The Deadman

Entry to this tower isn’t a problem.

Power bursts from her to the point that her very steps are actively blowing away the dust and the remnants.

A stone tower created from materials that seems naturally cut. The further she comes in, the harsher the aura that is trying to break her defenses, but she is strong, while the vitality of the one that is holding this tower together is fragile.

“The core of this tower seems to be the one thing keeping this world alive.”

She breaks the center and arrives in the middle. She stares down the creature that is inside this crystal. Her cold face calmly analyzes the crystal.

“I t seems the Weruda is nothing more than this. You are a Lich. An abomination that has remained. You’ve hidden this world well.”

“A stranger comes from nowhere,” an ethereal voice speaks to her. “Enters the domain that I have lived in. You are young and strong. You’ve… evaded the creature that ate the magic… your soul is as strong as two. I do not understand why a She–Magus would come here… and ruin this world. It seems that I have grown ignorant of the ways out of the outside world. Your machines… your people… they are an abomination.”

“Augmented. To call their new selves as abomination is an insult to the wise who had created a stronger boy. Humanity itself will soon triumph over the stars.”

“And I do not see the joys. You are not here for the resources that my world can offer. You are not here for malice… This world is merely an obstacle to you, isn’t it?”

“Indeed. Your dominion is taking what I can use. I will not allow interference in the spell that I make.”

“Your spell… you are trying to create something. No, do you dare to break through the closed-off world? You are courting death. You do not know what you will open.”

“I do not know. But to practice the Arcane is inviting danger to yourself. Do not think that such danger will scare me.”

“What do you intend to do? Do you not care about the Magi Pact?”

“And so what? It’s not personal. I have no grudge against your kingdom and what you do. What I simply want is to crumble this place of interference. Your sanctuary is an obstacle, that’s all it is.”

“The world has become cruel when even women like you speak of massacre so easily.”

“They are enemies. My men gave them a choice to bend their knees. They did not. Your subjects are warriors. They live to fight. We have not come here to honor them with a good fight. We are here to destroy what disrupts my work.”

“You think so little of life.”

“Do not mistake my inability to sympathize with these creatures as heartless. I simply have my own priority and creatures like these who cannot see the difference do not have my mercy. Why do you ask, Lich? I don’t expect that a creature like yourself would care about this.”

“I care when you threaten my home of destruction. We have lived this world free from the interference of the surface. And now you come here to ruin it all.”

“Be bowed or be vanquished.”

“Do you think that I can still fight in this state? I am old enough to know when I’m beaten. Even your children can take care of me… I have seen what your children can do.”

The aura around her remains strong. She did not take the words of the Lich. She did not even think of lowering her guard down. Her power still seethes from her, ready to strike down the Lich.

What Gia Silva sees is nothing more than an abomination. An ancient creature that has lost most of its power and now  is barely keeping this dominion alive. If it wasn’t for the millennium bug tipping the scales.

Even with her current power, if this creature was able to evade the after effects of the bug, she wouldn’t be able to stand straight.

“You are eager to destroy me. Are you not afraid that my death would cause an implosion?”

“I am not ignorant to allow that. My people will be able to escape even if that happens. I have already put a stake and even if the destruction of your dominion breaks the land, split it apart. We will remain strong.”

There was no anger in Lich's voice. It’s voice is full of apathy. It held nothing other than this exasperated sigh that its kingdom and the land it ruled for hundreds of years would fall. It has become too weak and right now someone stands strong and will destroy all that it made.

Gia Silva releases her aura and covers the whole of this center. The strands that held this room together were becoming hers and the more her own power subdues the stands of the lich.

The Lich that floats in the crystal loses his power.

“You have learned well. It isn’t so bad to lose to a woman who has such power like this. If I was blind I might have thought that two True Mages have come to deal with me. I can smell it on you, Magus. You’ve sacrificed a lot to form so much power. How many have you scorned to get this power? How many souls have you shredded to become so powerful? Ah… this scent of your power. It is familiar to the one that I felt a hundred years ago. That blossoms in the darkness.”

Then the Lich laughs as if mocking her. Its hollow eyes gazing at her and snickering at the irony of all of this.

“You call me an abomination, but you are a monster in human skin. I wonder what have you done to contain such power? What sacrifices have you made? How did you make your soul so large to have reservoirs? Ah, we aren’t so different, Magus. You are a monster. A fellow monster that has come to bring an end to my Kingdom.”

