With quaint laughter, the mad magus floated with haste as if flying, and was about to strike the warden and Alicia at the same time.

They would have been split in two had the warden not been quick enough to dodge the almost imperceptible assault.

“You stay with me and don’t go anywhere!” said the warden, who was also terrified beyond measure.

“Like I have anywhere else to go!” replied Alicia, panicked. “Ye ken, it will be easier to defeat that necromancer if only I have Orb in my hand!”

“Don’t even try, miss!”

Strange magic painted in mud and blood. Curious souls as fragile bones and carrion arose in a disgusting manner. Alicia could guess. Who else could perform such a conjuration if not a practitioner of Necromancy from the Continent of Demons, and the psychopath in front of her was a necromancer tempting fate!

The necromancer certainly did not want to wait another lifetime for them. He flew again and often threw the edge of his scythe at both of them. The warden began to feel overwhelmed because the corpse conjurer continued to cut him, followed by a crowd of bloodthirsty corpses from nowhere surrounding them. Although he hated to admit it, the warden also had to accept the fact that behind him was a sixteen-year-old prisoner who had to be protected because she basically could not do anything at all.

After a series of dodging and backlash, the warden’s vision blurred. Bloodstains from himself filled his chest, legs, and hands due to several incisions from the necromancer’s slashes.

Alicia tried to scream for help, but who would want to hear the screams of the magic blasphemer? The other wizards were too busy saving their own noses. Fortunately, Kirillios and the agents of Rome decided to harass the unwanted visitor with a few magic shots. Meanwhile, the warden was secured by Vernasius, a Roman agent with proficient healing magic.

“Hey, demon! Mind if we join too?” said Kirillios.

The agents started running. The scene of a magical duel between a corpse conjurer and four sorcerers broke out.

Alicia saw the opportunity in the adversity. She still remembered Mars’ words that she could still connect with Orb if she touched it again. She slipped between them and found one of the agents who sealed the Orb earlier. Alicia rushed over to that man and tried to have Orb within her grasp.

The far nimble agent managed to dodge and threw her back.

But Alicia did not have to snatch it from him straight away. A touch of the tip of her finger was enough.

Orb instantly detonated its pure Arcane seal. The surge of energy that appeared sent the Roman agent flying as if blue flames were coming out of his pity arse!

Kirillios turned to find his subordinate tumbling a few meters away, while Alicia had Orb in her hands once again.

“Nixas! Seriously, man!” Kirillios grumbled.

The half-unguarded Kirillios almost had his neck severed if he did not look back soon. He clicked his tongue in frustration. They could not capture Alicia because they were busy crippling the necromancer. “That Crimsonmane kid is really annoying,” muttered Kirillios.

“Orb! Thank goodness!” Alicia happily hugged her favourite ball with puffy eyes. “Oh, Orb. I didn’t hold you for a day, but it felt like a century! I thought I would lose you forever!”

Orb also replied to Alicia’s greeting with a melodious hum. Alicia then got ready with her stance and shouted, “Awright, Orb! Let’s prove that our relationship is indeed different from the others, shall we?”

“I wouldn’t even try to interfere if I were you,” Kirillios said to Alicia.

But akin to common teenagers in their common phase, screw the elders! The duo sparkled, stealing the highlight of the wizarding crowd in the dome. By her graceful hands and limber dance, she gathered energy from Orb, and WHOOSH! An enormous blue wave surged from it towards the necromancer. The necromancer managed to dodge; all his body and soul were then attracted solely to the bookworm holding the Divine Grace.

With a broad smile—so broad the edge of his grin was almost level with the corners of his eyes—the corpse conjurer called out to Alicia.

“Maiden, maiden, maiden! Playing hero, aren’t you? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The necromancer’s roar of laughter disrupted the focus of almost all the masses while struggling to survive the zombie attack. “Keep attacking me while I get close to you!” he sneered. “Soon, you will be my corpse slave collection!”

While dodging, of course, the necromancer nimbly weaved through the horizon, slowly but surely reaching the Crimsonmane girl. The plasma shot barrage swerved towards him like lethargic paper planes. Alicia was getting more and more annoyed at how slick the mage’s body was, but this was not the time to let negative emotions cloud her efforts. Alicia deliberately stopped her shot, she was now prey in the middle of the open field. The necromancer came thrusting his scythe staff at high speed, making the girl almost startled! Lucky for the girl, she managed to roll away, albeit the execution was neither as aesthetic nor as smooth as the actor from action pictures. She wafted Orb into the evil mage’s ribs and fired her pure Arcane plasma blast! There was no way the mage could elude a shot that close, unless he had reflex compared to the gods, so swift one could defy the laws of space and time.

The necromancer hurled at high speed into the jury’s section, destroying everything in there—the seats, the walls, the mound of bones, and rotting flesh he had summoned.

