The day finally came. Quatro Domini and Lowell entered Necropolis to execute their plan. On their way to plant the explosives, Rodney and Alexis went on to the spot while the rest went to the rendezvous point.
With Alexis being alone with Rodney, she tries to talk to him about Lowell and Theresa's secret relationship. The four had known each other for a very long time and look out for each other. If Rodney finds out about them, he'll definitely be less receptive of the relationship considering it could get Theresa excommunicated from the order leading to her unable to continue being an adventurer.
As Alexis was about to bring it up, she immediately thinks of her best friend. While bringing it up to Rodney would probably prevent Theresa from getting excommunicated, she also thinks of the happiness that this relationship has brought her friend.
Previously, Theresa had an aversion towards men. She couldn't help it. When she was younger, she had a very unpleasant experience with an older man who was passing by her village. After that, she was sent to a convent of nuns who introduced God to her and taught her healing magic on the side.
As she got older, she decided to get into the adventuring business to quickly earn money to support the convent. She had a lot of trouble with previous parties she'd join in, mainly with men in the group who can't keep their hands to themselves.
After adventuring for a while, she gained fame for playing a vital role in defeating an enraged minotaur with a significantly weaker party. Her large mana pool and casting of healing spells helped keep her party members alive.
After that, Theresa got invited into Rodney's three-man group and has stayed with them ever since thus forming Quatro Domini.
If Alexis tells on Theresa, it could very well be the end of their adventuring days together. In the end, Alexis keeps the secret to herself.
Soon after setting up the distraction, the two met up with the rest of the group.
Everyone did one last equipment check before going forward to the next phase of the plan. Seeing as everyone is ready, Rodney and Alexis activated the distraction.
A loud explosion echoed from the distance as the undead army made their way towards the noise. It took a some minutes until the undead are nowhere to be seen in the area.
As soon as the coast was clear, the group proceeded towards the Lich's lair.
The lair, seemingly small from the outside, was massive in overall size. It was more akin to a labyrinth than the former mage's tower that stood in its place. Either way, the group moves forward, avoiding both traps and skeletal guards.
They can't really make contact with any undead as doing so would alert the Lich, making it incredibly more difficult for all of them to fight the Lich or even escape if things go sour.
No matter what, they have to strike the Lich and strike it decisively.
They went deeper and deeper all the while evading getting caught until they got to an open area. Lowell casted a spell that conjured several light orbs that surveyed the area, revealing an enormous throne room.
No one in the group have been to this place before but each one could tell that this room was constructed after the fall of the city. The room is still dark despite the light orbs floating around. It also smelled of rot and decay, mainly coming from rotting bodies of vermin and humans who probably came here for loot but instead only found death.
At the far end of the room is a pile of bones resembling a throne. As the group made it to the middle of the room, Lowell's light orbs was dispelled, leaving the room pitch dark.
Suddenly, the room was lit with a blazing green flame as the bones catches on fire while slowly making their way to the front of the throne, forming a sort of skeletal abomination.
A large titan made of bones towered over the party, its back hunched over as it hit the ceiling. The party got ready for battle.
Theresa immediately started chanting for an offensive spell. Wulfgar went ahead to distract the large, bony monster while Alexis and Lowell started to chant for their own spells as well. It won't necessarily do anything as Light magic are the only spells that can truly kill the undead.
Rodney, surveying the battlefield just next to Theresa, orders the two mage to cast their spell on the monster's feet to bring it down. After a short delay, Alexis casted an Ice Lance that penetrated the monster's left knee, causing it to stumble while Lowell casted a lightning spear that hit the right leg of the monster, hurting it but still leaving it standing. Without missing a beat, Wulgar rushed towards the monster's right leg and hit it with his battleaxe, completely toppling the hunched-back titan.
Theresa had just finished casting her exorcism spell, illuminating the entire room and destroying the skeletal monster completely without a trace left.
The room went back to its dark, gloomy setting, with everyone surveying the surroundings. Once they felt that the dangers had passed, they proceeded to look for the next room.