The Lich laughs as it uses the last remains of its power to break the strands trying to usurp it.

“Your wish will not come true, fellow monster. You cannot pierce the veil. Nonetheless, as a Magician, I hope that your wish succeeds, monster.”

The Lich dissipates its own existence, leaving the Madam alone. She sees the Lich turn into tiny dots of light. She holds the power around her and grabs them for herself.

“And so it is mine.”

She whispers to no one.

She can see every inch of this world.

From the tribes that were not detected to the lone tribes that did not gather in groups. She could see that there are thousands of them in this world.

They were lucky enough to be unseen. Not that it mattered. She will break their home. It wasn’t about malice. It wasn’t about how she wanted the death of a thousand sentient creatures.

It’s simply in the way.

If she allows her heart to falter.

She wouldn’t be able to bear this failure.

Now in front of her is the power that contains the energy of the world and this tower acts as the control center, the conduit that would allow her to move this world to her will.

She pulls on the strands of power and weaves herself the spell that she tried back in 1997. With her soul as the source and destination. She tried to pull something from nowhere,  summoning whatever it is that she wanted summoned to this chamber.

The world trembled.

She can see the cracks in the dominion as this piercing power tries to break through the veil protecting this world. And yet despite the power she is holding right now. The veil of the world, the one that separates it from other worlds, remained untouched.

It is the same as ramming a toothpick on a brick wall. It could do no damage and even if she’s able to pull whatever she wants to pull.

It would be squeezed by the brick wall and turned into a paste. She could tell that this world is crumbling and seeing that it is useless to continue this process with this kind of configuration. She stopped operating the control tower of this world and let go of the strands she’s pulling.

She holds her face, breathing roughly as she weather her wits. The poker face she kept breaks down and without no one to see her face. She lashes out and throws a wind scar on the wall.

There is anger.

And mostly frustration.

It has been one hundred years since she lost her family.

It has been so long since then.

To do it was a matter of impossibility.

When dealing with those who have been lost.

It is a matter that requires proficiency of both science and the arcane.

It was a task that was deemed irresponsible by those who have come to know her desire.

“You are asking to bring them back. You are searching infinity, billions, no, possibly billions of humans ever since the dawn of time, and you seek to find them from this infinity? You are seeking the impossible.”

And despite this, she keeps on working.

Although it is said to be impossible.

She wants to deal with the possibility that her soul and blood can be the lighthouse and the tool to search this well of infinity that is in her way.

Perhaps it’s a wish that can’t be done.

In a way, the flow of time has made her think that it is an impossible task. Magic requires a foundation and what she practices isn’t the true magic that she seeks.

In this closed–off world she understood that the possibility has lessened.

Time and space and the lessening of the energy that they wield is making it an impossible task. Nonetheless, it is a task that must be done.

Her rational mind tells her that it can’t be done.

But she has gone too far. She has made herself heartless. Made herself unkind so she could do what herself could do if they were still around.

Magic is a double-edged sword.

It is a power that can create and destroy.

It is also a power that is wielded by creatures that feasts on the souls of those who have too much of it.

She even wonders if she has been corrupted by this power she wields. It is unlike her time when she is with her family. Those days were simple and she could live as she pleases.

She takes something out of her pocket and calls her people.

“I have taken control of this tower. Continue the operation, and make sure that there is none of it left.”

After sending the message she manipulates the control tower and finds the tribe that surrendered to them. It is a tribe with humanoids that resembles Neanderthals. Although there is no need to fulfill their promise, she did not allow herself to break it.

It is hypocritical for a woman who has sacrificed souls to strengthen her own power, but nonetheless, a garden needs caretakers, and to her, these creatures, who are familiar with this place, could be her servants.

It will take months and possibly years to harvest the resources in this place and sensing the amount of korium that they have made her look exhausted.

She could not allow anyone to see this exhaustion. She will not allow someone to even take a guess of her own heart.

“What am I even doing anymore?”

And yet there are times like this where she finds her soul trembling. There was still work to do and the impossibility of her task made her too tired.

She herself knows it best that it is nothing more than a hopeless wish of a woman who became alone.

She raised her arms  and trembled.

She squeezes her voice out and lets out a throaty scream before her face becomes cold again. 

Gia Silva has a dream.

A dream deemed impossible by her and her peers.

And yet despite knowing that.

Gia Silva still dreams of achieving it.

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