"Another person," repeated King Alvis. The words of Lady Ropianna echoed in his mind. He rubbed his brows as his head started to ache. So many events transpired the moment he woke up, taking their toll on his mind.
Who was it? Who was the man behind Lord Hais? The real culprit pulling the strings.
While the king was in deep thought, Elias, one of the three royal court magicians present in the throne room, approached the disfigured corpse. He glanced at Lark and passed by him. Upon reaching the corpse of Lord Hais, he bent down and grabbed the sundered hand lying on the ground. The faces of the nobles and government officials who saw this contorted from disgust.
"Interesting," said the royal court magician. "The spell just ended, but there are no longer any traces of magic left in his corpse."
Blood dripped down the severed hand he was holding.
"Elias, what do you think?" said the king.
Elias was the best archer of the Kingdom and ranked among the royal court magicians. His eyesight and reflexes were far better than your average soldier. It was well?known that he could even catch an arrow with his fingers.
Surprisingly, despite being an archer, Elias' skin was whiter than snow.
It was as though his body was drained of all blood, as though he'd never been exposed to the scorching sun before.
Elias 'Farsight' saw everything moments before Lord Hais' death. He was sure that not just one, but five crests activated before the minister's body burst into pieces. But now that he'd personally checked the minister's corpse, there were no longer any traces of magic left in it. It was peculiar.
"If I'm not mistaken… the minister was bound by five Oaths of Death, Your Majesty," said Elias.
"F?Five?" said the king.
It was unheard of. Just one was enough to kill a person.
"Priestess Thea," said Elias. His black eyes were a stark contrast to his pale, white skin. "Is it possible for a single person to undergo five Oaths of Death at the same time?"
Priestess Thea stared at the corpse of the minister then shook her head.
"I'm… not sure. I've heard from a fellow priest regarding two concurrent oaths, but five? It's probably never been done before, and I don't see any merit in doing so."
It seemed that five oaths had never been attempted before. Even the priestess from the Water God's Temple did not know the answer to his question.
"Is that so?" Elias frowned. "Then was it a mistake?"
As Elias started doubting what he saw, the young man standing silently near the corpse spoke.
"I also saw them," said Lark. "Five crests. The first one pierced the minister's chest, and the remaining four forced their way through his mana core and overloaded his inner circuit. His body couldn't handle the rampaging mana—" Lark looked at the disfigured corpse on the ground.
"—And burst into pieces."
Elias was surprised to hear a detailed explanation of what transpired.
Even he, the best archer of the Kingdom, couldn't catch all those details at once.
"I agree with what Lady Ropianna said," said Lark. "It seemed that the minister wasn't aware that he was bound by an Oath of Death."
The petrified expression of the minister moments before his death was still vivid in everyone's mind. It wasn't the face of someone who knew beforehand that he was going to die.
*** Due to Lord Hais' unexpected death, Lady Ropianna suggested that they postpone discussing the method to sever the curse running through the blood of the royal family to a later date.
Lord Hais was among the most trusted vassals of King Alvis and one of his closest friends. The minister's betrayal, coupled with his gruesome death, had taken a toll on His Majesty's mental health.
After that incident, the king followed Lady Ropianna's advice and rested in his room for two days, refusing any and all audiences from his subjects.
On the third day, the king finally summoned Lark's group to the throne room to discuss the method proposed in the letter.
When Lark and his disciples arrived in the throne room, nobles belonging to the king's faction, royal knights, royal court magicians, various government officials, and the princess and her knights were already inside.
There were fewer people gathered here today than last time. Lark surmised that the king summoned only his trusted vassals.
Lark started with formalities. Together with his disciples, he knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
"It's an honor to be in the presence of Your Majesty?"
"I?It's an honor to be in the presence of Your Majesty?"
Chryselle and Anandra performed the stance with swift but graceful movements, as though they'd practiced it several times before. Austen and George's movements, on the other hand, were stiff and awkward. The brothers were too nervous and stuttered the words out.
"Please rise," said King Alvis. "There's no need for useless formalities.
Especially after saving this old man's life."
Lark and his disciples stood up and they finally gazed at the king. The old man sitting on the throne looked better than before. Although he'd locked himself inside his room after that incident, it seemed that he hadn't neglected his health. His cheeks no longer looked sunken and his skin had regained its vibrant color.
