Volume 2 Chapter 16 Artificial Magic

Chapter 16 Artificial Magic

I

Ramsesys went inside the central chamber of the Sanctuary.

Circled by other assassins, Chophys was weaving a net composed of glowing magical lines. With lines joining together, that net looked like a cloud of constellation on the picture.

Sitting at the centre of the chamber majestically, Chophys looked like a Norn, or a Moira who dominated the fates of the mortals in Normanian myths. Beneath him was the illusional images of the sea of stars.

Those stars in the illusions were shining and flickering. Sometimes they would form a clouds of nebulae but sometimes they lifted and disappeared.

The hands of Chophys were moving fast, turning into blurry shadow. Powered by other the Arcane Orb, he had connected himself to a higher spiritual world. His forehead was sweating madly and his expression looked serious as if something terrible were about to happen inevitably.

Around him were ashes of future stones. Obviously, Chophys had burnt lots of Future Stones. Those Future Stones were rare, and now Chophys had run out of them.

Though concentrated on his meditation. Chophys still noticed that Ramsesys had come inside the chamber.

He stopped meditating and so did other assassins. They woke up from the illusions and images of possible futures in their minds and stared at each other.

Mystic power was boiling drastically inside this chamber. The woven nets resembling constellations had faded and turned into nothingness. The environment was darkened and blackness was devouring this chamber gradually.

Without doubt, a bloody storm was about to sweep this peaceful sanctuary. It might be a scarlet doomsday to them. This storm was unstoppable.

Gradually, those hallucinational images of the sea of stars on the surface of the floor disappeared. The once-mysterious-looking chamber had turned into a normal small room made of monotonous sandstones.

Within a minute, this group of formidable assassins turned into a band of weak old men.

Chophys walked up to Ramsesys and patted him on his shoulder. Ramsesys was his apprentice, as well as his king. Respectfully and seriously, Chophys stared at Ramsesys, eyes to eyes.

“אִילְ מוֹרְטֵי סְפַּאזַّארֵי נוֹסְטְרוֹ סַאנְטְוַארְיוֹ, סְוַה מַאֵיסְטַה.׃” [Death is going to sweep our sanctuary, your majesty,] warned Chophys.

“הוֹ טֵיסְטִימוֹנְיַאטוֹ אִי מוֹרְטִי דִי מוֹלְטִי קוֹמְפַּאעַה. הוֹ אבִּّיטְוַארְמִי אַ וִוידֵירֵי אִילְ מוֹרְטֵי פַאצְّיה אַ פַאצְّיה׃” [I have witnessed lots of comrades die. I have already gotten used to see death face to face,] muttered Ramsesys.

“אֵי֫ דִיפֵّירֵינְטֵי קְוֵיסְטַה וווֹלְטַה. סְטַהנוֹטֵّי, לַה בַּארְّיֵירַה סְפּרִירַה֫!׃” [It’s different this time. Tonight, the barrier would disappear,] revealed Chophys.

“סְפַּארִירַה֫? פֵּירְקֵי?׃” [Disappear? why?] queried Ramsesys.

“פֵּירְקֵי הוֹ אַפֵּّינַّה טְרוֹוַואטוֹ קֵי לַה פּוֹטֵינְזַה דֵינְטְרוֹ אִילְ אוֹרְבֵּי אַרְקַאנַה סְטַאוַוה פִינֵינְטוֹ…׃” [Because the I just found that the power inside the Arcane Orb was running out …] answered Chophys.

“אַבְּّיַאמוֹ וִוינְטִי נֵילְ פוּטוּרוֹ קֵי וִוידִי? נֵיפְרֵינְבֵּיטִידֵי אַטֵינֵירַה לַה פּוֹטֵינְזַה דִי מַאגַייה אַרְקַאנַה סֵי פֵּירדְיַאמוֹ.׃” [Have we won in the future you see? Nephrenbethys will attain the power of arcane magic if we lose,] pursued Ramsesys.

