that a mage could earn during his life. However, most of these titles only existed to guide as many people as possible along the difficult path of magic and didn’t necessarily represent higher abilities.

That’s why many mages who only learned to modify the speed, form and control of their magic were not considered as true mages.

In other words, only a Saint mage who distanced himself from the common barrier magic teachings could be called a true mage and was recognized as an existence above the other artificial mages created by the kingdom.

The strength between each of these true mages couldn’t possibly be evaluated as it deeply varied with their elements and the aspects of these elements that they were able to develop.

It wasn’t possible to differentiate between the strength of the various true Saint mages, but no matter how deep their understanding of their element was or how many aspects they developed, they were all inferior to another type of mage.

These few chosen ones were able to draw mana from nature for their own use. This ability to use more mana than just their own mana pool gave them power and stamina that no Saint mage could hope to approach.

Over the years, these special existences have become the representatives of the apogee of a mage power and have earned a title to differentiate them.

A title to represent their ability to submit the world of nature and men to their will.

They were called Master mage.

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

Millodas and Vated both watched with opposite emotions the strange transformation happening to Seledia.

They were both true Saint mage and both hoped one day to become a Master mage.

However, they had already accepted that this wish would remain a distant dream for their entire life. After all, despite the overwhelming number of mages in the Dorell kingdom, only a few earned this title along the years.

They learned together with these mages that becoming a Master mage didn’t only depend on the mastery of the various aspects of an element.

The conditions to become one were more obscure and remained a mystery for them.

Some say that you had to push your body to its limits to be reborn, while others claim that emotions and will are the main factor. However, no one could say who was right, especially since the condition of awakening seemed to differ from one mage to another.

Even the knowledgeable Millodas with the whole process happening in front of his eyes couldn’t be sure of the trigger for this phenomenon.

However, he didn’t care.

His eyelids were heavy and desperately wanted to close, but Millodas resisted with all the strength remaining in his dying body to look at this marvelous phenomenon.

Seledia stayed a Saint mage for long years, but despite the numerous challenges and dangers she had to face, she was never able to overcome this last hurdle.

They both thought that this would remain that way her entire life.

However, fate seemed to have other plans for her.

After all his time watching her desperate efforts to earn this title, he wanted to see with his blurry eyes for as long as possible the proud figure of his wife offering him a precious and inextinguishable light of hope to guide them out of this desperate situation.

Vated also continued to watch while taking regular steps back to withstand the rising pressure emitted from her body. Only a few seconds passed but Vated was already more than a dozen meters away from Millodas.

He could feel the overbearing heat and pressure surrounding her, but he wasn’t able to see that the dense mana constantly entering her was nourishing her exhausted body and slowly transforming her. Her depleted mana pool quickly regenerated while her ability to sense and use mana started to rise and evolve.

Seledia didn’t want to wonder about the reason for the new power coursing through her veins.

Her previous confused state was gone.

Her previous weakness was also no more.

Only her anger and her will to win remained.

Even if he couldn’t sense the changes happening inside her body, Vated still knew that against a Master mage, he didn’t stand a chance without any artifact.

There was only one way for him to survive.

“Avalan”

Before she could recover her entire strength.

Before she really became a Master mage.

He had to defeat her before that.

A wave of earth started to slowly rise around him and headed toward her and Millodas.

However, Seledia simply waved one hand toward the incoming attack that forced her so many times to fly away.

A violent blast of heat was immediately released from her simple gesture and completely crushed the violent earth magic.

The strength of the blast forced Vated to close his eyes in reflex. When he opened them, another blinding white light welcomed him.

His rough face went pale while his arms covered with his earth magic were hurriedly put in front of his chest to protect him.

“Flame oblivion.” Whispered Seledia.

The dot of white light quietly left her raised finger and headed for Vated while leaving a white trail behind.

Vated already faced this disastrous attack.

However, no artifact acted as a substitute this time.

The silent attack pierced through Vated’s dark arms and went through his muscular chest just as easily while burning everything in its path.

