Chapter 264

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Chapter 264

"Lacrima said… it’s a spell called ‘Language Curse.’ It makes spoken words become fragmented and broken. It’s a type of shadow magic. There are only vague records about it in the temple, possibly left behind by those who participated in the War of the Undead."

The temple used to have a lot of power because the Holy Light magic was really effective against the Lich and its minions. Back then, everyone learned the Holy Light magic to protect themselves. The most exceptional humans in the world worked in the temple. But as the Lich was defeated, elemental magic became popular again, and the Mage Guild’s reputation reached its peak, while the temple gradually declined.

"And those terrifying shadows… they swallow people up." She said with a lingering fear, "So, the purpose of dragon bones is to gather shadows?"

"That’s probably it. Shadow magic surely has a major category on ‘how to extract shadows.’ Normally, this kind of energy would dissipate easily. Then it’s about corrupting the souls of the living with death energy, creating zombies, undead servants, or Liches. Just like Virgil encountered, or the black lantern, or what is corrupting me."

"Maybe the Lich’s body itself can gather shadows. After all, they are made of bones, and dragon bones can gather shadows." She suddenly complained, "It’s really unreasonable. If we are not allowed to research these things, we will be helpless against the Lich. Fortunately, we discovered the multiple uses of the light mirror in time. Otherwise, we would already be on our way to conquer the world!"

Xerath teased her, "Titus is so brave, and you all are very brave. It seems like you get along well with the elemental creatures at home."

Sylas shyly denied it, but honestly, she had never thought of being afraid. The idea of sacrificing her own life for Xerath had a strong appeal to her. Even going wild for her, doing impossible things for her, and depleting her magic for her gave her great satisfaction.

But she kept these feelings to herself, afraid that Xerath might suspect something. For this reason, she even prepared an excuse in case she was asked about it, "You saved my life before, so it’s only fair for me to save yours."

However, Xerath never asked. It had been so long, and she hadn’t mentioned a thing. It was as if nothing had ever happened between them.

She wished something would happen—just an innocent girl hoping for this journey to be a hint from Xerath. But that was impossible. Their relationship had only returned to its normal state from before. The archmage finally relaxed her guard around her, showing a cheerful expression that she rarely showed to others, because of Sylas’s carefree and charming demeanor.

"And that bottle… is that Lich’s Life Casket? It’s hard to imagine why she… why she would keep her own head, isn’t it?"

Xerath smiled as she looked at her, reaching out to pinch her chin. The young apprentice’s face turned visibly red, giving her a sense of revenge — a daughter paying off her mother’s debts, hmm…

"Perhaps… perhaps she just really likes her own appearance. Even the most beautiful women can’t help it. Even though I often say ‘looks are just a fleeting shell,’ we always get attracted by beautiful things."

Sylas now understood this feeling very well, nodding with a heavy heart.

"But it’s also possible that it’s just meant to awaken your childhood memories. When it’s time to turn you into a Lich, she will have the upper hand."

Sylas widened her beautiful eyes in surprise, "Me?! I thought her target was you? Am I just a side note?"

Xerath withdrew the hand that was pinching her chin – it disappointed Sylas, who even wanted to hold onto that hand and make it stay. Xerath pressed her own forehead and said, "I don’t know where to start, so let’s start with the phenomenon itself. She drew a magic circle behind me before you came in, and I kept telling you not to come near me."

"Hmm." The voice was very stern, even harsher than the times they argued the most, but fortunately, Sylas couldn’t understand what was being said.

"She even came up close herself, trying to push you in. Luckily, Titus saw through her, I guess it’s because he’s particularly sensitive to bones."

Sylas couldn’t help but laugh. Titus showed great bravery in the battle against Lich, which was a stark contrast to its usual greedy and timid behavior. This was definitely because Lich was made of bones.

"I don’t know if you remember anything about that magic circle, but I think that magic circle is… Remember when there was a Lich who sent a manuscript to the editorial committee and they called us all in for a discussion? Do you recall that?"

"Yes, I remember. You mentioned something like this and you said you believed it was related to my mother…" She suddenly laughed. "Your judgment was absolutely correct."

