Marlow stood frozen, his ruby eyes reflecting the giant blade hacking towards his neck.
Forget putting up a defense, there wasn’t even enough ti to evade the attack. Such was the great chasm of strength between the Mana Vortex and Mana Core Rank.
Just a heartbeat away from death, Marlow’s thoughts slowed to a standstill.
He saw the attacker with startling clarity. It was a towering figure clad in black armor, swinging the massive greatsword, its presence reeking of rot and death.
Ti seed to stretch as that image burned itself into his mind.
And then his thoughts drifted elsewhere...
To his father.
To his mother.
To his devoted wife.
To his sister.
And finally... to his newborn son.
In that frozen mont, with death looming re inches away, all that remained was what he stood to lose. And the devastation that would follow if this abomination were allowed to run rampant through the city.
He knew that this was an undead existence at the Mana Core Rank, a being notoriously difficult to destroy. To kill such a monster required overwhelming force, a thunderous power delivered in a single, decisive mont, enough to erase it completely.
And Marlow made his choice.
To protect those he loved, he would give up his life. In this final mont before death, he revealed his true self, not as a lustful prince, but as a man willing to sacrifice everything so others might live.
As he circulated the mana within him to implode inwardly, he silently apologised to the n behind him. He closed his eyes and willed the raging energy to detonate within himself.
A faint smile found its way to his lips as he thought he heard Marcus’s giggle echo in his mind.
Goodbye, my son.
And... forgive .
A gust of wind blew through the underground chamber.
And then...
Tap!
A gentle, reassuring hand tapped his shoulder. In an instant, the chaotic mana raging within Marlow cald down, halting the self-detonation before it could begin.
And then ca the familiar voice he had grown to find so irritating:
"This is not where your story ends, young man."
CLANG!
A thunderous boom echoed through the underground chamber, followed by a violent gust of wind that swept through, hurling Marlow and the other Magi backward and slamming them to the ground.
Marlow, who had already accepted his death, felt his emotions spiral out of control. His eyes snapped open, and he saw the figure of soone he would never have imagined coming to his rescue, even in his wildest dreams.
It was an elderly man wearing bright, colorful clothes. The hem of his red cloak fluttered wildly in the wind, as did the peacock feather adorning his floppy velvet beret.
"Ni-Nilrem?!!!"
Marlow was thunderstruck. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. The old man had coated his hand in mana and had stopped the undead knight’s sword bare-handed, as if it weighed nothing at all.
Magus Nilrem turned around, his lips curling into a mischievous smile. He gave a playful wink and laughed.
"Hohoho! Your Highness, it seems fate has once again been kind to a wandering Magus like . To think you would rember my na. I am so touched."
Marlow was so shocked at what he was witnessing, he couldn’t help but instinctively yell:
"Fool! Get away from the creature! That’s a... Mana... Core..."
His words trailed off as realization dawned on him. His eyes widened even further, and he murmured, "Nilrem, you... you’re a... you’re a..."
Nilrem simply smiled in return. It had never been his intention to reveal his true strength. If events had unfolded according to his script, he would have already left the city by now.
But man plans, and heavens ensure things never quite go as intended.
He had never imagined that Osbert was hiding a Rank 4 undead knight beneath Count Ward’s mansion. Worse still, he hadn’t sensed it at all because the creature hadn’t truly "co alive" until monts ago.
Marlow and the rest of the Magi were astonished to realize that Nilrem had been a Mana Core Magus all along.
Setting aside the deception, what shocked them even more was that soone of his stature would choose to live as he had.
From staying in shanty taverns, drinking with sailors and rchants, and even bowing and kneeling before Magi far weaker than him.
Was this really how a Magus at the pinnacle of arcane power in Tron conducted himself?
Suddenly, Marlow’s eyes widened. "Watch out!"
The undead knight swung its other fist straight at Nilrem’s face.
Bam!
The elderly man blocked the gauntleted strike effortlessly. His fingers clamped around the wrist, tal groaning under the crushing force of a Magus who was also a Rank 4 Paladin.
Nilrem rose into the air, levitating until he was level with the knight’s helm. He drew his head back, a wide, nacing grin etched on his aged face.
And then...
BOOOM!!
He slamd his forehead into the undead knight’s head.
A deep dent ford instantly in the undead’s helt. Monts later, cracks appeared on the tal, shattering the helt completely, and exposing the grotesque humanoid face beneath.
"Pesky bastard." Nilrem harrumphed and drove an elbow straight at the undead’s head, causing it to collapse on his knees.
He was well-versed in fighting undead creatures and knew how difficult it was to completely eradicate them. That was why he wasn’t planning to destroy this one to begin with.
The mont the undead knight lost balance and fell to the ground, Nilrem moved forward, weaving a simple hand seal. Then, he pressed his palm against the abomination’s breastplate and coldly spat one single word:
"Exile."
A mont later, a faint outline of an arched gate manifested behind the undead knight. Multi coloured hues spilled out from beyond the gate, saturating the surroundings as fleeting glimpses of abstract shapes ca into view.
Symbols without forms and aning without language drifted through the air, while unknown existences prowled inside this mystical dinsion.
The spirit world!
As Nilrem turned away, an unseen force surged from within the gate and pulled the undead knight. The towering figure was dragged backward, struggling frantically as it was pulled into the depths of the spirit world.
The mont Nilrem fully turned his back, the arched gate gradually vanished like a mirage, leaving nothing behind. Not even a trace of the deathly aura that had once filled the chamber.
The wandering Magus walked away calmly, curling the tip of his mustache as though he had done nothing remarkable at all.
Noticing the dumbfounded expressions of Marlow and the others, he said with a playful smile:
"Anyway, you didn’t see here, okay? If anyone asks, tell them you all bravely dealt with the undead knight."
With that said, his figure began to dissipate into wisps of smoke. Before fading completely, he cast a warm and gentle look towards the red-haired prince and said:
"Live well, Marlow. Take care of your family. If fate wills it, we shall et again."
Just as his figure was about to disappear completely, Nilrem’s voice rang out once more.
"Ah! Almost forgot!"
A book tumbled out of the smoke and landed in Marlow’s lap.
"Hohoho!" Nilrem’s laughter echoed through the chamber. "Farewell, young man!"
The chamber settled into silence, the Magi still struggling to comprehend what they had just witnessed.
A long ti later, Marlow snapped out of his daze, his gaze dropping to the book in his lap.
His eyes traced the title on its cover, and he murmured softly:
"Nilrem’s Guide to Amberfall..."
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