Chapter 9: Shattered Spells

Chapter 9: Shattered Spells

"Big news! Big news! Arch-Mage Lumal, current head of the wizard's tower, has closed off the wizard's tower! They are refusing all entry and have shut off all business relations with the outside world!"

Arch-Mage Lumal, the founder of the international wizard's tower, famous for its world-renowned wizards and mages, inventions, research, and some of the most incredible magical creations.

For the past decade or so, he had secluded himself at the top of the wizard's tower to focus on some sort of magic research, yet suddenly, a few days ago, he came out of hiding and closed off the magic tower to the rest of the world without any warning.

The news of this decision shook the entire world.

The magic tower's products and inventions reached all around the globe.

Their influence reached every field, medical, military, business, political, you name it.

With the magic tower now closed, thousands of business trades were now cut off, leaving various kingdoms hanging.

As expected, something major like this caused a massive uproar.

People demanded answers.

But answers, they got none.

Arch-mage Lumal had not publicly appeared in a long time.

Many people had even thought he was dead.

Now he comes back and the first thing he does is shut down one of the world's most important trades.

The man himself is currently holed up at the very top of the wizard's tower, on the 100th floor.

The entire room was dark, only dim magic stones lighting up parts of the floor.

During his time with brain damage, Lumal found solace in the shadows, for the overwhelming brightness and light blinded him.

The once-vibrant wonderful world, filled with so many mysteries and things to discover, had faded into a dull colorless haze.

Within the confines of his room, he grew accustomed to the embracing darkness and it comforted him like a familiar friend.

Even now, after regressing and restoring his health, Lumal could never return to how he was.

Lumal skittered across the floor, grabbing and shoving piles of paper into a bag, making him look almost like a robber stealing money.

As he was doing this, a magic orb tucked away in the corner of his room suddenly started vibrating and ringing.

Lumal sighed and walked over to it.

As he tapped it, a voice rang out from the orb.

"Ah! Arch-Mage Lumal! You're there! We have a problem! Someone's barged into the wizard's tower and demanding to meet you! We can't stop him!"

"Yes. I know. I can feel that bastard's magic from all the way up here. Let him in."

"All right sir!"

The orb went silent.

Several minutes passed before the doorbell rang.

"Come in."

The doorknob shook a couple times before a voice outside the door spoke up.

"The door… it's locked…"

"Just break down the door. I don't care."

There was a moment of hesitation, but with no other choice, the door shot open as Steve stepped foot onto the 100th floor of the wizard's tower.

"Just saying, I'm not fixing that door."

"If I wanted you to fix it, I wouldn't have you to break it down. But regardless, what do you want? What was so important that the esteem hero himself had to cause such ruckus to meet me."

Steve's eyebrows slightly twitched at the word 'hero.'

"I had no other choice. You closed off the wizard's tower and I couldn't contact you. The only other way to get in was to force my way in."

"Of course, and who could stop you from doing so. What do you want?"

"Don't act dumb Lumal. You know what I'm here for. Are you the one who caused… the regression?"

"Yes."

Lumal didn't bother hiding the truth, he had no reason to.

"Though, I only intended to reverse my own body, I didn't mean to reverse the state of the entire world…"

"You used the sigil. And it contained more power than you expected."

Even hidden within the shadows, Steve could see Lumal slightly nod.

Steve raised his hand and stared at where the sigil used to be.

"Am I correct in assuming the sigil marks are what allowed us to keep our memories after regression?"

Again, Lumal nodded.

"Then… did he regress as well? I mean, we did kill him… so technically, he should still be…"

"Don't lie to yourself hero. We both know the truth. If we did, so did he."

"Fuck."

Even though Steve already knew that Lenier would've probably have been regressed as well, Steve was still hopeful, that maybe… just maybe…

But reality was harsh.

"Then I'll get straight to the point then Lumal. Help u-"

"No. I refuse."

"…"

"I'm not going to fight anymore. I intend on retiring and living the rest of my life in peace. Now, if that's all you came here for, please leave."

Steve took a deep breath.

