MEMORIES OF AN OVERLORD
by Victar (vctr113062 [at] aol [dot] com)
Victar's Archive: https://www.vicfanfic.com
"I believe in souls. That's something?
"I wonder what happened to their souls..."
Chapter Thirty
Memories of a Scholar: Confirmation
"Laminah, you do not need to shake me," Cedric calmly rebuffed. "I will remain conscious without any chant. The aftereffects of wielding holy power are not as strong, this time."
"You were on the edge of oblivion," the warrior sharply returned.
"Physical fatigue. I am recovering." Kreisia's native-born Savior adjusted his footing. "You no longer need to help me stand, though your aid is much appreciated."
"Do not reinforce Cynthia's barrier with more holy power."
"I expect that will not be necessary." Cedric glanced at Anemos, who was intently focused on empowering Cynthia with bardic magic, then at the Holy Brand Aldea. Lights flickered up and down the length of the hovering sword.
Cedric turned his gaze toward the motionless Overlord situated well ahead of them all.
The wall of holy magic that had been behind Overlord Yusis' back had faded away. He was left in a sitting position with his legs splayed out, head bowed, one arm limp and the other folded over his abdomen. Although his back was to the others, he maintained his visual illusion of a living Savior, aside from the wide, empty hole in his chest.
You look like a wind-up doll that has run out of power, Cedric silently observed. That is essentially what the Greater Seal is, when depleted of miasma, but more is coming. It is drawn to you, because attracting and concentrating miasma is the Greater Seal's function.
Aldea's flickering lights momentarily froze in a checkered pattern.
*My avatar and the Overlord are correct. A miasma incursion is imminent,* announced the sentient weapon.
The Holy Brand changed shape into a shining, translucent inner layer of Cynthia's shield, seconds before an explosion boomed and roared in everyone's ears. The section of the empty room's wall in front of Yusis burst apart, scattering massive chunks of debris; one struck and bounced off Cynthia's holy barrier.
%Time Stop,% Yusis intoned, without moving.
Everything before him became like a still work of art.
Midair debris remained hovering. Cedric saw and felt the oppressive intensity of poisonous miasma vapors reaching through a vast, jet-black hole in the wall, but the malevolent smoke did not spread more than a short distance past where Yusis was sitting.
The Holy Brand Aldea ceased reinforcing Cynthia's barrier, and returned to the shape of a hovering sword.
"Did you seal the miasma reservoir through Chronomancy, instead of within the Greater Seal?" Cedric asked, in amazement.
Yusis rose to his feet and swept one arm down across his torso. The empty hole in his chest closed up, covered by the illusionary memory of the casual clothing he had worn as Kreisia's most unlikely Savior.
"Did you just shut down the Greater Seal's function to attract and concentrate miasma?" Cedric sounded even more astonished.
Yusis uncertainly turned around. "Uh, Cedric? You should know..."
"Are you powering the Greater Seal through airborne miasma alone?"
"...that I'm still fighting you. %The Overlord cannot surrender.%" Yusis snapped his fingers, and a crocodile-monster appeared in front of Cynthia's barrier. "The other stuff you asked is pretty much right."
Laminah resolutely stepped through Cynthia's barrier and hacked at the crocodile-monster with her halberd.
Yusis continued, "I don't hear the Voice of Orzand or feel its pressure, so the rules are nowhere near as 'serious' as they were before. I can push their limits a lot further - I can even tell you how I'm going to attack - but I'll get erased if I flat-out break the rules. Maybe. Or maybe not, since there's not much miasma inside the Greater Seal right now, but I really don't want to take the risk."
"Can I let this barrier down?" Cynthia piped up, with a pained look to Yusis.
"Uh, that's your call," Yusis muttered, his eyes darting to one side. "I can tell you that %Time Stop% lasts ten years when it doesn't affect living or undead beings, and I cast it on an area of space. Even if the Greater Seal is destroyed, you'll have a decade before the seal on the miasma behind me wears off."
Cynthia let her holy barrier dissipate. She made a pained gasp, and applied a healing bead to herself.
"And, uh, I literally can't approach any of you," Yusis added, his eyes darting to his other side. "Since I need airborne miasma to move. I can't restore the Greater Seal's ability to make a miasma vortex-battery by myself. This %Time Stop% won't affect you just like it doesn't affect me, and I designed it to let breathable air in. So, it's your call if you want to fight close range or at a distance."
The crocodile-monster, now thoroughly dismembered, dissolved into plumes of miasma. Yusis snapped his fingers again, summoning a flightless bird-monster in front of Laminah. Anemos moved to the warrior's side, and called upon bardic magic to aid her.
Anemos sighed, "Have we returned to 'Endless mode'?"
