Aozaki Aoko [568-570] (Patreon)

Chapter 568: Black Blade of Disaster

"Where's Holga?" Simon asked. "Did you find anything?"

Holga said nothing, simply taking out three ornate bottles of wine and placing them before the group. She pointed at the labels—these were the vintages.

"You actually managed to find these?" Aoko's eyes widened in surprise, staring at the bottles in Holga's hands. "These are from two thousand years ago, from the Netheril Empire era! True aged cellars!"

"I'd advise you all not to drink them," Edgin cautioned with the tone of someone who'd been there before. "I once drank something similar, and… well, let's just say it didn't end well. That bottle came from some king's underground tomb…"

"Better to sell them to some noble who collects old wine," Simon suggested. "A single bottle like this would go for at least five hundred gold coins. More profitable to sell than to drink ourselves."

What actually surprised Aoko wasn't the age or value of the wines, but the magical glow on the bottles—wine itself meant nothing to her.

These arcanists were extravagant enough to enchant wine bottles.

It was probably thanks to the presence of a mythallar that these protective enchantments lasted so long, and this was the main reason why the wine from the ancient Netheril Empire had not spoiled after two thousand years.

Leaving the wine aside, Aoko's team had finished exploring the first floor of the tower. The most important discovery was the information about the time-reversing obelisk that she'd heard from Vinelanda.

This clue set their next destination as the lord's study. After a quick rest, Aoko's party headed upstairs. Simon had already found the lift to the next floor. Led by Simon, the group left the ballroom, heading north. Soon, they encountered a bridge made entirely of force, with the lift on the far side.

"I just walked across earlier, but since we're acting as a group, we should be prepared this time," Simon reminded. "Since the bridge is force-formed, it could vanish at any moment."

Aoko agreed, so she cast Mass Fly, and the whole group floated across the force bridge together.

If Vinelanda had seen this, she'd probably think these people were nuts—there was a perfectly good bridge, yet they insisted on adding extra drama for themselves.

The lift's base was shaped like an octagram. In the center stood a stone platform with two levers set with rubies and emeralds—obviously the controls for the lift.

Aoko examined the platform and found some small Netherese script at the edge. After reading it, she understood the exact function of each lever and, without hesitation, pulled the red lever. The lift rumbled and began to rise steadily.

The lift moved slowly, and the tower was very tall. It took nearly five minutes to reach the next floor.

Unlike the bustling scene below, this floor felt eerily quiet.

Stepping off the lift, they saw an oval-shaped grand hall.

Frost sparkled on the high ceiling, freezing in place the exquisite carvings on the walls.

Sharp icicles, like spears, hung overhead, threatening to impale anyone who passed beneath.

At the center of the oval hall was a circular shaft, covered by a shimmering hemispherical force field, with a thin layer of ice on the outside.

Aoko scanned the area and soon discovered that the force field was maintained by an emerald above an archway further back.

This meant that if they wanted to break the force field, they just needed to destroy the emerald.

Seeing this, Aoko quickly understood the layout of this floor.

The important areas were all on the other side of the oval hall, and the archways were the entrances. To reach them, they had to cross the hall.

She didn't know what the shaft was for, but if the force field vanished, the upper and lower floors of the tower would be connected.

Besides the mysterious shaft, she sensed something guarding the entrance to a room on the far side, but couldn't pinpoint it—the archways blocked her senses.

"Simon," Aoko said quietly, "send the Shield Guardian to probe that room to the southeast."

Simon nodded, took the suitcase-sized folded Shield Guardian from his bag of holding, activated it, and sent it toward the archway Aoko indicated.

A jet-black object, resembling a massive greatsword, emerged from the doorway and slashed at the Shield Guardian with blinding speed.

Simon barely managed to command defend before the Shield Guardian was sliced cleanly in two, the cut surface smooth as a mirror.

"That's Black Blade of Disaster, a 9th-level animate spell," Aoko warned the others. "Step back. I'll handle it!"

While her teammates were still processing, Aoko was already casting.

As the most powerful evocation in the conjuration school, Black Blade of Disaster's destructive power surpassed even many high-level evocations. Though it looked similar to spells like Mordenkainen's Sword, its nature was completely different.

In the eight schools of magic, conjuration is divided into five subfields: Calling, Creation, Summoning, Teleportation, and Healing.

Calling and summoning may seem similar, but to a true conjurer, the difference is clear.

Creatures brought by calling die for real if killed, but those brought by summoning return to their origin when the spell ends.

Black Blade of Disaster combines "calling" and "teleportation." What is called is a strand of malice from another plane, but its vessel is a wound in the Prime Material, a rift to another plane.

That's why Black Blade of Disaster is unstoppable—physical matter cannot resist a spatial rift.

But even this spell has weaknesses. Every spell can be countered, even mighty 9th-level spells.

