With a plan to save Medivh in place, Aegwynn finally abandoned her previous desperate resolve and seemed much more composed.
Thus, the search of Karazhan continued.
Before beginning the search, Alaric and Aegwynn experimented with several detection spells, hoping to uncover traces of Medivh—or at least remnants of his presence.
Ultimately, they failed.
As the Guardian of Tirisfal, Medivh's magical prowess was more than sufficient to conceal any traces of himself that might have been detectable.
This left them with only the simplest and most arduous method: a physical search.
However, after scouring the entire Karazhan tower, the five found no sign of Medivh.
The only thing they discovered was the remains of Karazhan's last inhabitant other than Medivh himself—his steward, Moroes.
They found him in the lowest level of the tower, near the area connecting the main entrance to the kitchen and storage rooms.
Moroes' perpetually hunched frame was stretched out in the center of the hall. A trail of blood curved across the floor, leading to a wall.
His eyes were wide open, but his expression was eerily serene, as though even death could not stir the old steward's soul.
"He… has passed too?" Aegwynn murmured wistfully. Even Khadgar's face darkened.
The young mage was still unaccustomed to witnessing the deaths of those he knew.
Suddenly, Alaric, who had been silent, spoke up.
"Do you sense it?" he asked, looking at Aegwynn.
"That door?" Aegwynn nodded. "I feel it too."
"Wait, what door?" Lothar, as usual, was perplexed by the cryptic discussions of mages. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
He turned to Khadgar for an explanation, but the young mage simply shrugged.
I don't understand these big shots either…
Surprisingly, it was Garona, the rogue, who seemed to grasp the situation.
"There's a door here," the half-orc said.
Garona approached the wall, pressing her hands against it, as though trying to sense what lay beyond.
She frowned, muttering a curse under her breath, then began pounding on the wall, only to hurt her hand.
"There has never been a door here," Khadgar interjected.
"Or perhaps," Garona replied, "there's always been a door here—you just couldn't see it. Look at Moroes' body."
She stamped her foot near the base of the wall. "The corpse was moved—from here to the middle of the hall. The trail of blood forms an arc."
"You're remarkably perceptive," Aegwynn said, giving Garona an approving look. "You truly honor the title of Sandor's follower."
Garona didn't reply, clearly unimpressed by Aegwynn's condescending praise.
Unbothered, Aegwynn cast a spell designed to reveal hidden doors on the blank wall before her.
If a door had indeed existed there, the magic would expose it.
Energy gathered and sank into the wall. Moments later, a grand door appeared where none had been before.
With a resounding mechanical rumble, the door opened outward, revealing a staircase that spiraled down into the depths.
The five descended, step by step. The structure evoked a strange sensation in their hearts.
The tower's ground-level portions had been ominously abandoned, but the lower levels exuded an oppressive and foreboding atmosphere.
The rough walls and damp, uneven floors shimmered under the torchlight, appearing like pulsating flesh.
As they ventured further from the surface, the environment increasingly mirrored the tower's upper levels—but in a sinister, inverted manner.
"This is a mirrored structure," Aegwynn said quietly. "Karazhan's underground layout uses mirror magic.
It's almost a reflection of the above-ground structure. I should have guessed… Medivh and Sargeras—he always loved such tricks."
"It's not too late to realize it now," Alaric said, patting her hand. "Let's move. If it's a mirror structure, his location should be easier to determine."
Before long, they traversed countless stairs and arrived at a mirrored version of the library.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a library anymore. Sargeras had no need for knowledge, so he had transformed the room into a menagerie for his pets.
For the first time in Karazhan, they encountered living beings—or rather, enemies.
The room was a den of horrors, teeming with grotesque creatures lurking in the darkness they themselves had spawned. The acrid smell of smoke wafted through the entrance.
Countless glowing eyes peered at them from the shadows, accompanied by flaming jaws and bodies of shadow and fire. With deafening roars, the creatures surged forward.
"Demons," Aegwynn said with a faint smile. "My old foes. They won't stop us."
Though she could no longer wield her once-limitless magical power, ordinary demons were still no match for Aegwynn.
With a simple wave of her hand, the floor transformed into quicksand, swallowing several massive demons in an instant.
Alaric unleashed his signature spell—at least, his signature in this world: Transmutation.
The walls around them warped inward, and the material reshaped itself into towering stone giants.
The giants attacked the demons with crushing force.
Claws and fire, deadly to living beings, could only scratch the giants' surfaces before the demons were torn apart by the giants' massive hands.
As the giants fought, Garona slipped into the shadows. Using their massive forms as cover, she darted between the demons with the grace of a dancer on a blade's edge.
One by one, the enormous creatures fell to the deadly precision of her dagger, Kingslayer.
Lothar, the warrior, charged headlong into the fray. His Great Royal Sword glowed with radiant golden runes, and for a fleeting moment, fear flashed in the demons' eyes.
With a single, fluid swing, his blade sliced through a demon as if it were nothing more than butter.
The sword cut through its skull and completed its arc, leaving the creature with barely a moment to scream before it collapsed into smoldering embers.
Each strike sent another demon to oblivion, shadow and flame dissipating beneath his feet.
Although demons were formidable foes for mortals, they were no match for these elite warriors standing at the pinnacle of their respective crafts.
In less than fifteen minutes, the room was cleared of demons—even Khadgar managed to defeat one.
The path ahead was open once more, and the presence of the demons confirmed one thing: Medivh—or rather, Sargeras—was close.
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