The group all stood and looked at the mural.
"So that rune... That's 'doom' right?" Tressa said. Cyrus beamed at his traveling companion/student and nodded. It was so nice to know he was teaching his friends on the road.
"And that's 'death' over there," added Primrose.
"The last one... that is 'destruction?'..." said Olberic who didn't like the tone of the artwork.
"You are all correct," said the professor.
Primrose shuddered at the old wall painting. The faded and stylized image wasn't as graphic as the awful book had been but commanded unease just the same. "I don't think I've seen anything quite so... spooky."
"This... is a warning." Agreed Ophelia. They continued to head in.
Lucia stood before Cyrus with a smile. She set down the book with Cyrus's note papers tucked in. Eight people stood behind Cyrus at the ready. They'd already gone over plans and backup plans.
"Professor... You truly are every bit as brilliant as old Yvon said."
"I did not come here for false flattery."
"Oh, but I was being quite sincere. A shame the purport eludes your grasp." Lucia could see the looks of utter contempt and irritation on people behind him which showed that they, at least, did grasp it.
"To think you were the one pulling the strings. The headmaster was merely your puppet all along."
"Very astute. Yes, it was I who maneuvered to install him in that position in the first place. To my dismay, he had a willful streak that got in the way."
"One might say the fault lies in the person who chose him for the task."
"One might say that, yes. Now, let us proceed to the matter at hand. Your search for the original copies of From the Far Reaches of Hell has miraculously led you to me. In finding me, you have displayed some measure of knowledge and acumen. Your notes have shown me a fresh perspective on this book as well. For example, I didn't think of using the sensorylink curse in reverse. More than anything, you have shown a pure and unrelenting passion for seeking out the truth. I hold that particular quality in the highest regard. What say you Cyrus? Will you join me in my research?"
Lucia kept talking at Cyrus and somewhat ignoring the others in the room who were, she assumed, not her intellectual equals. Lucia also didn't seem to think that anyone else could be a treat to her blood crystals. It was satisfying to see her frustration but they couldn't let themselves be distracted.
Plus they wanted to let Cyrus have his moment. When Cyrus said "I'll pass." Alfyn cheered. Primrose was too busy activating runes on her and Therion's daggers. Dominic hadn't quite got that part down yet.
No one was surprised by the revelation that Lucia had synthesized a perfect blood-crystal. "You may be a fool, but to show no hard feelings, you can participate in an empirical analysis of my newfound power!"
"O sacred light!"
Dominic cast right as Ophelia did to melt the blood crystal held by Lucia. Lucia didn't stutter but quickly deflected the magic which should have hit her crystal. Melting the crystal before she could use it had been worth a try. Therion snarled as he let a dagger fly at the arm but that too was defected by the rune set into the air.
Lucia transformed, but it was still easy to see that she was gloating. "I studied your notes and I have been researching blood magic for far longer than you, Cyrus! Such tricks will not work on me like they did on Yvon and my apprentices!"
Cyrus was unfazed. H'aanit was now a bit worried that the arcane leghold traps might have a counter too but if all else failed, there was her normal tactics. The rest of the team were worried as well, but Cyrus had recalled everything he'd put in his prior notes. He'd made them a plan B for this.
"...If believing in the future makes one a fool, then call me a proud fool. But know this: when I emerge victorious... I will unravel the remaining secrets of that tome and arrive at my own answer. Let this be a lesson to you: the future of mankind is bright!"
Plan B? Blast Lucia with everything to knock her out, then exorcise.
He kept analyzing Lucia's demonic physiology while the team spread out. "Get some cuts in on her muscles to slow her down!" He didn't need to call any orders to Olberic as he was already blocking the attack aimed to knock over the scholar. Blows rained down on the group as they kept hacking away at her. Arcane legholds sparked as they wrapped around the distorted spine. H'aanit nearly got thrown down the stairs for it. Primrose and Dominic focused on support while Ophelia sent waves of magic out.
It was Alfyn's axe crunching into her hand that seemed to make her snap. Alfyn had a rare moment between mixing concoctions to take a swing at the thing they were fighting. "Here we go!"
Lucia grinned at Cyrus. "You will tell me everything you know! One way or the other!" Dominic had to fight to keep from throwing up at the continuing transformation of Lucia's muscles. It was just... wrong.
Cyrus yelled as he sensed the magical shift in the air. "She's weak to magical energies now, I think!" He went from analyzing to throwing bolts of lightning in no time. Tressa stopped loosing arrows and added some boosting power to Cyrus.
This meant Lucia targeted Cyrus with a silencing slash. As Alfyn ran to get Cyrus healed, a wave of fire engulfed the battlefield. While they were recovering from it and hastily eating grapes, Lucia smashed Ophelia to the ground. Ophelia's scream rang through the room.
Alfyn quickly gave priority to Ophelia because if she went down, they were all dead.
"Let me help!" Tressa said as she dragged Cyrus away from the main fight. One clamor herb later, the party heard a signal from Cyrus.
This time the fire blast from Dominic staggered Lucia. H'aanit trapped the demon with the opportunity. Primrose and Therion were quick to plunge their two daggers into Lucia's chest while Cyrus pricked his hand. He moved to plunge his dagger in between the other two,
Lucia, however, had not had her defenses truly broken. Cyrus was too slow to evade the counterattack. Lucia's hand grasped him and swung the man through the air. "Cyrus! Your knowledge will be mine! MINE!" Olberic had to avert his spear strike to avoid friendly fire.
It was very had to see through the smoke, but Cyrus' eyes widened in fear as he saw something small, red and crystalline in Lucia's fingers. Lucia briefly ignored the blasts of more fire from Therion and some beast. Cyrus couldn't scream as the monster choked him. No!, thought the professor. She wasn't casting a blasting spell with the crystal as the research apprentices did. She was activating it with the same words as she'd muttered before her own transformation. The realization hit him right before Primrose cast a spell with Ophelia.
This time there was no rune drawn to deflect the holy light and stop it melting the blood crystal. Lucia ended up splashing an awful lot of blood into Cyrus' face instead. There was a brief silence as she realized what just happened. Then the battle began anew as the blood covered professor struggled for air. H'aanit and Olberic slammed into Lucia to get her off Cyrus, but it took a second ray from Ophelia to free Cyrus.
Lucia started to lose control of her body right as she lost her temper. Cyrus had to come up with a counterspell on the fly when Lucia started screaming in tongues.
In the chaos, the group killed Lucia. There hadn't been another good opportunity to pin her for the exorcism.
The group all but collapsed in relief as Cyrus picked back up his lost book, plus one. "From the Far Reaches of Hell. At last, I have the missing books back." He could return one to the library, and keep the other with him to finish his own research. He could hear prayers of gratitude from his friends if he listened. "How many lives have been lost to the dark knowledge in these pages..."
"I don't suppose we can just return the books and leave them at the library?," muttered Ophelia as Cyrus kept talking to himself about deciphering the rest of the work.
Primrose shook her head and said apologetically, "Sorry, Ophelia. There's a note from Steorra here about a couple shelves we need to visit."
Ophelia's smile had returned, "Can't you let a girl dream?"
Dang cat deleted a good deal of work the other day. Should have known he'd take a liking to the keyboard while I was writing. Too bad Lucia didn't want to be saved from her transformation. She was more doomed than the party reputation.
Also, thank you for all the kind reviews! It is nice to see feedback and input. I don't know what the rank 9 spell is, but it's gotta be a nasty one. Spells you would use when fighting Galdera in the Gate of Finis would only rank an 8...