Chapter 341
Chapter 341: Time to Learn New Magic Again, Hehe
Several Servants stepped forward and gave gentle bows of respect to the diplomats and Knights.
Their faces were identical, and even their voices flowed soft as water:
"This way, please, everyone."
"We will show you all to your resting quarters."
The diplomats exchanged glances; the Knights gave slight nods.
Guided by the Servants, everyone set off along the garden path through the flowerbeds toward the side of the great residence.
Watching the Knights gradually disappear into the depths of the garden, Gwen paused for a moment.
After a single glance at Viktor, she fell into step with the Knight company and departed.
Since the Servants had already come to take them to their rest, everyone naturally understood.
This Grand Duke presumably had something he wished to say to Auréliane.
And as Auréliane's teacher, Viktor's proper place was always at the princess's side.
At that moment, Xiangyilan was standing beside Auréliane.
Auréliane patted the little Cat-girl's head with a slightly helpless expression and gave her ears a couple of gentle strokes.
"You don't need to keep me company tonight. Go and rest properly."
Xiangyilan gave an obedient nod, then followed the Servants away.
After that, the entire Courtyard held only 3 people—Grand Duke Balo, Auréliane, and Viktor.
"Follow me."
He left only those words, then walked toward the residence entirely on his own.
Auréliane glanced at Viktor; at his nod of encouragement, she quickly followed.
The 3 of them passed through a grand, gold-adorned corridor and arrived at a spacious hall.
This hall was a strange sight.
Nothing had been placed anywhere inside it—not so much as a small table, not even a sofa.
It seemed to exist purely as a room that, besides being remarkably large, had no apparent purpose.
Viktor, however, raised his head and looked around.
As if he understood something, he lowered his head and spoke softly behind Auréliane.
"Your Highness, whatever happens next—don't be surprised."
"After this, I won't be accompanying you any further."
Auréliane startled faintly, and before she could even form her question, Grand Duke Balo's voice rang out.
"A rather interesting Demi-human girl—she carries a power that doesn't belong to her."
He spoke as if his words held a deeper meaning, then turned his head back toward Auréliane.
"Now—have you made up your mind?"
Auréliane knew exactly what Grand Duke Balo was referring to.
Necromancer magic.
The magic that countless Mages had always regarded with revulsion.
Honestly, she had been somewhat opposed to it herself.
After all, a magic that toyed with corpses and souls didn't exactly sound normal.
Yet no matter how she turned it over in her mind, she still wanted to learn this remarkable art.
Magic that could bring the dead back to life……
And so, Auréliane drew a slow, deep breath, as if steeling herself.
"Grandfather, I'm ready."
She and this grandfather had never met before, but perhaps because of their blood connection—when she actually laid eyes on Grand Duke Balo, Auréliane had felt an inexplicable sense of closeness.
Even if Grandfather didn't look very approachable, he was patient with her.
And so, Auréliane chose to place her trust in Grand Duke Balo.
Hearing Auréliane's answer, Grand Duke Balo gave a single nod:
"Good."
He leaned on his walking cane and gave the ground a gentle tap.
In an instant, a ring of jade-green fire rolled up from beneath the Grand Duke's feet, churning outward in every direction.
The flames expanded rapidly, swallowing the entire residence whole.
A deep fog wrapped tightly around everything; the world transformed within that jade-green mist.
The spacious golden hall vanished, replaced by crumbling, decrepit towers rising up from a fractured gorge.
Jade-green smoke drifted slowly up from the earth, submerging those broken towers one by one.
A black quagmire burst suddenly from the air, scattering into a sky full of writhing souls.
They dragged their murky black forms along as they drifted beneath the sky.
The heavens were impossibly overcast; that melancholy, lifeless chill descended from above, driving straight down into the earth.
Sensing the ruined world around her, Auréliane's instincts spoke clearly.
It seemed she had arrived again at that boundary between the so-called Realm of the Dead and the Realm of the Living.
This time, though, she was at least a little more mentally prepared.
Then Auréliane looked around.
One person was missing.
Master Viktor was nowhere to be seen.
It was then that she thought back to what her teacher had said to her just a moment ago.
So when he said he couldn't accompany her from here—that was what he meant?
At that moment, Grand Duke Balo's low voice rose up:
"The difference between a Necromancer and an elemental Mage lies in their source of power."
An elemental Mage must commune with the magical elements of heaven and earth, releasing Magic of corresponding attributes by mastering the power of the 6 great elements.
A Necromancer, however, does not rely on elemental magic. Their power draws from……
"The realm of the dead."
At those words, Auréliane's body gave a faint stiffening.
At that moment, Grand Duke Balo began to walk slowly toward the gorge.
Auréliane followed close behind, every step careful and measured.
As if she feared that one careless step might send her tumbling into that murky, bottomless gorge.
Grand Duke Balo came to a stop.
On the broken remnant of a bridge above the gorge, a rotting wooden door had appeared.
An icy, bone-piercing, mold-laden air seeped out from the door.
