Ty has been cold towards Annie since he locked Loki up for good.
She made him angry.
"Tai..." his apprentice said, placing the black stone containing Gwenhyfar's soul in the bag containing the spell components. "Are you sulking?"
"No," replied the wizard.
"Yes," Hagen said with a smile.
"You are responsible for this." The Necromancer said to Annie angrily, and he walked deeper into the territory of hell. Tall corridors seemed to spiral into funeral chambers deep within the plateau, reminding the undead titan of his own dungeons. Could Nastrom and this place have been built by the same people long ago? “The apprentice should be able to explore new paths that the master had not considered, but in my opinion, this is a terrible mistake.”
After meeting Loki, Mrs. Salter had remained silent, deeply shaken. However, despite Tai's anticipation, the former priestess remained quite steadfast and dignified, even after learning the damning truth. Unlike Medelot, who fell into madness after her worldview was destroyed, she remained rational and tried to assess the situation rationally. Perhaps it was this iron heart that made Tai always feel a kind of affinity for that woman, even though their ideals were completely different.
The Necromancer had considered offering her power again, especially now that she had aligned her destiny with his ideals, but he knew better. He would just have to wait for her to collect her thoughts and realize that he was the best choice; she would go to the Necromancer of her own free will. He just had to wait.
Finally, after walking for what seemed like hours, Tai sensed a primal source of magic ahead. And it's not magic of any kind.
witchcraft.
"We are close to our goal," he told allies. "You stay behind and let me clear the way forward for you. Hagen, cover Mrs. Salter."
"I don't need protection," the priestess insists, even as her former god's lack of support prevents her from using much of her arsenal. “Even though I can’t pray, I can still sing.”
"I'm sure he'll fall before your perfect voice, ma'am," Hagen scoffed, though his hand still held his scepter. "Listen to the director and I will handle the rest."
"I'm coming, Walter." Annie insisted stubbornly.
"Unlike Hell, I can neither summon nor teleport in the dungeon," Tai warned his apprentice. This is Haier's territory, and her rule here is absolute. "I can't bring more troops to protect you. If you still want to participate, stay back and support me with spells."
The witch nodded and Tai walked straight out of the underground corridor.
His footsteps echoed as if entering a buried temple, opposite a circular marble wall surrounded by towering crystallized stone pillars;
mu
ga
d
and Fe
i
Born together to Balde
His death and Haier's deeds are all carved in stone. The source of the undead energy was behind these murals, but Tai's eyes fell on the pillars.
He chained the undead members of the Pale Snake to them.
The Necromancer recognized many familiar faces; from the half-charred vampire Striga, to the Winterfell he had raised during the tragic days of the fall of Castle Black. From initiates to masters, they are all present at this horrific gathering; each of their rotting corpses are tied with silver chains, their hands nailed to the crystal, like slaves on the cross.
Tai finally noticed Duke, whose chest was pinned to a pillar by a black arrow, and there was even a man wearing Spook's clothes, covered in sword wounds. It seems he brought the mummy back to life and turned him into a flesh-and-blood man, only to brutally murder him again.
Target approach. He uses Tai's allies and servants as target practice.
"Damn it," said Hagen, a little distraught, as he and his ghostly horse entered the room. Even Anne covered her mouth with her hands, while Salt watched this scene from a distance. Finally, she understood the unfairness of Helheim. "I expected this to be the case, but..."
Disaster approached his dead deputies, barely restraining his anger. While the undead can't be resurrected twice, he has a perfect solution; he can bring them back. "[Naglfa
]. "
The [Necromancer's Stone] shines with purple light, summoning a force capable of defying death, making contact with Duke's lost soul and drawing it back into his remains. Bodies are rejuvenated and dead nobles are reborn.
The spell failed.
The soul is gone.
This news sent a shiver down Tye's rotting spine as his spell failed to find Duke's soul. The soul should be impossible to destroy; there is always something left behind, even a fragment.
Was the arrow interfering with the spell? Ty tried to pull it out, but the projectile burned his dead skin on contact like the venom of a dangerous hydra. He had to use telekinesis to safely remove it, and even then, the [Nagel's Method] failed to activate.
He has found a way to destroy their souls or turn them away from him.
Taiyi felt the necromancy ignited again behind the mural, and filled with rage, he walked through the circular wall. His massive body caused the marble to collapse under its own weight, like a man walking through a paper door.
The Catastrophe walked to the center of Hel's dungeons, a vast circular chamber covered in ancient runes, glittering crystals, and symbols from forgotten civilizations. A biting chill filled the room, and the power of death took complete control of this small part of the dungeon. Hel's divine energy is focused on maintaining a powerful presence.
