Sen stared at Remias, but the specter simply observed him. So, he walked over to the Lord of Sickles that Malleore, his weapon, had impaled into the ground. Malleore drained power from the book spirit, and it struggled feebly to free itself. Sen reached down and grabbed the book in the spirit’s core. It was more difficult with a lord-level spirit, but his control over his mana allowed him to force his will. He withdrew the book, and then concentrated in the same way he had with the Shield Lord. “Purge Authority Maxima.”
The Sickle Lord dissolved. Sen’s temporal space opened, and he threw a second lord-level book inside. He turned to look toward the darkness and whistled. The Black Wolf pack leader returned with a limp Queen of Gardens. It looked stronger than it had before. The wolf’s devour ability had consumed much of her power. It dropped her nearly lifeless spirit on the ground, and Sen nodded. Her book was dull and crumbling. Sen hoped to collect it as well, but he’d never used his artifact on a spirit before, and it was best to feed it something unique. He might not run into a book spirit again. So he activated it. “Artifact of the Stone Tomb.” The tomb formed around the green spirit and enclosed her.
He waved away the notification. He’d learn what he’d gained later. When he didn’t have a fight to win.
Remias stared at him. With a casual wave of his hand, the dean emerged from the pile of books and floated over. “Restoration Study.” The dean’s broken nose healed, and even his torn clothes were made whole again. That didn’t mean his mental fortitude had returned. He still stared at Sen as if he were a demon. Withershade looked slowly up at Remias, waiting for instructions.
Sen smirked at the defeat on Withershade’s face. It had been worth learning more about the magic some of the student volunteers used to move around dorm rooms. He’d have to send Allen a thank you. That knowledge had allowed him to counter the dean’s annoying shift institution spell.
“You have shown your true worth. Again, I ask you: serve me. Join us. I will spare your friends. The dean sent you across the library and surrounded you with an army of spirits, and you returned like it was nothing. This power…all of this knowledge could be yours. All you need to do is serve me,” Remias said.
Sen had never been all that attached to his former title. But in moments like these, it really angered him to be looked down upon. “Obscure Sight. Obscure Zone. Seal History. Seal Zone. Hidden Truth. Forbid Scan. Ultimate Authority over Domain. Evidence Destruction. Forbid Tracking. Peerless Barrier. False Memory. Wave of Chaos. Usurp Authority. Bind Witness.”
Remias lifted his head. The dean’s jaw dropped. “How is he casting so many spells back to back?”
Remias flickered in and out of existence. “He’s bending reality to ensure no one can see what he’s about to do. Why?” the Lord of Scholars asked.
“A mere lord asking the God of Magic to serve? Is that acceptable in your eyes? Does that make sense to you?” Sen demanded. He allowed his mana to flow freely and fill the room. If the Scholar Lord wanted to experience a small taste of true power, Sen would indulge him.
The dean’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “God…God of Magic?”
“You wondered why you couldn’t steal our magic. The answer is simple. You’re completely outclassed.” Milim and Orttha were each in possession of one of Sen’s journals. Mori and Ilm had innate protections simply by virtue of being his replicas. Samara was trickier. He suspected the Scholar Lord’s inability to study her magic started when Sen crafted a high-grade greatsword for her. But that last one was only a guess. Regardless, each of the individuals who were impervious to the Scholar Lord’s ability had one thing in common. A connection to Sen.
Remias slowly put all the pieces together. When the specter realized Sen might be telling the truth about his identity, he floated backward. It appeared even the undead displayed survival instincts when completely outmatched. A tsunami of books erupted from the shelves. Each of them opened, and thousands of spells shot forward at Sen all at once.
“Bastion of the Shield Lord Maxima,” Sen said, holding out a hand. A mana shield, a perfect translucent copy of the metallic shield the Shield Lord wielded, appeared before him. From it radiated a white sphere that encompassed his entire body. The barrage of the Scholar Lord struck with the force of a King-level spell. Blinding lights of every color, every conceivable element, and some inconceivable, even temporary summons striking with a singular attack. Copies of spirits and creatures bound to the original caster. All these spells roared forward to test themselves against the invisible shield.
All of them found themselves wanting.