It felt as though tiny demons were crawling up Auréliane's body, slipping into her nostrils, wandering through her organs.
The sensation brought a wave of intense discomfort.
She could only stand before the wooden door, feeling the cold wind stir against her body.
Suddenly.
The wooden door swung open, releasing a teeth-grating creak.
Then, a sharp sound erupted and came howling out from behind the door.
It was as if a pair of ghostly long arms had reached out from beyond and abruptly seized Auréliane by the shoulders.
Auréliane's body jolted violently. Her mind felt for an instant as if it were dissolving; an indescribable terror and pain swept through her entire being.
Then her consciousness cleared sharply—like waking from a nightmare.
She looked toward the door again, only to find it had already vanished without a trace.
The scene around her had transformed completely.
Before her, still lay that broad expanse of scorched earth.
The towering, twisted towers from before had crumbled to dust and scattered away.
They carried with them that overcast heaviness, as if she had been dropped to the bottom of a winter lake—filled with cold and death.
Countless void-like shapes, each resembling a soul, spiraled through the air without ceasing, dragging along half-formed bodies, clutching at invisible nothingness as they struggled to drift.
One soul swept past right in front of Auréliane.
She even caught a glimpse of the twisted expression on the specter's face—deeply unsettling.
In an instant, Auréliane felt her skin crawl, the color draining from her face.
Grand Duke Balo, however, seemed to take no notice of any of this.
He continued to move through those terrifying spectres with perfect composure, the tip of his distinctive walking cane tapping the ground as he went, speaking on:
"This is one of the realms of the countless dead."
"A gathering place for tens of thousands of restless, solitary souls."
Watching the solitary souls floating overhead, Auréliane couldn't suppress a wave of fear.
These non-living wraiths sent a chill straight through her heart.
She cowered anxiously behind Grand Duke Balo, startling and flinching whenever one of the souls suddenly lunged toward her.
At this moment, she couldn't help feeling a pang of regret.
She never should have come to learn this Necromancer magic.
Grand Duke Balo, however, paid no attention whatsoever to Auréliane's fear.
He continued walking while introducing her to all manner of things about Necromancer magic.
"In this place, you cannot attack them, and you cannot force them into submission through force or Magic Power."
"There is only 1 thing you can do."
Grand Duke Balo came to a standstill and, once again, struck his walking cane against the ground.
In that instant, the surrounding darkness gradually brightened with a light.
The sky seemed to awaken, glowing faintly like scattered fireflies, breaking apart in all directions.
Like a fine golden dust, it drifted outward toward the wandering solitary souls floating all around.
"You must reach out with the gentlest Magic Power and make the softest of contact."
"Connect deeply. Purify purely."
The luminous Magic Power bathed the solitary souls in a soft light, their twisted forms gradually absorbed within it.
A warm, pliant force, like a gentle embrace, enveloped them; the souls grew calm within that tender, swirling glow.
"Listen to the wishes they carried in life. Soothe those distorted souls."
Beneath the radiance, the battered and incomplete forms of the wraiths were slowly restored by that pulsing Magic Power.
Jade-green flames ignited on the bare forms of the souls' bodies, streaming toward Grand Duke Balo.
"Finally, let them give themselves willingly—and become the power that belongs to you."
The Magic Power gradually took the shape of heavy armor, layering itself across the wraiths' bodies.
They gripped cold, hard weapons, and the jade-green flames at their feet seemed to provide them with boundless force.
Like loyal warriors, these now-solidified wraiths formed orderly ranks before the Grand Duke.
They knelt on one knee, showing him the utmost respect.
Yet in the sky above, a single soul remained.
Grand Duke Balo turned around, looked at the soul he had deliberately left behind, and spoke:
"Auréliane."
"Now, you try……"
The words weren't finished before the Grand Duke fell silent.
As if caught off guard.
For the first time, his eyes widened—just the slightest fraction.
Grand Duke Balo instinctively looked down.
There was Auréliane—also looking down, as if in terror, her eyes squeezed shut.
One hand trembled as it clasped against her chest, while the other had latched tightly onto the corner of his robe.
As though searching for some sense of safety.
The Grand Duke looked at her with a faintly startled expression, and asked in a low voice:
"You……are frightened?"
Auréliane kept her eyes shut, her body trembling faintly—she couldn't even manage a response.
The Grand Duke looked down at her, and in his eyes there passed a flicker of helplessness, and a trace of something that resembled fond memory.
Like—truly like her……
Auréliane, your mother, once did the very same thing.
"Well then……there's nothing to be done."
At the light tap of his walking cane against the ground, the wraiths seemed to disperse with a breath of wind—like dust, scattering across the earth.
Even that final solitary soul, set alight by jade-green flames, faded into a wisp of starlight and gradually vanished.
Across the desolate expanse, only Grand Duke Balo's low voice still echoed.
Carrying a touch of gentleness, a touch of yielding.
"Come along."
"Let Grandfather teach you something else."