Hello Scrolls and Nazarins, continuing the Argland Council arc in my Fanfic The One Who Came Back.
The magical nature is revealed
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 62: Curses
"Someone here is cursed!" Glurus exclaimed.
Riku practically pointed towards Ainz.
"Not him, you fool! Despite his negative aura, undead are a natural occurrence. Without them concentrating negative energies by taking form, they would spread and plague the whole world."
Ainz bowed to the old aquatic man, acknowledging his understanding of magical nature.
"But undead are the antithesis of the living!", the human counselor interjected.
"Lord Malio, the dead are the antithesis of the living; undead are avatars of negative energies, it's different. But what I sense is a curse, the corruption of magical energies. I feel it coming from there! Evaluate Magic," the water creature said, pointing at the guards.
The accusing finger passed one by one. When it reached Sebas, the man paused, noticing the immense positive Karma emanating from the undead king's servant. Then, he continued until he stopped at...
"You! You suffer from a great evil."
Leinas stepped forward.
Jircniv regretted bringing the knight, but Baziwood and the others lacked the finesse for such a meeting.
"I am Leinas Rockbruise, Knight of the Baharuth Empire. My condition is known to many, but if my presence is a bother, I will withdraw and..."
"Stay put, young lady. I am trying to concentrate, HMMMMMMMM!"
"Lord Glurus, we in Argland know Miss Leinas' situation. There's no need to..." Lord Malio attempted to intervene.
"I told you to let me concentrate! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Evaluate Curse."
A water bubble formed, as big as a ball, floated until it reached near Leinas and covered the knight's head. In desperation, she tried to hold her breath.
"Breathe, girl, breathe. This is magic water; it won't drown you."
Leinas then took a breath, choking until she got used to it and tried to stand up straight again.
"Lord Glurus, please, you need not tire yourself."
"Lord Malio, you seem too calm for someone who could easily be contaminated by a curse," the old aquan man said to the human, who discreetly spent the rest of the meeting covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
"Tell me, child, what happened?"
"I… I was cursed when I killed a creature, a monster. Since then, I've been seeking a cure for it."
"The Mage Fluder Paradyne, when he visited us years ago, sought a cure. There was nothing in our ancient records about it", Lord Murios added.
'The old man really sought a cure? I thought the Emperor was just deceiving me about that', Leinas thought, reassessing Fluder and the Emperor.
"You said you found nothing ancient, but this isn't old magic, it's new!" the old man said, gesturing with his fingers.
"I don't understand, how new?"
"Lord Murios, if the magic were ancient, there would be records and studies about it, so it must be new."
"A creature learned a new magic in the last few centuries?"
"No, of course not. Let's have a quick lesson on magic while I do this. You see, this world produces magic and magical beings naturally and continuously. The accumulation of negative energies creates undead because there are no living things dispersing or absorbing these energies. There is no grass, trees, or life in battlefields, cemeteries, and graves. In this way, to balance the scales, nature also created Dryads, positive energy creates Dryads, avatars of life, thus stabilizing the ecosystem. Some other living beings are also born magical, and like everything, evolution led these creatures to develop weapons to hunt and defend themselves, like the poison of the scorpion, but using mana. For example, the Cocatrice naturally developed the petrifying curse; it doesn't study or learn by watching others of its kind, it simply develops it, a magic of negative aura. The curse is the corruption in another being, so nature led the Dryads to create blessings, one of these is the petrification-removing magic, positive magic."
"And there's also the Mandrake," Ainz remarked.
The old man smiled.
"Yes, of course, a magic caster would know much about the origins of magic. Mandrakes, the screaming plants, are capable of petrification with their cries. In return, their juice is used in antipetrification potions, a balanced, neutral being."
Rigrit looked at Riku as if asking, "Did you know about this?" He understood, looked at her, and replied in a low tone.
"It would be like asking why roosters crow in the morning."
The old adventurer knew that dragons cared little for the small things of the world and had little interest in studying it. They only knew what interested them; the struggles of the small beings were not important to them, after all, they were the dragon lords, and few things could threaten them. In this case, if nature adapted to maintain balance, then perhaps it must have created dragons to eliminate invaders, players, beings alien to this world. Or was it the other way around, who came first?
