Chapter 7
The city of Rondel was the hub for magical study. Mages from all around the continent gathered in the city, collaborating with one another and furthering the research into magic. Most mages thought of themselves as above ordinary humans, and as a result they had mostly separated themselves from the rest of society, concentrating in one city.
Rondel was the center of knowledge in the world. Its academies and vast archives of knowledge were unmatched. All of the most powerful and skilled mages in the world were gathered together. Collaboration among the brightest minds of the continent helped to produce great discoveries. Nearly all substantial discoveries about magic were made in the city, and all of that knowledge accumulated in the archives of Rondel. The academies of Rondel were the best in the world, teaching students about the intricacies of magic and nurturing bright minds to become the next generation's archmages.
Almost all of the higher level mages were in Rondel. Even though there were mages living all around the continent, and indeed the Empire had many in its armies, these were the lower ranking mages, not even making it to the realm of experts. A large portion of them were mages who couldn't cut it in Rondel and left because of their lack of talent.
The quality of mages in Rondel was unmatched, and provoked envy from others. The Empire had long wished they could force the mages of Rondel to work for them, but despite this, Rondel has maintained their independence for hundreds of years, even though they are an enclave within a continent spanning empire.
The reason for this is that mages are powerful in battle, with even a single archmage being able to shift the tides of a battle. The mages of Rondel are for the most part proud and self centered. This has led to Rondel being rather disunited during normal times as the top mages often have rivalries with each other. Academic disputes are perhaps some of the most vicious fights on the continent, surpassing even debates in the Imperial Senate. The government of Rondel was nothing more than a committee of the top mages, and as such could never agree on anything. Rondel was rather content to stay to itself, preferring isolation rather than expansion. However, even though the mages have their disagreements, if an outside force like the Empire was to attack them, they would no doubt unite to maintain their independence. It was the one thing the old recluses in Rondel would all agree on.
The city was protected by a magical barrier, developed over the course of many years by the archmages of the past. The city is almost impregnable to an assault, as the mages can rain down their spells from the walls of Rondel with impunity while the shield protected them.
Rondel was opulently designed. The city was filled with tall spindly towers, massive domed structures, and other marvels of architecture. The city was pristine, and its grandeur rivaled that of the Imperial Capital. The mages of Rondel thought of themselves as the center of civilization, and as such saw their city as a symbol of prestige. Aqueducts brought water into the city and a network of sewers let the wastewater exit. The city was cutting edge in every way possible, with magical enchantments being employed lavishly throughout.
The city had stayed mostly insulated from the events of the outside world, the inhabitants unconcerned with the growing zerg presence. So far, they were unaffected, but soon that was to change as the city had attracted the attention of the zerg, from Lelei in particular.
Lelei had long coveted the vast knowledge contained within Rondel, and in her youth she had hoped to present her research to the mages of Rondel, gaining their approval so that she could advance in rank. Her dream had been to become an archmage. Now, she saw those prior dreams as pathetic. To grovel for approval from those old fogeys was beneath her. Those people had never recognized her genius and had looked down upon her for being young. Now, she would be able to take what she wanted, and none of those old geezers would be able to stop her.
She could just send swarms of zerg to break through and overrun the city, but that would be far too crude and wasteful, not to mention that it would also cause a lot of collateral damage that might damage what she was looking for. Instead, she had a much better plan, drawing on her knowledge of the city's design.
The magical wards made breaking through the walls difficult. Moreover, the magical barrier also extended underground in order to prevent attackers from digging tunnels to undermine the walls. That meant that simply burrowing into the city wouldn't work. However, there was a point of vulnerability which could be exploited. The sewers could be used as a method of entry.
There were a few monitoring spells on the sewer exits in order to detect when someone entered. Lelei took some time to study the spells and was eventually able to disable them without triggering any alarms. Now, it was possible to enter. A nydus worm pushed its way through a tunnel and made its way under the city. Then, Lelei and her accompanying zerg exited.
There were multiple sewage outflow pipes, so blocking one of them wouldn't be too much of an issue. Still, Lelei had some zerg structures created to break down some of the sewage to prevent extra outflow from being noticed. The cavern the nydus worm hollowed out beneath the city would serve as their base of operations.
The mages with the greatest magical potential were all in Rondel, and the specimens collected here would be of far better quality than the mages they captured elsewhere. So, the first objective was to kidnap mages in the city and send them back to the hive through the nydus worm. This would also serve to weaken the city's combat strength and allow it to be more easily taken.