Black Blade of Disaster's weakness is that the magical effect linking the malice and the rift can be dispelled.

If dispelled, the rift is healed by the Prime Material, and the Black Blade vanishes.

And when it comes to banishing, dispelling, or destroying magical effects, Aoko, as a metamagic savant, is an expert among experts.

Chapter 569: Almost Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Mordenkainen's Disjunction!

A dazzling red ray shot from the gem atop Aoko's staff, striking the oncoming Black Blade of Disaster.

No warm-up—Aoko went straight for the big guns. She had no time to play games with a mindless animate spell.

Mordenkainen's Disjunction has two forms: an indiscriminate spherical field, and the focused ray she now used, devastating to magical effects and items.

Struck by her spell, the Black Blade froze midair, trembling violently. A faint keening echoed from all directions, then faded.

The evil will controlling the rift vanished in a blink as the magical effect was dispelled. The blade lost its sword-like shape, becoming an irregular fissure that slowly shrank.

Moments later, the 9th-level animate spell was gone.

"Phew, now this is more like an ancient magical empire," Aoko sighed in relief. "Those previous enemies were—Look out!"

Simon's warning cut her off. She spun around to see a second animate Black Blade closing in, its shadowy blade swinging toward her.

There was no time—Aoko couldn't even quick-cast a spell in response.

But she didn't panic—panic would help nothing now.

As the second Black Blade approached, a translucent glowing shield suddenly blocked it.

Normally, this would be impossible. But Aoko's contingency spells had triggered, the first being Resilient Sphere.

Force effects are only broken by other force or disintegration, and the Black Blade of Disaster's spatial cut counts as disintegration. Her sphere lasted only a moment before being sliced open.

The contingency's second and third spells triggered—two Mordenkainen's Swords struck at the Black Blade, holding it at bay in midair.

With the delay, Aoko recovered, dismissed the ruined sphere, retreated, and began casting.

She'd used yesterday's 9th-level slots on her contingencies; after casting Disjunction, she had two 9th-level slots left. Considering what else might be ahead, she quickly activated Mystra's Blessing + Arcane Reservoir, regained a slot via Midnight staff, and cast another Disjunction.

The Black Blade brutally destroyed her two Mordenkainen's Swords, but couldn't dodge her spell and was obliterated like its predecessor.

"Are you hurt?!" Edgin and the others rushed over, concerned.

They weren't being armchair generals—things had happened too fast for anyone to act. Even Simon, also a spellcaster, couldn't help.

Simon, a primary sorcerer, didn't know Mordenkainen's Disjunction yet. His anti-magic helm could only do area disjunction, but using that here would leave everyone helpless, himself included.

From start to finish, both Black Blades were destroyed in under three rounds—a blitz of speed and precision.

"I'm fine," Aoko shook her head. "But I've used up a lot of spell slots, so let's be careful."

Aoko explained the details of the animated Catastrophe Blades; her teammates shuddered. Without a high-level wizard on hand, they'd have had to rely on Simon's anti-magic helm for a desperate gamble.

But as mentioned, that would have disabled everyone's magical gear.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Anyway, let's move on," Aoko suggested. "But the Shield Guardian's broken, so stay alert."

The others nodded. Holga, clad in adamantine armor, led, with the rest following warily.

Some books were still on the shelves, but others had fallen due to the city's fall.

With no enemies present, Aoko's team dropped their guard and began searching the room.

With arcane sight, Aoko quickly spotted a hardcover in the pile, its cover marked by a black eight-pointed star. Was this the symbol of the Ebon Star Mage?

She opened it and saw it was written in Draconic. Most of the book described the Ebon Star Council, but a line at the end caught her eye.

Roughly: If three or more apprentices of Iriolarthas, or otherwise authorized persons, sit in the correct seats in the Ebon Star Chamber, Lich Iriolarthas will open the way to his study.

Huh?

Getting into Iriolarthas's study is this complicated? And where is the House of the Arcane?

While Aoko pondered, Doric and Simon found something valuable.

"I found this," Doric said, holding an adamantine key. "I can't read the inscription."

Aoko examined it: the tag read "Terrace" in Netherese.

"I found a scroll, looks powerful," Simon said, holding up a scroll blazing with magical light—definitely 8th-level or higher. "But I don't recognize the spell. Can you help?"

Aoko put the key back with Doric and took the scroll to examine.

Hmm… She'd never seen this spell, but the scroll was written in Draconic. By analyzing the spell structure, she could guess its effect.

"This looks like an original spell by Iriolarthas," Aoko said in surprise. "Undoubtedly a 9th-level spell."

"It summons a comet from the sky, striking the ground and dealing massive force damage in a 500-foot radius (30d10)."

Holy crap, Aoko thought. Meteor Swarm only does 20d6 fire + 20d6 bludgeoning. This deals 30d10 force damage? Meteor Swarm is trash by comparison!