“הוֹ וִויסוֹ וֹעִי פּוֹסִّיבִּילִיטַה֫ דִי פוּטוּרוֹ קוֹיְ מְיֵייְ פְּיֵיטְרֵי דִי פוּטוּרוֹ, אֵי אִין טוּטִّי פּוֹסִّיבִּילִיטַה֫ נֵיפְרֵינְבֵּיטִידֵי צִי אוּצִّידֵי טוּטִّי מַה מַאנְקַה אַ אַקְוִיסִירֵי לַה פּוֹטֵינְזַה דִי מַאגַייה אַלְ פִינוֹ. לַה מַאדְרֵי מַאטְרִיצֵי נוֹן פּוֹטֵירֵי אַנַאלִיזַארֵי לַא פּוֹטֵינְזַה דִי מַאגַיי, פֵּירְקֵי מַאגַייה אֵי֫ אוּן אַרְטֵי דִי אַנִימֵי, אֵימוֹזְיוֹנִי אֵי דֵיטֵירְמִינַאזְיוֹנִי. קְוֵיסְטֵי וִוירְטוּ֫ אַפַּّארְטֵינְגוֹנוֹ אַ נוֹיְ אַוּמַאנִי, קֵי מַאקִّינֵי נוּלַّה קַאפִּירַאנّוֹ.׃” [I’ve seen every possibility of future with my Future Stones, and in all of the possibilities Nephrenbethys kills us all but fails to acquire the power of magic in the end. The Mother Matrix cannot analyse the power of magic, because the magic is an art of souls, emotions, and determinations. Those virtues only belong to us humans, which machines will never understand,] explained Chophys.

“נֵיפְרֵינְבֵּיטִידֵי הוֹ בִּיסוֹעִי דִי אוּן מוּקְّיוֹ דִי קַאמְפְּיוֹנֵי דִי רִיצֵירְקַה פֵּירְ רִיקוֹנְסְטְרְוִירֵי אוּנַה סִיסְטֵימַה דִי מַאגַייה אַרְטִיפִיזְיַאלֵי אֵי אִילְ סְווֹ קַאמְפְּיוֹנִי דִי רִיצֵירְקַה אֵי֫ אִילְ נוֹסְטְרוֹ סַאנְגְוֵי. אוֹוְ֫ויוֹסַהמֵינְטֵי, נוֹן הַ קוֹלֵّיטّוֹ אַבַּّאסְטַאנְזוֹ סַאנְגְוֵי נוֹסְטְרוֹ אַנְקוֹרַה. נוֹן סְמֵיטֵירַה֫ פִינוֹ אַ מַאצֵילַّארֵי טוּטִّי אַסַّאסִّינִי אֵי טוֹלֵיירֵי אִילְ נוֹסְטְרוֹ סַאנְגְוֵי טוּטִّי!׃” [Nephrenbethys needs a lot of research samples to reconstruct a system of artificial magic and her research samples are our blood. Obviously, she hasn’t collected enough blood of us yet. She won’t stop until slaughtering all assassins and taking away the blood of us all!] Ramsesys pointed out.

“קְוִינְדִי, אַבְּّיַאמוֹ בִּיסוֹעִי דִי פַארֵי לַה אֵילְפַה אֵי סְוַי אַמִיצִי לַאשְׁיַארֵי קְוִי. נוֹנוֹסְטַאנְטֵי לְוִי אֵי֫ אוּנַה בַּאמְבִּינַה אֵילְפַה, אֵי֫ אַנְקוֹרַה פּוֹטֵינְרוי. לְוִי אֵי אִי סְוִי אַמִיצִי הַאנّוֹ לַה פּוֹטֵינְזְיַאלֵי דֵי קַאמְבְּיַארֵי אִילְ מוֹנְדוֹ דוּנְקְוֵי דֵיוְויַאמוֹ אֵיסֵّירֵי וִויוִוי. פּוֹסְّיַאמוֹ אַלְמֵינוֹ טְרַאטֵינֵירֵי נֵיפְרֵינְבֵּיטִידֵי קְוִי.׃” [Therefore, we need to let the elf and her friend leave here. Although she is a baby elf, she’s still powerful. She and her friend have the potential to change this world so they have to be alive. We can at least stall Nephrenbethys here,] Chophys reassured him.

