Chương 20: Wavelengths

Elise noticed that the hooded figure changed midway through her walk. It was like a hand-off inside of a baton run. A new man came, and the other left. The shifts had changed like the workings of a gas station, and the new one was part of the managerial staff. She could sense a narrow spike in magic power with the new man, holy wisps of mana coiling around his form. She knew they were of the same cloth, for this man bore the same sun emblem over his white robes.

His grey hair was thin, and lines on his face showed his age. He held a wooden wand in his hand, reaching out towards her with holy magic. It was like an annoying dousing rod that wanted to glance at her nature. Tendrils of holy magic prodded against her uncomfortably, making her daylight headache slightly worse. This guy is really testing my patience. Rela looked towards his hiding place with a frown.

"We should definitely deal with him, My Lady." Elise nodded. Even if they pose no threat to me, I don't need inspectors from the church weighing in on my daily activities and following me all the time. If I let them keep doing what they do, then I'd become nothing more than a pushover. What's more, she already had a piece of her magic attached to Esmeralda, so there was no need to keep this one alive. Besides, it was about time for her to poke the bear that was known as a goddess.

Will she make a move if I kill one of her faithful servants? This one seems to be of higher rank within their Order. She walked along busy streets, the scene playing brief memories of her old life. She'd lived in a mid-sized city, and there were times when people funneled about. However, most people had chosen cars as their means of transportation. These people were almost all walking. There was only the occasional wagon hauling goods or stagecoaches, along with the magic line that flew over the city.

Market stalls stood across from the guild. People sold fruits, vegetables, meat, and potions. There were other makeshift provisions mingling among them. She could see a hopeful adventurer going to a stall with a spark in his eye and pointing at a weapon. Elise's new crimson eyes left no mystery to the power of that sword. While his eyes glimmered with glee, hers saw nothing but a trinket. Even the small potions that people bought to cure their wounds were barely more than applying a salve.

The mages that occasionally carried themselves by were a bit different. They often bore the insignia of the Mage Society over their breast. Though, the holy man behind them was different. Elise wondered if the people here were even aware of how closely tied holy magic was to other types of magic. There were distinctions in the game, but the overlap made it so that a mage who branched would practically wield all schools of magic proficiently.

It meant that Tyralith could use Holy Magic as well as spells from Elise's own shadow domain. Though, there were limitations, and Tyralith was a rare example. Elise placed a hand to her chin. I imagine it is better for people here to specialize even harder than I did. After all, dying is a real threat in this world, and if you branch out too much, you will run into a wall. A wizard who mastered multiple schools of magic held less firepower than a dragon of the inferno. Or my very own lightning dragon.

I wonder how those two are fairing in their task? She felt another flare of holy magic around her and smiled deviously. First, I must tend to you, practitioner. Didn't anyone tell you it is rude to stalk a woman? Elise placed a hand on Rela's shoulder.

"Let's give the peeping Tom a show he won't forget."

"Of course, My Lady." The two of them crept into an alleyway and then another. Sure enough, the man remained on their tails like a thorn stuck in their fur. A stick in my craw, indeed, but the throat can be healed after with a bit of nourishment. Her hand itched at the thought of using her powers again. Between two buildings, she reached a stand still. The wall of another building stood in front of her like a designed set. Blood magic coiled around her hand, and her and Rela stilled after a moment.

The man waited at the end of the alleyway. He waited while the two of them stood there, gazing into the wall like statues. A flicker of confusion graced his old features. His orange eyes blinked open and closed. His gaze roamed to the adjacent streets, and he made sure no one was watching before walking into the alleyway. Elise sensed the thumping of his heart as he trudged through.

"Hello," he called out to them, his voice quaking with age.

"This is no place for..." He placed a hand on either of their shoulders, his sound growing to a whisper.

"Cold... and wet?" The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Holy magic coiled around his frame, painting his white outfit with a light yellow hue. The sun emblem on his robes glimmered, aiming to be praised. It was much like the sun overhead that cast a spotlight on him inside of this small trench. The two figures in front of him turned red, becoming nothing more than crimson liquid in the shape of humans.

They fell away slowly like melting wax, seeping into the cracks below him.

"Blood magic," he whispered, "and..." His gaze flickered overhead towards the darkening sky. Shadows painted that valley between two buildings. The light faded, until it grew to an overwhelming blackness. He turned back towards the exit of the alleyway, his gaze flickering over the culprit.

"Shadow magic." Elise smiled in her elegant black robes, miasma leaking out of her form. The blood inside of the cracks crawled towards her and arrived, returning like an army to their queen.