"With Lenier on the loose, I doubt you'll be able to keep that so called peace of yours."

"I am in confident in my spells. Even if I cannot beat him, I am confident in fleeing and hiding from him. Plus, I don't think he would be the type of demon lord to seek out revenge on those who have defeated him. As long as I avoid him, I should be fine."

A vein slightly bulged on Steve's face as his voice started to rise.

"So, you'll let people around you die because you're afraid and selfish?"

"…"

"Is that it?"

Lumal turned around and stared at Steve.

"You do not have the right to judge me, hero. You are no different. You are only fighting for your own selfish reasons, not out of the good of your heart to save others. Isn't that the reason why you ran away from your role as hero in the past life? The only reason you started fighting against the demon lord was because it was affecting you personally. If it hadn't, you would've left people to die around you."

"I…"

Steve didn't finish his sentence.

He just looked down shamefully.

There was truth to those words.

"So, you'll really retire? The legend of the greatest mage, the one who flipped the world onto its head, the one who helped defeat the greatest evil… is over?"

"I'm sorry… I just can't. I can't risk it anymore. You've been crippled too, you understand me, right??? The feeling of being unable to do something you used to do casually. Being unable to do common everyday activities. Being unable to live like a normal human. Being reduced to live like an animal. I… I just can't… I CAN'T! I REFUSE to ever go back to that state ever again… never again… never… I'm… I'm sorry… please… please just leave…"

The once prideful genius arch mage who stood atop the world, reduced to such a state.

There was no more use trying to convince him.

"I see… I will leave. But… if you ever change your mind, contact demon lord Pethnor. You can find us in the demon realm."

And like that, Steve left, leaving the old broken man all alone in the dark.

Lumal dropped to his knees and slumped his shoulders.

How far he's fallen.

Lumal was terrified.

Scared of the mere thought of Lenier.

Scared of what he could happen to him.

Scared of what did happen to him.

"With all my heart, I truly wish you the best of luck… I hope you succeed in doing what must be done… hero."

Lumal knew that Steve was a not a good hero.

To most, Steve might not even be considered a good person.

Someone selfish, someone hot-tempered, someone hypocritical, someone suffering, someone who just wants to give up…

He's only human... but humanity makes the best hero.

He's the best hero that Lumal could've ever asked for.

"…"

After a moment to reflect on himself, Lumal finally stood up.

He stared at the messy room in front of him, piles of paper, magic artifacts, random things laying around… it was home to him.

For decades, it was where he had resided at the top of the world.

It's hard to leave behind such a large part of his life, but he's no longer fit for this position anymore.

Now, it is time to step down. Time to let the new generation, the fresh meat, take over.

He felt mixed feelings, sadness, depression, nostalgia, pride, and even a little hope… hope that maybe the impact he had on this world will have a positive effect.

Before he leaves everything behind though, Lumal wanted to spend a little bit more time relishing in these memories and feelings.

He took his time cleaning out his office and packing his stuff.

Floor 100 of the wizard's tower is very big after all, so it'd take a while to clear out everything by hand.

Lumal looked forward to it. It allowed him to look through everything he had done.

All his failures, his successes, his breakthroughs, his research and theories and ideas and prototypes and… the list goes on.

So much passion and dedication in one place, now being packed up.

Then, on yet another ordinary day cleaning up, something happened.

"…"

Lumal paused before suddenly speaking aloud.

"I know you're there Gruther, you can come out." Lumal didn't even bother looking up as he said this and went back to cleaning.

"Well, I can't hide from you, can I?"

Sage Gruther suddenly materialized into Lumal's view from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Ha. Of course. How long have we known each other? I've known you for so long, I can sense you from a mile away. You've got that distinct magic around you that can't be hidden from me Gruther."

"True. You always were my greatest student. So talented in magic."

"Hmph! That was decades ago. Don't forget that I'm on the same level as you are old coot… well, used to be. I'm retiring now as you can tell."

"Yes. You closing up the wizard tower caused quite the commotion."

"Maybe you should consider retiring as well Gruther."