"But what does this have to do with the situation?" Murios asked.
The old man wiggled his fingers more, and the bubble covering Leinas' head grew, covering her whole body.
"Evolutions didn't stop; there are still creatures creating unknown magic naturally. The being that cursed this child was an ancient being, but this magic must have only appeared a few centuries ago. Nature hasn't had time to adapt yet, and we haven't learned anything about it."
'If everything the mage said is true, the implications of this are immense, since it would mean that not only the beings of this world but the very nature of this world is entirely magical,' Ainz thought, analyzing all this new knowledge.
The magic water turned black; the old mage gestured with his fingers as if pulling a rope, and then all the water jumped, forming a sphere. It compressed more and more until it turned into a black stone that floated into a bottle that was sealed with magic. Leinas almost fell with the suction; her clothes didn't even get wet; she only felt that her face was cleaner, but the secretions started almost immediately.
"The curse isn't just on your face, is it?"
"No," Leinas said, embarrassed.
Jircniv imagined that was why the knight began wearing full armor all the time.
"It's getting worse, isn't it? Potions only delay decay; cures eliminate little and almost have no effects, and it's spreading, taking over more and more of your body. It's not killing you; it's turning you into the same creature you killed. I am the most powerful cleric in my kingdom, capable of casting seventh-level healing spells..."
'Seventh level! A rival to Fluder,' Ainz and Jircniv thought.
"...but, unfortunately, it won't be enough. I am very sorry."
Leinas seemed resigned.
"Perhaps older magic," Draudillon suggested.
Riku shuddered; he couldn't draw the Bright Dragon's granddaughter's attention without revealing his own identity. Only Rigrit, the inhabitants of Nazarick, and Queen Draudillon knew that, in fact, Riku Aganéia was the Platinum Dragon Lord using the name of one of the Thirteen Heroes already dead, as a disguise.
Draudillon didn't care about the dragon lord's anger; not even her grandfather appeared to help as her kingdom fell. To him, he was probably just exchanging human subjects for beastmen subjects.
"Perhaps ancient magic could help, Wild Magic, but I'm just an eighth dragon; I never learned healing magic. Maybe if the Dragon Lords' representative asked, they could help," she needled the PDL.
"You're playing with forces you don't understand, girl. The Dragon Lords are not beings to ask favors from, especially over things that must follow their course. What does one life mean when thousands are being weighed on the scales."
"Then nothing will be done?" Draudillon asked indignantly.
"I can grant mercy if she asks me," Riku said.
"If nothing can be done, when the time comes and everything becomes unbearable, I will put an end to this suffering, without anyone's help, I won't let this curse spread," the knight said firmly.
"I'm tired of this," Ainz announced.
Everyone was startled by such words.
"I will end this situation myself."
'It's time; the wizard will kill the human,' the dragon thought.
Ainz advanced towards Leinas, who instinctively shrank into a corner. The undead king surrounded the knight; when someone tried approaching and helping her, Sebas and Albedo were already blocking the way.
Meanwhile, Ainz took something from his robe, opened his arms, and muttered a few words. Magical circles formed around Leinas, and Ainz shouted his spell.
"PURGE OF THE DAMNED!" Then, like an explosion, a pillar of flames emerged, like the flow of a volcano. Leinas' agonizing screams were like a Banshee's lament.
As soon as it ended, Ainz turned around and returned to his previous position.
"It's resolved," he said, leaving only the knight in the corner, crying as she realized her face was free from the curse.
...
Author's Note
On the magical nature of the New World:
I imagined an evolutionary process based on magic, not that the world is conscious, but that ours seems to have a natural balance.
Regarding the undead, I never saw them as the antithesis of the living, after all they are alive and dead, at best they would be the balance if it weren't for the totally negative karma.
So I made them avatars of negative energies and I made the Dryads avatars of positive energies because they only appear spontaneously in living and healthy places.
Not to be confused with Evil and Good, these have demons and angels as representatives.