The zerg forces moved stealthily, traveling through the tunnels below the city and emerging from beneath the surface during the night. The small zerglings would be the ones used in these operations, as they were swift and could hide easily. Packs of zerglings ambushed mages walking through alleyways, and subdued them so that an infestor could swallow them. Dozens of mages were captured each night, and the infestors began delivering their shipments back to the primary hive cluster where they would be kept for research purposes.
Eventually, the disappearances became a cause of concern for the people of Rondel. Mages of all ranks have been disappearing, from lowly students to high ranking archmages. This situation was unprecedented and nobody knew what to do. So, the archmage council met to discuss the crisis.
"Someone or something is targeting us!", one man said. "Even we are not safe. Several of our colleagues have disappeared."
"But what could it be? We haven't been able to determine the cause of the disappearances or where they went. We can't fight a threat we know nothing about."
"Could it be those strange creatures near Alnus Hill that we have heard about?"
"That is absurd. They are far away from here. We haven't seen any sightings of them. And it is ridiculous to think that they would be capable of such a degree of subterfuge."
"Maybe one of you are behind it!", one archmage yelled. "I have had several of my students disappear, and one of my friends disappeared as well. We disagreed with you last month over the waveform nature of magical energy. Could it be that you are holding a grudge over being proved wrong."
"That is preposterous!", the accused archmage replied. "I would never do such a thing. I have the utmost professionalism."
"Yeah right", another muttered. "A few years back when someone humiliated you in a debate, their lab suffered a terrible accident. Afterwards you poached their students."
"That incident had nothing to do with me!", the man replied indignantly. "I did not come here to be the subject of baseless accusations!"
"Let's stop our squabbling. This is going nowhere. We have to find some way to deal with this."
"Everyone should be careful when going outside. If traveling at night you should be sure to only do so in a large group. Be prepared for a fight so you are not caught off guard."
"Some of us don't have friends. This is all because you dragged my name through the mud with your false accusations and now everyone shuns me."
"Even if you don't have friends, try to find others to join with. Or find other outcasts like you."
Finally, the meeting came to a close and the new recommendations were distributed to the people.
The next night, a group of around two dozen mages, among them several expert ranked ones, were walking through an alleyway. They felt quite confident in their safety as they were one of the largest safe travel groups. Even if they were ambushed by an archmage, they would still be able to survive.
Suddenly, a soft voice came from within the darkness. "Look like you have finally wisened up and started traveling together. Too bad it won't work."
"Who's there?" The mage brought his light spell forward, illuminating more of the alley.
Lelei came into view, and then the mages discovered that they were surrounded by some strange creatures. The sight was quite frightening and several in the group tried to back up, only to recognize that there was nowhere for them to go.
"Who are you?", one of them asked. "What are you trying to do?"
Lelei smiled. "I am the greatest mage in the world! And you will all be my test subjects."
"The surrounded mages gasped in shock at the declaration, not expecting such a bold statement. But they weren't idle for long and their confidence recovered as they knew that they were many and there were only up against a single mage and her creatures.
"Hmph. Even if you are an archmage, you still won't be able to beat us. Let's take her down!"
The mages began casting their spells, but with a wave of her hand Lelei knocked down the whole group while the zerglings swarmed in to attack. The zerglings jumped on the mages, doing their best to distract them and gnaw their way through the magical shields. Meanwhile, the mages began to fight back, blasting back zerglings with their spells and conjuring an ice wall to block the zerglings.
For a moment, the wall looked like it would hold, but a powerful fireball from Lelei obliterated the ice, sending exploding shards of ice toward the mages hiding behind the wall. The magic shields of the mages helped to weather the blast, though some of them were knocked over. Meanwhile, the rest of the mages weren't idle, as they were busy preparing spells to attack back.
An impressive barrage of spells filled the air as the mages focused their attacks on Lelei. However, Lelei intercepted the spells with her own barrage of magic. The spells clashed, creating colorful explosions as they collided with each other. The sheer volume and power of the spells Lelei was outputting gave her the upper hand and the tides quickly turned.
A multitude of magical blasts struck the mages, blasting them to the ground and breaking the magic shields of several of them. Then, the zerglings pounced, mobbing the disorganized group of mages. The zerglings were able to begin subduing the weakened mages and attacking the few that were still standing. Lelei began picking off the remaining resistance, breaking through their shields and binding them with a magical shackling spell that prevented them from moving.
