Chapter 89 (continued)
Oh, I forgot to mention, its effect is--
--The entire palace was filled with colorful wildflowers!
I'm referring to the whole, not just the ground, walls, and pillars, but also the skirts of the Death Banshee hanging on the ground and the knife in the lich lady's hand.
... The only thing that went wrong was that I didn't intend for my hair to be covered in flowers! It was an accident!
I increased the output of my Magic Power, and more flowers bloomed out of thin air. These beautiful flowers completely buried the lich lady. Even such a great lich was entangled by the flowers and leaves, and it took her a lot of effort to struggle free. Moreover, as she shook herself, the flowers continued to bloom along her body, and the strong life force made the lich roar.
This is one of the White Magic. I don't remember if it's called "Spring Warms, Flowers Bloom" or "Flowers Bloom Everywhere," because I just learned it casually out of boredom, not intentionally to study it. After all, flowers blooming everywhere won't help me kill my teacher.
However, the vitality brought by the flowers can limit the death power on the lich and conceal my living aura, allowing me to hide my whereabouts.
So the instant the flowers bloomed, I became invisible. Gravity Field spread out from beneath my feet. Oh, and I even managed to turn a mishap into a stroke of luck—my head was covered in flowers. So after I became invisible, I doubt anyone would sense even the slightest trace of Black Magic!
The lich lady held her knife, and judging from her expression, I think she probably thinks... I'm an unusual dark mage, or in other words, she probably thinks I'm insane.
This White Magic really well! Every time I go back to the orphanage to volunteer, I conjure flowers for the children, and they all love the flowers that bloom in my palm. But this is truly the first time I've created such a large field of flowers; it's really difficult for me, after all, I'm a dark mage who's closer to the power of death.
Actually, this is an Arcane Magic modification of a nature spell. It originated as a druid spell, and as for its significance... it probably wasn't significant, because druids wasted a lot of time on meaningless things. I mean, aside from secretly turning into a cow every day to check if the barn feed was nutritionally balanced—that was all considered important to them. I don't know which love-struck mage predecessor modified the Arcane Magic version; the difference is that although the flowers are real, living flowers, they might only exist for a quarter of an hour.
Achoo... The fragrance of the flowers was too strong, so I sneezed. The lich immediately turned around and swung her sword, but I instantly teleported away and used Shadow Dance to attract her attention.
Oh dear, I need to hurry!
I unleashed the spell I had prepared beforehand—Three Advanced Bindings!
See how prescient I was! Although I didn't intend to capture a lich when I entered, I guessed there might be some ancient artifacts inside that were worth studying, so I prepared binding spells for all the Spell Slot!
One is Frost Freeze, another is Space Distortion, and the third is Gravity Chains! Surely one of these three can restrain the lich!
... Very well, this lady is a melee lich, and her attention was drawn to the noise made by the shadows, so she was firmly locked in place by my sudden magical attack!
Quick!
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
I quickly pounced on the lich—catching a wild lich like this was actually quite difficult and painful, because if a necromancer wanted to control a lich and gain control of its body, he had to establish a contract. This contract was very powerful, and the spellcasting material required to support such a powerful contract was the blood from the necromancer's heart.
--Yeah, that's what hurts the most! It's like being stabbed in the heart; just hearing about it makes my whole body tremble.
I made a syringe out of Hellfire, gritted my teeth, and stabbed it into my chest—hiss... uh, it doesn't hurt...
I was a little embarrassed. I tensed all my muscles, took several deep breaths, and mentally prepared myself for the worst, but when the needle went in, it didn't hurt at all—far less painful than the teacher's curse... I recited the incantation, so the needle quickly drew out a drop of purplish-red blood... Purplish-red? I didn't even know the blood in my heart was that color!
Oh... maybe it's because of those thirteen curses?
I nodded, then plunged the blood into the lich's heart... Hmm, I think she might be in more pain, because I saw her face contort, and her limbs seemed to be struggling to break free from my restraints.
Quickly, chant the incantation!
My consciousness slowly invaded the lich's consciousness. Her spiritual world was filled with the power of death, making me feel like I had entered an ice cave. It also made the blow to my shoulder earlier feel even colder. I could barely lift my hand. Fortunately, my mouth was unaffected. I think this might be the fastest I've ever chanted a spell in my life. It was so fast that my brain couldn't keep up before my mouth finished.
... Well, that's why I was right to have Moli practice chanting spells. That's the benefit of reviewing spells regularly; muscle memory is very useful in crucial moments.
Call...
I exhaled, only to realize that my back was soaked with sweat from tension. I quickly caught my breath and then released the lich Damala from her restraints. The light subsided, and my Mage Eye could see that the lich's black soul had undergone a strange transformation. Something invisible was now hovering between us, and my connection with her was even stronger than with my second teacher.
Hmm, I can now arrange for my second teacher to clean the mage tower. With the lich, I won't need to take him out anymore. I wonder if the Butler would be happy to have another corpse servant in the house.
Damala Field, now that lich belongs to me, she can use my surname... um...
Splash splash splash...
A burst of applause startled me, and I realized where the strange feeling was coming from. A group of women in long, floral dresses surrounded me. Damala held a bouquet of flowers (her daggers were also covered in large, vibrant blossoms), and I was also covered in flowers, my clothes adorned with fallen petals. We stood face to face, both clutching our hearts, our expressions joyful, and the women around us were equally delighted... The lich had just acquired my surname—why did this feel like we were getting married?
No, I'm only marrying Mel! I'll only marry Mel!
Oops... this spell is wrong!
I knew I was a dark mage; my White Magic is unreliable! Why can't I get rid of these flowers?
"Wow! The floral dresses you conjured up for us are so beautiful, sir!"
"Sir, can I have a flower design in my hair too?"
"Wait a minute, sir! You can't just ignore us sisters! Hurry up and sign the contract, I'm so excited, I can't wait!"
... The banshee's words filled me with terror for the first time!
The horde of Death Banshee pounced fiercely, and I instantly felt like a huge swarm of Moli was rushing towards me! They surrounded me, and I was dizzy. When I came to my senses, I found myself surrounded by twenty-three more Death Banshee... enough to organize a football match, plus an extra referee!
Wait a minute, the fight's over, where are the ancient treasures?
I stared blankly at the chattering, excited Banshee Troupe. They held hands, hugged each other, and adjusted each other's skirts and hair, even taking out mirrors to touch up their makeup... Damala stood silently to the side, unmoved by the demons' behavior, which was completely out of character for the dead. And apart from that, there was nothing else in the hall.
I couldn't help but ask, "Are you... are you left behind by a necromancer who guarded Radiant Fortress back then?"
The succubi looked at me and laughed, and whoever I looked at would immediately laugh even louder, completely unlike anyone who could answer questions.
The poised and elegant Damala walked up to me... Hmm, she really is taller than me! She's at least three centimeters taller than me!
The remarkable woman bowed to me and then told me, "I do not know what fortress you speak of. Our previous master was High Priestess Hailianna of the Shadow Moon Temple. Before his passing, he built this underground palace, where a demon unable to return to the Nothingness is sealed, along with hundreds of demons summoned during the demonic calamity caused by the Annihilation Cult. We are here to guard it and prevent the demons from harming the world."