In the center stands a five-meter-high green crystal obelisk, beating with energy. A skull-faced ghost flashes in and out of its confines, a powerful soul unable to manifest a new body due to Hel's dark magic.
Amulet of Asclepius.
The wisest of wise, the Lich ensures that the vessel for his soul is completely indestructible. Instead of encasing it in a painting or a gold coin, he sealed his immortal soul in a giant shard of crystalline star metal, an alien substance from a planet beyond the Nine Realms. This legendary metal, even before it was empowered by the Lich's magic, was used to create the most powerful artifacts like the King's Sword, which is nearly impossible to destroy.
However, a group of four were doing their best, driving their swords into the tree sheaths; each blow unleashed a burst of purple necromantic energy into the air.
Note that the word "human" is inappropriate to describe them. With one exception, Take
u, most people are monsters not people.
Tai immediately recognized Prince Arthur among them, and he slashed the magic with a corrupted Arthurian sword. Like his sister, Hel transformed him into some kind of undead creature, removing his eyes and leaving only smoke seeping out of the hollows. His white armor had turned black, and his fingers were bony and gaunt. Instead of being calm or arrogant, he exuded a single-minded absolute rage, ignoring the necromancer and continuing to attack magic.
In this mission, he is assisted by another swordsman; though he wields a bloody katana instead of a regular Midgardian sword. He wore a strange crimson armor, and the lower half of his face wore a terrifying demonic mask that seemed to be grafted onto his face, but his dark eyes still shone with humanity. He turned to look at the necromancer, who had obviously taken control of his thinking abilities.
The third member was the only woman among them, a beautiful, twisted redhead. She would be a vision of a sexy beauty were it not for one particular flaw: while her upper body is sexy, her flesh begins to rot around her waist, leaving only blood-stained bones. She wears a large cloak and a magic crown, and is obviously a magician.
"You!" growled the red-haired woman among them as she recognized Tai, her fingers crackling with magic. "You bastard..."
Ty looked at her with magic, even though he already recognized her.
Mo
ga
e Siegli
de
Type: Death hero (god/immortal).
Level:70
This is the real Morgan Sieglinde. Not a body inhabited by evil demons, but a primitive body that was killed by a vampire and thrown into Helheim.
"It's all your fault!" she growled at Ty. "[Supe
fla
e]!”
She launched a violent blast at Tae Yi, who had to admit it was quite powerful; it was clear that her level had improved since they last met. Still, Catastrophe lazily counterspelled it into nothing, allowing Ty's allies to burst into the room and the two groups to face each other.
Piece "Mo
ga
e?" Annie recognized the death hero and her eyes widened. "Big? Take
u, are you okay?"
The archer's eyes looked up, turning a bloodshot red. Among this group of people, he was the only one who looked a little "alive", but now he was not wearing his usual adventure clothes, but a pair of light diamond armor. However, the mist of Helheim seeped into his skin and seemed to possess the boy, forming a cloud around him.
"Annie..." the archer called out, his voice no more than a whisper in his throat. "Annie..."
"an automaton". Mrs. Salter frowned in horror, and turned pale when she recognized Arthur.
taku
U's soul is still there, but even Tai's mind-reading skills can't touch it. The ghost seems to be buried under the thick fog, and the evil force takes over the empty body. Maybe Haier couldn't make this proud earthling obey, or maybe he was too loyal to the living people and would not bend the knee. So she possessed him, turning his sacred bow into a terrifying weapon capable of shooting arrows of shadow.
The weapon that killed Duke.
"Where are the souls of the other Pale Snakes?" Tai asked, his eyes glowing a dangerous crimson.
"We had Taki and Ryoma destroy them all to test their foul weapons," Morgan replied with a cruel smirk. Unlike Zhuyu, she doesn't seem to have been brainwashed; she definitely left her fate to Haeil out of her own free will. "You're not immortal anymore, are you?"
The Necromancer was furious. "Can you understand that you sacrificed human knowledge and ingenuity for your stupid revenge, stupid boy?"
"Stupid revenge? You killed me, you selfish lunatic! Do you think you are the victim?" Morgan's glare intensified, her eyes falling on Tai's companions; especially her old classmates. "Annie, he killed me, he killed Gwen! Why are you with him?"
"I..." Annie didn't know what to say, but she finally understood. "We can bring you back to life, Morgan! We can make this up!"
