Chapter 200: The Death of Haiya
Haiya watched with satisfaction as the gigantic centipede, a creation of his and his fellow sorcerers' combined efforts, emerged.
This was a Yghern, the most terrifying monster from Alzur's Double Cross.
Its kin had reduced half of Maribor to a wasteland.
Haiya observed the Yghern crashing into the castle. Though too far to hear the screams or discern the exact battle, the sheer clouds of dust billowing upwards were enough to tell him a slaughter was underway inside.
But just then, a rift suddenly tore open above Kaer Morhen.
From Haiya's distant vantage point, the rift might not have seemed particularly alarming.
However, anyone standing within the castle walls, looking directly up, would have been shocked by its horrifying length.
The rift split open, revealing a colossal eye within.
Countless shadowy hands, like threads, descended, entangling the rampaging Yghern inside the castle.
The Yghern naturally struggled and resisted with all its might.
But these shadowy hands, though seemingly delicate and fragile, were impossibly strong, as if specifically designed to counter Ygherns. After seizing the monster, the shadowy hands slowly pulled it back towards the giant eye in the sky, until it was swallowed deep within.
The next moment, the eye closed, and the rift vanished.
It was as if nothing had ever happened.
Gazing at the bizarre spectacle that had just unfolded in the sky, Haiya first froze.
Then, his face paled, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The chaotic magic within him, which had previously been as docile as a lamb, suddenly surged out of control, rampaging through his body.
The other sorcerers involved in the ritual fared even worse, bleeding to death from the magical backlash.
A delicate amulet around Haiya's neck emitted a soft glow, gradually calming the rampant chaotic magic.
His eyes, however, now held a hint of terror.
"It's a counter-summoning spell."
The counter-summoning spell was a magic specifically invented by the Brotherhood of Sorcerers to deal with Alzur's Double Cross.
Ygherns were not natural creatures; they didn't even originate from the Conjunction of Spheres.
They were summoned by Alzur from a place known as the Aether.
When the first Yghern was summoned into this world, many sorcerers attempted to study it, but they all paid for their curiosity with their lives:
These creatures from the Aether possessed an extremely strong resistance to magic; even powerful spells cast by high-ranking sorcerers caused them no substantial harm.
Ultimately, to banish such a dangerously powerful creature from this world, the core members of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers paid a heavy price to invent the counter-summoning spell specifically for Aetheric creatures.
But the problem was, to cast a counter-summoning spell, magical ingredients alone weren't enough; it required the caster's own life as a sacrifice.
If that was the case, did it mean all the sorcerers stationed at Kaer Morhen castle...
Just as Haiya's thoughts raced, two nobles suddenly grabbed his arms and pressed down on his back, forcing him down with considerable force.
Haiya's mind instantly went blank.
By the time he reacted, another noble, wearing an iron gauntlet, firmly clamped his hand over Haiya's mouth.
Even the most powerful sorcerer needed incantations and gestures to cast spells.
Neither could be missing.
If a sorcerer's hands and mouth were controlled, whether or not there was dimeritium made little difference.
Haiya struggled desperately, attempting to resist.
As a high-ranking sorcerer, his magic and knowledge far surpassed that of the nobles, but how could his physical strength compare to three of them?
Wladyslaw, without a word, first pulled out a dagger and plunged it into Haiya's stomach, then twisted it forcefully.
Haiya's body thrashed more violently, but he still couldn't break free from the three nobles' grip.
Wladyslaw then pulled the dagger upwards, slicing open Haiya's stomach and chest.
Blood and organs spilled messily onto the ground.
At this point, the King nodded to the nobles.
Only then did they release Haiya.
Wladyslaw coldly tossed aside the blood-stained dagger, watching the bald sorcerer fall face-first into the pool of his own blood.
"If it was gold you wanted, a merciful king would have granted your wish."
"But you dared to covet my throne, so don't blame me for being ruthless."
"Did you truly think I didn't know what you were plotting?"
"Witchers breeding in my territory, I couldn't just stand by. But what made you think I would continue to tolerate your insolence after you extended your hand into my royal palace?"
In this era, any king would try every means possible to marry off their daughters as soon as they were old enough.
This was primarily due to two reasons:
Firstly, there were always rumors of scandals involving various princesses and certain nobles or ministers within the court, which were impossible to suppress.
If these scandals were allowed to spread to the point of common knowledge, the princess would become unmarriageable.
No prince would want such a princess.
Secondly, it was for the sake of the king's own position.
If a princess remained unmarried and did not become a queen in another country, she would naturally contend for her own father's position.
Similar events had occurred throughout history.
The most notorious example was undoubtedly the infamous Falka.
She was a princess born to Veridanque, the seventh king of Redania, and a low-born half-elf girl.
Veridanque, however, did not make the half-elf girl his queen; he fell in love with someone else.
Falka and her mother were forced to leave Redania.
Upon growing up, Falka initiated a rebellion to reclaim her inheritance.
This rebellion quickly spread across the entire North, with more and more peasants, discontent with the nobility, joining the uprising.
In that chaotic era of war, the distance between kings, nobles, and peasants had never been so narrow.
Kings were killed, nobles were killed, and many sorcerers were also killed.
Ultimately, anyone unwilling to join the rebels became a casualty of their blades.
Of course, the rebellion was eventually suppressed.
Falka herself was sent to the stake and burned alive.
But due to the immense scale of the rebellion caused by Falka, many nobles, wealthy merchants, and sorcerers died because of her, earning her the nickname "Bloody Falka."
This rebellion was also known as "Bloody Falka's Rebellion."
This was a bloody lesson.
Since Bloody Falka's Rebellion, no king had dared to keep his daughters unmarried into adulthood.
Instead, they were typically used as bargaining chips to forge agreements with neighboring countries while they were still in their carefree childhoods.
"Pile all their bodies together and burn them. Then, go tell Ban Ard Academy that all their people died during the siege of Kaer Morhen."
One noble couldn't help but worry, "Will they believe that?"
The King sneered.
"So many of our own people have died, and the Rectoress of Aretuza even deserted in battle. Isn't that convincing enough?"
"Besides, you still don't see what kind of people these sorcerers are? Their pursuit of power has already surpassed their thirst for magical knowledge."
"With Haiya dead, the Rectoress's position at Ban Ard is vacant. The other sorcerers in the academy, who have been eyeing the Rectoress's seat, will seize this opportunity to fight to the death among themselves. Perhaps they'll even thank us."
(End of Chapter)
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