True to her word, Grigori allowed the Palantír to go on and play the next scene of the battle. She intended to send them to dinner after this record, so she could heal the soul dissonance between the counterparts of Rex, Rei, Hannah, and Jack from the two timelines.
He was looking at the black storm. There was a black thread reaching toward it. The thread made of dead mana started to pierce through the storm.
“…What the…!”
Bernard could also see that black thread approaching him. That weak-looking thin thread was swaying in the wind but continuing toward its goal.
‘Black thread?’
TBOAH!Mary’s jaw silently dropped open beneath the shadow of her hood. This technique was intricate and required an unimaginably vast control and experience in handling her powers, TBOAH!Mary gulped and peeked at her counterpart out the corner of her eye and then quickly returned her gaze to the Palantír as the record continued.
Bernard suddenly felt an odd sensation. It was a sensation he had not felt for a long time. His back and the back of his neck were getting cold. Bernard lowered his head. He could see someone standing on the ground.
The necromancer Mary started to speak, “I’ve been waiting for this.”
‘What?’
“I’ve been waiting for you to turn into bones.”
“Scared?! He was actually a bit scared for a moment…” Valentino mumbled under his breath, his eyes were wide. There were a lot of things happening on the Palantír that occurred in the Empire which he had not known nor could have ever imagined happening. Harol and Litana were still trembling with anger from the earlier scene when they’d seen Bernard using black magic to control the people around him.
Necromancers were weaker than black mages. That was said to be the truth. But there was something Mary could confidently say that she was better than anybody else at doing.
“Handling bones. I am the best at handling bones.”
Mary could not control the living like Bernard had done. However, a Lich was both a living being and a being who had escaped death and continued to live in the form of a skeleton.
No one disagreed, TCF!Mary had done many incredible and amazing things so far. They did not doubt that she would get this bony bastard too – in fact many people were cheering in their minds for her to get him and give him a good beating.
According to the Palantír, Mary knew that controlling a Lich might be impossible, but she believed that she would be able to at least stop him. This was because a Lich’s body was made up of bones, and Necromancers controlled bones better than anyone else.
Mary didn’t know how a necromancer could defeat a black mage, however, she realized the way for a necromancer to hinder a Lich.
TBOAH!Mary looked briefly toward her counterpart seated beside her and then returned her gaze to the Palantír. She was wondering about that too, so now she was planning to watch how her stronger counterpart did it.
“T, this useless power!”
Bernard could see the hundreds, no, thousands, of black threads cutting through the storm and trying to reach his fingers and toes.
“Ugh! These useless things are trying to!”
Bernard tried to create a sword with mana to slice the black threads away. However, there were too many of them. He had not been able to see them because they were so thin. However, he could now see that there were thousands of those threads approaching him. Mary had been stealthily creating these thin threads throughout the battle.
She had been waiting. The opportunity had finally arrived.
Muffled screams filled the hall as Bernard started to scream when the black threads grasped at the Lich’s ankle. The record showed all of this and beneath the dark hoods they were wearing, TBOAH!Mary and TCF!Mary’s eyes gleamed with studious thirst.
That was the beginning. Thousands of black threads cut through the storm in order to grab onto the black skeleton. They were binding around the bones like spiderwebs. The battle of strength between the necromancer and the Lich had begun. The lights in Bernard’s eye sockets turned red as he roared at the power trying to bind him. Lich Bernard’s shout and his mana made the area around him rumble.
Cale heard a voice in his head at that moment.
– Cale Henituse.
Cale flinched as he looked at Mary. Eruhaben. He heard the ancient Dragon’s voice.
– I think I may have found the White Star.
‘…Excuse me? You found who?’
Grigori inwardly clicked her tongue, ignoring the glares that were being fired between TCF!Eruhaben and TBOAH!Eruhaben. The two of them acted as if they really liked fighting and nagging each other, but the truth is they were both having fun annoying each other. Apparently, they were bored, and thus were entertaining themselves by swapping insults telepathically. This was why Grigori did not intervene.