“This can’t be…”

The shock and pain finally made Vated fall on his knees.

His breathing was heavy and his face contorted by the pain assaulting him.

His brutish face was also filled with unwillingness while he was desperately trying to stand.

“Someone like you who stopped fighting and enjoyed peace for so long…” He started to mumble more to himself than to anybody else.

He gathered his strength while ignoring the pain and the blood coming out of his wound and mouth.

“I trained for so long, I fought and put my life on the line so many times so why… Someone like you…”

Vated finally angrily stood up. His right hand was clenched in a massive fist covered with his dark earth magic.

“How can you stand after all this?” He finally angrily asked while releasing his pent-up frustration and anger.

Seledia silently watched his struggle with her beautiful blue eyes devoid of any warmth for this cruel man. She didn’t answer and simply clenched her right fist that started to emit a vivid red color along with an impressive heat.

She quietly watched Vated run with his dark right fist raised.

When he was only a few meters away from her, Seledia finally opened her mouth.

“The fact that you can’t tell is the saddest thing about you...”

Then, without another word, their respective punches met once again.

*Bam*

Dark and red once more collided and produced a deafening noise akin to an explosion.

However, Vated wasn’t her match anymore.

“No!” He suddenly screamed in reflex when he realized this simple truth.

With a sound akin to glass breaking, his invincible dark fist that he took pride in, was broken by the blinding red light surrounding her hand.

Her attack didn’t stop and hit him at full strength in his muscular but defenseless chest.

*Boom*

An intense pain assaulted him while his bones were crushed and his mouth spurted a massive amount of blood. Then, his muscular body was sent flying uncontrollably under Seledia’s cold gaze.

Her strike was too strong for Vated to bear.

This man who nearly took her daughters away and who nearly killed her several times fell on his back with his face and chest covered with fresh blood.

This was over.

Seledia didn’t have the leisure to wonder if he was dead or alive.

She didn’t even feel joy after her desperate victory.

It came too late and with a cost too great.

Her sharp and merciless blue eyes directed at Vated were already replaced with eyes filled with sadness and regret while she slowly turned her head to look at the fallen Millodas.

Her hope to save him with the help of the mayor quickly vanished when she noticed how much blood Millodas already lost.

Even the mayor couldn’t save him anymore.

She quickly joined him but felt the words smothered in her throat and unable to get out. She felt guilty for not defeating Vated sooner. If she had attained this power earlier, Millodas wouldn’t have to end up like this.

She had a thousand words of apology on the tip of her tongue ready to burst out at any moment, but Millodas simply smiled at her and, with a voice filled with love, he simply said.

“Well done.”

The tears she desperately tried to hold back finally fell along her cheeks without end.

She fell on her knees and delicately took Millodas’ hand to hold it tight. Its warmth was almost completely gone, and the dreadful pool of blood around him left no room for any kind of hope.

“Millodas, I…”

“It’s alright. I’m glad that I was able to help you a little.”

Seledia’s apologies were once more gently denied by Millodas’ soft words.

“You’re always helping me. If you’re not by my side, I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Seledia let out her fears and emotions through her voice. Her previous strength and imposing presence were no more. After defeating Vated, an incredible feeling of weakness started to spread in her entire body.

Seledia didn’t care at first until she noticed that she had trouble holding the hand of her beloved.

Seeing her right hand shaking, surprise and fear spread across her tired face covered with tears.

“It’s alright Seledia. You’re a Master mage now but your body will take a while to adjust especially after this kind of injury.” Millodas simply explained.

His magical knowledge as the former heir of the Waldemar house couldn’t be underestimated even in this kind of situation.

“You will probably be soon unable to move for a few weeks maybe more. That’s why… Don’t waste any more time with me. Go get the girls and put them to safety. Maybe my father will send other people to kidnap our daughters.”

“No, he won’t.”

“...”

“Your father is dead.” Bluntly explained Seledia.