“הוֹ אַפֵּّינַה רְיוּנִיטוֹ קוֹלַّה מְיַה פִילַייה. נוֹן וווֹלְייוֹ לַאשַׁארְלַה…׃” [I just reunited with my daughter. I don’t want to leave her …] argued Ramsesys.

“סוֹ, מַה אֵי֫ אִילְ דֵיסְטִינוֹ דִי נוֹיְ אַסַّאסִّינִי, פֵּירְקֵי קוֹמְבַּאטְיַאמוֹ קוֹנְטְרוֹ לְ אִינֵיוִויטַאבִּילִיטַה֫. נוֹן פְּווֹיְ פוּגִّיירֵי דַה קְוֵיסְטוֹ פַאטוֹ. נֵיפְרֵינְבֵּיטִידֵי נוֹן סְמֵיטֵירַה֫ פִינוֹ אַ אוּצִّידֵירֵי וֹעִי סִינְגוֹלַה אַסַّאסִّינוֹ.׃” [I know, but it’s the destiny of us assassins, because we fight against the inevitability. We cannot escape from this fate. Nephrenbethys won’t stop until she kill every single assassin,] drawled Chophys.

“סֵי מוֹרְיַאמוֹ טוּטّוֹ, קְוֵיסְטוֹ מוֹנְדוֹ נוֹן אַוְורַה֫ סְפֵּירַאנְזַה.׃” [If we all die, this world will have no hope,] warned Ramsesys.

“נוֹ. אֵירוֹ אוּסַאטוֹ קֵי נוֹיְ אַסַّאסִّינִי סַארֵימוֹ אִי סַאלְוַואטוֹרֵי דֵילַّה טֵירַّה אוּן גְייוֹרְנוֹ, מַה אוֹרַה, הוֹ סַאפּוּטוֹ קֵי אַיְסְלִינַה אֵי֫ לַה סְוַה סְפֵּירַאנְזַה. לְוִי אֵי֫ לַה אֵילְפַה אוּלְטִימַה סוּלַّה טֵירַّה אֵי פּוּרִיפִיקֵירַה֫ אִילְ מוֹנְדוֹ פִינַאלְמֵינְטֵי.׃” [No. I used to think that we assassins will be the saviours of the earth one day, but now, I’ve known that Aislina is our hope. She is the last elf on the earth and she will finally purify this world. ] drawled Chophys.

II

The sun was going down. The magical barrier of the sanctuary of assassins had blocked the sun, but the redness of the twilight could still be seen in the distance.

Night was coming and the pale moon was rising quietly from under the eastern horizon.

Tonight was a cloudy night and those thick clouds had formed a greyish canopy which veiled those sparse remaining stars.

In the distance, there was a bottomless gorge. Seen from above, there was only pure blackness inside it. Flapping her wings, Nephrenbethys flew upwards all the way out of the gorge. Seemingly she had fixed her wings which had been broken by Floria’s arrow.

Slowly, she commenced to move towards the Sanctuary of assassins. The sky was darkening, and the clouds were gathering. Howling winds were lamenting through the dunes.

Vultures were hovering above her because there would be edible corpses for them at every place she went to.

Soon, she arrived at the sanctuary. The magical barrier built by the assassins were standing between her and her preys.

She attacked the barrier with her wings. Her blade-like sharp wings could destroy almost everything in this world. However, they couldn’t break down the magical barrier since it was created by the Arcane Orb, a powerful artifact constructed by the High Elves.

However, nothing could stop her. Nothing could stop a bringer of death.

Soon the assassins would give up, since their foods were running out gradually, and the energy inside the Arcane Orb was running out too. They were trapped inside the sanctuary because Nephrenbethys would kill every single assassin who dared to leave their pathetic magical barrier and take away her or his blood for research.

Inside the sanctuary, Aislina, Floria, Yanni and Starsha were sticking together and admiring the full moon. Sometimes it was full, but sometimes it was waning, just like their fate.