Just at the opposite side of the entrance, a door is located hidden by debris. They cleared out the debris and noticed the door's design. Instead of a doorknob, it uses a metal wheel to open. The usual door for the treasure room. It seems they've hit the jackpot!
Rodney examined the door further, and it seems that the door has a combination lock to open. He immediately went to work to open the door while the rest of the group recuperated.
A good ten minutes have passed and Rodney was able to open the door. He tried to push it open to no avail. It was too heavy. He hollered at Wulgar to push open the door but even the half-giant had problems opening it. In the end, all three men push open the door with all their might as it slowly budges open.
Before their eyes are riches beyond their comprehension. Golden treasures litter every nook and cranny aside from one item that's embedded on a necklace. A gem, glowing a faint emerald hue, caught the eyes of Lowell.
"This is it! This is what I've been looking for!" Lowell yelled in excitement as everyone else was busy filling their bags with treasure.
"Good for you my friend." Rodney exclaimed. "Now help us fill this bag." In his hand is a bag that seems to never fill no matter how much you put inside it. Lowell went to get a better look of the bag and recognized it as a bag of holding, a bag that can carry a tremendous amount of weight.
It took them a while to fill the bag although even when it's already full, there's still a lot of treasure scattered around the room. They decided to leave it there for now. Maybe some time in the future, they can come back for it when there's a need for the money.
Now that they've gotten what they were there for, they made their way out, still exercising caution. As they've reached near the entrance of the lair, their surroundings started to shake violently.
The earthquake was so strong that the ground beneath them started to break. They need to rush to the exit. Everyone ran, their lives depended on it. The first one to exit was Rodney. It made sense considering that he's a thief. Followed him was Lowell and Theresa who were holding each other's hands as they got out. Alexis made it out, barely not making it as everything around them fell. Wulfgar, due to being a half-giant and heavy in general, couldn't make it as he fell through the floor once the cracks started forming.
They looked at each other, emotional as their friend couldn't make it though they couldn't grieve for too long. The skeletons who were originally distracted have now come back, about to swarm the outside of the lair.
The four snapped out of it and made another dash out of the plaza to the nearby rendezvous point that they waited from earlier. Rodney, Theresa and Lowell ran as fast as they could while Alexis rode her flying staff, distracting as much undead as she could.
"I'll try to distract some of them. I'll meet you guys there!" Alexis shouted as she went the opposite way from the group. Rodney gave her a nod as they parted ways for now.
Alexis's distraction was simple enough. She only needed to be seen by the undead and avoid the eventual arrows that fly her way. Even so, it took her a total of thirty minutes to distract and lose them until she could meet back with everybody else.
Alexis arrived at the rendezvous point with the outside filled with lifeless undead. It seemed like Theresa had casted an exorcism spell to stop the swarming undead. As she steps inside the building that was formerly an inn, there were remnants of battle that wasn't there earlier.
Weirdly enough, it seemed like it was humans who were fighting here and not with the undead. Countless daggers that Alexis recognizes belonging to Rodney were stuck all over the wooden walls and counters. What made her heart sink was that the blades were covered in blood. Something must have happen while she was gone but she couldn't find any signs of the three.
She noticed the backdoor open and a trail of blood leading outside. Alexis decides to investigate and follow the trail leading her to a dead-end street. The area itself showed signs of recent fighting and some of the skeletons still lingered in the area. Alexis dealt with them quickly with magic.
In the aftermath of the battle, Alexis heard a creaking noise within one of the houses in the area. "Who's there?! Rodney?!" Alexis yelled at the house. A few seconds passed after she received an answer. "Here!" A weak shout came from inside the house. Alexis recognized Rodney's voice.
She immediately barged inside and was shocked with what she saw. In front of her lies a heavily wounded Rodney. His body is bruised and both his legs were severed leaving him motionless on the ground.
Alexis quickly casted a healing spell on him, not doing much aside from giving Rodney a bit of relief. Rodney didn't have long and he noticed it too. He reached inside his shirt's pocket to retrieve the bag of holding that's filled with treasure and gave it to Alexis.
