COUGH COUGH BWARG

Barely holding his weakened body still standing, the man in his prime was still violently coughing. Even after thousand of years being alive, he had never felt that weak, besides when he was still a kid. Looking at the black veins that were visible on his right hand, he used it on a nearby table to support his shaking legs. But barely a second later, he was once more caught by the insidious disease that plagued his body.

COUGH COUGH

Finally giving up, he only had the time to fall on a chair before his body betrayed him. Looking around him, he could see countless potions, cures, and vials. All of them were filled with something that could only be found in his Tower. Not even the Organization could put its hand on his own creations. And he thought that somewhere, something he or his disciples had made would help them fight back. But he was deeply wrong this time.

COUGH COUGH

Knock Knock

"Archmage? Are you alright?" Hearing the burly voice of Four, the last surviving Hero of the Age of Darkness couldn't even answer. Feeling his throat too dry, he picked up something randomly, before putting it back immediately. He was maybe thirsty, but not enough to drink the poison that was in this potion. However, right next to it was a healing potion, that he immediately swallowed. Normally, just drinking half of it could replenish the blood of even the most wounded man. But for him, the only effect was that it had a nice taste and it was composed of water.

"Yes, yes. Ent.. COUGH COUGH! How are the others?" Looking at the man with white hair that looked older than him, all he could see was his disappointed face. "Not very good, Two is the only one still capable of staying awake. As for the others, it had already been a day since their last conversation."

One had to know that if all the human nations lost many men during the war against the Dark Gods, the Tower of the Archmage suffered an even worst fate. Considering the small number of disciples in the first place, the fact that four of them died was horrible. Now, seven others were harmed, including the Hero himself. But nothing they had to manage to ease their pain and the body of some were on the brink of collapsing.

"Where are the dragonroots I asked for? They should have arrived a day ag.. COUGH COUGH!" Not having the time to finish his sentence, he picked up another healing potion, before drinking the entire potion again. However, when he lowered his head to look at the other party, all he could see was his angered face. Usually, it would have taken him just a fraction of second to understand what happened, but his mind was still blurry and far too slow for his liking.

"What is happening? Four?" At this word, the disciple took a single leaf from his bag, showing it to the Archmage. The normally red and lively leaf had taken a black color, completely burned. "This is the last leaf of the dragonroots. The convoy had a surprising accident on the way. Right before entering Durthang. A large number of bandits appeared all of a sudden."

Carefully grabbing the plant, the Hero was still too clumsy and accidentally reduced a part of it into dust. "Bandits? Here? Attacking someone specifically dealing with me? Who are they taking me for? WH.. COUGH COUGH!" As he was standing up in anger, another row of coughing forced him to fall back. But his anger was still not appeased as his disciple explained what it meant.

"They were not bandits, master. They were soldiers of the Synnada Empire. They are using this opportunity to get rid of you. The last Hero." After the death of her father, the new Empress of the empire was far more prone to doing ruthless actions. And because of the fact that the Archmage appeared less and less in those last years, she did not really accept to have such a monster right next to her door.

"Brainless woman! Just because Lord Darkwater doesn't have a lot of time to live doesn't mean no one will resist her. And if she thinks she will be able to resist the Dark Gods without my help, she is even more ambitious than his old dad. But now I understand how she manages to outwit all her brothers and gain control of the throne. COUGH COUGH!"

Drinking another harmless potion, the Archmage kept complaining again. "Still, that doesn't explain that she would harm me, without a good reason. The only possibility for her to do that is to .." Finally understanding the crux of the problem, he could only see Four nodding his head. "THOSE STUPID GODS! I knew they were dumb thousand of years ago when they chose that smug bastard of Massalia. But to make the same mistake twice, they truly want this planet to be destroyed."

DONG DONG

Hearing the alarm bell that was placed inside the Tower, both men looked at each other. Not even in their wildest dreams, someone would still dare to attack this building, even if the Archmage was wounded. After all, even without the Hero, his disciples were powerful enough to deal with it by themselves.

"Go see what is the problem."

"Yes, master."

Seeing that the old man left, the Hero began to grab a table nearby, before painfully getting up. Carefully advancing, he approached a closet that was not different than any of the others right next to it. Opening it, he entered the small opening located inside it. Leaving the room that was used by everyone in the Tower for multiple experiments, he entered his own personal laboratory. In fact, everyone as powerful as Four could do the same, it was just that they were intelligent enough to not try to peek in his secrets for no reasons.

"I pray you, Aria, for in those dark moments, only you can be our hope,

Monsters, demons, have come to kill me and my kin, to set this blessed lands to blaze

Is it my fault? Am I this weak? Why no one can stand against them, even your pope?

Blessed Aria, what are our sins? For you to let your virtuous believers in this .."

Hearing the particularly horrible and acute voice, the Hero immediately activated the button right next to him. Feeling relieved to shut down that sound, he did not care about the green lizard that was still singing at full power. If at first, the cute and small lizard was minding his own business, the moment he spotted the human, it began to insult him. Fortunately, the glass imprisoning it was no longer letting sounds pass.

bonk bonk

The very quiet bonk was barely audible, as the lizard was forcefully banging its head against the glass. Barely glancing at it, the Archmage searched a drawer, before grabbing a few crystals. Anyone could see that they were monster cores, but the very intense light inside them proved that they were not common at all. Filling his pocket completely, he put one right next to the cage of the lizard. The damages caused on the glass by the head butt of the small monster were instantly repaired, leaving the latter even more angered.

