"Finally!" Rula shouted in glee.
"It feels off just standing in front of it." Sophia mused.
After roaming the manor for a while and entering many different rooms and galleries, Naya eventually located the doors leading to the basement. It was an old, unassuming door painted in such a way that it blended in with the walls around it.
Naya could feel it, too; the atmosphere itself felt wrong.
[Is this what it means to be 4th order?]
--This isn't even a tiny fraction of how bad it can be. I'd like to say the Devil can't communicate yet, but...--
[Carla's tower proved your information outdated.]
--Blunt... --Lia sighed.-- But yes. However, how it could change is beyond me.--
"You ready?" Sophia tapped Naya's shoulder.
The longer Sophia spent with Naya, the more she seemed to be more open to touching her. And now, Naya wasn't as bothered by it as she thought she would be.
Naya nodded and twisted the knob. The door didn't budge
Rather than deal with the embarrassment of her companion's teasing, Naya raised her leg and delivered a powerful kick.
However, it didn't blow the door off the hinges; instead, her leg pierced a hole into the wood, and she nearly fell into it.
Her ears twitched.
"You're adorable," Sophia giggled.
Even Rula had a light smile, a contradiction to her earlier solemnity.
Naya pulled her leg out quickly and reached her hand through the hole to unlock the door.
"Stupid human constructions," Naya muttered. She could feel another addition to Rula's silly title forming.
The lock clicked, and Naya pushed the door open.
While brief, her companions appeared to be in a better mood from her little performance. It made her feel like a circus act.
[Stupid humans.]
--Did you expect something else to happen with a door as old as that?--
[Silence.]
"Be prepared for anything; there's no telling what sort of corpses the Witch has at her disposal," Sophia said, and her smile was replaced by a frown.
Naya turned toward them.
Rula flipped open her sketchbook, though Naya couldn't see its paintings. Once she got to a specific page, a look of determination shined on her face.
[Good. ]
Naya nodded and turned back to the stairs, beginning the descent.
The stairs were lit with yellow lights periodically placed along the stone walls. It went deep as if walking into the abyss.
There weren't any noises still, but Naya chalked that up to a noise isolation spell.
Sophia suddenly lightly chuckled.
"What?" Naya's brow slightly quirked, but she didn't stop or turn back.
"It's funny," Sophia paused. "Despite 3 people with overwhelming abilities, I still can't help but feel a little nervous."
Naya paused.
[This Devil is the one responsible for killing her Mother and Brother. ]It hadn't dawned on her until now, but it was odder that she could maintain her calm despite who they were about to face.
--A Paragon of Sanctum is a lot more than a fancy title.--
Naya turned and looked Sophia in her golden eyes. "I will kill the Devil today." Naya tried her best to keep her tone reassuring. It sounded lame, even to her.
However, Sophia's face was beaming, "I know, Naya."
Naya's ears twitched, and she snapped her head back. Her hand went up to her slightly faster heartbeat. [So... stupid.]
"Sometimes I feel like a third wheel," Rula said, though her tone was light.
"A very cute one." Sophia heard Rula's mumble of annoyance as she presumed Sophia ruffled her hair.
Naya continued the descent.
She could see the floor now, a place of well-laid brick and stone that looked like the start of a dungeon.
They stopped when they reached it.
It was a small area of stone that held a dark, wood, and metal double door.
"There's a silencing spell over the room," Sophia said, touching the door. She smiled at Naya. "Rather than an area effect, it's coated on the walls; you should be able to absorb it."
Naya nodded, took a deep breath, and reached her hand out.
The purple vortex formed instantly, and the sound akin to shattered glass filled the room, loud enough to make Rula snap her hands to her ears.
A flood of Arcana, as if a dam burst within her and water surged through. It filled Naya's body.
It was so much at once that she fell to her knees with a grunt.
"Naya!" Both Sophia and Rula ran up to her.
Sophia's eyes were wide and on the purple vortex in Naya's palm.
--Let me help quick!--
[Fine! ]Naya didn't have time to think; she struggled to handle such a large amount, and it felt like her core could shatter if the flow continued.
Naya felt control of her core vanish and momentarily felt as if it was an alien force within her body.
The flow of Arcana suddenly became a gentle stream, she and Lia working in tandem to control it.
Purple lines shined brightly, flowing from the tips of her fingers up to her shoulder. Her pupils glowed a bright purple, and half of her hair, starting from the bottom, brightened.
She had never felt so good before.
It felt like she suddenly had the strength to single-handedly fight an army.
"You... that's not..." Sophia seemed at a loss for words as she stared with her glowing golden eyes at Naya's body.
"I'm fine now." Naya stood; she felt that her own voice sounded ever so slightly different, as if it was a tinge deeper.
She brought her arms to her face and smirked. Internally, though, she was confused.
[Why?]
Lia released a sigh of relief. --You don't have to compete with the natural world down here since the Devil's influence interferes with it. Then, the silence spell was done on each part of the walls individually, thus making it a massive waste of Arcana, and you could absorb all of it.--
"You look so cool!" Rula shouted excitedly.