"I know how to make up for it, Annie," Morgan replied, preparing to cast a spell on Ty. "If we kill him, we can enter the Hall of Valor!"
Valhalla?
She fought to enter the Hall of Valor?
She didn't fight for her right to live again, and Ty might sympathize with her. But what about a better afterlife? For better slave treatment?
A second later, a powerful blow from the Necromancer's wand struck Morni through a marble mural with a loud bang. It seems that no matter how powerful her magic is, she's still a weak mortal at close range.
Tai is an immortal god.
Immediately afterwards, the whole room was in chaos. Hagen rushed towards the Earthling swordsman. Arthur stopped his crazy attack on the tree and looked at the surrounding environment. The possessed Take
Without saying a word, u immediately shot an arrow at Tai Yi. His projectile ripped through the Catastrophe's chest and out the other side, defying all magical defenses and leaving a hole in its path.
It hurts.
Supe
Effective damage! The large Tainted Ultimate Death Bow bypasses your damage reduction!
Cursed Earthlings and their powerful equipment!
Worse, their transformations seem to have given these fools new abilities; Morgan has recovered from the blow and is standing in the rubble, while Take
u then moved around the battlefield, preparing to attack again.
"Damn knight!" The Earthling swordsman raised his scimitar towards Hagen. Tai finally recognized the weapon, which the Dullahan took as a trophy before mysteriously disappearing during the first cult attack. "I challenge you to a duel to avenge your insult to me!"
Hagen almost answered the challenge, but paused. "sorry?"
"You don't recognize me?" the swordsman asked, his eyes widening in disappointment. This blow was enough to interrupt his attack.
"Should I?"
"You murdered me in the dungeon, stabbed me in the back!"
"Oh," Dullahan said, but that certainly didn't help narrow it down. "Don't take it too seriously, but after a while it starts to blur to you adventurers."
"It's Ryoma." Tai recognized him, and before the archer could fire another arrow, he used telekinesis to slam Wulong against the wall. Morgan backed up her allies with a volley of fireballs, but she failed to bypass the Necromancer's buff. "I gave him diarrhea medicine because he was rude."
"Ah, yes, that's the guy who pooped in the dungeon!" Hagen finally remembered, giggling to himself. "Dumpboy!"
The insult sent the swordsman on Earth into a rage, his sword clashing with Hagen's mace to no avail. His sword is powerful, creating a shock wave on impact, but Dullahan has the benefit of a mount that can take advantage of his body weight.
Meanwhile, Annie tries to reason with her former classmates, even when she starts casting spells. "Morgan, we can raise you!" she shouted. "Just like Gwen! I have her soul too!"
"Gwen?" Morgane's eyes became stern and bitter. "I don't care Gwen! She could have had the entire kingdom in her hands, but she gave up everything just to take that stupid dungeon! Now, get out of my way before you die like her!"
"Oh my God, Morgan!" Annie swore, responding to the threat by casting a spell of her own. "You've always been an unpleasant bastard!"
The two warlocks exchanged volleys of shells; Morgan was clearly superior in firepower, her furious fireballs overwhelming her opponent's spells, but Annie had the foresight to speed herself up before the fight began. Tay's apprentice moved quickly enough to dodge the attack, and Lady Searle, after a moment of consideration, began to sing. Her songs brought strength to Tay's side and especially to Annie.
"Betrayal..." Arthur's mad shell whispered, his empty eyes flashing with hellish fire at the sight of Hagen. His thoughts disappeared, replaced by violent rage, and he raised the King's Sword and rushed towards Dullahan. "betray!"
Realizing that the situation was out of control and eager to eliminate the opposition without retaliating, Tai decided to freeze the battlefield. "The clock stops."
Time slowed down and then stopped for almost everyone. Hagen, Death Hero, Annie, and Salt are all trapped in their current actions and unable to move.
Except for Arthur, who continues to move in stopped time, rushing toward the paralyzed Hagen.
This surprises Tai, who panics and creates chains of shadows beneath the crazy ghost. They burst out of the darkness and surrounded him from all sides, immobilizing Arthur.
As the Necromancer suspected, the Prince's scabbard only protected him from direct magical damage. Materialized objects can still restrain him.
"Revenge..." Arthur hissed like a mad dog. "Lancelot! Lancelot!"
Ty uses the time-stopping effect to mentally invade Arthur's mind in an attempt to figure out what's wrong. with Take
u is different, the prince's thoughts are not obscured or buried.
It's just broken.