Cale’s expression had a rare look of being completely baffled. That was how shocking it was. It was at that moment he heard the loudest explosion he had heard all day.
Cale turned his head. The Mogoru Empire’s palace. An explosion had occurred at the palace that was still bright because of the emergency. Cale could see a light shooting up from the site of the explosion. It was a white gold light. The ancient Dragon Eruhaben was shooting up into the air with his white gold aura around him.
TBOAH!Eruhaben’s expression turned grim when he noticed the way TBOAH!Mila and TBOAH!Rasheel tensed and became agitated in their seats. TBOAH!Dodori tucked his face into his mother’s lap – his eyes were squeezed tightly shut – as if to block out some terrible memories. The amusement borne from boredom vanished as TBOAH!Eruhaben tried to understand the sudden anxiety and distress that filled the dragons from his TBOAH!World.
Cale heard Eruhaben’s voice even as he watched him fly.
– Cale Henituse, you are a fake.
‘Excuse me? A fake? What is he talking about?’
It was as Cale’s face slowly turned into a frown.
– I thought you were the heir to the Dragon Slayer household, but your bloodline is not the Dragon Catcher bloodline.
Cale could see someone else shooting up to the sky behind Eruhaben.
“In my defence, it was because he was human and yet he had the strong smells of nature around him. Also his plate was strange, it was large but made like glass…” TCF!Eruhaben tried to explain. However none of the others around him cared about his incorrect assumptions. No, their attention was riveted upon someone else – the nightmarish visage of the monster that had hunted them to extinction in their TBOAH!World. In the previous records when he showed up it didn’t affect them like it did now, perhaps because what they were seeing right now was, TCF!Eruhaben getting pushed back by that monster. To see the oldest living Ancient Dragon (Sherritt doesn’t quite count as living) experiencing what they had, frightened the TBOAH!Dragons once more.
In their world, TBOAH!Eruhaben had already passed and they were all alone… it was a feeling that spurned a strange distress within them all. A moment later however, a warm and brave aura wrapped around them. Looking up, TBOAH!Rasheel and TBOAH!Mila saw Cale’s gaze was upon them, no his gaze more specifically was upon TBOAH!Dodori. There was a concerned look in his eyes, before he turned away again. His Dominating Aura however remained around each of them, comforting them and giving them the reassurance and time they needed to compose themselves.
Eruhaben calmly continued to speak.
– The White Star was the true descendant of the Dragon Slayer bloodline.
‘The White Star is from a Dragon Catcher household?’
Cale could see a person descending from the palace’s roof at the distance. It was a man with red hair who was wearing half a mask. The man turned his head. The two of them made eye contact. Cale started to think to himself even though the man’s face wasn’t clearly visible as they were far apart from each other. An unfamiliar voice started to speak in his mind. The voice sounded extremely tired.
– Who are you?
The White Star was asking Cale a question.
“Grigori…” Cale called out sharply, his hand moving toward Raon as he did. Grigori immediately turned her head toward him and offered him a firm nod. Cale had reacted moments ago to comfort the TBOAH!Dragons, but there were some things in this record that they did not need to see or hear, neither they nor the TCF!Dragons needed more fuel to hate that bastard.
“Yes, I know. Rest assured… there’s no need for that scene…” She reassured him. Cale and Grigori shared a look and then both of them seemed to come to some sort of agreement and Cale calmed down again.
The main reason Cale didn’t want this scene to play was because he did not want Raon or the other dragons in the Palantír Hall to hear the White Radish saying he would take Raon and use him as an awakening tool. He did not want to incite the dragons or traumatize the already exhausted youngest dragons from the two timelines. It was something the TBOAH!Black Dragon didn’t need to know about either. Grigori gestured to the Palantír and the scene returned to the battle TCF!Mary, TCF!Hannah, and Bernard were engaged in.
< Chapter 334: Who are you?! (4)>
“Hahahaha! My liege has arrived! My liege is here!” Tower Master Lich Bernard was cheering from the center of the black storm. The thousands of black threads throughout his body were still binding him.