"Haha, I'd love to. Sadly, there are important things that I have to do before I fade from this world!"

"I see… are you here to get my help as well? Don't bother, the hero already tried a few days ago. I've up my mind, I'm retiring for good. I'm done with all this. I'm sorry Gruther."

"Is that so… that is… unfortunate. Well, if that's the case, I suppose I will leave now. I wish you a good life."

Sage Gruther bowed, before his presence swiftly vanished, leaving Lumal all alone again.

Lumal was slightly surprised by how quickly Gruther backed down.

The Gruther he knew would never back down so easily… but perhaps the battle with Lenier had also affected him as it did with Lumal.

He paid it no mind and continued his cleaning.

After a week or so, the entire floor was finally empty.

Everything he needed was now packed inside of a mini dimensional storage that Lumal could easily carry around.

"Well… it's goodbye. It's time to leave for good… it feels so empty now… but hopefully someone someday will fill it back up again… I have hope."

When Lumal was finally ready to leave, he drew a magic circle in the air.

He looked back at the room one more time.

Then, he activated the magic circle and teleported away.

A place where he would spend the rest of his life…

…in peace…

"Wait…"

But something wasn't right.

"What's going on?"

The flow of energy around him felt ominous.

Something was wrong.

Lumal's teleportation magic was suddenly severed causing him to end up in a random forest.

"Where a-"

Suddenly, a bolt of energy flew through the air towards Lumal's head.

Before it could make contact though, a bolt of thunder knocked the attack away.

"Y-you…!"

Lumal stared at the man standing before him.

"GRUTHER?!?! What are y-"

CLANG!

A sword bounced off of Lumal's magic shield.

"And… Ragnar…? Wh-wha…?"

Although he looked a lot thinner than he did pre-regression, it was indeed him.

Sword king Ragnar and Sage Gruther.

'Why are they… attacking me?'

Lumal didn't have time to think though as they immediately started rushing him.

Ragnar charged headfirst in, thrusting his sword forward.

Lumal's emergency spells immediately activated, boosting all of his attributes, allowing him to move at light speed and avoid the attack.

'Shit! I'm not prepared!'

Dozens of magic circles materialized around Lumal, glowing brightly and overflowing with magic.

"Magic meteors!"

Boomph! Boomph! Boomph!

Orbs of condensed energy flew out at a rapid pace, each one containing highly destructive power capable of destroying entire cities.

Ragnar steadied his sword, immediately cutting them all down as they entered his range.

His incredible sword skills managed to even cut apart the explosions and dispersed the magic itself.

However, the bombardment didn't end.

No matter how many Ragnar cut down, more spells kept coming.

Normally, dealing with a lone wizard in combat is very easy as they are not prepared for such encounters.

Wizards and mages need time to cast spells and are very easy to take down if undefended.

Lumal is a different story.

Lumal can effortlessly cast up to 7th and some 8th tier spells instantaneously. 9th and 10th tier spells would only take him several seconds while 11th tier spells a couple minutes.

To put it into perspective, most elite mages can cast first or second tier spells instantaneously, third to fifth spell tier within a couple seconds and sixth to eight within minutes. Only a handful of top tier mages can use 9th tier and only Lumal has ever been able to cast 10th and 11th tier.

Needless to say, his casting speed is unlike any other.

"Tch, Gruther, do your thing."

"Got it. I'll disrupt his casting."

Gruther's eyes glowed as the flow of energy in the environment abrupted shifted.

Suddenly, Lumal's magic circles started to shake and slow down, allowing Ragnar to rush forward.

Using this opportunity, Ragnar swung his sword.

It almost looked as if the attack landed, but Ragnar felt no resistance.

Lumal's body turned translucent like a ghost as the blade went straight through him, dealing no damage.

It was a spell that turned his body into an ethereal like state that negates all physical damage thus becoming temporarily invulnerable.

In response, Ragnar poured all of his energy into the edge of his bade, sharpening all of his murderous intentions and unleashed it all at once in a single vertical slash, splitting the entire forest in half.