Unlike his more able sister, Arthur's mind is broken. Perhaps due to the shock of repeated betrayals, or due to a weakness of character, he did not endure Hel's torture the way Gwen Sifal did. His resolve was shattered like his sanity, leaving him nothing but a mad dog bound by the will of the goddess.
The proud prince was transformed into a beast, a mere shell of his former majesty.
Tai felt some sympathy for the foolish prince, albeit only a little. Even though Arthur was his enemy and harbored a grudge against his friend Hagen, Hale robbed him of his dignity and took away his life. She gave the prince immortality, but deprived him of the ability to enjoy it; this was a personal insult to the Necromancer himself, and he would not go unanswered.
Ty telepathically attacks what's left of Arthur's mind, hoping to erase it, make it docile, and free him from this miserable state. The knight uttered a terrible wail as the disaster entered his memory, and the venom of a snake filled his brain.
A powerful force erected a mental barrier to protect Arthur's mind, knocking him back before Tai could finish Arthur off.
"That's enough, my love. The time has not yet come."
Arthur paused, like a dog frightened by its mistress.
The "clock-stopping" effect does not disappear, but is prolonged by another force. A familiar woman emerges from Arthur's shadow and waves her hand, breaking the chains but frightening the mad prince.
"My slave," Hale told Ty with mock fondness. "If you want to go home, you just ask instead of destroying my castle."
The Necromancer ignored her and scanned her with magic to confirm a theory. The goddess was amused and made no attempt to hide her personal information; in fact, she seemed to enjoy it.
Disaster in the underworld.
Type: Death incarnation (holy/occult)
Level:100.
"Do you like it?" she asked, glancing at the servant. "I think it's funny how you fight your victims. It's... oddly poetic."
"You're no goddess," Tai accuses her, and his theory is confirmed. "You're a disaster."
"I am and am not," replied the mad woman, clutching Arthur's head like a dog. His sister would most likely be disgusted by the sight, and even Tai would be uneasy. "I'd rather be called 'The Handmaiden of Destiny.' I'm not taking sides in this drama; I'm just making sure it happens."
"You can start Ragnarok at any time as long as you want, as long as you release your father and join him." Taiyi realized. "So Odin generously bribes you with his soul to let you go."
"A foolish hope born of an old man's misplaced fears," Hale replied. "All souls are destined to come to my kingdom. Some later than others, but the destination is always the same. Such is the nature of death."
"Like before?"
"So you remember the past cycle, Nyhog?" He didn't answer, he smiled. "No. Your soul is still pure, pure, and beautiful."
"Doesn't it look like yours?" Tai laughed at her. "You still remember."
"Both," she admits, sounding a little nostalgic. "Each reincarnation, I carry the weight of the old universe with me. After all, I am the one who ensures this happens, keeps the wheel turning. This is Georgia's will."
The pieces of the puzzle fit together in Ty's mind as the whole picture came into focus. Why Hel's loyalties remain ambiguous, why she crushes the undead underfoot, and why she pits Esir and Calamity against each other.
She is an agent of fate itself, a servant of Yggdrasil, ensuring that the cycle continues.
"You collect the souls of the dead and reincarnate them into another world after Ragnarok cleanses the Nine Kingdoms," Tai figured out.
"Not exactly. Have you never wondered where the fountains of life come from? Or why one of them exists in Nastrom, a city ruled by death and despair?" His smile widened. "Just as corpses fertilize the land, the souls of the dead renew the water of life. They feed the World Tree and through its power they are reborn in the next iteration. In this eternal cycle, my role is to promote the World Tree cycle of life and death, removing rot before it spreads throughout the garden.”
A symbiotic relationship. ygg
The asil system gives power to mortals, and mortals become its food. The soul is the crucible of magic, the source of all spells, levels, and special phenomena in the Nine Realms.
This might once have been a fair deal, but with immortality in sight, humanity no longer needs it.
"Immortal 'Rot' will be the salvation of this world," Tai said proudly of this great work. "We need to dominate nature, not bow to it."
"Your selfish dreams are madness incarnate, you fool," Hale replied. "Without cycles, the World Tree will rot but never regenerate. Your future is an era of endless decay without revival, because the souls you are trying to save will fall into madness and emptiness. One day, the Nine Kingdoms will turn into Ashes leave nothing behind.”
"Even if you're telling the truth, which I doubt, we'll figure it out." "We have all the time in the world."
"Would you selfishly trade a guaranteed survival in this world for an uncertain future?" She smiled and shook her head. "This cycle is about true immortality, Walter. Maybe not what you want, but immortality is the same. Catastrophe plays a big part in this cycle, but you, Snake, you forget about yourself. You selfishly turn your back on It is my responsibility to become a parasite, placing my own existence above the greater whole.”