"Astute observation, Your Holiness." His breath hastened, a small gasp slipping from his thin cracked lips. He hid his fear beneath a grin.

"I admire the intuition of that girl. Are you a Noble kind from the North?"

"You are a bit arrogant to presume you can ask me questions, aren't you? What? Did you intend to interrogate me before trying to escape?" The man's eyes widened, his wand sparking with holy light. The spark died immediately on impact with the surrounding shadows. Even the visage of the buildings seemed too far away.

"Why won't it work?" Elise placed a finger to her cheek.

"Why? The answer is quite simple, really. When faced with overwhelming shadows, not even light can escape." He pointed his wooden wand at her, a scowl growing on his face.

"Silence, vampire. I serve The Lady of Dawn, and you are a scourge upon the land. To think, you'd managed to infiltrate all over the count's city under her watchful eye. How did you do it? Is it a relic?" Elise shrugged.

"There is no relic or trick. It is only a matter of passives. It's like trying to observe a microbe without a microscope. Your eyes are blind to what you cannot see. Are you familiar with wavelengths, Your Holiness?"

"Wavelengths?" He gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Don't make fun of the Order." Elise's staff manifested in her hands, and she tapped it on the ground, the crimson moon glimmering with glowing red light. Her eyes radiated, and the sun above was replaced with a red moon. The city around them had long ago fallen away, giving rise to something that Elise could call hers. Yes, quite fitting if I'm to be the Goddess of Death. A domain of Darkness where no light escapes. Only the dead souls may return to me.

The man shivered as silence descended, a cold washing over him, and giving him goosebumps.

"I-if you do anything to me, you will face the wrath of Our Lady."

"Please, don't say Wrath in front of me. It is an insult to Victoria." She cleared her throat and started walking around, her footsteps echoing on empty ground. They vibrated in this small place, creating a frequency that was easily understood by anyone. Power.

"Back to my point about wavelengths, it is a bit odd that you do not know. As a practitioner of Holy Light, I assumed you of all people would know. I bet you're not even familiar with the visible spectrum."

"Visible spectrum? What are you saying? The only light I need is Hers. Her blessing gives me the right to see all manner of things."

"If that is so, then how could you not see this coming? Surely, you must've had an inkling to something like this happening with Her infinite insight and wisdom?" She swirled her finger over the crimson moon in the bat's mouth, and the crimson moon overhead spun in a circle.

"Well?"

"Her light is omnipotent, but I am only a deacon. If it was the Oracle..." Elise chuckled, her fangs shining in her mouth.

"The Oracle doesn't know either, trust me." She paused and placed a hand up before the man could speak again.

"The visible spectrum is only a small portion of what can be seen. Even the largest waves go missing in your receptors. Needless to say, the smallest waves are invisible, but those can be deadly."

"W-what are you even talking about? I have had enough of your blabbering, vampire." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an artifact of his own, a holy sigil inside of a pendant that bore a loving face.

"Even if things can't be seen, Her light will penetrate through the darkness. Give me the strength to vanquish evil, Holy Visage!" The spark around his staff grew brighter, becoming like a candle flame for a brief period before the darkness around them snuffed it out.

"I-impossible! Her magic is absolute! What have you done, fiend!?"

"Relax deacon, it simply means that my magic is stronger. That is all." His heart pounded even faster, and he pointed an accusatory finger at her.

"Lies! What have you done!?" She sighed.

"Some people don't believe the truth, even if they heard it a million times. I could say it over and over again, shout it from the rooftops, and write an entire paper about it, yet there are always people like you. They refuse to believe that eyes are not the censors they think they are. Even while the gamma rays and ultraviolet pierce their skin and radiate them, they would cry out foul in their dying breaths." His breathing hitched, and he tried again. Only, it was killed even faster than the last spark.

"What's wrong, deacon?" She took steps towards him as he started to back away from her, but inside of this void, there was no where to go. Her cruel finger reached out and poked his chest, her charming voice spilling into the surroundings.

"Sometimes the smallest, most undetected waves, are the most deadly."

"Wha..."

"I am become Death, Elise Shadowspill." The shadows of the void poured into him, filling his body, and exploding his heart from within. The rest of his body slowly faded into the void. Or more accurately, the void faded into him, consuming him. Had he been able to withstand it, maybe he would become a vessel. When the light returned to the world around her, the only thing that remained of the deacon was his white robes, wand, and pendant left behind. All of them fell to the ground.

Elise reached down and picked up the pendant, gazing at the face of the so called Dawn. It was a young woman with an innocent smile and porcelain skin. An archway curled behind her, and Elise blinked at it several times. I... I think I have seen her before.