Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Melina's body felt like it would burst apart, but she didn't stop. As Monster Lord sent a powerful beam of magic towards Alistair, she called upon . It was much harder to produce the magic without the guidance of the System, but she didn't spend decades studying magic to become dependent on the System.

The spell resisted her at first—the mana amount was more than her body could handle. She felt herself breaking apart until finally she burst. Something broke within her, and her body suddenly could absorb all the ambient mana. It didn't choke her anymore—it nourished her.

"What?!" Monster Lord gasped in shock.

"How?!" Alistair and Elowen looked equally surprised.

"I knew you were merely hiding your abilities! Pretending to be harmless while plotting to destroy this world once again," Monster Lord yelled in rage and mercilessly threw one magic spell after another on Melina.

She blocked them all, opting for precise defense using the minimal amount of mana necessary. Something had happened to her. had reached Rank S, although she had never heard of such a rank before. It was like an invisible barrier that had her in a chokehold this whole time had been lifted. She could grab the ambient mana and use it to power her spells.

"Die, Archmage!" Monster Lord yelled, growing more and more panicked as Melina blocked one of his spells after another.

It was just like the last time. Spells were flying everywhere, starting from small fireballs, ending with massive lightning charges that struck giant areas. It didn't matter to Melina. As long as there was ambient mana, she could take it and form a shield.

This unique ability that she had learned—control over ambient mana—was what set her apart from other mages and earned her the title [Archmage]. It was an ability gained from a deep understanding of magic, not merely following the path laid down by the System.

As she deflected spells, she realized that she couldn't escape who she was or what she had done. But Melina was determined to set things right.

"I don't wish to harm you! Please, let's stop this," Melina called to the Monster Lord.

He stopped and clenched his fists. If this hadn't happened before, then she did not doubt that she would keep fighting until the bitter end—until there was no mana left and until all the drow soldiers were dead. They both knew that was what had happened the first time. But they also knew that Melina was the one who would emerge victorious. Even if her body were in horrible pain, even if there was blood pouring from her every orifice, as long as there was mana around her, she would NOT lose.

"Monster Lord, I plead with you to listen. We all want to achieve the same goal. There is no reason for us to fight," Elowen said and bowed deeply before him.

Alistair's gaze was much sharper than Elowen's, but he also bowed, "Please, hear us out!"

"I don't wish to destroy our worlds again. I know I cannot ask for forgiveness, but please, give me a chance to fix the errors that I've made," Melina said and also bowed, shortly followed by Sienna.

Drow soldiers had their weapons poised and ready, awaiting order to attack from the Monster Lord.

"Our worlds?" He asked cautiously. "You mean to say that the Human World perished as well?"

"That is right! When the worlds were split apart, many plants withered and died, leading to famine and disease. Rains stopped, rivers dried up until nearly the whole world was left on the brink of starvation," Elowen said.

"It took me seven years to find a way to rewind time and attempt to prevent the apocalypse to come," Melina said.

Monster Lord clutched at his head as if in pain, then looked at Melina. "You were the one to rewind time?"

"That's right. Gave all of my remaining life and blood. In return, the time was rewound by twenty years, and I was given the skill ," she said.

Monster Lord began to laugh, almost maniacally. "Of course, it would be you. Not only do you kill me, but you also forbid me from death's slumber and bring me back to life, ready to repeat all the horrors you've committed before."

"I told you that I want to prevent the disaster, not repeat it," she yelled.

For a moment, it seemed that their battle would continue. Melina was thinking about how she could contain such a powerful being as Monster Lord and make him listen without killing him. More likely than not, she'd need to drive him to the point of exhaustion to achieve that, but her condition was already strenuous. She could taste the blood in her mouth while her cell in her body ached in pain.

Dammit, what to do? Full-on battle would likely lead to one of us dying.

"Why would I ever trust someone who has murdered me once before? Guards, attack her! We will not let her destroy our world again," Monster Lord yelled.

"Dammit!" Melina cursed. She couldn't fight him; she needed to recover. She needed to convince him, but at the enraged state Monster Lord was in, he wouldn't listen to her no matter what she said.

Then Melina realized that there was no reason for her to remain here. She could use magic!