She was amazed by the spell on the scroll. Its effect alone proved that the Netheril Empire had true power, not just the reputation naysayers gave it.

Chapter 570: This Golden Goblet Looks Very Familiar

Besides this triangular mini-library, there was another room where the second animated Catastrophe Blade had attacked Aoko—a place called the Tranquil Chamber.

Inside was a gray spindle, about ten feet long, floating in midair and slowly rotating. The surrounding walls were cracked, with faint, hard-to-see energy leaking through the fractures.

"There are experiment records here!" Simon picked up a notebook from a table.

"Is this a laboratory?" Edgin asked.

"It is," Simon replied, raising an eyebrow. "This was used to test dangerous magic. Iriolarthas tested that pillar fished from the Sea of Ice here."

"And this spindle… seems to suppress magic," Simon mused, inspecting it. "Does it generate a permanent antimagic field?"

Actually, no—Aoko knew the truth, as Mystra had just told her.

"Nope," Aoko shook her head. "This thing can locally disrupt the Weave, which is how it creates an anti-magic effect."

"That dangerous?" Simon recoiled. "How do you know? Did the library mention it?"

"No, the goddess of magic herself gave me a revelation," Aoko explained. "In short, we need to stay here overnight to deal with this."

Aoko wasn't bluffing. The spindle's design was by the archmage Karsus, a prototype before he created the Crown of Karsus.

Though not as powerful as the Crown, this spindle was a first-rate Weave-breaking bomb in the current era. As the current goddess of magic, Midnight couldn't ignore it.

Using Aoko as her beloved daughter intermediary, she'd finally found this dangerous item lost from her view for years. But dealing with it, especially within the city of Ythryn, wouldn't be easy. Aoko would need to meditate for hours, using her holy symbol as a conduit for the goddess's power to transfer the spindle away silently.

So Aoko simply set the entrance to her magnificent mansion spell inside the Tranquil Chamber. While Simon and the others were nervous about local Weave failures, Aoko knew that if the spindle exploded, nowhere in Ythryn would be safe anyway—so she didn't care.

Once everyone entered the mansion, Aoko stayed alone in the chamber, using her Weave fragment and holy symbol to channel the goddess's power into the spindle, making it grow more and more transparent.

"Well done," Mystra's voice sounded in Aoko's mind. "Inside that spindle is a fragment of Karsus's Weave. Even for me, it'll take a long time to heal and reintegrate it."

"It really takes that long?" Aoko stood and stretched. "Can you tell me where the mythallar is?"

"With Auril's divine interference, I can't see it," Mystra replied. "But given the tower's position at the city center, the mythallar is likely beneath it."

"Got it. Thanks for the warning!"

"Be careful, Aoko," Mystra's voice was serious. "In Ythryn, Auril's presence grows stronger. If you encounter her avatar, I advise you to flee immediately—her true form is hidden somewhere in the material plane."

"I understand," Aoko nodded. "I'm not one to risk my life for money."

Even though Aoko didn't need much sleep, she still needed long meditation to recover spell slots, and sleep itself was enjoyable. So after completing the goddess's task overnight, she returned to the mansion to sleep for a few hours.

At lunch, she emerged and greeted her teammates in the dining room.

"What's the plan today?" Edgin asked, biting into bread. "Are we continuing with the tower?"

"Yes… For now, our main goal is to enter Iriolarthas's study," Aoko replied, sipping tea. "From yesterday's book, the only entrance is the shaft in the hall, sealed by a hemispherical force field—it's a teleportation device."

"So, it's not easy to get in," Simon quipped. "Do we need a key? Maybe the one Doric found?"

"No, that key's for something else," Aoko replied, pulling out the map of Ythryn. "The teleport requires identity verification or a password. Forcing it may break the link."

"Here," she pointed, "the entry qualification is obtained here."

"Zone 8… What's this building?" Doric asked.

"House of the Arcane is Ythryn's general magic academy," Aoko said. "In the past, mages had to graduate from the House before studying in the Ebon Star Tower. The qualification is probably a diploma."

"Makes sense," Edgin nodded. "I spent some time at Bard College myself—good days."

After lunch, Aoko and her companions teleported to near Zone 8. The Tranquil Chamber still had her teleportation circle, and the city's anti-scrying effects couldn't block her teleporting to that spot.

As a landmark, the House of the Arcane was set with eight ivory-like towers, paired across the shattered roof to form arches.

Many facilities had long been ruined by disaster, but places like the grand hall still showed their former splendor.

Eight stained-glass windows overlooked the hall, intricate benches faced a tall dais, and on the dais stood a resplendent golden cup, mist drifting from it into the cold air.

Hey, isn't this the classic Type-Moon move—the Holy Grail?