Chapter 170: Something Arrived

’Okay, I probably lost consciousness and started dreaming. Right?’

Magna finally convinced himself of it, because he could not believe the man would die only a few days after he last saw him.

The pain he still felt all over his body from the boiling water felt as real as it could be. Even so, it was not his first time having such a realistic dream.

He figured he must have passed out without even realizing it, probably because of the dense mana around him.

’But how will I wake myself up?’

He looked at the 3 figures, Green, Morrigan, and Titus. All of them just stared at him with empty eyes. They did not seem sane, or even aware of where they were.

’Okay, if it’s a dream, it’s my dream, so I can control it.’ Magna first looked at Titus as he thought this.

’First of all, you are making me uncomfortable. Just go away.’

The next moment, the big man actually started to move.

His body suddenly began to rise upward quickly, pulled like it was tied to a string.

The sight made Magna sure he was really dreaming, the kind of dream he could control.

At last, he felt relieved.

Next, he turned his gaze to the other ghosts.

Swimming with all those dead made him uncomfortable. It made him feel like he was really dead, so he made them disappear too. ’You too, go follow him. You are making the place crowded.’

Right then, all of them suddenly stopped. Like Titus, their silver, transparent bodies started to be pulled upward in the same way.

Now only Green and Morrigan remained.

These 2 women were the real reason Magna was still alive, so even if this was only a dream, he still wanted to show them the respect they deserved.

He looked at Morrigan first. ’You know I met your daughter? She is just as much of a fighter as you.’

A small smile appeared on the spirit’s face, but Magna didn’t think much of it. He just kept talking in his mind. ’She and the girl you saved, Faye, are now at the Tower. I’m sure they will become very strong in the future. So whatever you are now, you can be at ease.’

Magna wished he could really say those words to Morrigan herself. Even so, saying them like this made him feel quite good.

This was his way of thanking her for the impact she had on his life.

The smile on the spirit’s face grew bigger. Soon, she also began to rise, following the others toward the surface.

Magna watched her disappear for a while. Finally, he turned his attention to the Mother Goblin.

He felt a lump in his chest when he looked at that face and thought of the words he had wanted to say to her for so long. ’You were... You are a great mother. The best I have ever known or had.’

So far in his life, this goblin was the one who taught him that unconditional love was real.

He had once even thought that a mother might see her child as an investment, one she made through all the effort of raising them, so they would take care of her when she grew old.

Yet this woman, whom others called a lowly monster, had actually taught him otherwise.

’Thank you.’

With his next words fading in his mind, Green’s silver, transparent body started to shine.

’I hope you can find your happiness in your next life.’

At some point, her light became so bright that the golden light around him seemed dim. It filled the entire place with silver light.

Inside that blinding light, Magna felt a warm hug around his body. This time, it was something physical rather than just a feeling.

Then, the silver light suddenly disappeared, and the golden glow of the boiling water returned around him.

Magna was left all alone again, sinking deeper and deeper into the water.

He wasn’t sure whether he had truly woken up from his dream or not.

—

The skeleton army kept pouring through the gate Narcissa had opened. Hundreds, even thousands, of them already filled the area, with more still coming out like there was no end.

Narcissa looked at her army with satisfied eyes while they surrounded the 2 figures in the middle.

It was actually her strongest spell. She had not created it herself, but she was the one who had made it this powerful.

Every skeleton under her command was a victim she had killed with her own hands. She had then turned each one into a skeleton soldier with those same hands.

She had even found a way to connect the spell to the Underworld.

She could create a small opening to that realm and store her skeleton army there. This allowed her to summon them whenever she wanted with minimal mana, without having to carry them around all the time.

But her spell still lacked something. It needed stronger undead soldiers.

She looked at Celeste, whose entire body was covered in wounds. Her breathing was ragged, yet she still tried to remain standing.

Next, she looked at the man in front of her. He was kneeling on the ground, lying motionless in a small lake made of his own blood.

"Looks like he finally died." Narcissa’s tone was slightly mocking and impatient.

Celeste’s expressionless face turned colder at those words.

She looked at her husband’s motionless body, which was covered in countless wounds. Swords, daggers, and arrows were still stuck in his shattered frost armor, leaving bleeding wounds all over it.

He really looked like he had taken his last breath while fighting, trying to protect her.

The area around them was also complete chaos. Countless shattered and frozen bones were scattered everywhere, which was enough to prove how long and hard they had been fighting.

But no matter how hard they tried or how many undead they killed, more kept coming. In the end, this drained their stamina and mana until they accepted their deaths.

Celeste tried to look toward where Rowena and Corvo were fighting, but the skeletons blocked her view, so she could not see them.

The only thing she could hear was the intense sound of the fighting, but as time passed, even that grew quieter and gradually faded away. From this, she was sure the battle on that side was also coming to an end.

Unfortunately, the winner was already clear.

’Sorry, Faye.’

At last, her legs also gave out, dropping her to her knees.

It was not that death itself made her this sorrowful, since death was already part of a Witch’s life.

It was just leaving her precious daughter alone in this world that made her chest ache.

With her mana reserve completely empty, she looked at her husband’s broad back one last time. Then she slowly closed her eyes, hearing only the clinking of bones approaching to land the final blow.

A sword cutting her neck, a spear thrusting through her back, an arrow piercing her skull. She wasn’t sure which one would be the last pain she would feel before dying for good.

But while she waited, none of them arrived.

Instead, something different, something more terrifying than anything she had ever witnessed or even thought could be witnessed, descended.