Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Until just moments before King Spelloyal appeared, Kaizen thought the chances of this guy actually being alive were slim to none, and if he was, well, in Kaizen's view Niah should necessarily be correct about the mana disease for there to be any sense to this whole story. However, the truth was more complex than Psyker could imagine.

"... Niah, for what reason? Why did you do what you did? You could have killed me while I was weakening, you could have not fed me, but you didn't, what kept you from finishing the job?" King asked, as confused as Kaizen and the others were.

Niah seemed to be in shock. She had never imagined that this was possible to happen, not even in her worst nightmares.

In that moment of anguish, her wide-open eyes searched the entire hall for a way out of this situation, and for some reason they fell on Kaizen. Then she pointed at Psyker and exclaimed:

"You, Kaizen! I know what you are doing! You're trying to create a realistic illusion of the King to contain my troops, aren't you? I knew you were an evil wizard, so the princes--"

"That's enough!" The King shouted without patience and his voice reverberated for hundreds of meters, making everyone's bones shake. "There is no reason to lie anymore. It's over. Speak for the first time in your life with sincerity, without trying to lie, deceive or usurp those around you."

Niah got reaction once again. Her jaw was completely dropped and, at the same time, trembling. Her eyes were practically dry from such despair, and a few tears contained in the corners of her eyes. This was the face of her defeat. So she fell to her knees on the floor, lowered her head, and the white strands of her hair fell down as well, covering her face.

"Speak, Niah! Tell me why you didn't kill me!"

The Queen was quiet for a few seconds and then suddenly smiled in a corner way, making everyone shiver. Then she said while staring at the ground in a hallucinatory manner:

"You're right, Steveren. I am obsessed with power. I've been like this ever since I was just a noblewoman in this backward, mediocre kingdom. In fact, that was one of my characteristics that you praised the most even before you married me. My ambition... I thought that you had the same worldview as I did, that you had intentions to turn this country into more than a large conglomerate of lands from other kingdoms that your ancestors crushed. However, you were much weaker in spirit than I could have imagined."

As Niah spoke, her hands trembled endlessly just from remembering the past.

"Committed to that idiotic promise of your family to keep various parts of the nature of this kingdom intact, you have banned the use of coal and other raw materials for automation. This has put us behind all other nations, slowing our evolution in all areas. At first, I thought you had a plan. You always said that you were confident in the research of your magicians and that we should wait... At that same time, I lost any fraction of admiration I had for you and began to be disgusted even by your voice."

"Disgust?"

"Yes, disgust. Still, I knew that only by remaining on your side would I be able to change things, so I endured that. At that time also, in my own research, I discovered something different, a transparent force, hidden in the world, virtually undetectable even with the use of many different techniques. Through the ancient books I read, I discovered that there were records of fractions of this mysterious force in everything that has existed for thousands of years..."

"That's enough, Niah. Don't talk any more than that." Thenomor ordered and climbed a few steps up the ladder.

"Stop him!" commanded King Spelloyal.

The guards standing in the middle of the ladder did not hesitate to put blades in the direction of their captain's neck because of the orders. And Thenomor had no option but to accept his surrender.

"Continue now."

Niah smiled, not looking away from her obsessive gaze that aimed at the floor.

"Where was I? Ah, yes... In everything of matter there is this mysterious force, in plants, in our blood, in stones and even in rays of light and guess where else? In our mana. The court mages felt this force while they were making that artifact for you, but they did not want to risk messing with something so unknown and potentially dangerous. Cowards at the time. So, I used my skills with the occult and 'convinced' them to do it. The results were amazing if I may say so..."

Then Niah looked at the King and asked:

"Steveren, do you know why your mages put an amount limiter on your artifact that stored mana and would convert it to energy? I bet you don't know. The reality is that the more mana there was concentrated in a space, the greater was also the concentration of this mysterious force that I was so intrigued by." She stood up and continued to stare at the King. "So at that time I had an idea. I decided to experiment with putting together everything I had, which was the mana-sucking artifact and an intriguing possibility.... What was the best way to gather a massive amount of mana as quickly as possible? It certainly wasn't with your so-called mana-powered battery, so it would take years."

"That's why you used that thing on me."

"Exactly! You were the person with the most mana I knew, a legitimate noble of the royal lineage. Of course it could only be you." Niah exclaimed with glee and then changed his expression. "However, you delayed my plans when you somehow managed to taper off your mana outputs. Still, it was only a matter of time before I reached the stage I was aiming for. It was definitely better to wait a few months while I watched you struggle with this than to wait years, and since there was no going back after I had already bewitched you, I did everything I could to keep the story about you being sick, and at most a few people found out about it."

"You are a monster." King Spelloyal asserted, looking at her with contempt.

"No, I am just a Queen interested in taking her people to a new level. If we learned to use the power of the cosmic energy I discovered, anything would be within our reach, even complete domination of the other Great Human Kingdoms!"

"Frankly, woman! Do you realize the gravity of what you are saying? It doesn't matter how powerful something is within your grasp or how beneficial that power might initially be to us and the people. Sooner or later this power would take its toll, everything has a price, and believe me when I say that there are forces in this world that should not be disturbed or stimulated. That is what is best for the common good."

"Again this talk of the common good.... Who decides what can be good and what cannot? You? No, it's not... And I swear, Steveren, there is something on the other side, even now I can feel that force calling out to me."

The King massaged his temples with a single hand and his forehead wrinkled with stress and weakness.

"I don't know why I am still trying to dialogue with you.... Deep down, I was hoping that you had plausible reasons for forcing all this on me. The things you blurted out while you thought I was asleep.... I even thought that you felt guilty about all of this, only now you show me how wrong I was to expect anything from you other than the exact same revulsion I feel for you now! So, with the power granted to me as King of Tretidian, I declare that you, Niah Spelloyal, or rather Niah Waylan, will be sentenced to the maximum penalty of a common citizen of this Kingdom, the death penalty!"

Most of the people watching the scene sighed in surprise. Nevertheless, for everyone everything that was happening was a huge shock.

However, the only person who didn't seem surprised by this decision by King Spelloyal was Queen Niah herself, who after a few moments laughed and then began to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Poor, Steveren... Do you still think you can stop me? I'm not afraid to say that's impossible! I'm not an idiot who depends on others like you, I've drawn up my own plans and guarantee!" She shouted and raised both hands to about the height of her chest.

Then a reddish aura enveloped Niah. The long necklace that was inside her dress floated out and that necklace was what emanated this red and corrupt aura. Her eyes turned red, and her hair turned from white to black.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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