Broken, dirt-covered fingernails, an appearance even paler than the whitest Asshai'i he'd ever seen, a gray apprentice's outfit that was worn and full of rips, completely white eyes, and dried bloody tears on a face that now had a distorted expression.
All this, combined with the icy touch of his palm, and Zhang knew he was holding hands with a ghost...
Startled, he quickly released his hand in fear, causing the face of this "Anita" to become even more distorted.
Anita's previous appearance, beautiful, simple, and lively, was gone. But Zhang could still see her features in this ghost...
His mind tried to process what had happened...
"Was she possessed? Did she die? Was she always this creature? Was it the result of some forbidden magic gone wrong?"
Before Zhang could understand what was happening to Anita, her mother, who had blocked the door with her terrifying long hair, rose from her chair with terrifying speed and leaped into Zhang's arms, embracing him with long nails. The attack wasn't just physical; Zhang also felt his soul being wounded as he was embraced by the abomination.
Desperate and without access to the door, he fled to the only place left.
His chubby body, now embraced by the monster, leaped toward the tower window, barely passing through the gap as it dove, shattering it with the impact of its body and plummeting eight stories to the ground outside Stygai.
In mid-fall, Anita's mother released Zhang after her hair, still trapped on the eighth floor, prevented her from freely exiting the tower.
Zhang, who had fallen awkwardly, had injured one of his legs, but he could already feel his innate magic working to heal it. The real problem was the initial eye curse the monster had struck him, and the second blow when it sank its claws into his back.
Zhang was dizzy and nauseous, barely able to stand, when he suddenly realized night had fallen. His wounded body had been hit by several eye curses from the Reaper, which, compounded by the damage caused by Anita's mother, finally caused him to pass out. But not before he was terrified to see the Reaper flying toward him.
As Zhang's body fell unconscious to the ground, the simple necklace he wore, made of ordinary white stones, given to him by his master, began to darken rapidly as if absorbing all of Stygai's darkness.
***
Inside the Necro Tower, Immortal was finishing up some personal matters in his laboratory, preparing to handle Zhang's ritual, when he noticed the white ring on his finger darkening rapidly.
"Shit!"
That ring matched a certain necklace Immortal gave Zhang after becoming his master. The necklace looked simple, but it alerted Immortal if Zhang left the towers during nighttime in Stygai. In his opinion, this would only be during an emergency, and that meant his apprentice's death if he didn't help him quickly...
The Necromancer dropped everything he was doing, cursing, and jumped out the window just as Zhang had done, smashing everything in his path... But unlike his disciple, several souls began to emerge from Immortal's cloak, flying and hurling him in a specific direction in Stygai at high speed.
The problem with this improvised method of flight was that each soul that flew and threw Immortal was exterminated by an invisible force from Stygai, and he had to summon a new one immediately…
As he made this false, improvised flight and tried to reach the direction his ring was pointing, Immortal cried out in a ghostly voice that spread throughout the city, quickly reaching the Central Tower:
"My King, I need help!"
After the scream reached the tower, a black tear opened at the top of the tower, and a giant, transparent projection of the Eternal King appeared. His body was nearly 5 meters tall and floated in the sky, ignoring the no-fly rule within the city. The projection's eyes glowed, and he surveyed the entire city of Stygai, trying to understand what was happening.
When Immortal finally saw Zhang, his eyes widened at the scene unfolding.
From the Middle Tower, where Zhang had likely emerged and been exposed to the night, a powerful Undead creature was hanging outside the fourth floor of the tower by its hair, which was tied to the eighth-floor window. It was using its hands to pull its hair free, creating a comical scene where it appeared to be trying to climb the tower using its hair.
Her disciple, however, lay unconscious on the ground outside the same Mid-Tower, protected by two opposing figures…
His mother's soul had created a circular golden barrier, shielding her son's body from the Reaper's scythe. But with each attack, Lyrielle's soul became increasingly transparent, almost to the point of disappearing after a few more blows.
At the same time, a powerful Banshee attacked the Reaper with her powerful screams and curses, attempting to slow or even injure the monster…
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Leery Falcon, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, and 704Corleon!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley and Avacus!