ULTRAMagic Interlude

Chapter 20

The after-party for the wedding was fantastic. Blood-Wraith felt like he could truly relax for once, with it legitimately feeling like everything was fixing itself. Of course that was not truly the case for him. Milosh was still out there and the ULTRAMagic Guild was just around the corner. These thoughts crossed his mind as he watched everyone else sing, dance, and have fun. It was supposed to be a happy time, but these matters bore down on Blood-Wraith. He had no right to ignore them, or so he felt.

Eventually things came to a close and everyone went home. Blood-Wraith changed out of his formal wear, went downstairs, and sat on the couch to watch some television with a robust documentary on Droomopolis (a city within the realm of chaos). At this point it felt like he needed a month or two to wind down from all that had happened. Ultimatum and the guild would have to be patient and wait. Blood-Wraith was still going to study and practice, he just needed to hold off on the adventures for a bit. To be fair, he was eager to learn the magic Vexation had promised to teach him, which would probably require time to learn.

Before going to bed that night, Blood-Wraith thought he sensed something. Putting down Valentina's alchemy guide, he got out of bed and went downstairs. Being careful not to wake anyone, he quietly made his way down to the basement. Blood-Wraith flipped on the lights and looked around. Aside from the secret room being opened, everything was in order. Perhaps Aureolus had accidentally left it like that for some reason. As he approached, he heard the rustling of dust and stones. That was never a good sign. Thankfully nobody seemed to be in the backroom... then the lights shut off.

Feeling his blood run cold, Blood-Wraith quickly turned around only to bump into someone. He could not see who it was, but it looked like... a woman in a top hat? "Oh my, and I thought hiding my presence from the dark angel would have sufficed..." she remarked.

"Who are... you..." Blood-Wraith felt his head go light as he inexplicably fell asleep. When he woke up, he found himself in his temple back in The Roaring Mountains. This left him very confused as he rose from his coffin, which was lined with a sleeping bag and pillow.

"Good morning, Blood."

"Dunja? What's... what's going on here? How did I even...?"

"How'd you get here? Honestly, I'm not sure. I sensed what happened last night, and hopped on over here. As for your encounter, I'm pretty sure that was Andelin you ran into."

Blood-Wraith was handed a plate of simple, on-the-go breakfast. "Oh, thanks. Do I need to worry about her?" He asked as he began eating.

"Probably not. From day one, Andelin has had her own ambitions. Truthfully I'm not sure what she's up to most of the time. What I can say is that if she's out this far, it's probably of her own accord." Dunja sighed. "All the more reason for me to go and fix my blunders..."

"I see. So, have you seen my temple before?"

Dunja stood up. "Back when it was empty. I came here with Andelin on her recommendation. Now it's quite impressive... and I think I know why we're here. Take a look at the walls..."

Blood-Wraith turned around and was greeted by vast murals depicting things he had done thus far. "Incredible..."

"It was quite interesting looking through all of this. I see the Lich was deteriorating as time went on, given how progressively freakish he looks throughout all of this..."

"Yeah, I noticed that after the battle at the Metal Oasis. He just seemed... wrong and dead."

Dunja shook her head. "Milosh is such a moron. Honestly I don't think the Lich could have handled all that power. He probably would have imploded in on himself and left us up the creek without a paddle."