Seeing the battle going poorly for his comrades, one mage decided to run. He blew up the ground with an explosion, sending a cloud of dust into the air. While the others were distracted, he ran, hoping to get out of the alley. However, Lelei was able to sense him despite mundane vision being clouded, and she wouldn't let him get away.
Lelei's hand rose and a stream of ice shot out toward the fleeing man. Upon striking him, the ice expanded and encased him, sticking him to the ground. Upon being covered in ice, the man began panicking, realizing that he was discovered. He began preparing a fire spell to melt an ice, but before he could do so, an attack from Lelei shattered the ice and broke through his shield. Then, an invisible force lifted him up and tossed him back into the encirclement where he joined the rest of his group.
It wasn't long before the entire group was subdued. The fight was sure to have attracted some attention, so it was best to be gone soon. The defeated mages were dragged off by the zerglings toward several waiting infestors, which soon swallowed them up. Then, the group left, leaving an empty alleyway behind them.
One intrepid master mage had been thinking about the crisis that gripped the city. There was a group of kidnappers who were taking people and disappearing. No one could find them, despite the city being searched several times. Even magical locator spells couldn't find any of the missing people within the range of the city.
He thought about where they could be hiding, and he recalled his earlier pursuits as a child. He had been a rather adventurous lad, and he had spent time exploring the sewers of the city. Then, the thought hit him. What if whoever was behind this was hiding underneath the city? He was suddenly inspired by his idea and he decided to go check the sewers. He resolved to be quiet and sneaky, so that he could spy on whoever was down there without them knowing. If there was anyone down there in the first place. This was a rather unlikely location, and he doubted he could get anyone to follow him into the muck. He would go down, see if there was anything down there, and come up.
So, he decided to go on a little exploration, just like what he did in his youth. He found an entry pipe and went down the ladder. The tunnels were dark, but he didn't use a light spell, as that might draw unwanted attention. He knew the place well, so he was able to operate on memory as he walked through the tunnels.
After walking for a while, he realized that something wasn't right. The ground seemed to be soft, while the sewers were made of stone. He paused and bent down to feel the ground. It was covered in some slimy substance. Then, he heard a voice behind him.
"It looks like someone is going where they aren't supposed to. Too bad for you, I supposed", Lelei said.
The man turned around and lit a light spell. He saw someone in front of him. It appeared to be a woman, as she had feminine features, and rather nice ones in his opinion. However, she was inhuman, seeming as though she was part creature. But since she spoke, it was clear that she was intelligent.
"Are you behind this?", he asked.
"Of course. Thank you for volunteering yourself for collection", Lelei said. Then, an infestor popped out of the ground in front of her. The unlucky mage found himself dragged into the creature, and try as he did to resist, he could do nothing to avert his fate.
When even large groups traveling together ended up disappearing, with signs of them being defeated in a fight, the fear felt by the remaining people spiked drastically. People would avoid leaving their homes as much as possible, and the reclusive archmages essentially barricaded themselves within their residences. The city lived in fear, the unprecedented situation leaving them helpless.
This night, Lelei approached one house in particular. It was the residence of Mimoza La Mer. Lelei's minions dug a tunnel through the ground, breaking through the floor of the house while Lelei disabled the magical protections around the house. Then, Lelei emerged inside the house and looked around.
An old woman, clothed in her nightgown and holding a staff, walked down the stairs to confront the intruder that she had sensed break though the house's magical defenses. The moment she saw the figure in her living room, she immediately attacked, sending a powerful blast of magic toward Lelei. To the old mage's shock, the intruder blocked the attack easily, without much effort.
"So you are the one behind this", Mimoza said. "It seems that you have come to take me as well, but I, Mimoza La Mer, won't be taken without a fight."
"You won't have a choice in the matter", Lelei replied.
Mimoza gasped as she finally recognized the person in front of her. "Lelei? Is that you? What happened? What have you become?"
"I have become much more than you could ever imagine", Lelei replied. "I am not the little girl you once knew, Mimoza. I have changed, and I have become part of something greater."
"Why are you doing this", Mimoza asked. "Why have you been kidnapping people?"
"I need experimental subjects", Lelei replied coldly.
Mimoza's face widened in horror. "How could you do this Lelei? Those are people. You can't just do what you wish with them and inflict unmentionable horrors on those poor souls. My disciple, your own sister, was one of those who was taken! Are you going to inflict the same fate onto her, do you care so little for your own kin?"