"No, I don't have to be that serious. This is just baseline monster summoning." Yusis snapped his fingers; an oversized ferret-monster appeared and lunged for Anemos, who lithely evaded its bite. "I could attack with the %Miasma rain% signature spell, maybe. It's only strong for Wizard Overlords; my version is so weak that I couldn't use it in a 'serious' battle before. It's just, that spell is disgusting, and I feel sorry for the monsters. The more you can set free, the better."
Empowered by bardic magic, Laminah sliced the both the bird-monster and the ferret-monster in half, with a single great swing of her halberd. Both monsters dissipated into miasma-smoke.
Cedric stated, "There will be time enough to liberate the souls trapped within Kreisia's monsters later, Overlord Yusis. For the present, I propose an armistice. Let us temporarily suspend our battle to the death so that we may address other matters, including but not limited to investigating what appears to be an extradimensional miasma reservoir. Can you agree to this?"
"Sure, that's fine."
Yusis abruptly became rigidly straight, and raised both hands to his head. "That - that is fine. That really is fine. How did you know that's fine?"
"I did not know until I asked."
"How did you know to ask at all?"
"I am quite familiar with being heavily constrained by rules. I have engaged in parliamentary procedure for close to twenty years."
"Huh? Oh, right. You're a politician." Yusis slowly lowered his hands from his head. "Wait, you're a Kreisian politician. How do you even know the word-"
*Do not press this corrupt tangent any further. I informed my avatar that the word 'armistice' could serve as a term for 'temporary suspension of hostilities between the Savior and the Overlord' during one of his insufferable barrages of endless questions.* Inaudible exasperation strongly affected the Holy Brand's soundless interruption.
Cedric explained, "I had reason to suspect that a miasma reservoir external to the Greater Seal existed, and that we might need your assistance to locate or contend with it. Unfortunately, my hypothesis has been confirmed; Kreisia is still in danger."
Yusis raised an eyebrow. "Just how much have you been interrogating Aldea?"
*Insufferable. Barrages. ENDLESS. QUESTIONS.*
Yusis flashed an ever-so-slightly nasty smile. "Cedric, I don't hate you anymore." The smile quickly faded. "There's something important that all of you need to keep in mind. Our armistice has to end tomorrow."
Laminah's stoic expression showed no change. Cynthia touched her fingertips together and looked at the floor. Cedric furrowed his brow and turned toward the flickering Holy Brand, presumably engaging in silent communication.
Anemos quietly asked, "Must the destined battle resume at the stroke of midnight?"
"Not midnight tonight. The time limit isn't that short," Yusis clarified. "We have to finish the battle to the death before midnight tomorrow, or else I'll be erased."
"Acknowledged," Cedric firmly replied, turning to face the Overlord. "Forgive me for asking this, but I must know - what would be the consequences, if neither your mind nor Orzand's mind remained within the Greater Seal?"
"Uhh..." Yusis' eyes darted back and forth. "...well... the Greater Seal is made out of miasma. Without any mind in control, I think miasma's 'will' would drive the Greater Seal berserk. 'Hatred of life' would make the Greater Seal dismiss the %Time Stop% and rampage across Kreisia. I don't know if the %Time Stop% is sealing enough miasma to drown the world, and you definitely don't want to find out the hard way."
"Indeed," Cedric assented. "Yusis, I would refine our current agreement. Let neither of us end the armistice without warning."
Yusis briefly touched his forehead. His eyes darted down and to the side. "Uh, okay. That's fine. We can decide in advance when we'll finish the destined battle."
*I accept your word as sincere, but I will be monitoring you closely, Overlord.*
"Whatever, Aldea. You know I'm compelled to keep any bargain I make," Yusis grumbled. "For now, let me check out this 'miasma reservoir' first." He reached for the glasses on a cord around his neck, flicked them open with a single shake, and put them on as he moved toward the dark hole in the wall.
*Will some illumination interfere with your reconnaissance?*
Yusis paused before the gaping hole and shook his head. "No, you can shine as much light as you want. It won't affect me while I'm in %Final Form: Vision.%"
The Holy Brand remained hovering where it was, but the darkness beyond the hole in the wall grew lighter, revealing drifting miasma-smoke and a rocky floor pockmarked with pools of liquid miasma.
Cedric remarked, "My current theory is that this reservoir came into being when Yumarac used Orzand to seal Kreisia's miasma. I expected the reservoir to be physically located within Kreisia; in retrospect, I should not have made such an assumption. Yumarac once possessed incalculable magic power over space as well as time, enabling him to travel between worlds."
Yusis passed through the opening and glanced about. He said, "This space... it isn't really part of Kreisia. It's more like a closed-off pocket. It's..."
Yusis frowned. A long moment passed.
