I left the city quietly, even before the waves of Velocinids appeared. I could sense their presence now, ever since they had attacked my party. It was because of them that that Dryad had been able to do what he did.
Because of him my body was deteriorating at an insane rate and I could no longer cast magic. I would die before my next birthday. The god of magic had seen all of this. But I would not die alone. I had made assurances that it would not happen.
A wizard can only advance so long before they must change. Once a wizard reaches grand Wizard, they must gain a subclass. I had chosen the Arcane Gunslinger. This was why I was able to fire bullets even though I could no longer cast spells. Even though there was a large drain on my mana I did not need mana to attack. The mana for my bullets came from the air itself.
I had given my legendary weapon to my daughter, but somehow, I felt better with my old trusty rifle. It suited me. It was not a wand. No this was the full-fledged power of a staff. It boosted the damage of my magic. This usually meant spells, but it would work for my ability [arcane bullet] as well. There were a few other enchantments I had added over the years, but they would not be what was most important. The boosted power was what was important.
I had spent my vast fortune of coins on a variety of skills. I even went so far as to buy a few ultra-rare Tokens that allowed one to purchase skills that were normally restricted to specific classes.
I had taken a leaf out of my daughter's book and bought a variety of assassin related abilities. I spent the rest of my coins buying level up cards for my new abilities. Soon reaching a level my daughter could only dream of.
I walked through the army of bugs like ghost. Even the strongest of them could not feel my presence, even as I stepped on top of them, they could not feel me there. This was thanks to the light foot skill. A wonderful ability that brother has used to look cool in front of girls. Little did he know I had always been watching and learning. After all we were twins. Who could a girl look up to if it were not their twin brother?
The army was soon behind me as I walked further into the forest. At one point I could feel a figure move past me at incredible speeds. But it was not my problem. They guild master would deal with it. My prey was still in front of me. The corrupted Dryad who has stolen my power. It still had it; it was in a small gen on its forehead. But it was too late for it to help me. All that power will not help me survive the night. But that was fine, I had plans for it. It would not go to waste.
The Dryad was not alone when I approached. It stood together with a Rosethorn Emperor. The Rosethorn had likewise been corrupted. Not by the pathetic but god, but by the true master mind behind all of this. The God of Rot Kaheal. The god had once been a demi-god of light. He was known as the god of healing magic. But the pantheon would not accept him into their own ranks, claiming his Elven ancestry was unclean, that he had been corrupted by power.
So, he turned against the light, he fell into darkness and rose as the god of Rot. His fall put a curse on his bloodline. His descendants became the Dark Elves and became cursed by the gods.
Only the Elven God knew the truth, that the gods of light had feared Kaheal's potential. With his power it would have been possible for him to one day overtake them, becoming the top of the pantheon.
Kaheal had since moved in the shadows, his heart becoming more corrupted the longer he stayed in the dark. His rivals soon fell beneath him, and he became one of the top deities of the dark. He had even influenced the Necromancer king, pulling him to the dark as well.
But I would not let this bastard have my daughter. I would not let her be pulled into the darkness.
I did not have the power to kill a god. No one did. But I had the power to kill this avatar, to kill this puppet.
I lifted my rifle as I stared down the scope. The image in front of me zoomed into view, showing a magnified version of the Dryads head. I could see the gem that held all my magical power on its forehead. Glittering in the light. That gem held all my potential, all my life force, and all my magic. The Dryad was using it to enhance its own corrupted power of nature.
In the end the power was still mine and would listen to my call. I only had to reach it. I only had to be able to send a little of my will towards it. I had the means, but I hesitated as I watched the Dryad in my scope. Would the letter I left in my office be enough? Would she forgive me for this? I did not know, and I could not know. But it did not change the fact that it had to be done. This was the only way. The only way she could survive this. I could not lose her, Hylia and her were all in had left in this world.
One last image went through my mind as I pulled the trigger. It was not of my daughter or my niece. It was of a leave warrior. A warrior that carried a large maul that looked ridiculous in his feline beast man body. His body was a graceful work of art, and yet the big goof had chosen to specialize in the maul.
His smile was the last thing I saw as my bullet collided with the gem that held all my power. The moment the two met my power could feel the intent of my will and detonated. Causing an explosion that wiped the three of us off the face of Kaos. An explosion that would go down in history as the most brilliant move of the entire war.