Millodas’ pale face wasn’t able to hide his surprise mixed with a hint of sadness.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I received a letter… A letter from Sillath.”

His surprised face immediately changed into one of shock when he heard this name.

Seledia understood his reaction.

She had the same not long ago.

Their young son was captured more than four years ago under the order of Arthur Waldemar. Their desperate efforts to find him stayed fruitless and left them with no other choice but to entrust his search to their friend Aten while they painfully continued their lives for their daughters’ sake.

Even so, thousands of questions tormented their minds day and night.

Was he still alive?

Was he in good health?

Did Arthur Waldemar treat him well?

Did he remember them even after all these years?

However, none found an answer until today.

This letter with uncertain handwriting contained many details of their previous life that no one should have known except for him. It contained his feelings and a final warning that helped her get back in time to fight.

Without it, her daughters and Gaya would already be gone.

She knew that Millodas could only really believe this truth after hearing the contents of this letter. Therefore, she started to search her tattered jacket with her valid hand.

Seledia had put the folded letter inside the inner pocket of her jacket, near her heart.

She quickly found the letter almost completely torn and with a part missing. Even with her caution and even if she didn’t receive any direct hit to her heart, the letter was already almost beyond redemption after this fierce fight.

Seeing the state of this precious paper made Seledia’s heartache. However, even with the letter in this state, its content was still fresh in her mind.

With complicated emotions, she started her reading while completing the missing or unreadable parts with her memories.

“To Seledia and Millodas Zadir.”

With these simple words, she started her reading.

Her soft voice slowly revealed Sillath’s words etched into this piece of paper.

Millodas’ pale face seemed to regain some color after hearing her wife’s words.

Sillath was alive.

He was free.

He was waiting for them in an Advanced town inside the wilderness.

Even if many questions weren’t answered in this letter like how his father met his end or how a small child-like him could survive in the depth of the wilderness, for now Millodas didn’t have the heart to wonder about that.

Emotions that he suppressed all these years surfaced and threatened to overwhelm him. Tears began to fall down his cheeks and finished washing the blood mixed with his wife’s tears that had previously fallen on his face.

While he was immersed in his emotions, Seledia’s voice abruptly stopped in the middle of a long sentence.

A single glance was enough to understand that she had finally reached the end of the torn letter. She carefully put it on the ground and started to search for the last part still hiding in her pocket.

However, instead of the soft touch of the paper, her fingers only felt a hard sensation. It took Seledia a few seconds to realize that it was coming from the small black box sent along with the letter.

The shocking letter and the desperate run against time that followed prevented her from caring about the content of this ordinary-looking box.

She took it out of her pocket but the poor material making this box revealed its fragile nature and immediately crumbled after being taken out.

Seledia and Millodas both watched as a strange item fell on the hard ground, but contrary to their expectation, it didn’t break under the impact. With the box containing it completely destroyed, it was almost unbelievable that such a small and fragile-looking item could remain intact.

This abnormal sturdiness attracted Millodas and Seledia’s attention and made them forget the rest of the letter.

They focused and finally realized the nature of this strange item.

It was a small vial containing an almost transparent liquid similar to water.

Seledia immediately remembered the words at the end of the letter. Sillath sent a potion in case of emergency along with his letter. Seledia didn’t understand his words and didn’t put much concern on this comment as the rest of the letter especially the final warning was too shocking.

However, it wasn’t as if she completely forgot about the existence of this potion.

It’s just that a common potion even of high grade was totally useless in their situation. It took too much time to take effect to be of any use in a battle and wasn’t effective enough to heal Millodas’ injuries.

Seeing the peculiar appearance for a healing potion of this almost transparent liquid made her realize her mistake.

Wondering where Sillath could have gotten his hands on something like that wasn’t on her mind for now.

She hurriedly picked up the small vial and carefully opened it. The transparent liquid didn’t emit the common kind of odor belonging to the potion they normally use.