"Everyone here has already been briefed regarding the method you've proposed in your letter," said King Alvis. "And the royal court magicians have analyzed this so?called phylactery we'll be using to sever the curse."
Lark looked at the royal court magicians standing just below the throne. Lady Ropianna was gently smiling at him, Elias 'Farsight' was staring at Anandra, while the remaining royal court magician—a muscular bald man who could be easily mistaken as a mercenary—held a fierce gaze.
"Ropianna, please tell us what you think," said the king.
Lady Ropianna bowed her head at the king for a moment, before turning her gaze to the crowd. Everyone turned silent. Her raspy voice was surprisingly audible. "Frankly speaking, three days isn't enough time for us to fully analyze the phylactery," said the elderly female magician.
The nobles and government officials understood what those words meant: the magic engraved in that item was probably complex enough that even royal court magicians were unable to fully understand it in just a couple of days.
Lady Ropianna pointed a finger at the black bag sitting next to her feet.
It opened by itself and a silver?black jar hovered up and stopped right above her head. It slowly spun around.
She said, "The exterior's quite plain, and if not for its silver?black sheen, it would have been difficult to identify this as a magic item at first glance. But the interior… it's the first time I've seen such a complex magic circle. It's amazing that the blacksmith managed to engrave those overlapping magic formations inside this thing."
Lady Ropianna paused and said to Lark, "I think it is safe to assume that the magic engraved in this jar is meant to suppress the so?called demon's fragment."
"That is correct, lady magician," said Lark.
Lady Ropianna pondered. "I see. As expected… Judging by the runes, it's probably a barrier spell. A very strong one at that. Tenth?tier magic might not be enough to suppress the fragment… then is it… Grand Scale Magic? But it's never been done before…" Her last few words trailed off.
Hearing this, Elias frowned. "Hey, Ropianna," said Elias. "We've discussed it beforehand, right? It's impossible to engrave Grand Scale Magic into an artifact? Moreover in an item as small as that? It's probably tenth?tier at most. Stop with the useless questions—" "—Sir Lark Marcus still hasn't answered my question." Ropianna cast a glare at Elias. "Don't butt in, Farsight."
"Seriously, this old woman." Elias clicked his tongue.
Ropianna turned to Lark and smiled. "What kind of spell is engraved inside the mithril jar? I've been halting the progression of the curse of His Majesty for several years now. I'm quite sure that the demon who helped found this Kingdom is a ridiculously strong one."
Lark knew that whether or not they'd proceed with his suggested method depended on his answer to this one. It seemed that to Lady Ropianna, anything less than Grand Scale Magic wouldn't be enough to restrain the demonic fragment.
Lark agreed on her sentiment.
"It's a spell called Heaven's Dominion," said Lark. "A barrier spell, just like Lady Ropianna speculated."
Chryselle stared at Lark in astonishment upon hearing the name of the spell. Lady Ropianna and Elias, on the other hand, were unperturbed. It seemed that they weren't familiar with the spell.
The bald royal court magician who'd been silent until now chuckled.
He glared at Lark and said mockingly, "How funny. Brat, do you even know what kind of spell Heaven's Dominion is?"
Ropianna furrowed her brows at that statement. "Nickolai."
Nickolai looked at Ropianna and Elias. "The two of you probably aren't aware of it, but the name of the spell that kid spouted—it's the same spell protecting the Dwarven Kingdom as of this moment." Nickolai smirked. He roared, as though what Lark just said was the most offensive thing he'd heard, "Heaven's Dominion isn't Grand Scale Magic, kid? It's a magic exclusive to dragons? Are you taking us for fools, you shitty brat?"
Nickolai's voice echoed in the throne room. The nobles and government officials flinched, while General Carlos held a dissatisfied gaze. He was about to reprimand the royal court magician for shouting while under the presence of the His Majesty, but King Alvis wordlessly stopped him. Seeing Lark's confident gaze, King Alvis decided to see how things would play out.
"T?The barrier spell that has been protecting the Dwarven Kingdom for centuries?" one of the nobles said.