"I have moved on. She is not important, neither are you. My past life does not concern me now", Lelei said. "I have been born anew. I have been given purpose."
"You have submitted to those creatures, abandoned your humanity, for what?" Mimoza exclaimed.
"The zerg are my family now", Lelei said. "They accept me, and I am part of something greater. They care for me, not like the other humans. They are my new life and nothing else is needed."
"Leleiā¦", Mimoza said in despair as tears fell from her face. "I am sorry it had to come to this. But I have to stop you now. I can't let you commit any more evils. I will fight you, the monster in front of me, not the sweet girl I once knew."
"So be it", Lelei said indifferently.
The two immediately began fighting, blasting at each other with a wide array of spells. Mimoza was old, while Lelei was quick and agile, able to dodge spells easily. Still, within the house space was limited so it was impossible to dodge everything. However, Lelei's power far outstripped Mimoza's, and her shield was able to stand up to the attacks while Mimoza was pummeled by the rapid assault of powerful attacks coming from Lelei. The house was being devastated by the attacks, with spells breaking the furniture and blowing holes into the walls.
Finally, Mimoza was left defeated on the ground and Lelei stepped past her, moving toward Mimoza's room as she began looking through the items. Finally, she found what she was here for, the key to the archive of Rondel's Magic Academy, which Mimoza was in charge of protecting. The defeated old mage lay defeated, accepting her fate as an infestor came in and swallowed her up.
Now, it was time for Lelei to move onto the final stage of her plan. The city was already weakened with the loss of most of its people. Now, Lelei would deal the final blow.
A massive swarm of zerg surrounded Rondel. The approach of the swarm had finally spurred the city into action as the warning bells rung. Everyone left their homes, coming to the walls to mount a defense. At this point, most already guessed that the attacks occuring in the past few weeks have just been to weaken the city, and now it was time for the result to be decided.
The call to arms had left most of the inner city unguarded. In particular, only a few people were left guarding the academy and the central archives. This was Lelei's objective. With so few people left, the city could not afford to guard everything, and it had pulled nearly all of its strength to the walls. Lelei essentially walked into the archives unopposed, easily dispatching the few remaining guards.
Lelei unlocked the massive doors and stepped into the large chamber. She gazed upon the rows upon rows of bookshelves. Lelei grinned in anticipation. This was it, all of the knowledge of Rondel at her fingertips.
It was the accumulation of many generations. The work of countless scholars was contained within the archives of Rondel. There was research into every aspect of magic. Indeed, the research into the taboo topics of the gods was sealed here as to not attract the attention of the outside. Rondel had made that mistake once, their research into the matters of the gods leading to the gods causing a riot that destroyed the original library, one that was even more grand than this. Ever since then, any time a researcher had stumbled into the forbidden topic, his work would be sequestered here so that it would never see the light of day.
A group of zerg creatures followed Lelei into the room. They were specially designed for this operation. These were creatures designed to transport objects, books in particular. They had a dry inner cavity which could be sealed airtight. Lelei directed these creatures to begin cleaning out the archive, collecting all of the various texts and scrolls contained within. Once everything was collected, the books were transported back to the hive cluster through the nydus worm.
With the main objective secured, it was time to move onto the secondary objective of taking the city. The defenders had been able to hold on for now, the magical shield surrounding Rondel still intact. Of course, the zerg were only giving the appearance of trying hard, as they were waiting for Lelei's business within the city to conclude. The zerg charged the walls, battering against the shield while the mages attacked the zerg with spells. The surviving archmages, using an ancient formation left for the defense of the city, were able to bombard the zerg with powerful spells, whittling away at the large army. The entirety of their attention was focused on the zerg outside the city, and thus they were caught completely off guard when a tide of zerg emerged from within the walls.
Zerg forces began pouring into the city from the nydus worm. As the streets began being flooded by zerg, the forces outside the walls began their attack which was much more vicious than before. The power core maintaining the city's defenses was destroyed and before long the walls were overrun by zerglings.
The zerg came from all sides as the mages were completely surrounded. One by one they fell, unable to stand up against the sheer numbers of the zerg. In a matter of minutes, all resistance had crumbled.
Meanwhile, Lelei was already out of Rondel, traveling back toward the hive cluster with all of her new books, as she couldn't wait to begin examining them.
