The Anidrous Wolves began growling as they neared one of the outer towers of Divol's castle. The grass had withered from the ground. There were only a few large trees between the towers.
The area was empty. They expected it to be swarming with mages and knights, but it was deserted.
"Why isn't there anyone?" Tommie asked.
"No, there're thousands of people. They're hiding. On the bridges." The wolves growled.
Divol's castle was like a city of its own. There was a network of bridges connecting all the towers, which had thousands of multipurpose rooms where his fighters would stay.
These were luxurious lodgings with big beds, windows, bathrooms, and personal luxuries you could request. Divol was generous to his loyal subjects, but he had far too much innocent blood on his hands to be called a good person.
"I don't see anyone," Elfie said, watching the bridges intently. The left wolf started to bark at the knights hiding on the bridges. Diana and Claudia drew their swords, and Elfie readied her bow.
A moment of tense silence followed before chaos ensued. All of the knights, clad in black armor, jumped down from the bridges like swarms of insects, their landings cushioned with water by the mages who stayed on the bridges.
"I see them now!" Elfie shouted and shot a few of them down. "Tommie! exploding arrow!" She requested. Diana and Claudia began to clash with the hordes of knights recklessly charging them, covering the front and sides.
"Enchant: Air Magic: Exploding Arrows!" Tommie quickly put his mana into the arrows inside the quiver on Elfie's back, turning them into runestones. They began glowing red, and she pulled one out, quickly firing it at the knights behind them.
The arrow pierced through one of the knights' chestplate. "Explode!" She yelled. Normally, the arrow would've created a blast followed by flames, burning the victims to death. But these were innocent people capable of changing. They did not need to die.
So Tommie's Enchant spell made the arrows explode into a blast of wind, knocking them all away and leaving them with non-fatal injuries. The explosion of air took down about twenty knights, but there were hundreds more to go, so she readied another arrow. "Good thing I ate a bunch before this!"
"We'll help!" The middle wolf exclaimed.
"No! You'll maul them to death. You can't," Higorius ordered.
"Sword Art: Golden Wind!" Claudia and Diana screamed, covering themselves in Protection Barriers as they charged the knights. They looked like spinning gusts of gold as they hacked down their enemies, making sure not to kill them. Tommie cleaned up most of the remainders with small blasts of air; he was preserving his mana for the battle with Divol.
They were all so entranced in the battle that they didn't notice the mages above creating thousands of magic circles. (Magic circles are just ways to put spells on hold). The mages all chanted their individual spells, making Fire, Water, Air, and Earth rain down on Tommie and the others.
Higorius saw the dangerous shower and put up a giant barrier. "They don't even care about hurting each other!" He yelled as he desperately tried to keep the barrier up.
Teerom and Jurie watched the battle from their bedroom in one of the outer towers.
"Holy crap, they're doing it," Jurie said.
"They can win," Teerom smiled, hopeful, and took her hand, "Let's go."
"Wait! Are you sure about this? He'll kill us." She stopped him.
"Not if the prophecy holds true," He took her down the organized corridors of the tower. They arrived at an elevator and took it to the ground floor, where they ran as fast as they could into the pandemonium outside.
"Why are the advisors here!?" One of the knights shouted as Diana slashed at his stomach.
"Heroes!" Teerom shouted, keeping his arms in the air with Jurie. "We're on your side!" They both yelled.
"Tommie, bring them here," Higorius said, and Tommie ran to Teerom and Jurie.
"Traitors!" A knight charged them and attempted to stab Teerom in the back, but Tommie sent a line of fire around them and burned the knight's face.
"You're on our side?" Tommie asked and escorted them to the Anidrous Wolves.
"Yes, we are. And we can tell you Divol's weakness." Teerom said and climbed on the wolves. Jurie hesitated. "Come on, Jurie," He reached his hand out.
"I-Is it safe?" She asked, getting a dirty look from the middle wolf.
"Safer than being down there." Teerom took her hand and helped her onto the wolves. The battle raged on for another five minutes before Diana and Claudia found themselves fighting the last few knights left. The mages above had run out of mana a while ago since they used their strongest spells from the get-go.
"So, you were saying something about Divol's weakness?" Higorius asked Teerom and Jurie.
"Yes," Jurie began, "His weakness is Spirit Magic and Dark Magic."