The disparity between this ordinary-looking liquid and the incredible sturdiness of the vial containing it once more reignite her dead hopes in her heart.

If she was permitted to hope once more.

If she was permitted to make another selfish wish.

Then she wanted to believe in her son’s gift reflecting his concern and love for them even after all these years of separation.

With trembling hands, she carefully fed the small vial to Millodas and waited for a miracle to happen.

Each second longer than the previous, Seledia anxiously waited for a result or a reaction from Millodas.

Anything to prove that the potion was working.

Unable to tell how much time had passed, her newly awaken hope started to slowly disappear replaced by a difficult to hide disappointment and sadness.

However, when her emotions threatened to overcome her, Millodas’ blurry vision started to grow clearer. The world around him slowly regain its natural color and threw his resign mind in disarray.

His pain slowly disappeared, replaced by a newfound strength.

The large blue stigmata on his face and neck also started to recede.

In front of this incredible sight, Seledia couldn’t utter a single word. She watched in silence her dying husband slowly raising his upper body from the ground tainted by a pool of his own blood.

His elegant-looking face still covered with fresh blood was not completely free from the blue marks symbol of his impending doom but the large wound that almost ended his life was already completely closed.

No words were necessary for Seledia or Millodas to transmit their feelings.

A long hug of relief and joy followed by an almost as long deep kiss replaced those useless words.

After several minutes, Seledia and Millodas both stabilized their raging emotions and turned their eyes toward the empty vial in Seledia’s hand.

“An elven potion… How?” Slowly muttered Seledia in disbelief.

Only the legendary regenerative potion of the elves could offer them this kind of out of the world healing, bringing a man at the doorstep of death back into the world of the living.

This precious potion that Humans tried to copy for centuries in vain couldn’t be purchased no matter what as elves had few material desires.

This potion that any adventurer would kill to have somehow ended in their son’s hands.

How could their child send something like that?

Unable to answer this question, Seledia and Millodas were both at a loss for words.

They slowly stood up with this unbelievable reality confusing their minds when a soft sound drew their attention.

It came from Vated.

Seledia immediately suppressed the shaking of her limbs brought by her ongoing evolution as a Master mage and took a step forward to protect Millodas.

However, even before she started to gather her mana, she realized that she was overreacting.

Vated was awake and conscious but his body could no longer move.

Her last strike shattered his bones and rob him of any hope of survival. The fact that he was still alive was already beyond Seledia’s understanding.

However, this unnatural reality wouldn’t last for long.

A single glance was enough for both Seledia and Millodas to understand this.

With careful steps, they approached Vated.

His entire massive body was riddled with wounds and burns. His right hand that once seemed strong enough to destroy anything was completely crippled while his ribcage was horribly distorted, testimony of the violence of Seledia’s last blow.

His breathing was ragged and appeared painful but his dark eyes on his brutish face didn’t lose any of their lusters.

While clenching his last valid hand to contain the pain assaulting his entire body, Vated finally opened his mouth.

“How could you be standing… alive…”

His first words weren’t about his defeat. They weren’t curses directed at his opponents but words of incomprehension in front of Millodas’ revival.

“Just a gift from my son.” Dryly replied Seledia while showing the empty vial in her hand.

“Your son… Sillath. So it’s him who sent you this thing. It’s funny to see that even after all these years after you gave up on him he still thinks about you.”

“You!”

In front of Vated’s heartless comment, Seledia was ready to burst in anger but the words got stuck in her throat unable to completely deny his horrible accusation.

Sillath was kidnapped four years ago, but they continued to live in the same house with their daughters oblivious to Sillath’s existence.

Seledia knew that they didn’t have any choice.

She knew that they didn’t have the strength or the resources to search the entire continent while protecting their daughters from Arthur Waldemar.

Even so, the guilt for not protecting her son and acting as if he never existed left a scar in her heart difficult to hide.

Seeing her face betraying her emotions, the dying Vated let a wide smile mixed with pain and mockery appear on his face.