The ground cut open deep into the flesh of the earth, and even up into the sky the clouds divided into two.

If that attack had landed, Lumal would've instantly died even with his spell.

Luckily though, he used a teleportation spell to narrowly avoid the attack.

'Shit. I tried to teleport far away, but it seems like there's a spatial barrier around here blocking me from getting out… and there's only one person who could do that other than me… Gruther…'

Lumal instantly teleported away again as Ragnar continued his endless barrage of attacks but reappeared again a short distance away.

Normally he would have been able to just teleport far away, like to the other side of the planet if he so wished, but due to Gruther's interference, he was unable to.

Breaking the barrier itself wouldn't be hard for Lumal, however, it'd take a while and leave him vulnerable.

He had no choice but to fight back.

Lumal raised both his arms and as he did so, gravity flipped upside down and sent Ragnar flying into the air.

Using powerful telekinesis, Ragnar's body was being crushed into a pulp.

But Ragnar's sword skills were enough to cut apart even telekinetic powers, especially after Gruther helped weaken it.

This gave Lumal enough time though to cast a more powerful spell: Reality Bending.

All of a sudden, the world seemed to twist and distort.

The ground under Ragnar seemed to sink and bounce, the trees around him started to sing and dance…

It felt like he was on an acid trip, except that it was a reality.

Ragnar tried to swing his sword, but he realized his body felt different… he had turned into a frog!

"Ribbit! Ribbit… RIBBBIIITTT!!!!!!!"

An outrageous amount of energy was released from Frognar's body, almost enough to dispel the reality bending spell, but Lumal wouldn't just let it so easily get disrupted.

He was actively maintaining it and using it to distort the world to his advantage.

In theory, as long as the spell is activated, he will win 100% since it can literally bend reality itself into anything he wants it to be.

The problem here is Gruther.

He had been actively trying to reverse Lumal spells as they were being casted, severely increasing cast time.

If Gruther manages to disperse the reality bending spell, then Lumal put in a very bad position, but if Lumal manages to regain control, then he'd be able to not only confuse Gruther, but also immediately eliminate Ragnar.

This was no easy task though.

Doing this required intense mental strength and speed, Lumal had to split his mind to focus onto several different tasks simultaneously.

He had to actively maintain the reality bending spell, continuously distorting reality, supressing Frognar, all while at the same time wrestling for control over Gruther.

It is equivalent to trying to do advanced mathematics, while drawing, and while in a wrestling match against 2 other people.

It something no one other than Lumal could ever accomplish.

However, Lumal could not focus.

His confidence wavered.

His willpower weak.

He had been inactive for too many years.

His fears and doubt that he had built up slowly started to consume him.

It clouded his judgement.

If this had been the old Lumal, he surely could've been able to win, but the current Lumal… he was too mentally weak.

The spell was shattered, the world reverted back to the way it was before, and Ragnar returned to human once again.

This truly was the worst-case scenario for Lumal.

Nothing he tried worked.

Meteors swarms. Ethereal earthquakes. Chao storms. Telekinetic combustion. Cosmic eruption. Big bang. Supernova.

Every single one of these spells would be enough to make an entire nation cower in fear… yet it was nothing compared to two of world's greatest fighters.

Lumal had an endless arsenal of magic spells and abilities, but most of them won't work against Ragnar and Gruther.

The strong ones on the other hand would take too long to cast since Gruther was disrupting his casting speed and Ragnar would easily be able to kill him within a split-second delay.

With seemingly no options left, Lumal began to panic.

It was an unfamiliar feeling as Lumal had always been prepared, such a situation was unthinkable for him.

It was then that Lumal suddenly heard a voice speaking into his head.

'Hey! Hey! Lumal! You hear me?'

It was Gruther speaking to him via telepathy.

'GRUTHER! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?!'

'Calm down. It's a long story, but I'll explain quickly. You've heard of the cult of Lenier right?'

'Vaguely…'

'They are a powerful organization of people who worship Lenier. It seemed dangerous to let them be, so I infiltrated their ranks to see if I could shut it down from the core… but that's when I found out some of the other heroes were also part of the cult!'