Remias faltered. The books he’d called forward burst into flames. He’d called too much power at once. Even the vast mana of a lord couldn’t safely channel that much magic. That was a last resort, and it had cost him. Sen wondered why Remias had allowed the dean to do most of his fighting. Now it made sense, and Sen found the explanation amusing. “Remias, you never did truly become a magician, did you? You steal and borrow power. You relied on stolen secrets, but you never actually made them your own.”
The outline of teeth gritting manifested on the silhouette of Remias’ face.
The dean fell to his knees at the display.
“You recorded these books because you rely on them. Without them, you’re no more a magician than you ever were. You’re a fraud. A pretender. You claim to love magic, yet when you overcame your weakness, you failed to master it. What’s your excuse? You’ve wasted immortality itself!”
More books flew off the shelf, but with the wave of his hand, Sen erased them from existence. It was an incredible waste of mana, but it made his point. “This is true power. This is the power of someone who devoted his life to magic. All this knowledge is wasted on you. It’s appalling you ever thought I would serve you. I am going to destroy you, Remias, and you should be grateful for the lesson. It will be the most important knowledge you’ve ever stolen. Watch carefully.”
Another black wolf appeared from the darkness. In its mouth was a single page ripped out of a book. He supposed it was his own fault for not being specific. Sen picked it up, patted the wolf on the head, and then scanned it quickly. “I knew you’d seen this one before, so I figured I’d show you firsthand how it works.”
Remias stared at the page, trying to discern what spell was on it. When he realized he froze. “No!” he screamed. Remias Brightsail, Lord of Scholars, turned to flee.
Sen held a hand up toward him. “Soul Chain of the Soul Lord!”
Molten hot chains shot up and wrapped all around the specter. Remias struggled, but to no avail. They dragged him down. Specters were…particular. They needed an attachment to the world to survive in it. For Remias, that attachment was his library. His books. His stolen knowledge. If he were forcibly removed from it, say, to the Shadow Hell continent, he would be erased from existence. His gift of immortality would simply cease.
And he knew it.
Remias turned to the portals still depicting Sen’s friends fighting. “Release me! Your friends will die if you don’t. My hostages, the faculty, Orttha, I’ll kill them all. Release me immediately!”
Sen shook his head. He turned his attention to the portals.
Ilm huffed. She stood before a dreadbeast so large it blotted out the sun. Samara could hardly stand. Sikar’s book spirit had broken so much of her body that it was a miracle she was still conscious. Tears rolled down Milim’s face. Ladia’s illusions were overwhelming her mind. Breaking her. Ladia’s book spirit approached with a knife.
Sen smiled. “Did you think I hadn’t been paying attention?” he asked.
Remias blinked. “What?”
“I’ve been watching. I saw these scenes a moment ago. Show me what happened afterwards.”
Remias went cold.
Sen sighed. He turned his attention to the portals. “Reveal Truth Maxima.”
The loop Remias had played back broke, and Sen saw how each of the events had unfolded.
Ilm stood, gasping for air. A sword she’d picked off the ground was covered in blood. The dreadbeast burned behind her, a hole in its chest where she’d stabbed it under the effects of Encapsulation and Aggression. Samara pushed herself forward, covering her sword and body in shadeflame to propel herself forward. The head of Sikar’s book spirit fell to the ground. The book at its core ablaze with black fire.
A second before Ladia’s dagger plunged into Milim’s stomach, Milim reached up. She caught the mind spirit’s hand in her own. Then she seized control. The mind spirit fell backward, pulled into a never-ending nightmare. Milim stood over it, sneered and plunged the butt of her staff into the spirit book. Ladia’s copy disappeared.
“I told you at the very start. I believed in them. They walked through fire and emerged stronger. They are real magicians, Remias. It seems you’ve received another lesson, courtesy of the only people in the world you haven’t been able to peer inside with that magic of yours.”
The chains tightened, no longer restrained by Sen, and they pulled more aggressively. Remias held out a hand. “The faculty! Orttha! I still have them under my—” He paused. He turned to look at the portal with Mori in it.
Mori was speaking. “Professor Crosp is really late. I wonder when he’ll get here. I was excited to see some old memories. Maybe that time Ilm and I visited the Seirsen plains! That’d be nice. Those mammoths were fun to fight.”
Remias tilted his head. “What?”