Although it seemed to be a peaceful night tonight. They knew that something bloody was about to happen because carrion birds such as vultures were gathering in the sky. It wasn’t a good sign.

Quietly, the door of the balcony was opened. It was Ramsesys. He looked sad but determined. Starsha could sense that something had gone wrong.

“I have bad news,” announced Ramsesys.

“What happened, dad?” queried Starsha.

“The magical barrier is going to disappear tonight, and we’re going to have a final battle with her. We may die but we have no choice,” announced Ramsesys.

“Why?” pursued Yanni.

“The Arcane Orb was running out of energy, and thus the barrier would disappear soon. Therefore, our Armageddon with Nephrenbethys will happen soon …” explained Ramsesys.

“If we lose, that Nephrenbethys will research the blood of you assassins to reconstruct a system of artificial magic, won’t her?” asked Floria.

“No, she won’t. Magic is mysterious and it represents the occulted souls and animas streaming inside our spiritual world. It is not mechanical and it is nothing related to algorithms and digits, since it is one of the most ancient primordial power in this world,” argued Ramsesys.

“I don’t believe that there are something in the world that cannot be computed and analysed with the Mother Matrix. We have fought with her once, and clearly we’re no match for her. We will all die,” muttered Starsha.

“Starsha … We have no choice. Anyway, on the bright side, we may be able to beat Nephrenbethys after the barrier disappeared tonight. Anyway, this place will soon be a bloody battlefield. You shall leave here as quickly as possible. What Nephrenbethys wants is killing us assassins, instead of you four,” proposed Ramsesys.

“You want us to run away? That’s unacceptable!” exclaimed Starsha.

“What Nephrenbethys wants is the blood of us assassins, instead of yours,” argued Ramsesys.

“If we stay here to help you, we may win!” guessed Starsha.

“We won’t. Chophys has seen all the possibilities of the future with his Future Stones. In all those possibilities, we’ve lost even with the help of your four,” sighed Ramsesys.

“I thought Future Stones were only fake legends,” murmured Aislina.

“It’s not. It’s real and it’s never wrong,” muttered Ramsesys, lowering his head.

III

The assassins were eating the dinner together in the Banquet Hall. It might be their last dinner of them so that the cook of them had prepared miscellaneous food. They were eating, chatting, singing and talking about stories as if nothing would happen tonight.

However, something bloody was going to happen.

The barrier that had been protecting the sanctuary would disappear tonight and Nephrenbethys would be able to invade the sanctuary after that. Chophys believed that the Matrix would never figure out the substance of magic.

Although the assassins were destined to sacrifice, they believed that Aislina could fulfil their dead wishes of purifying this world.

Aislina, Starsha and the siblings were eating the dinner with the assassins too. Chophys wanted them to leave the sanctuary after they finish the dinner, while the assassins would stall Nephrenbethys.

All those assassins were looking respectfully at Aislina as if she were their sacred saviour. Those looks made Aislina felt shy and undeserving. The assassins took her as a saviour, but she knew that she was just a normal elf girl and she could change nothing about this world.

However, no matter how she explained that she was normal and common, the assassins still believed that she would turn the world around as the last elf in this world. Anyway, they needed to believe in something and it was belief that help them to struggle through their lives filled with fear and hopelessness.

Looking at her father, Starsha had no appetite at all. After finishing one piece of bread, she stormed out of the banquet hall, saying that she wanted to take a walk alone.

Half an hour passed but Starsha didn’t come back.

“I am going to check her out,” announced Floria. She stood up to his feet.

“I’ll go with you, Yanni,” proposed Yanni.

“I’ll go with you too,” said Aislina.

Together, the three left the embarrassing banquet room.

Starsha was standing alone on the balcony. Moonlight was casting a slender shadow beneath her.

“Hi, princess,” greeted Floria. Moonlight was streaming on Starsha’s jade-like skin, and she really looked like a princess right now … Floria’s face was reddening. Maybe one day, she would confess her feeling to Starsha …

“The plan of those assassins is the silliest plan I’ve ever seen. Why shall we leave the sanctuary? We shall fight along with them! With our help, they may succeed! How can they believe in some silly stones?” commented Starsha emotionlessly.