However, it couldn't do anything at all, since he was silenced by a spell. Knowing well that it was useless, it could only stare intensely at the human, as he was walking toward numerous locations in the room, replenishing all the spells and enchants with monster cores. Looking at the two last crystals in his hand, the Archmage opened a very heavy door in the middle of the wall.

Even if it was heavy, the door was relatively small. Barely a meter in height, but with dozens of locks and chains made of sheer mana. Just a glance at it proved that something extremely dangerous or important was behind it. Seeing the opening of the door, the lizard began to sing one more, even more loudly this time. It also seemed to be happy to see this happening, as weirdly as it seemed when someone was talking about a lizard.

Releasing the last lock, the door opened on a very tight vault, with another protection. Like a tiny prison, cell bars prevented the human to see fully the shell of a corpse that was behind it. Merely a skull and a ribcage, both gravely destroyed. However, inside the ribcage, there was a red crystal that was creating a very dim light. Using all his power to prevent himself from coughing, the Archmage began to put one monster core near the cell. As for the other, he accurately threw it next to the corpse.

"Thgin eht fo dne eht lit' oreH a rof tuo gnidloh m'I, oreH a deen I." Soon, a very faint voice resonated in the small vault, as something seemed to have been awakened. Besides the red crystal shining more brightly, there was not a single other change.

"What is the weakness of Leilade?"

"Oh my, my. She is here after all. No, even better, she is inside your body. My, my. Hahaha." Hearing the soul on the brink of being destroyed laughing like that, the Archmage took back the monster core, forcing the other party to weaken. But that didn't stop the spirit inside the red crystal to laugh, in fact, it only made him do it even more loudly. Turning around, he saw the maw of the lizard opening in such a strange manner that it also seemed it was laughing as well.

"That little girl. I guess she beat me. You met her, used that spell, forced her to become a soul. And now, you are the reason her subordinates are safe since they are also trapped. Meaning she can find out if that thing is truly asleep. And maybe also find my other hints. You have done well, Bob. Good job."

Hearing his own name being pronounced as casually as this, the human could no longer hold out and began to violently cough. Because he had repressed it before, it was even stronger, as he had a hard time even staying on his own two legs. Gripping tightly the table near him, he could hear the mocking tone of the soul.

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"Hahaha. Do you know that only Abaddon saved me because otherwise she wouldn't have let go of the control of my body? But I guess it will be hard for you to ask him to do something for you. Well, you remember what I said before when we first met?"

Clenching his teeth in pain, the Archmage remembered the first thing Candaith told him, soon after he was captured. "That I would be killed by my own disciple. But you were wrong. The day One betrayed me, because of you, I was on my guard. And he failed. For that, I have to thank you and there will never be another One again. And I guess you won't help me anymore. Farewell Candaith, I will let you slowly die."

"Z?rtar K?rlam ? Jyzref." Hearing this strange sentence, the Archmage only dismissed it as the last thing of a desperate beast. But he didn't notice the small lizard behind him repeating those words as well. Closing the vault once more, he coughed many times more before finally leaving this room. To his surprise, Four was awaiting him with a potion filled with a red liquid.

"Master! The Organization has found a cure, I have already provided it to the other disciples, and they are fine now. All the darkness in their body was purged, and it formed a sort of monster that immediately tried to leave. But we capture them."

Noticing the unknown liquid in the hand of Four, the first reflex of the Archmage was to drink it. However, with the reminder of Candaith, he hesitated, fearing that it was a trap. Shaking his head, he realized that it may be a ploy by that Dark God, making him even fear the only thing capable of curing him. "Take me to the others."

"Of course, master."

Supported by the old man by his side, the Hero arrived in the room where he could see the previously pale and sickened faces of his disciples gaining more colors. Even Two was happily chatting and beginning to drink, something even he could not prevent her to do. But by looking at the already two empty bottles by her side, it seemed she was quite lively. Realizing that his worries were unfounded, he picked up the liquid in front of all his students, before gulping it in one go.

COUGH COUGH

Coughing more and more, they didn't seem particularly worried, as they quickly put him on one of the last clean bed. There, they saw him fall unconscious before a dark liquid was leaking from the pores of his skin. But before they could sigh in relief, they noticed that the darkness was not falling to the ground like before, but was beginning to cover his entire body. Caught in panic, they immediately tried to use magic to levitate the monster away from their master.

But they soon realized that by doing so, the skin that was glued to it was also taken away. Starring at the muscles visible on the face of the Archmage, they realized he began to bleed abundantly. The moment they dropped the monster on him, it began to infiltrate once more, blocking his mouth and nose. The only thing that was good was the fact that because he was not conscious, the Hero was not in pain.

Realizing that if they didn't do anything in that minute because the man could no longer breath, they tried everything they had. In the last try, they managed to completely pull the darkness away from him. But to their horror, they noticed that stuck on the dark liquid, there was too much of his body. Quickly falling right next to his neck, Two tried to search for his pulse. But to her horror, she realized that by the time they did that, he had stopped breathing.

"We .. we killed the Archmage."