"Anemos," Yusis softly addressed. "I need you to come here and play that lullaby. Be careful; you don't want to step in one of those pools. Don't stray from the border of this 'pocket dimension', either. The %Time Stop% is maintaining a cushion of breathable air, and your miasma resistance will protect you from the smoke, but you can't survive if you wander too far in. The rest of you, stay quiet for a while."
Anemos crossed into the pocket dimension, and played his hauntingly beautiful nocturne.
Yusis closed his eyes and touched his hands together, as the song reverberated around him. A deep blue glow appeared on his fingers, gathering luminosity until the bard's mellifluous nocturne concluded.
%Take a nap,% Yusis intoned, moving his hands by his head while inclining his neck. A subtle, deep blue tint affected the all-encompassing darkness, and rippled on the pools of liquid miasma.
Yusis opened his eyes, straightened his neck, and lowered his hands. He carefully studied his surroundings through his necromantic-magic glasses.
"Okay, it's mostly safe to come in," Yusis called to the others. "It's not completely safe. Stay near the border and watch where you step; those miasma pools are a lot deeper than they look. And... Cedric, you must not purify any more miasma right now."
"Acknowledged," Kreisia's native-born Savior replied.
Cynthia and Laminah entered the pocket dimension, stopping near where Anemos stood. Cedric trailed behind them. The Holy Brand Aldea hovered next to Cedric, generating an anti-poison ward to protect its avatar from airborne miasma.
"Did you cast a bardic magic spell?" Cedric quietly asked Yusis.
Yusis shook his head. "Not really. Like how %Miasma dance% wasn't really bardic magic. I just got some help to power up my sleep spell, and it's an extremely strong spell to begin with. You don't have to keep your voice down anymore. Even yelling won't break the spell, but messing too much with the miasma could."
Cedric warily eyed the darkness tinged with hints of deep blue.
"This place is a real problem," Yusis warned, in a reserved tone. "We have to figure out a permanent solution. It's not enough to seal everything off and leave it alone. That's what Yumarac did, and you all know how that turned out."
*Was my creator truly here?*
"More than that. Yumarac made 'here'. Can't you pick up on it, Aldea? Can't you feel what's all around us?"
*This place... contains...*
"The Mind of Orzand," Yusis finished.
Yusis turned away, staring into the darkness. "I only suspected before, but I have proof now. Echoes of the past are here, monster memories preserved in the miasma. I couldn't see them in Kreisia, but I can see them here.
"Yumarac shaped Orzand out of mind-related magic, to save Kreisia from the miasma.
"Orzand saved no one.
"The Mind of Orzand is embedded within the miasma of this 'reservoir'. Near the end of every ten-year cycle, miasma from here starts spilling into Kreisia.
"The Mind of Orzand is undead, in the sense that all it has for a 'body' is dark magic - miasma consumed its body of mind-related magic long ago - but Orzand isn't like other undead monsters. It's more like Aldea.
"Orzand is different from other monsters in that it has to sleep a lot, same as how Aldea has to sleep for years every cycle, although Orzand prefers to take catnaps. Orzand also doesn't have a dark magic shell of its own. The Greater Seal protects the Overlord Orzand from sleep spells, but the Mind of Orzand is vulnerable to any attack that can induce unconsciousness. Purifying my miasma in Kreisia was like a knockout punch.
"I've made Orzand sleep more deeply, for now."
*Just as my creator once did.*
"Yeah. Orzand might not wake up for decades or centuries, if left alone, but it won't sleep forever."
Lights flickered up and down the length of the hovering sword.
Yusis looked over his shoulder, and flattened his eyebrows in annoyance. "Aldea, quit it."
*I must know.*
"Now, you would become a scholar?" Cedric remarked to the Holy Brand.
Yusis returned his gaze to the abyss before him. "Aldea, you're not going to find anything you didn't see before."
Aldea's flickering lights momentarily froze in a checkered pattern.
*Could your soul truly be...?*
"Don't even finish that thought. Just don't." Yusis shook his head.
The Holy Brand's golden luster became dull, although it continued to maintain a protective ward around Cedric.
"Yumarac was a lot more arrogant that the legends suggest," Yusis coldly stated. "His 'incalculable magic power'? Most of it didn't come from him. It came from his stuff. Ever wonder why Alteans don't have as much talent for magic as Lunarls do? The Alteans inherited nearly all of their potential for magic from Yumarac's wife, not him.
"Yumarac wasn't just arrogant. He was also cruel. You already know that from the all-devouring cycle he invented to 'protect' Kreisia, and how he 'accidentally' destroyed his own wife, but there's more.
"Yumarac thought it was such a good idea to create Orzand and throw it into the miasma. I'm not even sure Orzand had a choice. It looked up to Yumarac so much, just like Aldea looks up to Yumarac now. If a parent were to ask their little child, 'Are you willing to seal all this miasma and save Kreisia?', would the child really have a choice?