“Ugh!”
Cale turned his head. That groan had come from Mary. Lich Bernard started to create an even stronger whirlwind. Mary’s black threads bound the skeleton tighter as if they were responding to the whirlwind. A black mage and a necromancer. Black magic against the power to control bones. The two of them were fighting evenly right now.
“Mary, are you okay?” Cale asked Mary whose hands were shaking but were still tightly holding onto the threads.
“…I will win.”
TCF!Mary’s declaration made many members of the audience clench their fists and start aggressively cheering her on even more. The fact that TCF!Mary were here right now and that the White Star and Bernard were dead, was all they needed to reassure themselves that TCF!Mary and the rest of Cale’s group had indeed survived and won!
Cale blinked once at that moment.
– Cale Henituse, take care of things over there first. I will handle this.
A lot of different scenarios flowed through Cale’s mind as he heard Eruhaben’s voice. The White Star who could easily block the ancient Dragon’s attack. The Lich who seemed to have an endless source of energy. The numerous people watching the battle. He lifted his head up.
“Damn it!”
Sword master Hannah was unable to reach Lich Bernard because of the wild black whirlwind. The White Bone Dragon she was standing on was unable to maintain its balance. It could not be helped. All of Mary’s focus was on Bernard right now.
The Palantír Hall became tense with suspense as the Cale within the record expressed his frustrations at their current situation. However the face that ‘different scenarios’ were running through his mind reassured Rok Soo that his Soul Swap Partner was about to do something crazy and completely illogical again.
A Lich who has lived for over a thousand years was battling Mary, who was not even thirty years old. Mary was already doing enough by lasting this long as a necromancer who is supposed to be weak against black magic. Then there was just one thing left to do.
“Tasha!” Cale’s voice echoed in the plaza.
Cale started to speak once he made eye contact with Dark Elf Tasha.
“Create a path!”
Everyone could only watched with their mouths hanging ajar as Rok Soo’s prediction came true. TCF!Tasha, Cale and Raon used their Wind Elementals power, Wind Ancient Power and Mana to create a path with the wind. It was astonishing even for TBOAH!Tasha to witness this incredible scene.
“Let’s get started.”
Three large wind arrows left their hands and shot forward. Cale shouted at the same time.
“Hannah!”
Just calling her name was enough. Hannah quickly changed the direction of the White Bone Dragon. The White Bone Dragon’s body quickly moved and headed toward the back of the wind arrows.
“What a weak attack!”
Bernard turned away from the black threads binding him and glared at the wind arrows heading toward him. The red glow in his eye sockets looked ready to explode as the black storm became even wilder.
“Thank god he let his guard down!” TCF!Obante whispered as he dabbed the sweat from his brow. He’d begun to sweat profusely when his anxiety had surged after seeing TCF!Eruhaben preparing to face off against the White Star.
Tasha’s wind arrow was the first to arrive at the black storm. A loud explosion could be heard as wind clashed against wind. Tasha’s wind arrow soon disappeared.
“This is perfect!”
However, Hannah was smiling. The black storm had shaken. Another wind arrow reached the same spot that Tasha’s attack had tried to pierce through. It was Cale’s arrow this time. The head of Cale’s arrow crashed into the storm and let out some loud noises. Hannah clenched onto the white sword and spoke to the White Bone Dragon after seeing what came next.
“Let’s go!”
TBOAH!Mary couldn’t help glancing toward TCF!Mary when she heard her sigh softly, it was a happy and relieved sound that could have been easily missed by people who did not know either Mary.
Raon’s wind arrow seeped into Cale’s wind arrow. Cale and Raon’s wind arrows that had now fused into one continued to slam on the black storm even stronger. Hannah could see it through the attack. A gap. There was a small gap in the black storm.
‘Over there. I need to go through there.’
The white sword started to cry. Hannah charged toward the gap. She could slash the enemy if she passed through the path that the wind and her friends had created.