“You defeated me Seledia. Good for you, your daughters will stay with you and live a pathetic peasant life instead of becoming nobles.”

“...”

Seledia shaking from the aftermath of her transformation and her rising anger was ready to angrily retort when Millodas’ hand was put on her left shoulder immediately silencing her.

“You broke their promising future. Are you satisfied? Are you proud?”

“…”

“When the other noble houses learn of their existence, they will kill them. They will kill the both of you. They will also kill your son no matter where he hides. Do you understand? You destroyed the only safe future they could possibly have only to satisfy your own selfishness!”

Millodas, with his hand still on Seledia’s shoulder, stayed silent with his eyes fixed on him. Even the blue lines that hadn’t completely disappeared around his eyes weren’t enough to hide the calm of this gaze.

He let Vated spread his resentment and mocking words without batting an eyelid. Seledia, influenced by his calmness, also stayed quiet.

While looking at Vated covered with blood and wounds, ready to die at any moment using his last moments to spill words of hate, she understood why Millodas stopped her.

There was no point to argue with him.

This man who nearly took everything from them.

This powerful mage who inspired dread with his name alone for decades.

With hate and resentment in his heart as his legacy, this man showed his ugly and sad nature.

He was alone.

Pathetically alone, without anyone to direct his last thoughts to.

Seeing Seledia and Millodas without any reaction after his long words of abuse left Vated speechless. The anger burning in his heart subsided and prevented his next words to leave his mouth.

After calming down, Vated realized that he didn’t resent Seledia or Millodas in particular even if he lost against them.

He had a mission to accomplish.

He had a fight to win.

And he failed.

There was nothing more than this.

However, the shock to lose and die just one step away from victory still left him frustrated beyond words. Thinking back about the events that unfolded in the town, the plain and this forest, there were plenty of occasions for him to safely accomplish his mission.

If he had ignored Dano’s instructions, he could have attacked the house with all his men. Millodas and his guards would have been completely unable to retaliate or flee and Seledia would have come back too late.

Or if he had simply killed Millodas when he had the opportunity, he would have defeated Seledia.

There was no doubt about it.

With regrets drowning his heart and mind, Vated reflected on his choices and finally understood that his failure didn’t originate from just this.

A much simpler reason appeared in his head and replaced all the others.

If he hadn’t underestimated his opponents from the start and instead acknowledged their strength and willingness to resist, he wouldn’t have ended up like that.

Vated trained and fought so hard for so long that it became impossible for him to acknowledge anyone who didn’t have the same resolve as him to devote everything for the sake of strength.

For him who wasn’t born with an overwhelming talent for magic, being weak was a choice.

A choice you had to assume.

Because only the voice of the strong mattered in this world.

However, after his failure and in the last moments of his life, Vated couldn’t help but doubt this belief that accompanied him his entire life.

Except for Seledia, all the other people he confronted during his last mission were weaker than him. However, they still stood in his way one after the other.

The ordinary guards, the simple townsfolk without any training and even the little beast tribe girl confronted him.

He didn’t acknowledge them because they were weak but their resolve was real and spelled his doom in the end.

Regrets and introspection occupied Vated’s mind while Seledia and Millodas watched him suddenly becoming silent.

“Vated… Who hired you? If my father is really dead. If my father really met his end several weeks ago, who ordered you to kidnap our daughters?” Finally asked Millodas after seeing that Vated had nothing more to say to them.

Millodas didn’t expect any kind of answer from Vated. He was ready to face his taunts and last insults but Vated strangely stayed quiet before a deep sigh escaped his lips.

“Your father hired me a long time ago for various missions. He was also the one to hire me for this mission.”

“Don’t lie.” Retorted Seledia not believing his words.

“You were aware that Arthur Waldemar was dead. Who would follow a dead man’s wish?” Angrily continued Seledia.

“Simple. The kind that gets paid.” Continued Vated without any strength in his once dominating voice.

“Then who paid you?”