"Yumarac must have had some idea of the risks involved, because he did take precautions. He brought a fighting force of loyal followers to witness Orzand's sacrifice. He created this 'pocket dimension' specifically to contain Orzand after it sealed Kreisia's miasma.
"Yumarac shaped Orzand with internal safeguards. He used mind-related magic so he could make Orzand's mind extremely resistant to being erased, and he composed a set of rules that would act like a shield to supplement Orzand's resistance. Yumarac even wrote a mental 'user manual' to go with the rules.
"Yumarac made Orzand unable to use most mind-related magic, especially mind-related magic that controls living people, a limit that Orzand can't get around unless its target voluntarily and knowingly pledges obedience. More safeguards compel Orzand to be honest when negotiating a bargain, and uphold all bargains to the letter; Orzand can't make a deal if either side believes they can't guarantee their obligation.
"Yumarac also programmed Orzand to stop itself from dumping a flood of miasma on its creator. Yumarac used off-world ancestry as a conditional trigger; his restriction makes Orzand interrupt its spell if any pure-blooded off-worlders are in or near a flood-targeted area. That's how off-world Saviors have blocked Orzand's attempts to drown wherever, just by being there. Only a spell that targets everywhere at once - a spell to drown the whole world in miasma - is powerful enough to override Orzand's programming.
"Yumarac's half-baked, afterthought safety features turned out to be a sick joke.
"The miasma seized control of Orzand's rules, rewriting them into a twisted parody of what they once were. Orzand was almost instantly corrupted into what it is now. Yumarac was so prideful, so sure of himself, that he was completely shocked when Orzand turned on him.
"Orzand destroyed all of Yumarac's magic stuff. Yumarac was left nearly helpless; he could still use Altean chants and a little magic, including time magic, but that wasn't good for much. Chants don't work on Orzand, just like they don't work on Aldea, and Yumarac didn't have anywhere near enough power to stop Orzand's time. All Yumarac's remaining time magic could do was make him dodge Orzand's attacks way better than anyone else.
"You remember the legend of how Yumarac led a great army against Orzand, don't you? That really did happen, sort of. Yumarac and his followers tried to battle Orzand, but it's kind of hard to fight a monster made of liquid miasma.
"Miasma is all about inflicting death, terror, and suffering. Yumarac's followers were irresistible targets. While Orzand had a field day toying with them, Yumarac desperately tried every trick he could think of.
"When Yumarac made a last-ditch attempt at a sleep spell, it worked. Too late to save anyone except himself, but it actually worked. Orzand was so distracted that it didn't resist the magic at all.
"What do you think happened to Yumarac's followers, after that?"
Laminah recalled, "The legend said they were all lost."
Anemos mused, "They were never seen in Kreisia again, not even as undead."
Cynthia whispered, "Yusis, do you mean they're still...?"
Cedric reasoned, "I know what you want us to do, Yusis. Let us accomplish it during our armistice."
Yusis faced the group. "Miasma and monsters poisoned a few of them before Orzand's sacrifice. The others were Orzand's first victims.
"I saw the memories of the lucky ones; they were destroyed by their own comrades, before the last of them were killed and reanimated. Yumarac abandoned the rest when he closed off this space. They've been trapped ever since. Most of them have completely lost their minds. A couple have barely enough awareness to answer me in the 'network'.
"Turns out the 'great army' wasn't so great. In size, that is. Their heroism was greater than I can put into words.
"There are about thirty former Vargs and Lunarls in here. I know today's been rough, but I don't want to leave them in this place for one moment longer, and I can't free their souls by myself. As long as you don't object to fighting them, I can summon them and command them to attack you without ending the armistice. It won't count as a 'serious' battle; you'll just be recycling their miasma to help me prepare for tomorrow. According to the rules, you're serving your Overlord.
"They're all super-strong, so don't let any of them hit you, and don't let them finish casting any spells. This time, I can support you with a spell I've invented; preparing for the destined battle's conclusion takes priority over the rule against helping the living.
"Are all of you ready?"
Anemos strummed his lute and affirmed, "Of course, Yusis."
Cynthia conjured her magical crossbow. "Let's do it."
Laminah drew her halberd and told Cedric, "Let us handle this. If you must participate, then do not invoke any more holy power."
"Acknowledged," Cedric said to Laminah. The Holy Brand remained silently hovering in midair.
%Pity this suffering monster,% Yusis intoned, snapping his fingers.
A misshapen, undead soldier that once belonged to Yumarac's army appeared, enveloped by a distortion of violet magic that reduced its movements to a sluggish crawl.
End of Chapter Thirty: Confirmation