"Find.. h-help…. Save.. Theresa…" Rodney's breathing started to become unstable. "Avenge… u-us….-" With those final words, Rodney Hood, leader of Quatro Domini, have fallen.
Alexis lets out a loud cry. Rodney has been her friend for a long time and has trusted his judgement on hard decisions for the group and losing him led her to despair. She was lost on what to do next.
It took her a while but she regained her composure. With an emotionally distraught mind, she decided to look for Lowell and Theresa but she had a couple of things to do first.
She flew back to the Lich's lair, hoping that she could get back in to look for Wulfgar. Unfortunately, the skeletons that they've distracted earlier have all gone back to guarding the area around the lair leaving her no choice but to leave the area. Wulfgar is strong. If he's still alive, he'll find his way out.
Alexis went back again to Rodney and took his body out of the Necropolis, planning to give him a proper burial. She ended up burying him just outside the city at the spot where they set up camp the prior night.
For the first time in a long time, Alexis was all alone. As someone who've found the elixir of everlasting youth, she has basically never aged a day, forever capturing her physical state at age 19.
She looks youthful but she's actually several centuries old and because of this, she has met and got close with a lot of people. Her relationship with Quatro Domini was something she held very dearly and yet, Rodney is dead, Wulfgar is trapped underground, and Theresa is missing. The suspect, Lowell, seemed to have betrayed the group and took Theresa with him.
Alexis wants to reciprocate Rodney's final wish and so she went to the nearest city with an adventurer's guild to request for help in regards to finding the whereabouts of Theresa and Lowell and also to find capable adventurers in helping her save Wulfgar from Necropolis.
The memory started to shift for the last time. Alexis, Lowell and Mavis's spectral bodies got pulled up into the air as if they're fish in the water being caught.Their vision is filled with a bright, white light and before they know it, they're back in Alexis's study.
Lowell and Mavis were groggy, their vision still shaky. It took a couple of minutes for the both to get their bearings back together and stand back up. They look around the room and Alexis was nowhere in sight.
"Alexis? Where are you?" Mavis asked. She was massaging the side of her head. The spell really took a toll on her.
"I'm right here." A disembodied voice was heard behind the two. As they turn around to look, they are met with Alexis who has assumed a combat stance with her staff pointed towards Lowell.
Alexis glared fiercely; the type of glare that pierces the soul. "Where is she? Where is Theresa?!" Alexis yelled. The surroundings were completely quiet with Lowell and Mavis still dumbfounded with what's happening.
A few seconds of complete silence passed. "If you don't answer me, I'll kill her." Alexis shifted pointing her staff towards Mavis, catching her by surprise. Mavis looked at Lowell who was still unresponsive all this time.
A few more seconds passed and Alexis's patience was running out quick. She started to cast a spell, a large amount of mana started to gather at the point of her staff.
Finally coming back to his senses, Lowell put his hands up as he stood in front of Mavis to protect her. "Stop! This doesn't concern her." Alexis furrowed her brows further. "If you don't want her to get hurt then tell me where Theresa is."
The two mages are about to clash with no sign of each stepping back. Noticing this, Mavis left the protection of Lowell and stood between the two of them in the hopes of stopping this fight. Mavis faced the instigator, Alexis, hoping to calm her down and be able to talk things out instead.
"Let's just calm down for now, ok? There's no need for the both of you to fight!" Mavis exclaimed, looking straight at Alexis' eyes.
Alexis was caught off guard, making her resolve waver. "They're similar", Alexis thought to herself. Alexis put down her staff and regained her composure. "I'll back down for now but you're not leaving here until you tell me what you know." And with that, the confrontation ended. Alexis took a seat on a chair while Mavis checked up on Lowell.
A couple minutes of silence passed until Lowell finally walked towards Alexis. But before he could say anything, deafening shrieks followed by sounds of battle were heard outside Alexis' house. A loud, frantic knock came at the door. "Imperial soldiers of Sanctus Terra are attacking us!" A disembodied voice yelled frenetically outside.