The flock of living corpses became sluggish and lay stiffly on the ground at once, even though the magi’s fresh flesh had pleased their tongues. The living could assume that the dead disconnected from their battery—or rather, their power source died, sticking in a crack on the wall with an absurd pose.

Puffs of dust adorned the room after the blast. Alicia then tried to catch her breath. Even though she was carried away by the atmosphere, looked like the girl managed to neutralise the mad mage.

At least, that’s what Alicia thought.

“Oi, don’t be happy just yet!” Kirillios said in a quite serious tone this time. Kirillios did not look Alicia in the eye, but he knew he was ruining her mood, who was about to smile at that moment. The girl then turned around, facing the same direction as most of the other magi in the room—in front of the necromancer, pinned hard against the grey wall.

The Necromancer fell to the ground like a fallen wall. Sure enough, he suddenly woke up as if he had done with his beauty nap. He shook his body from the dust, then chuckled, getting louder and crazier over time.

“Your power. So intense. See, you just severed my magical connection to my lackeys. Not bad, not bad, Crimsonmane princess,” he said, “If I was just a Protos-sucking layman, I might have fallen into a coma! fufufu….”

He grabbed his staff. The scythe retreated back into the skull’s mouth before being sealed. He took a papyrus scroll from his pocket and unroll it, revealing an ancient inscription written in dried blood. The papyrus was positioned above the skull on the staff. How magic, the writings then faded into a black liquid of blood, running down the underside of the parchment. As if knowing what to do, the pitch black skull opened its jaws and swallowed all the blood ink until the old papyrus was nothing but a brownish blank sheet.

After the head skeleton was full of the delicious nectar liquid, the necromancer uttered to Alicia, “Well, miss, let me show you how to properly harness the power of Khaos!”

A shining pattern appeared on that skull. While sticking out his staff, the necromancer cast out a spell:

"