'What?! Who… who would be insane enough to worship that… madman?!?!'

'The person trying to kill you right now.'

Almost as if on cue, Ragnar swung a sword down, bouncing off of an invisible wall and reflecting all the damage back towards himself.

'Well, why in god's name are you trying to kill me then?!'

'Listen. I'm only playing along with them right now since I need them to trust me. They know you caused this whole mess, and they want you gone. Dead. So, here's the plan. I'm going to pretend to kill you and you're going to need to pretend to die. Use illusion or whatever, I don't know, but make it seem realistic, and then teleport the fuck out.'

'This… is a lot to take in. But alright, you better explain everything that's going to me in detail once I escape!'

'Sure, but I can't talk to you anymore. Ragnar will grow suspicious.'

Gruther stretched out his hands and released a wave of his own magic causing Lumal's magic to waver.

With this opportunity, Ragnar charged straight in without any hesitation.

Lumal reflected away his attack but pretended to recoil away in the direction of Gruther.

He stealthily activated illusion magic around him and let his body fly.

'Alright, here goes nothing… it's all up to you now Gruther! I'm trusting you with my li-'

Suddenly, he felt the air in his lungs disappear.

He abruptly stopped moving and was held in place.

The strength in Lumal's body was leaving him.

"Ah… ahhh?"

Lumal suddenly felt a sharp burning sensation in his chest.

When he looked down… he saw an arm piercing straight through his heart.

It was not an illusion. It was not pretend. It was not an act.

Gruther, the man he once trusted, his closest friend, his old mentor… had pierced him straight through the heart.

"G-gruther… you…"

"This had to be done."

And with a single sword swing from behind, Lumal's head went flying.

With the brief moment right before his consciousness ceased to exist, Lumal thought to himself…

'Gruther… that… fucking backstabbing bastard….! How… dare he…. fucking….. Kill me…... and.... look..... so...… damn...…. sad...'

And then his consciousness faded away like a small ember burning out in the dead of night.

"Hurry up Gruther, he's gonna blow!" Ragnar shouted out.

"I know! I'm being as quick as I can!"

As Lumal head was slowly falling towards the ground, his entire body was starting to glow brightly as a wave of energy spewed out from his body.

Gruther immediately dispersed his spatial barrier he had set up and activated his own teleportation spell.

"Quick! Grab on!!!"

In the exact moment that Ragnar grabbed Gruther's hand…. the entire world was blinded by a bright light.

A magical eruption strong enough to generate shockwaves that circled the entire world exploded forth from Lumal's body.

When wizards, mages, sages or any other magic wielding specialist dies, they will release all of their magic from within their body into the environment.

In cases where they die of natural causes like old age and sickness, their magic will slowly disperse over time until the moment of their passing.

However, in cases of fatalities and abrupt deaths like accidents or murders, all their magic will release at once, resulting in what is known as magic fatality.

It's like a balloon. If a balloon stays intact, it'll lose air and deflate overtime, but if you stab it, the balloon pops and loses all it's air instantly.

In this case, the balloon is the wizard, while the air inside is the magic.

Most magic fatalities aren't that dangerous, depending on the level of the mage, it'll usually just be about as powerful as a balloon popping.

Though there have been cases where powerful magic fatalities have led to injuries and even deaths, those are very rare since it's hard to kill a mage that strong in the first place.

And even then, mages usually only die when they are fully depleted of any magic left, thus resulting in a weak magic fatality.

However, Lumal did not manage to fully deplete his magic. He was abruptly killed with most of his magic remaining…

If an average mage has a magic pool the size of a cup and a powerful mage has a magic pool the size of a bathtub, then Lumal's magic pool would be the size of the ocean.

And it all got released at once.

What resulted from this was… complete silence.

There was no boom, no loud rumbling or anything. The pure density of the erupting magic muffled out all noise, resulting in absolute silence and stillness.

If there had been any living beings near the explosion, they would not have heard it coming even until the moment they got disintegrated.

In fact, they might not even realise they died.