Xerath smiled. The facts have proven to be one hundred percent related.

"Now I can tell you my guesses and some facts. This magic circle is a highly efficient transformation circle. Its purpose is basically to transfer the resentment attached to the five magical objects – or a highly concentrated shadow, perhaps a substance that stores shadows – to a living wizard. That way, the one being transformed can be efficiently turned into a Lich."

"So, she wanted to transform me into a Lich? Is that what she meant by ‘princess’?"

Xerath looked at her innocent face, squinting her eyes and said, "She wanted to turn you into a Lich. You were her main target, and in her plan, I would be your most important subordinate. You would be the greatest Lich King in history, bringing back the undead war."

Sylas was completely shocked, her eyes wide open. The carriage shook and she almost fell off. The archmage quickly grabbed her.

An innocent girl could not possibly associate herself with the term "Lich King," just like how she always felt Revealing Day had nothing to do with the two of them.

"Setis is the surname of the royal family, but it is not mentioned in history books. They are only referred to by their clan name, ‘Seti’. The ancient coins in the magic circle are used as ‘ancestral portraits’, and the magic circle indeed works. This can explain that at least your mother has a pure lineage of the Setis family."

Sylas frowned slightly and opened her mouth, but she didn’t know what to say yet.

She was interrupted by Xerath, who said, "Of course, a mother knows best if a child is her own. Since she brought the Life Casket to see you despite the ‘life’ danger, this further indicates that you also have Setis family bloodline."

"I remember that day, the day she ‘died’, it was when she saw that thing… that bottle."

Xerath remained silent for a moment and said, "The ‘urn of mother’s ashes’… I’m afraid I have a very sad guess. When the Setis family fell during the ancient Seti Empire, they split into two or more factions. The prince turned himself into a Lich, hoping to restore the glory of the Seti Empire. In order to expand the kingdom of the dead, they had to extend their dark hands to the living. I’m afraid they harvested the lives of their distant relatives using such means. Perhaps you were hunted by the Lich back then, which forced you to flee from the east of the desert to the west. And your mother… she might have been turned that way by her own family, maybe even by her own mother."

"Using the same spell, using the same urn?"

"Exactly."

"So she said… ‘I’m so glad you survived the biggest threat in this lifetime’?"

"That’s theoretically correct. I don’t know if you noticed, but all the magical objects can be reused, except for your mother’s urn… it must be her own."

"And her ashes have completely burned away…"

"Even if they weren’t burned, they would have scattered in the desert’s dust and could never be found again. And the black lantern was also melted by you. In order to turn you into a Lich again, I have to use my method. Judging by Lacrima’s tone, she is obviously not satisfied with this method, as its conversion efficiency is very low."

"What is the standard for the ‘conversion efficiency’?"

Xerath changed her posture, placing both hands underneath her head, making Sylas wish she could rest her head on her own lap.

"Based on the records from before, as I should have told you, there are many flaws after becoming a Lich. Liches will forget certain people and spells, resulting in a lack of coherence between their thoughts before and after death. They are impatient to show off their new knowledge, so they end up doing many foolish things, such as sending their research manuscripts on shadow magic to the editorial board."

"Yes, you’ve mentioned it before."

"Why don’t you lie down? Doesn’t it tire you to kneel like that?"

Sylas hesitated and wavered, but Xerath grabbed her tie. The apprentice obediently complied and slowly lay down beside her, feeling constrained and afraid of accidentally touching Xerath, crossing her boundaries. Then she thought about how tonight they would probably have to share a carriage that was less than two yards wide when they slept, and they were bound to accidentally touch each other.

In order to mimic tonight’s strategy, her hands were straight by her side, so Xerath’s bent arm fit perfectly above her shoulder, without hindering each other.

With her feelings of uneasiness completely gone, the old master shifted his legs to the other side and continued speaking, "But now it seems that Lacrima’s transformation is quite successful. She probably remembers everything about you, and her elemental spells are quite powerful. You could even say she has become a wicked person… a very hidden Lich. Because all known Liches have been killed, yet the technique of turning into a Lich has somehow been passed down from generation to generation. This can only mean… evil lurks in the shadows, watching everything."