"What's up?" Claudia and Diana returned. They'd left the last few knights on the ground, fearing for their lives – though no one in that battle died.
"Divol is a spirit-"
"Half-White-Spirit, Half-Black-Spirit. We know." Elfie rushed her.
"Well, the only magic that works on Spirits is Spirit Magic and Dark Magic." Jurie explained.
"Spirit Magic is just a way stronger version of our magic. That explains why his Ice Magic is so powerful." Tommie concluded, "What about Dark Magic? How does Dark Magic affect spirits?"
"You see, Dark Magic is different than both Spirit and normal Magic. It kinda… negates them, if you know what I mean?"
"Okay, but none of us are spirits or demons. How are we meant to use either of those Magics?" Diana asked.
"You don't have to be a demon to use Dark Magic. There is a staff, made about three thousand years ago from a Vamali's flesh, at the top of the tower. A Great Knight tried to use it on Divol once, but his body rejected the Dark Magic and withered away on the spot. Divol tried to destroy the staff because he couldn't wield it, but it was indestructible. So he kept it behind his throne as a decoration." Jurie explained.
"The trinities…" Tommie turned to Higorius.
"The wolves." Higorius tapped the Anidrous Wolves, "The moons," He looked up at the three moons converging above for the first time in a thousand years, "And the realms. The Sage Arts are technically a mimicry of Spirit Magic in the sense that they enhance regular Magic. If you wield that Vamali Staff, you will have tamed the three realms."
They made their way to the main tower's entrance, a giant archway.
"Let us go first," Teerom said and walked through with Jurie. "It's trapped so that anyone who isn't allowed to be in here will die. Divol is afraid of that prophecy." He continued walking and they all followed him up a flight of stairs covered in red carpet. They arrived at an elevator and rode it to the top in a five-minute journey, arriving at the final floor, right below the very top of the tower.
It was a large circular library, containing hundreds of thousands of books.
"What does he need so many books for?" Elfie asked.
"To Divol, knowledge is power. Power far greater than brute strength. That's how he sways people to his cause. He knows what they want. What they need." Teerom said.
"He gets that from fairy tales?" Elfie took a book out, finding that it was a folktale warning children of the dangers of strangers.
They walked up a flight of stairs opposite the elevator to the throne above. Everyone took in the incredible view it had. You could see a fifth of Primea from here. It felt empowering. Apart for Elfie, she was quivering at that height.
Teerom and Jurie hesitantly walked to the throne. They'd usually be kneeling from the sheer pressure Divol emanated. "Here it is," Jurie pointed to the staff, afraid to touch it.
"That's the staff?" Tommie asked, stepping forward.
"Tommie…" Elfie grabbed his arm worriedly.
"I'll be fine." He gave her a warm smile, settling her nerves.
"Okay," She backed off, letting him approach the staff slotted on the back of the throne. Everyone watched in tense silence as he slowly moved his hand toward it.
He started to shake as he felt the ominous aura of a Vamali escaping from it; it frightened him.
"Do not hesitate. We believe in you," Higorius said to calm him down. It worked and Tommie stopped quivering and grabbed the staff, ripping out from the throne. It was a long stick with its head resembling the Vamali's horns – they were twisting like a goat's horns.
Everyone paused for a moment before celebrating. "You did it!" They cheered. Suddenly, the sky turned a deep black from the gentle red of the setting sun, leaving only the three moons above to shine upon the world.
The staff emitted an incredibly malicious black aura, enveloping Tommie in black essence. His body slowly turned into a demon's starting from the hand that held the staff. He screamed in agony as he felt his body reject its new state and begin withering away. But it wasn't before a great, tormenting hunger rose up within him.
"Tommie! Point it at the moons!" Higorius instructed, and with what self Tommie had left, he obeyed and raised the staff to the converged moons. He screamed from the anguish as the moons began to glow. They were lined up in order of biggest to smallest; the smaller moons transferred their glow – mana – to the biggest moon, Luneium, which blasted all of its light onto Tommie.
In every nearby country, citizens would look up and see the enormous light cast by Luneium. Including Divol. He had been watching the moons for a few hours now, and knew, when the sky became black, that the prophecy was unfolding. He continued watching blankly as the three moons finished casting their light on his castle.
As the light stopped falling on Tommie, the staff entered his body through his hand. He didn't know it yet, but he had gained the ability to use Dark Magic.