"I?If we have such a spell engraved in that mithril jar then maybe…" "Stop dreaming," Nickolai said to the nobles. "You heard what Farsight said a while ago, right? It's impossible to engrave anything beyond tenth?tier magic into an artifact. Heaven's Dominion is Pinnacle Grade Magic. A spell even Grand Scale Magic couldn't compare to. And this kid is telling us that a spell exclusive to dragons is going to be activated the moment we pour mana into that phylactery?" Nickolai sneered. "This brat is clearly delusional. It seems that we've wasted all that wait for nothing."
King Alvis stroked his beard. "Lark Marcus. Is everything Nickolai said true?
Lark remained stoic despite Nickolai's mocking words. "Half of it, yes."
Nickolai glared at Lark.
"Half of it?" said King Alvis. "I am no magician, so I hope you can explain everything to me in a manner I can understand."
"Of course, Your Majesty," said Lark. "It's true that Heaven's Dominion is Pinnacle Grade Magic. The highest tier of magic there is. But it isn't true that it's impossible to engrave spells higher than tenth?tier into artifacts. This phylactery is testament to that. And it also isn't true that Heaven's Dominion is a spell exclusive to dragons."
The throne room was silent as everyone listened to Lark's words.
Lark raised his index finger. "Mana capacity. It's one of the fundamental things separating dragons from humans. Even if a hundred ordinary magicians pooled all of their mana, it probably wouldn't be enough to cast a single Pinnacle Grade Magic spell. But dragons are different. If a dragon used up all of the mana stored in its body, it should be possible for it to cast Pinnacle Grade Magic on its own, without external help. Without artifacts, fancy rituals and magic formations."
Lark continued, "Theoretically speaking, if there exists a human with a mana pool comparable to dragons, and he has a medium to channel that enormous amount of mana into, it should be possible for him to also cast Pinnacle Grade Magic on his own. A dragon's resilient body is capable of acting as a medium, but humans would need artifacts—made of mithril or adamantite—to perform Pinnacle Grade Magic."
The reason Lark considered the Sword of Morpheus his most prized possession was because of this. It was the perfect medium when performing the highest tier spells. It didn't break even after he'd cast consecutive Pinnacle Grade Magic spells when he fended off the Demon Lord's army on his own, back then.
"Interesting," said the King. "Ropianna, what do you think?"
"It's plausible, Your Majesty." Lady Ropianna bobbed her head. "If this young man's logic is truly correct, we can assume that Pinnacle Grade Magic isn't exclusive to dragons. I wonder… Maybe this misconception was borne from the fact that no human in our Kingdom's history has ever managed to cast the highest tier of magic? I should look more into this theory, once we've taken care of the curse."
"Plausible?" Nickolai snorted. "You said it yourself, kid. You'll need mana comparable to dragons to perform that magic?"
"That's what the flower is for," said Lark. "Tears of Ubroxia is not really a flower, but a crystallized form of mana. You must have seen it yourselves, those petals that look like they've been sculpted from ice."
It was the same reason why it grew only in mana?dense areas.
"I have two questions, if you don't mind," said Lady Ropianna.
"First… I've seen the flower myself. Indeed, there are vast amounts of mana contained inside the flower, but I doubt it'll be enough to supply the amount needed to perform Pinnacle Grade Magic. Second, I heard that you requested all available royal court magicians and soldiers to be present during the magic ritual, in case the demon called Agares successfully crosses over to this Kingdom. You even requested for an isolated place where we can perform the spell. A place without any innocent civilians."
The magic holding the phylactery vanished and the mithril jar fell on Lady Ropianna's hands. It was very light, compared to its size.
Lady Ropianna continued, "No matter how strong the demon is, it'll be extremely hard to break a barrier created from Pinnacle Grade Magic. There must be a reason why you requested the royal family mobilize the military."
Everyone's attention was on Lark once again. He said, "You are correct. The amount of mana inside the flower is comparable to probably only three to four high?grade mana stones. It isn't enough to supply the colossal amount of mana needed to perform Pinnacle Grade Magic. But Tears of Ubroxia is special in a way that it is formed by sucking in ambient mana. The same will be true the moment it's been pulverized into dust and used to activate the magic formation in the mithril jar. The mana the flower is lacking, we'll forcefully gather from the surroundings."
"As for your second question, the answer is simple. The spell itself isn't the problem. The problem lies with the phylactery. Like I've told you before, adamantite is the ideal material for this. A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. No matter how strong Heaven's Dominion is, if the phylactery can't contain the spell, the demon's fragment will break out sooner or later."