The three gave each other a stressed look before leaving the study to check what's going on outside. As Alexis opened the door, thick, black clouds of smoke wafted through the air. The beautiful branches of the sequoia tree burns as the imperial soldiers desecrate the witches' home.
Some witches are still confused on what to do. Run away or fight. Despite being seen as something wicked by the outside world, a lot of witches have no real combat experience.
The trio went towards the plaza where the ritual was taking place. Several battles were happening all at once.
Imperials fighting witches and witches fighting witches.
The latter was quite a rare sight. There were no other witches' coven in the area that had a grudge on the witches of New Fullsborough.
It could only mean one thing. Someone from the inside betrayed them and led the imperials here.
But who and why? That thought had to be put off for now. They need to fight back.
Alexis shot a quick glance at the two. Their eyes met and with a nod from Alexis, they joined the battle.
With two legendary-like magicians joining the fight, the witches now had a chance to fight back.
Mavis herself wasn't that bad. She was a high ranking adventurer before she got dragged into all this.
They made quick work fighting off the imperials. As for the witches fighting with the imperials, they were captured for interrogation.
As they lined the six traitors, Alexis began questioning them.
"Why am I not surprised." Alexis murmured to herself. Mavis noticed the captured witches as the ones who were rude to them during their stay here.
"Well? Are any of you going to tell me why you decided to betray us?
No answer.
All six of the witches stared blankly at the ground, avoiding any eye contact with the high priestess. One of them tried to shoot a glare towards Alexis then spat on her. The spit reaching her chin.
"Disgusting" Alexis thought to herself. She was very agitated. With the whole Lowell business and now her city being attacked and on top of that betrayed, she just wants to release some stress.
A crowd of witches had formed around them as the fires have started to subside.
The witch who spat on Alexis started to speak with a huge grin on her face.
"This was just the scouting regiment, High Priestess. More are on their way and when they get here, they'll kill you."
She continues.
"Finally! Your reign as High Priestess will soon be over. With my sisters and I at the lead, the witches will become a feared group once again!"
"So that's what this is about. How foolish. Do you really think the imperials would let you do as you please?"
The witch had a perplexed look as if she didn't foresaw that outcome.
"Well, you lot have to be punished but with all this happening, I don't think we could spare much time so instead…" Alexis points her staff towards the traitors and with a quick chant, a large blast of energy shot out the end of her staff.
After the blinding light from the spell subsided, the six witches are gone with no trace left.
The crowd, visibly tense, were taken aback by their High Priestess who was usually cool-headed in dire situations.
Their bodies stiffened up, not knowing how to act moving forward. Alexis gave a glare towards the crowd.
"There are more coming. Prepare for battle!"
With a thunderous roar, completely strange coming from such a young lady's mouth, the witches of New Fullsborough got their wits together and prepared for defense.
Five minutes had passed. In that time, they were able to set up enchantments on themselves and set up traps in different parts of the city.
They patiently waited and waited. Sounds of hectic breathing and armor-clad footsteps are heard near the entrance of the city.
It seems these soldiers are scaling the tree to get here. That explained the exhaustion.
But despite already being exhausted, it doesn't mean they don't have the means to fight back.
Anti-Magic equipment.
A recently discovered marvel within Sanctus Terra, this allows the soldiers of the empire to fight back against its enemies. This is especially powerful against magic users like Alexis and the witches.
This doesn't mean there's no way to counter it though. Despite being a "new discovery", Anti-magic equipment have actually existed for a long time now and is in fact lost technology.
Alexis is familiar with this technology. It can nullify most offensive magic that is thrown at its wearer but it can't nullify animated objects fused with mana like a tree branch moving with the use of a spell.
With this knowledge in mind and the location they're at, Alexis and the witches fought back as much as they could.
They were able to kill a lot of the imperial soldiers but they could only fight for so long until their magic runs out. At some point, the imperials will be able to overpower them.