On the other hand, Sophia deeply frowned with furrowed brows as she stared at Naya's purple lines. "I think I was right; that is not normal."
"This is my power," Naya kept her smirk.
"I hope my assumptions are incorrect." Sophia sighed.
Naya looked at her dubiously. "I am in complete control of my power."
"Forget it..." Sophia shook her head. "It's just a power I don't comprehend."
Naya put her focus back on herself.
Now that she was enhanced again, she discovered a new facet of her abilities: greater physical powers. She felt like she could shatter a mountain. Previously, it always felt her physical abilities remained unchanged no matter how much she absorbed. But now, it seemed like she had reached a new tier with the lines up to her shoulders.
--I felt it when we absorbed; it feels like there's a hard cap now. I think your core would reject more, and I'm not sure why.--
[Only Mother knows the true extent of my powers.]
--Somehow, I don't think Nayarali knows either.--
[She would.]
Suddenly, Naya's ears perked.
She could hear the sounds beyond the door easily. There were footsteps, a lot of them. It sounded like a community lived beyond the doors.
"There are a lot." She spoke gravely toward her companions.
"Even I can hear those footsteps," Sophia said.
Rula's grip on her sketchbook tightened.
Naya pushed the door open, surging with confidence despite the vast number she expected.
It didn't stop that time, and the door was slowly pushed forward.
The moment a gap formed, Naya could see beyond, and her eyes widened.
Soon, Rula and Sophia saw it as well.
The next room wasn't a room at all, but a massive, cubed-shaped open chamber. The chamber had large doors on each side of the wall and a circular altar in the middle. On the altar, a figure stood with their hands raised into the air.
Rows upon rows of undead figures: skeletons, rotted bodies from monsters, humans, and some other races, each wearing some simple, worn armor.
[She really was gathering an undead army.]
--There's something bigger happening here; I don't like this.--
The rows were all facing toward the door, and in an eerie movement, they all raised their heads at once toward its opening. But they did not move.
On the sizeable circular altar, the figure didn't move, still with their arms raised over their head as if offering prayer to a god,
Naya couldn't see what was in the air, but she turned to Sophia.
Sophia was solemn, staring in the air above the figure. "That's a massive ball of Malevolent Arcana; if she absorbs all that..."
"How much?" Naya asked.
"Enough to probably jump 3 circles, probably more."
--That's not something that happens quickly; she has to die here before that orb is finished.--
"How many would that take?" Rula asked.
"Hundreds, maybe even into the thousands. She's been doing this for a lot longer than we thought." Sophia's tone was grave.
Rula's face fell. "H-how?"
--Western continent...--
"The other continent," Naya answered with what she thought was the only reasonable conclusion explaining how the humans were unaware.
"Maybe..."
The figure on the altar wore a simple, long black robe with an icon depicting a dagger pierced through a circle.
--That logo... --Lia sounded solemn. --That isn't an icon I know of; I fear the worst possibility is coming true.--
[A collective of Witches.]
Naya finished pushing the door open and stepped through. Still, the large amounts of undead didn't move.
There were at least a couple hundred undead in the room, and likely more behind the large doors on each wall.
The door slammed against the wall, marking the only noise in the room other than the occasional steps from the undead rows.
Still, the undead eyes were all watching her, and Naya felt nothing from them.
--Those doors probably house her important undead.--
Naya turned back to Rula, "Rula, summon something,"
Rula obeyed immediately; her hand moved over her opened sketchbook and took on a white glow.
White threads extended from the sketchbook with an ethereal hum and spiraled onto the ground beside her, behaving as if painting a figure in the air. The tendril-like threads behaved as if from the delicate strokes of a painter's brush.
--I could watch that all day... --
It was already much better and more beautiful to watch than when Rula summoned the bird as if she had already improved leaps and bounds.
However, Naya snapped away because the sounds should have alerted the Witch.
As expected, the figure lowered their hands and turned slowly toward the entrance, pulling the hood off.
Snow white hair spilled out and reached her lower back, with eyes as black as the night sky. Verala had the ghost of a smile on her lips.
"Hello, Naya, Sophia, and Rula." Verala's voice was as pleasant as the soft chime of bells, yet eerie as if spoken by a diety disconnected from the mortal world. The voice carried across the massive chamber.
Verala slowly descended the altar's steps, and every sound in the room died. The undead were now entirely still. The only noise that reached Naya's ears was the Necromantic Witches' light steps against the stone ground.
"I didn't think Loriel would so easily divulge my location."
The undead army uniform steps as they parted to form a path directly toward Naya's group.
"I saw your power and would rather not lose all of my work here." Verala's steps were slow and uncaring, as if what she saw was not a threat.
"You will die here, Witch," Naya spoke with an ice-cold tone.
"I know."
Naya froze.
--What the... --Even Lia sounded shocked.