Waves upon waves of energy spread through the lands, tearing and uprooting everything in its path.

The explosion reshaped the landscape itself, leaving a permanent crater that even nature could not heal.

The effects of the blast could be felt by people from all across the world.

This would be the most powerful magic fatality in known history.

Many people immediately realized what this sudden explosion of magic meant… it was the death of the world's greatest wizard and Arch-Mage.

A safe distance away from the explosion, two people suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"Oh… shit! Ha…. causing us trouble even after death… you sure he was weakened? He was tough as shit," Ragnar briefly leaned against a tree to catch his breath.

"Yeah. Good luck trying to fight him if he was at peak condition, prepared, and inside the magic tower with all of magic invention ready to pulverise us to dust."

"Geez, guess I'm glad he was weakened. Anyways, now that that's done, we should go find Serena. Let's go."

Ragnar was about to head off, when he noticed Gruther hadn't moved.

"Hey, come on. Let's go."

Gruther didn't move.

He continued staring in the direction of Lumal's magic fatality.

Ragnar furrowed his eyebrows.

"It's too late for regrets."

"I know."

Gruther stretched out his arm, and using spatial magic, he pulled out a bottle of wine.

"You do realize we don't exactly have a lot of time, right?"

"Shut the fuck up and sit down with me man."

Ragnar sighed but did as was told and sat down next to Gruther, who was already chugging down the bottle.

As a sage who mastered the art of energy manipulation, it's damn near impossible for Gruther to ever get drunk.

But in this occasion, he was looking to get wasted.

After another big gulp, he shoved the bottle into Ragnar's hand.

"Fuck it. I know… I know it's too late for regrets. This had to be done… I keep telling myself that."

Ragnar just slowly sipped on the alcohol, savoring the feeling and allowing the liquid to just splash inside of his mouth.

"Gimme that back!"

Gruther violently grabbed the bottle and took another big sip before shoving it back into Ragnar's hands again.

"He used to be my student ya know? He was always so talented, so clever… always thinking outside of the box. He was a genius. But that caused him to become so fucking narrow minded, refused to listen. The fact he… surpassed me, further boosted his ego. He became obsessed, so focused on inventing new spells, always in a rush to discover new magic… if only he listened to me, and just allowed himself to feel the world around him… to sense the anomalies…"

"I guess you were a pretty good teacher, after all, he copied your stubbornness perfectly."

"Shush. I'm trying to be emotional and dramatic here. Anyways, where was I? That damn Lumal… he become too competent for his own good. To think he managed to rewind time for the entire world. This damn little stunt of his not only reverse all of our progress to nothing… but also risks the chance of them intervening…"

"Pre-regression, you told me Lumal was a lost cause. That he was braindead, so he couldn't cause us any trouble… you knew that this was always a possibility, didn't you."

"…"

"I'm not mad, I'm used to having everything I do be reduced to nothing. I just want to know."

"No matter what mental gymnastics I do anymore, it's no longer possible to justify keeping him alive. It's not worth the risk. Even if he did say he'd retire for good… it's like having a defused bomb under your house, it probably won't explode, but on the small chance it does, the damage would be tremendous."

Gruther thought back to the moment Lumal told him he was retiring for good.

He felt his heart get filled with a bit of hope, it caused him to waver… but he knew that Lumal was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

It was a risk not worth keeping.

So what need to be done was done.

"That bastard never believed in heaven. I hope he gets reincarnated a thousand years in the future or something, when all this trouble has been resolved… where he could live a peaceful overpowered life with a harem of hot bitches drooling over him!"

"Trust me, reincarnation isn't all that cool…" Ragnar grumbled as he took a big chug.

"Whatever! Tonight, we drink! Let's drink all our worries away!"

Ragnar and Gruther.

Two of the heroes that once fought against the worst demon lord ever, Lenier.

Also, the same two hero who are prime members of the cult of Lenier that worship him.

Together, they assassinated the world's most influential man, Arch-Mage Lumal.

It would not take long before news of his assassination would spread to every single person on this planet.