"If that's the case, then why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?" was the response. "My previous incarnation may have been too powerful to die at the hands of Earthlings and starve in my own cathedral, but I...you will understand when you see my soul."
"Yes," she agreed, her smile widening.
Why? Why let him get away despite her duty calling for him to be taken away? Does she believe that Tai will fulfill his destiny again? Believe that destiny is absolute? But why let him use the undead and Naglfa?
To "pollute" this iteration? That makes no sense.
Unless her motives are no more rational than Loki's.
Then Ty understood. "It's not about cycles anymore."
"No, Walter. This is about us."
"We?" He didn't like her possessive tone, as if he was her property.
Hades chuckled. "Do you know how old I am, Walter?" How unfathomably ancient? I watched the play play out endlessly. My father made the same cruel joke, Odin tried and failed to change his destiny, men fought for the love of women, and peasants toiled under the ridicule of nobles. I did everything worth doing, read all the books, played all the games, until I lost interest in everything. Eternal life is an empty experience. "
"Because you're always following the rules and lacking imagination." Tai couldn't imagine not having something to do, especially when there was no other choice.
"Even so, nature never changes. Gods, mortals, giants... they are all bound by the same foolish passions, greed and fear. The tortures I inflict upon them are merely pointless punishments for their existence. This cycle It was the first time I had devoted myself so much, yet everything seemed ready to repeat itself. My life was dull and devoid of joy.”
She looked at him fondly.
"Until you show up."
When Haier said these words, an ugly, crazy light appeared in the eyes of the crazy goddess.
"You are different from others. You fight against the river and bring about change; however small and meaningless. When I try to dash your hopes and make you behave, you insist on defying me and choosing the unexpected. I feel nothing as I torture these mortals, but your pain brings me pleasure. You keep things fresh and interesting."
A dark obsession as absolute as Metro's love for his wife. Something primal and primal, its intensity silenced the necromancer.
"When you came into my domain as an adult." "When I saw your pale face, the cold fire in your face, the spark of sharp intelligence... when I saw your flawed perfection... I felt something …Something I’ve never felt before.” My heart was pounding. I never understood why Ethier complained to me about saving that bald pig, but now...now I understand. "
When Hale came to see me, Rocky's words echoed in Tai's mind, it was your face she saw.
"I love you, Walter."
Tai was silent for a moment.
"I don't know," he replied coldly.
"You will learn," the goddess replied in the same tone. "We still have a long way to go, my slave"
"This only applies to one of us."
As he attempted to kill the goddess on the spot, Tai activated the [Necromancer's Stone], an artifact that emanated divine power.
Her skin peeled away from her flesh, forcing her to take a step back; as Tai expected, it also affected the dead hero, though not to the same degree. Arthur twisted in pain, but still raised the King's Sword.
His mistress laid a rotting hand on the prince's neck and held him there like a hound.
"We're shy, aren't we?" he teased Tae, but she sounded disappointed. "Why don't you worship me, Walter?" Your contempt fills me with cruel rage as I give you warmth. Really, your selfishness knows no bounds. "
"I just wanted you to get out of my way," Ty replied angrily.
"It doesn't matter." She shook her head. "Obviously, you will only give in when I crush all your dreams into fine dust. Medelot will set history back on track, when your kingdom of the undead crumbles, when your last hope is gone , my heroes of death will finally rid the world of vermin. It's ironic that your former victims ruined everything you built for my entertainment. But what about you, Walter?"
She stared into his eyes.
"You can never escape death."
Time is restored, but when time is restored, Hel and her slaves are gone.
Ty glanced over at the battlefield, where Annie and the others were confused by what had just happened. From their perspective, their enemies disappear in the blink of an eye.
"Apprentice?" Asclepius's spiritual voice came from the crystal, it was a faint but familiar whisper.
"Grandmaster," Tai replied, touching the necklace with his hand. "I'm here to help."
The answer is not expressed in words, but a vague feeling. Relief and victory, a long-term plan finally realized.
"Where's Severog?" Ty asked, missing her among his victims.
"Med.
Aut's wife?" Asclepius replied in his mind, his mind in chaos. Trapped there for decades and subjected to Hel's mercy, his soul was damaged and it may take him a while to recover Come here." She was long gone. "
He had killed his last hope of persuading Metro.
True to her warning, the goddess gave him hope, only to crush his soul once more.