A long silence settled between them. The kind that neither Millodas nor Seledia dared to break, fearing that it would sway Vated's choice against them.

“Dano Calrimann.” Finally answered Vated with a clear hint of contempt while saying this name.

“...”

“He continues to act as the Waldemar House’s counselor for the King. With Arthur Waldemar dead, he is basically the last man preventing the collapse of the Waldemar house. Sillath remains unfindable so he wanted the girls to act as representative of the Waldemar family to revive it and save his pathetic life. You know what is the most pathetic? This idiot still hoped for Millodas to come back even after this mission. That’s why I didn’t kill you at first Millodas. Because of him and his dumb disillusions.” Finally, explained Vated with a tinge of anger in his voice at the end of his long sentence.

For Vated, his loss was his own failure so he wouldn’t dismiss this reality in his last moments. However, if he had to point a culprit beside him, it would be Dano and his disillusions about being able to bring Millodas back into the Waldemar house.

Not expecting Vated to give them this kind of answer, Seledia and Millodas were at a loss for words while they assimilated this information.

“Is it true?” Questioned Seledia, finding it hard to believe that this cruel man would tell them this precious truth.

“You doubt me, Seledia?” Asked Vated with a new mocking smile on his lips.

His voice was growing more and more distant while his breathing became ragged and more difficult. Even so, his eyes as dark as coal continued to look straight at Seledia while he replied as if he was reminiscing about his past.

“I fought my entire life to be able to make my own choices, to be able to live the life I wanted. I was never afraid or ashamed to do what I desired or say what I wanted. Only the weak and cowards would hide behind lies. You can call me like that all you want, I don’t care but I am neither of those. So I never tell lies.”

Vated was a cruel man.

He committed numerous ruthless and atrocious deeds but he never denied them.

He never denied his choices or his mistakes. He always faced them. In his last moments, this was without a doubt one of the things he was the proudest in his life.

“You want me to believe you? That because of some code you never tell any lie?” Angrily pursued Seledia, clearly not convinced by his explanation.

“You don’t trust that I don’t tell lies because of my belief but there is another reason why I don’t tell lies.”

A wide smile filled with the mockery of a man who saw the cruelty of the world firsthand reappeared on his pale face.

“The truth is usually more painful than any lie.” He said while laughing and coughing blood at the same time.

“...”

“For example, let me tell you something interesting.”

His voice seemed to regain some of its strength even if his breathing continued to grow fainter.

“Sillath is the one who killed your father, Millodas.”

Shocked by his declaration, neither Seledia nor Millodas reacted at first until Seledia took a heavy step forward in anger despite Millodas’ hand on her shoulder to calm her.

“You’re lying! You want us to believe that our ten-year-old son killed a full-grown man. Find something more believable.”

“He spent four years away from you, doing god knows what. You don’t know what he endured all these years.”

“Even so…”

“We have a witness.” Dryly cut Vated.

“No…” Weakly muttered Seledia.

“A coachman who transported a young boy with red strands of hair along with Arthur Waldemar and your former neighbor Amanda. Dano sent his men to follow the trail of the old man, but when they arrived where the coachman last saw them, they only found the corpses of the woman and Arthur Waldemar. Even a fool would know what happened.”

“No… I don’t trust you…” Slowly muttered Seledia clearly shaken by his words while Millodas stayed silent unable to utter a single word of denial.

“The son you knew is already gone. Maybe it would be better to make him stay away from your daughters after all.” Continued Vated with a devious smile.

“Even if you reunite with him, the son you lost will never truly return. Don’t you find that this truth is much more painful than any lie?”

With his dark gaze fixed on the shaking Seledia and the silent Millodas, Vated laughed as hard as he could despite the pain assaulting his entire body.

He continued for long seconds while his loud laughter echoed inside the desolate clearing of the once lush forest destroyed by his violence.

After what seemed like an eternity for Seledia and Millodas, his laughter finally stopped while Vated gave his last breath with a last provocative smile still on his lips.