The dark clouds in the sky drifted slowly downward and soon slipped beyond the far side of the mountains.
A vast expanse of fog shrouded the desolate outskirts not far from Alkhemia, obscuring everything within.
The clouds sank lower and lower, then transford into an enormous bone dragon, which plunged headfirst into the fog.
The fog looked thick, but was only a thin veil in truth. Past its outer layer, one would find a land of utter desolation.
Forests that had once been lush were now completely withered. Heaps of skeletons and ghouls stood frozen in place, while the occasional death knight erged from the shadows only to vanish again as it endlessly patrolled the periter.
The bone dragon descended and crouched upon the ground. From its skull erged a half-transparent spirit.
In her spirit form, the bone dragon made her way into the small silver palace at the heart of the domain, stopping beside a noblewoman whose skin resembled flawless white jade.
She was none other than Black Rose, undead queen of the Umbral Depths, a super-tycoon from whom a single sentence could send mineral prices across the Nine Kingdoms into freefall.
She had been lingering here with her undead legions for several days, leaving the bone dragon to keep constant watch on the paladins' movents.
The bone dragon, whose na was Alabastra, specialized in concealnt and surveillance magic. Disguised as a mass of dark clouds, she could observe every movent on the ground from several thousand ters above. [1]
Sitting beside Black Rose, Alabastra reported, "Sister Rose, those paladins have bought several hundred slaves. I can't tell what they're planning."
Black Rose set aside the docunts she had been reading on the living rcury spirit golems, her expression tinged with surprise.
"A large number of slaves?" She pondered for a mont, then smiled. "So they brought that divine relic with them after all. Looks like those two are in real trouble this ti."
"A divine relic? The Draconic Armants?!"
Shock flashed across Alabastra's translucent face. The Draconic Armants was the Lyon Empire's supre artifact. Each armant was a divine relic in its own right. When assembled, its wielder would possess power close to that of a god.
Was the Lyon Empire willing to risk such a precious artifact against Ambrose? Weren't they afraid that it would be stolen without an army to guard it?
Alabastra grew agitated at once. "No, this won't do! If they use the Draconic Armants, even that heartless man won't be able to withstand it. I'm going to bring him ho right now."
Black Rose shook her head. "No need to rush. I wasn't referring to the Draconic Armants. Only those of royal blood can wield it, and given the current state of the Lyon Empire... At any rate, there's no way they'd use it here. I'm referring to a different artifact, and most likely a weakened imitation thereof. It won't affect your husband much. But as for the lich..." She smiled faintly. "That's another story. For a so-called legend, he's far too weak."
Alabastra imdiately complained, "Sister Rose, don't speak in half-sentences like that! You nearly scared to death."
Watching the animated expressions on the dragon spirit's face, Black Rose sighed softly. "How fascinating. What could possibly make even an undead like you so anxious over a headless knight? Tell , does your heart still beat?"
She had never quite understood the love between Alabastra and Gareth.
The undead had no heartbeat, and thus no living desires.
Could there truly be emotions etched into the soul itself, capable of transcending the shackles of flesh?
Well, one such emotion surely did. Hatred.
But hatred was born from vivid impressions left before death, a spiritual imprint ford while the heart still beat, embodied so deeply that it lingered even after one beca undead.
Yet the love between these two wasn't rely cross-species. It had only arisen after both had beco undead.
Black Rose shook her head. This was an unsolved mystery. Her own attempts to imitate it were driven largely by pragmatism. Ambrose's price was simply too high to claim him entirely for herself. Left with no other option, she had tried, rationally, to recreate the circumstances of Alabastra and Gareth's eting.
Hearing Black Rose's question, Alabastra shook her head as well. "I don't really understand it either. But it really was love at first sight. My heart may no longer beat, but I know it wasn't an illusion. As for why... perhaps it was simply the will of the gods."
Black Rose did not pursue this fruitless topic further and returned to the matter of the artifact.
"Enough. Back to business. If I'm not mistaken, those paladins will launch their first assault within three days. They've never seen the power of that artifact before, and chances are that they'll be caught completely off guard."
Alabastra blinked, surprised. "Is it really that powerful? And what does it have to do with those slaves?"
Black Rose explained, "The Lyon Empire has turned faith into an art. Their imperial capital itself is a colossal altar. Every mortal who believes in the Lord of Dawn continuously feeds power into it, making the city virtually unassailable.
"This is only possible thanks to the Crown of Dawn, a true divine artifact forged by a god and bestowed upon the Lyon Empire. It allows them to transform countless weak mortals into an unassailable force.
"Those paladins must have a way to imitate its effects, converting these mortals' faith directly into raw strength."
Alabastra frowned. "But they aren't believers of the Lord of Dawn."
Alkhemia was a heterogeneous place. There were few devotees of the Lord of Dawn present.
"Never underestimate the brainwashing abilities of paladins." Black Rose sneered. "Give them three days, and they can turn a few hundred people into devout believers. But three hundred alone—would faith be enough?" She gave a cold laugh. "I'm afraid the paladins intend to take more than re faith. They an to offer up their lives as well."
Alabastra frowned harder. "Human sacrifice? That's the Lyon Empire we're talking about. Surely they wouldn't do that?"
Aside from their discrimination against non-humans, the Lyon Empire was exemplary in nearly every respect. Human sacrifice was strictly forbidden by the doctrines of light.
Even the most vicious rumors only claid the Lyon Emperor had been cuckolded by a goblin. No one dared accuse the empire of human sacrifice.
"Sacrifice doesn't always require coercion," Black Rose replied calmly. "It can be voluntary. A hero who gives his life to defeat evil—is that not sacrifice? If one offers oneself willingly, it becos known as selfless devotion instead.
"In the Lyon Empire, if you refuse such self-destructive devotion, you beco an outcast. One day, that very fanaticism will destroy the empire."
Black Rose spoke the last few words with clenched teeth as her repressed anger barely broke through.
Alabastra propped her chin on her hands, irritation creeping into her voice. "I'm starting to lose track of what you're saying. Sister Rose, why do you know the Lyon Empire so well?"
Black Rose reined in her anger and shook her head. "For old reasons not worth ntioning. Let's think about how to help those two n instead. If Gareth slips up, he could be hurt as well."
Alabastra exclaid excitedly, "Then I'll go swallow up those paladins right now!"
Black Rose shook her head again. "If your husband sees you appear, he'll bolt imdiately. Even the Lyon Empire can't catch him. What makes you think I could stop him?
"If I'm not mistaken, those paladins have already reached an agreent with Alkhemia. Alkhemia won't sit idly by. They discovered us this morning and have already sent an invitation. Soon we'll be entering the city as a joint delegation from the Umbral Depths and the Dragon Graveyard. Otherwise, it'll be war."
"Then what do we do?" Alabastra asked helplessly.
If a fight broke out, she knew she'd be no match for Alkhemia. The magitech cannons atop the walls would blast her to pieces, forcing her to regenerate in the Dragon Graveyard for centuries.
"Don't worry," Black Rose said softly. "I trust him. What he lacks is information, nothing more."
She took out the Necromantic Codex, then wrote out a long ssage and sent it to Ambrose.
Without waiting for a reply, Black Rose closed the codex and murmured to herself, "Don't disappoint . The man I chose should at least be able to accomplish this much."
1. In Chinese, her na is 苍骨, "pale (white) bone", or Canggu in transliteration. As is, it sounds a little out of place to , so I've instead chosen to localize it as "alabaster", then tweaking it a little to make it more feminine. ☜
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