Ḁ̴̧̫̲̘͎̠͂̎͌̈̂̇͆́̐̒̒̐̂̀́͂͆͆͝v̸̟͈̜̮̩͖̣̬͎̥̮̬̠͇͇̲͖̻̭͕̩͎͈̗̭̇̋̈́̀́͑̎̃͑͆̏̏̈́̈͜͝ì̷̢̧̢̛͙̹̗̹̣̝͕̠̯̟̞̩̫̮̤̘͎̙̪̙̻̦̼̾̆̾͛̈́̓̀ḍ̸̡̡͉͕̦̯̟̺̞̪͛̇ ̶̨̧̢̢̛̠̣̠̣̬͖͚̲̤͚͇̙͚͈͈̟͖̈̎̂̈́̀́͆̈́͋̈́̇̑̾̏̔͗̅́̎̉̓͛̏͜ņ̵̢̮̥̪̬̰̹̮̲̥̻͔̝͈̤̻̬̣̗̆̿̓͜͜͜͜ä̶̢̯̬͍͖̪̠̜̳̦̣̳̭̞̥̥̲̥̠͇͓̣̼̗͚̺́͋̔̍̇͊̈́͒̀̂̆̇͐̀́̎͑͒͘̚̚͝͝͝ͅx̷̢̰̃̋͛͗͆͋̍̚̕į̶̨̛͓̝̦͓̞̻̜̺̟̜̙̹͚͎̘̩̙̗̠̙͂̌̇́͆̍͋̋̿̕͝ͅͅŕ̶̮̘̲̣̙̥̩͔̩̲̆̕ͅȍ̵̯͍̯̜͓̩̔̍͊͑̐̄͆̑ž̴̡̢͍̣̖̼̰̩̠̺͔͍̟̜̬̗͉̜̜̟̫̻̓̏͊̑́͂͑ͅơ̵͖̭̮̮̱̗͖̠̙̭͉͚͖̫̠̦̥̈̀̀̅̅̽̎͛̈͊̿͆͆̆͜͠r̴͈̫̥̻͚͍͚̜̦̓̍͆̀̂̓̄͛̓̈̀͐̈́͐͆̒͐̔̀̚͘͝t̸̡̤̩͉͇̝̯̩̦͚̠̣̭͈̞͚͙̗̥̮͙̺̄͜ḫ̸̛͈͓͓̘̰̼͎̆͛̊̐͒̅̓̂͗̆͂̌̉̃͛́̈́̈́͘̕͝͝͝ͅ ̵̡̛̟̰̘̱͈̋̋̌̌̎̄͊͊̄̓͂̈̒͐͘͘͝ͅm̸̧̧̜̯̹̭̳͙͙̖̙̱̭͉͙̺̩̪̤̳͉͙̭̅ͅę̸̧͔͍̱̹͍̤͇̗̟̭̗̿͗̃̄͌̋͋͗̔̉̈̀̋̎̄̚̕͜͝͠e̷̪̜͓̻̖̓̈́̕ę̸̢͍̭̝͓͎͇̯̤͎͉̥͎͓̱͈̻̫̫͉̈́̊̎̽̔̿ͅn̷̨̙̲͔͎͕̝̜͓̱̭̗̖̞͇̰̟̄̄̄̆̓̉͛̚ͅͅţ̶̛̘̦̩̼͖̪̜̘̪͍͚̿͋̿̆̑̀͂̋͑̊̚̚ę̷̡̡̨̛̛͚͍̬̫̺̠͉͓̻̘̯̈́̃̅̅͆͋̽̊̋̋́̎̈́̓͋̃̅̃͂̈̕͘̕͜͝k̴͕̭̫̟̥̓͒̾̈͆̈̓̀̔̉͆̂́͐̄̒̽̚̕̕͠p̴̧̢̡̧̨̛͙̫̮̼̘͔̬͇̱̯͔̰͖̰̭͖̭͇̩̗͂̔͋̈̄̀̽͂̈̌̓̂̃͗͆͋͝i̸̧̨͔̺̻̝͓̮͙̯̯̖͕̒̎̐́̆̅̉̄̏̎̈́̒̈́̆́̑͗̌͒̚͝͠͝͠k̴̢̛̛̖̗̦̳̬̳͓͍͍͓̹̮͎̮̓̐̿̓̆̍̔̐̉̉̇͌̃̇́̚ͅͅa̵̧̛̛̳͇͍͈̩̻̺̠̙̟̮̬͇͆́́̈̉̋̌̐̇̐̔̓͘n̸̨̡̥͖̲̟̩̻͔͈̩̮̩̰̠̞̏͐̈̇̉̔̈̈́̌̀̚͘͜͠͠͠g̶̛̟͛̇̿͛́͐̿̄͌͝ų̵̱̘̗̟̲̮̲̩̹͔͔͋̈́͂̒̐́̃́͐̽͆̂͊̽͊̓͘̕͜z̵̰̊́͂̔͑͒̈̋̈́̾̚̚͝â̷̡̧̪̞̯̲̘̜̙͇̜̜̜̹̙̲͈̟̜̻͍̹̳͇̲̳̜͗̔̓́̈̃̆͛̈́̆̅͋́̎͋̇́̊̏͊̈̕̕͝͝r̷̢͈̠̝̣̳̰̟͌̍̔͂͋͋̾͂͊̇̀̓̒͆̇̐̍͂͆͆̑̃̚͘͝ͅȁ̷̞̬̲̖̞̖͚̅̂̇̍̂͆́͋̆̿̄̌̎̏̈̈́̅̓͘̚͝͝͝͝i̶͉͔͖͍͎̼̹̭͆́̔͐̎̈́͐̾̌ͅţ̵̨̧̛̥̝̩͔͖̝̫̗̻̱̜͔̣̘͔̮̐̈̏̽͋̑̅̃͜h̷͇͔̒̓̌̏̍͌̂̎͊͊͐͑́͑͊̒̆͐͗̐̚̚̕͠͝b̷̰̒̑̃̿̿́̔̃͗͌̊̈́͌̈́͒̋͛̈́͑̉̉̚͝͠e̶̛̙̙͙͚̦͓͕̎̈̿̒̽̊͗̓͛̌̓̌́͘͝͝͝ę̵̢̢̛̺̱͎͖̩̞̹̘̙̝̪͓̲̲͖͕̥͒͆͌̑͗̎̇̀̍̑̒̀̕̕͘͜ś̷̹̯̩͚͖̄̿͛̀́̇͊̂̓̅̓̋͌̂̾̿̂̏̽̀̓z̷̬͙͙̤͇͚̱̪͇͙̮̆̓́̈̎̂̆̽͑̀̀̄ẕ̸̧̧̢̮̺̙̥͚͉̺̜̘̠̦̞̗̰̹͈̥͚̳͉͕͖͈̋̄̃̈́͛̅͊̂͒̂̀͆͐̈̅̄͐̅͂̏͒̅̚͝z̴͓̦͍̝̗̜͇͉͋̈́̋̒̌̊̋̈́́̈́̈́̌̊͒͋̔̒̾͛̓̈̋̈́̎͒͝

"

No one could blame anyone if none understood what on earth this rancid mage was chanting. His voice changed drastically. It was shrill, then grew louder in an irregular tempo. A very disturbing echo in both ears. Anyone who heard it allowed themselves to dissolve into excessive anxiety. Their hearts wanted to explode. Whatever that was, they agreed the chant blared a tormented cry from Hades. Utter heinous, ridiculous, disturbing.

A huge magic circle of mud and blood surfaced on the earth. A geyser of merlot fluid spewed from the circle.

Came out of the pool of blood, part of the face of a damned creature. It shared the same length as the enchanted ring. The fragrant, putrid smell also enlivened the hall, as the face with flesh torn apart by maggots gradually showed its complete presence. []