Sophia and Rula were similarly frozen by it, though Rula kept up her summoning.
Verala softly laughed. She had one of the most pleasant voices Naya had ever heard, a melodic quality akin to a soothing breeze. It was almost inhuman.
"Don't look so surprised." Verala stopped a short distance away.
It was easily a distance Naya could cover in an instant.
Yet she found herself wanting to listen.
--I'm also curious, and it's not because of her voice.--
"Can a fragile body like mine handle the combined might of a Paragon and an Elf?" Verala softly sighed and slightly shook her head with her eyes closed. "No, of course not."
"What's your aim, Witch?" Sophia broke from her stupor and asked.
"Fate is unfair." Verala opened her eyes and aimed her black pupils at Naya. "Tell me, are you the Elf that killed Carla?"
Naya's ears perked up, "How?"
Verala sighed again, "So you were not."
"Answer me, Witch!"
"I don't want to die," Verala spoke as if she was an audience to her own life, as if it didn't concern her. Yet, simultaneously, the words sounded like they came with a deep sense of sadness.
"You've killed thousands." Sophia glared.
"Now, I wonder where that idea came from?" Verala's tone and expression hadn't changed.
"I can see their collected power in that altar, Witch."
"Ah." Verala turned back for a quick glance, then back to the group. "A misunderstanding. I only use the already dead, a compromise I made with the Devil."
--Is the Western Continent in a state of war?--
"You rip their souls away from their gods." Naya prepared to pull on her Arcana.
Sophia nodded.
"I'm sure they feel the loss," Verala spoke with a slight mocking edge.
"What are you implying, Witch?" Naya glared.
"Nothing at all; I'm sure your Aleria is a benevolent god." Verala smiled soothingly.
"Then those will be your final words," Naya pulled on her Arcana, and her lines gave a bright glow.
"Ah, wait just a moment, please."
--Wait!--
Naya stopped her pull, and her brows furrowed.
[What? ]
--I'm sorry, but we need information from her. She doesn't behave like any Witch I have ever seen!--
[She's stalling us!]
--I know. But this opportunity might never come again. We have to learn anything we can.--
Naya reluctantly agreed and took a silent deep breath to calm her thoughts.
She knew she didn't know enough about what was happening in the world. That, and even Sophia and Lia were shocked by a Devil's appearance in a mere 3rd circle. That meant she needed to take an opportunity to learn more.
However, she struggled to hold herself back from immediately going all out.
On the surface, she didn't care to learn more; she'd just kill them all. But she understood that knowledge was power. Especially given how her lack of information seemed to constantly be put on display.
"Thank you."
"The inevitable was only delayed." Naya kept her glare. "You will die."
Verala showed no reaction to Naya's threats, "The Devil's been my only conversation companion in a long while; I'd hate to cut our conversation short."
"What do you want?" Sophia asked. It looked like she was holding herself back, similarly to Naya.
"To inform you of something, us Witches have banded together."
Naya's ears perked up. Their assumption, which was only theory with some evidence, had now been proven true.
--Ask her why. Devils are incompatible. That isn't just something we believe; it's a fact!--
"Why?" Sophia asked.
"We have a cause that unites us."
Naya didn't like the sound of that.
Neither did Sophia, and her frown deepened. "What cause?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Verala softly laughed. "Only our Devils know what it is, and we simply obey their wishes."
"Mindless puppets." Naya spat.
Again, Verala didn't seem affected. "Now, the Coven has betrayed me." Verala squinted her eyes slightly. "And so I ignore my Devil's demands and inform you of their existence."
[They can do that?]
--I don't know, I've never seen it. But evidently, they aren't entirely beholden to their Devils. --
The ethereal hum from Rula's ability stopped, which brought Naya's attention back behind her. She had forgotten about Rula's summoning.
"There it is, how beautiful," Verala spoke with a slight bit of envy.
Standing tall, a head taller than Naya, was a hulking figure wearing pitch black-steel armor and wielding a hammer as large as it was. The armor was engraved with thousands of small sigils and markings. Which meant Rula had painted each one herself.
Naya wanted to inquire, but her head snapped back to Verala, who was watching Rula's summon with awe.
She turned back to Naya. "I do wish I could experience the true beauty of magic."
"Stop speaking as if you are a victim," Naya responded.
"My goal isn't to convince you." Verala brought her hand to her forehead. "The Devil demands your blood, and I'm afraid resisting it is too difficult."
"You will die." Sophia stepped forward and reinforced what Naya had said earlier.
"I know, but it doesn't believe that." Verala stepped back.
Naya stepped forward, Sophia and Rula on both her sides.
The hulking black armor moved to stand slightly in front of Rula with its large hammer resting on its shoulder.
"It'd be a shame if I didn't take at least one of you with me." She gently smiled again. "I think you'll find my army a challenge."
Sophia worriedly glanced toward each door, standing tall on each side of the chambers.
Naya pulled on her Arcana and charged.