TBOAH!Tasha blinked in mild surprise, she’d witnessed the cordial and happy atmosphere between her counterpart and TCF!Hannah and TCF!Jack, but to actually once again hear TCF!Hannah, the Holy Maiden of the Sun God and, by all other means of describing her, a tsundere, saying that she (or rather her counterpart), a dark elf, also qualified as her friend touched TBOAH!Tasha and TBOAH!Obante.
Everyone watched as Cale and Raon’s arrows disappeared with a final bang. Until all that was left was the black storm with the gap. They sat in silence, observing as Hannah lowered her body and curled up and the White Bone Dragon jumped into the gap. And then the Palantír shifted view points again allowing everyone in the hall to see that Hannah had made it to the center of the storm. The Lich was standing in the calm eye of the storm, he could not do much else because TCF!Mary’s threads had him all tied up.
The smile on Hannah’s face disappeared. The gaze of the swordsman who had received a precious chance was cold.
“Damn it!”
Bernard was flailing around without being able to get rid of the black threads. He tried to move the black storm, but Hannah and the White Bone Dragon had already pierced through it and approached Bernard. Hannah lifted her sword toward the Lich.
“Good Girl Mary really captured him nicely!!” the TBOAH!Black Dragon pointed out in a proud tone.
“Thank you Dragon-nim!” TCF!Mary replied with another happy sigh – that caused TBOAH!Mary to stare at her again. Before any further comments could be made, Naur continued the Palantír this time to provide some insight into what exactly was a Lich and how to kill it. The information Naur provided were taken from TCF!Hannah’s knowledge and experiences at the time of this record.
Lich – it was an existence that looked like a black skeleton and had their soul in an orb that was shaped like a heart. The method of killing a Lich was finding that heart orb and destroying it. However, nobody could tell where that orb would be located. That was how it was supposed to be. However, Hannah could feel it. The white sword in her hand was telling her where it was. Aim over there. She looked at the black skeleton Bernard who was wearing a knight’s armour. His chest was covered by the armour. The sword was telling her to aim to the right side. It was saying that the Lich’s soul was located there.
It made better sense to everyone now that they understood where TCF!Hannah was aiming and why she needed to get closer to do so. Those who hadn’t known about these special characteristics of a Lich were learning now too.
“I cannot show my liege such an ugly sight!”
Bernard moved his hand to resist against the black threads even more. His bone right arm pointed toward Hannah. Black mana that was gathered around this hand shot out toward Hannah.
“You’re only a half-complete Holy Maiden!”
Hannah couldn’t help but laugh after seeing the black orb approaching her. It was a funny story. That black mana orb reached Hannah at that moment.
The loud explosion shook the video recording within the Palantír and that Lich whose red ‘eyes’ (if you could even call it that) that had been filled with nervousness changed as he began to laugh. This Old-Bones-Bastard had good instincts, it seemed.
‘Above.’
The Lich who could not even lift his head properly because of the black threads could see Hannah. Hannah was shooting down toward the Lich from above. Hannah had kicked off of the White Bone Dragon’s head right before the black mana orb hit her. The White Bone Dragon had thrown its body toward the black mana orb in Hannah’s place. This opening was created by the White Bone Dragon’s sacrifice. Bernard could see the white sword that was aiming toward his right chest. The knight with spiderweb scars on her face and the white sword in her hand laughed as she made a comment.
“I was never a Holy Maiden, you stupid bastard.”
How could she be a half-complete Holy Maiden when she was never a Holy Maiden from the start?
“Just like me…” TCF!Jack whispered with a relieved smile on his face. Of course he was really implying that just like his realization when he was trying to use the Condemnation of the Sun, TCF!Hannah had come to a similar realization, that it didn’t matter whether she was a Holy Maiden or not, what mattered was that she was herself.
“…D, damn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!” Bernard tried to move his hand again, however, he was blocked. The Lich could see the necromancer looking up at him from the ground. Thin black threads grabbed the Lich’s ankles. Lich Bernard lowered his head. The white sword had pierced through his armour. It was just a simple white sword without aura nor anything else around it. However, it was able to easily pierce through both his armour and his ribs. It finally reached the heart-shaped black orb within him.