“The Future Stones were made by high elves, and the predictions of the stones are always right if the precondition is met. Therefore, if we stay here, we will all be killed by Nephrenbethys,” sighed Aislina.

“So this plan is suicide for them! Nothing is more precious than life!” argued Starsha.

“They have no other choice, Starsha,” whispered Floria.

“Nephrenbethys … Damn Nephrenbethys, damn Macchina Gloriosa,” cursed Starsha, lowering her head, tears welling from her eyes.

Yanni walked up to her and patted her on her shoulder.

“Do you want to say something to your father?” queried Yanni.

Starsha nodded and went inside the banquet hall with her friends.

“Dad …” she looked at her father and realized that he was like a stranger to her. Though he was her father, he was like a passer-by in her life.

“Goodbye, Starsha … The sacrifice of us assassins is meaningful. We need to prove that there are souls in this world, and there are something that machines cannot replace, like magic,” drawled Ramsesys.

“I know,” Starsha nodded .

“Uncle Ramsesys … You all say that I am destined to purify this world, but … I am too weak and too normal. I am not a master of magic,” breathed Aislina.

“Aislina, your power is like an ocean. It seems peaceful but sometimes it will be choppy and heaving. You have the potential to change this world. We all believe that,” insisted Ramsesys.

IV

The four were walking away from Sanctuary of Assassins weakly while the assassins were fighting with Nephrenbethys inside it.

If Chophys’ plan worked, Nephrenbethys would never reconstruct the artificial magic with the blood of the assassins, her research sample.

However, what they wanted didn’t happen.

A pillar of materialized darkness descended from the high sky and smashed downwards all the way to the ground in front of the four. After the pillar of black light dissipated, Nephrenbethys showed up.

Obviously, she had already defeated the assassins.

“You can cast magical spell … Impossible …” muttered Aislina.

“Figuring out how magic works is a piece of cake for the Matrix,” smirked Nephrenbethys.

“Impossible …” murmured Starsha.

“I know what the assassins were thinking about. They thought that I couldn’t reconstruct real magic. That thought is ridiculous. There’s nothing that cannot be analysed and learnt with the Mother Matrix. Everything can be calculated with it because the universe is just a long string of digits!” smirked Nephrenbethys.

“What about my father?” demanded Starsha.

“I’ve killed all assassins, without doubt. They’re too weak!” smirked Nephrenbethys.

Starsha knelt down on the ground desperately.

“Impossible, the Future Stones were wrong … Nephrenbethys had gotten the artificial magic …” murmured Aislina.

Nephrenbethys held out her hand and darkness began to warp everything in their sights. They could feel the power of decay and rot. There were some cacti around them, which started to wither at visible speed because of Nephrenbethys’ power of darkness and death.

A storm was gathering above them. Clearly, which was, without doubt, aroused by the power of Nephrenbethys.

Sand was blown into the air by the storm and all the dunes at the scene was shaking as if it were an earthquake.

Soon, the air was filled with sand and the four became unable to see anything. They could see neither their friends nor Nephrenbethys. Sand was entering them through their noses, eyes and mouths. Nephrenbethys wanted to bury them alive with her magic.

They were struggling to survive but they were already buried under the infinite sand. Nothing could save them. They failed.

Their lungs were full of sand. The sand was breaking their lungs, tearing them apart.

The mad laughter of Nephrenbethys was haunting their minds. She succeeded. Mechanics succeeded. The world would be mechanized. Nothing could stop Macchina Gloriosa. Nothing could stop the Mother Matrix. Nothing could stop a machine beyond the comprehension of humans.

…

However, the fate gave them a chance.

There was a vast system of caverns under the ground. Instead of being buried in the sand to death, they four were squeezed out gradually by the sand and fell into one of the underground caverns along with the falling sand.

They were still alive but they had already been broken. Macchina Gloriosa was too powerful. They had been crushed by Nephrenbethys and they hadn’t met Achnosiris yet, who might be even more powerful.