Noticing this, Alexis went to talk with Lowell and Mavis. Unfortunately, the leader of the Imperial army was marching with the approaching imperial soldiers.
An older man wearing a different set of armor; considerably more decorated than the others, is leading the rest of the army. He took a couple of steps forward, his hands in the air as if to show he isn't hostile.
"I am Captain Baskerville of the Imperial Scouts Division. I-"
"What do you want?" Alexis retorted, cutting of the captain.
The captain gave a wry smile. "I'll cut to the chase. I only need those two." He pointed beyond Alexis, specifically at Lowell and Mavis. "They are wanted fugitives back at Sanctus Terra. If you surrender them to us, no further bloodshed has to transpire.
Alexis was deep in thought. Could she possibly consider giving away those two?
After a minute of awkward silence passed, Alexis turned towards the two and put her hands on both their shoulder.
The two gave each other a worried look then their gaze went back to Alexis. Are they being sold out?
Alexis went closer to the both of them. So close that they could hear each others' muffled breaths.
"When I give the signal, I need you two to make a run for it. Use the hidden passage within my house." Alexis told the two. "Meet me in the village of Amberwitch. If I'm not there within 24 hours, make your way towards the Necropolis. I'll meet you there instead, okay?"
Both were stunned to even nod their head in agreement. It can't be helped though. So much information has been disclosed in so little time. Lowell snapped out of it quickly to ask her, "What? Why should we do that? We can fight alongside everyone."
"That's right! It's true that we're exhausted but we can still put up a fight." Mavis exclaimed confidently.
"I'm telling you to listen to me!" Alexis shouted. "That man said they're scouts. That means there's an even bigger force coming our way. Even if we beat them, more will come and at that point, we won't have enough magic to make an escape."
Lowell and Mavis glanced at each other, trying to gauge what the other might be thinking. Finally, Mavis broke the silence. "I understand. Then… please promise me that you'll survive. That we'll see each other again soon."
"Darling… I intend to live forever." and with that, Alexis faced and walked towards the imperial army."
Facing the captain, who's a meter away from her, Alexis spoke dramatically. "Captain! It seems there will be no deal happening tonight."
"I see… that's unfortunate."
Immediately after uttering those words, the captain went to grab his sword to kill Alexis but the High Priestess was ready.
Instantaneously, she casted a spell that made the captain stop in his tracks. In fact, everybody else except Lowell and Mavis were able to move. Alexis herself was vulnerable to her own spell.
Realizing that this is the signal that Alexis meant, Lowell and Mavis made a dash towards Alexis's house to find the hidden passage.
Inside, the rooms seemed like they were shifting by themselves. Almost like the house or rather, the tree itself is alive. As they ran from room to room, the tree guided them to the right place until they found the hidden passage located beneath the bed inside the guest room. All these days that they stayed here and such an important passageway was just hiding beneath them.
The passageway itself wasn't anything unique. It was a seemingly never-ending stairway that went all the way down to the root of the tree.
The moment the two started going down, tremors suddenly hit them. It never stopped as they stumble on their way down. Just what is happening outside.
A battle ensued within the witch city. Projectiles flew all over the place as countless bodies wearing armor littered the floor.
In the middle of that carnage is the High Priestess of the witches coven, Alexis Fuller. She's fully focused on casting a large-scale spell as her witches protect her from any harm.
Several branches moved as if they have life of their own striking and constricting any and all foes. Even the great sequoia tree, while enormous in scale, was being controlled by Alexis to move albeit slowly.
Her spell made easy work of her opponents though it drained a lot of her mana and it's still draining her but by doing so, she has given Lowell and Mavis enough time to escape while also relocating their city.
Lowell and Mavis finally reached the bottom of the passage and managed to get out of the tree's interior but without a map on hand, the duo is lost on where to head to.
Mavis took the lead and headed east outside of the Malefis Forest. She was unsure where the village of Amberwitch is located but as long as they find the road then they can find civilization and with that, directions, preferably a map.
They took one last glance at New Fullsborough and with determination in their eyes, sets off on their journey.