“You thought you were the only one capable of replaying a memory?” Sen asked. He allowed it to play forward. Moments after Mori had signaled Sen with his words, Sen gave him the opening he needed. Ilm had never been to the Seirsen Plains. That was long before her time. And they’d never fought the mammoths. They’d fought alongside them. Mori could sense Sen watching; he’d simply been waiting so he could move discreetly.
The portal caught up, and Mori sat atop a table in what Sen assumed was the faculty meeting room. Severed ropes sat in piles around the chairs. Mori was reading books he’d taken from book spirits atop the table. He bit into an apple with one hand, reading studiously with the other. When the portal changed, he looked up. “Oh, hello master! Is everything going well?” he asked casually.
Mori had rescued the faculty. That they were gone told Sen they were making a move of their own now.
Remias slammed a hand, and the portal faded away.
Another large wolf emerged from the darkness with an unconscious Orttha lying across its back. Sen looked at the wolf, and then back to Remias. “Sorry, you were saying something about hostages?”
The chains pulled the first inch of Remias’ foot into the ground. His entire spirit flashed red for a brief moment, and his mouth opened in a silent scream. “No…stop this! Please!” he begged.
The dean had gone pale. He hadn’t expected this turn of events. He didn’t know what to do with his master on the verge of nonexistence. Withershade looked at his hands, and then toward Sen. As if contemplating if there was anything he could do.
There wasn’t, but it was amusing to watch him realize that.
Remias sank several inches deeper. His waist buried. He screamed louder.
“Silent Sphere Maxim,” Sen said. The sphere wrapped around the Lord of Scholars. “Die in silence, thank you.”
Remias sank lower, up to his chest. Sen stared at him, sensing a flood of mana. He was casting something. He released the sphere to hear what it was before Remias disappeared into the shadow hell and nonexistence.
“Purge Knowledge of the Scholar Lord!”
The dean’s eyes widened. Two seconds later, he ran.
[That’s probably not a good sign, all things considered.]
All around Sen, the books grew warm, as if they were filling with mana.
Sen turned to look at Remias. The Scholar Lord wore a smug look. Even in death, he hoped to spite Sen. A smile spread over Sen’s face, and then he laughed. “I’ll admit, it was a nice try. But it’s far too pathetic to kill me.”
The specter’s smirk disappeared. A look of pure agony spread over the spirit’s face before the Shadow Hell swallowed him up and his long existence came to an end.
As soon as Sen felt Remias die, he turned to the Black Wolf Pack Leader and the other two he had summoned. “Get them out of here. Now.” The one carrying Orttha sped off towards the entrance. The pack leader ran after the dean. Sen wasn’t letting him die this easily. Withershade would face the faculty for what he’d done. He was fine with the man dying, but not before his monumental fall from grace.
Time was of the essence, even if he had spent a few precious seconds pretending otherwise to ensure Remias died full of despair. This spell was actually extremely potent, but Sen didn’t want the specter thinking he’d won in the end.
He turned his attention inward. “Tutor, the books, where do I look?” he asked.
[If you remain, this spell will kill you. The collected knowledge and power trapped within centuries of books is enough to override your mana barrier, mana protection, all wards, and the Shield Lord technique.]
“Tutor!” he yelled. He didn’t need the odds; he needed directions.
[This way.]
Sen ran.
[However, there is a problem with your request. The Lord level books are toward the rear of the library, to the left. The other book you’re looking for is to the right. There’s a slight chance you can reach one or the other and escape. There is, however, zero chance that you escape if you attempt to go for both.]
Sen gritted his teeth. There had to be limitless knowledge there.
[Sixty Lord-level books. 13 Prince and Princess Class books. 3 King and Queen Class books.]
Sen grimaced. Knowing made it worse. But he’d already made his decision. He turned right.
Tutor gave him directions, and it wasn’t hard to find at that stage. The book was glowing. A golden aura all around it. He snatched it from the shelf and activated his hybrid stat burn, pushing all of his hybrid stat points into Encapsulation. He surrounded himself in a flurry of additional speed enhancements and quickly applied a barrier to stop the book in his possession from exploding with the others.
As portions of the library started exploding around him, he ran with all his might.
He ran with the book containing the secrets of the Golden Creation Artifact.
The book he needed to fix Susanna.
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