Hannah had a wide grin on her face as she looked at the Lich. This was the end. This was the end of this Lich’s life. Hannah gathered all of her strength and pushed the white sword forward. She wanted to white sword to go as deep as possible in order to destroy the Lich’s heart orb. Hannah’s hand reached forward.
“This is the e-”
“That’s right, get him, get him!” TBOAH!Rex quietly and urgently urged the TCF !Hannah within the record. After everything he’d seen Bernard doing, he wanted that bastard dead and gone more than anyone else. Of course he was still curious about what happened to Adin, but when he asked the Goddess in his mind, she had replied that she would show what happened to him when she revealed the records pertaining to Choi Han, so TBOAH!Rex had no choice but to wait until then.
It was at that moment. Hannah suddenly got the chills. She then saw it.
“Ah, my liege has-”
She could see the smiling Lich. Hannah tried to turn around after feeling the chills. However, someone’s voice brought her back to her senses.
“Keep going!”
Cale Henituse. It was Cale’s voice. An explosion that was much louder than before reached Hannah’s ear at that moment.
“Hah, that’s right!! As if Oraboni would let you get to her!!” TCF!Lily snickered deviously. She seemed to be enjoying this very much. Cale began to worry that this was corrupting his pure-minded and innocent sister who just so happened to also want to be a knight who could protect everyone.
“So what, she can be a strong and capable knight who doesn’t enjoy violent clashes of strength… there’s nothing wrong with that!” Cale was once again in denial. If Rok Soo and TCF!Alberu had realized this, they would have corrected him in a consoling manner.
Hannah did not look back as she pushed her hand forward all the way. The sword had pierced the orb. The heart orb started to crack along with the screeching noise. It slowly started to break apart. Hannah turned her head back as soon as she noticed it breaking.
“… Cale Henituse.”
She could see Cale. She could see Cale, who was standing in front of the black storm, well, in front of her to be more specific. Furthermore, she could see a physical silver shield in his hand as well as his silver shield ancient power. And beyond those shields… Raon was continuously creating silver shields around Cale’s silver shield as he glared at the person beyond the shield.
It was a man with a large fire sword in his hand. The red-haired man started to speak to Cale from the other side of the shield.
“Cale Henituse, who are you?”
He sounded extremely tired. It was the White Star.
“Hey…doesn’t this mean that bastard White Radish tried to kill you himself?!” TBOAH!Hannah demanded as she turned to gawk at TCF!Hannah. And then she and everyone around her all turned to look toward Cale who had blocked the White Radish and protected TCF!Hannah’s back at that time. The TBOAH!Dragons who had been in distress at the sight of TCF!Eruhaben fighting the White Star, looked over at Cale to ask if he had lost his mind, but then the record on the Palantír blurred and vanished from view.
The Palantír gradually turned dark as Grigori took her time to stand up.
“Aww… is that it? You aren’t going to show us the rest of the battle?”
“There’s no need for that Children. You could probably all predict what happened next. A few hours before dawn, Bernard dies giving the rest of his darkness to the White Radish who combined it with his sky attribute attack. Cale-hyung then purifies the darkness and defends against the sky attribute power with his friends and the White Radish teleports away to search for an earth attribute Ancient Power.”
Grigori made her way over to the Sun God Twins from both timelines. She continued speaking as she moved.
“Rex and his people raid the palace and imprison the Emperor, royal family, and the grand nobles. The Alchemists’ Bell Tower underground area is revealed and the black mages are all imprisoned. And then a day after that, the funerals for those who died in the Alchemists’ Bell Tower begins.”
She also told everyone that the soldiers captured by the Whipper Kingdom are released and they return to Mogoru to defend the Capital and guard Rex, Jack, and Hannah. As Rex takes over the administration, Mogoru begins to restabilize itself. After informing them of all these things, Grigori dismisses them, sending them off to have dinner as she led the four people who were ready to receive their healing and treatment for their soul dissonance to another suite within her palace.