"Sienna, grab Elowen!" Melina commanded.

Elowen looked at her in shock, but the wyrm obeyed at once, avoiding the drow and rushing towards the elf. She grabbed him roughly, perhaps a bit too roughly, by his arm and dragged him to where Melina and Alistair were, doing their best to hold back drow attacks.

"Melina, what do we do?" Alistair asked.

"We're getting out of here!" She announced as soon as Sienna had returned by her side, throwing Elowen roughly to ground next to her. "Hold onto me!"

Alistair wrapped his arm around Melina, while she reached to touch Sienna with one hand and Elowen with the other.

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"Don't let her teleport!" Monster Lord announced.

"I don't wish to hurt you! Please, give us a chance to work together and stop the Church from tearing the worlds apart yet again," Melina pushed the approaching drow back with a wave of magic and then teleported the four of them away.

It was a huge risk, trying to teleport four at once, especially since she was relying fully on ambient mana. It was the last-ditch effort to save them, and one she could attempt only because of the stone she gave to Leon.

Like a bright beacon, it shone in the distance, showing Melina exactly where she needed to go. She grabbed as much mana as she could before teleporting, but had to supplement the spell with Sienna's mana. The strain of dimensional magic on her body was extreme—her heart felt like it would explode.

But she knew that if she failed, Alistair and Sienna could have their bodies torn apart. So she let out a guttural scream to contain the magic and pushed through the pain, landing them in the passageway. It was impossible to teleport between realms.

"Melina, are you alright?" Alistair held Melina's limp body upright.

Without him, she would have fallen to the ground. She could feel blood trickle out of her nose. Her vision was blurred, and his words felt muffled. Was there blood coming out of her eyes and ears, too? She couldn't tell anymore. The last thing she felt was the burning heat from Alistair's fingers as he touched her face.

"Back to the Human Realm! We need a healer, immediately!" Elowen said.

Alistair felt like he couldn't move. Melina's skin felt so cold. There was blood coming from seemingly everywhere. He didn't know how to stop it. His beloved was dying before his very eyes, and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"ALISTAIR!" Elowen's scream made him lift his head in a daze. "She needs a healer. She'll die otherwise!"

Rage bubbled within him. If it weren't for Melina, he would have plunged his sword straight into the elf's heart. But she came first. He had to save her. He had to.

Alistair picked her up, firmly holding Melina close. "Sienna, to Heilia's place! At once!"

He jumped on the wyrm's back and firmly held onto her neck. Sienna ran forward instantly, going in large leaps, crossing the realm passage in less than a minute. Elowen ran behind them, not quite able to keep up, but staying close behind.

Coming out to the Human Realm, the sun was still shining brightly. It was late evening, but the summer solstice was approaching, meaning that the nights were very short. A bunch of adventurers stood at the gate when they came out.

"Miss Melina!" Leon screamed out in shock when he saw Melina. Others also went into panic, seeing her in such a horrible state, but Alistair ignored them.

"Potion! NOW!" He barked at them.

They flinched from the ferocity of his voice, and Remi hurriedly brought a potion to Alistair. He poured it over Melina without so much as a thought, watching the healing liquid be absorbed into her skin. But it wasn't enough—there was still blood trickling from her nose and eyes.

"Give me all the potions!" Alistair roared. "All that you have."

"Captain, that won't—" Barrett began, but Remi shut him down, instead bringing him the potions.

One after the next, he poured them on Melina. He even forced her to drink one by slowly giving it to her from mouth to mouth. She was barely conscious enough to swallow the fluid, but it wasn't helping.

"Healer! Where is the healer?" Elowen demanded.

"Heilia is in the Guild…" Illitran said, his voice grim.

"Sienna, to the Guild," Alistair commanded, and the wyrm took off.

The wyrm was fast, but even then, Alistair felt like she wasn't going fast enough. Each second that passed, Melina felt colder. With each second, more of her blood dripped down his arms.

"Sienna, faster!"

He knew it was useless. Sienna was already running as fast as she could without dropping them. She didn't even bother going through the gate; instead, she jumped on top of it like a cat, scaring the guards half to death. But nobody obstructed Alistair's way, and he soon made it to the Guild.

He ran inside, carrying bleeding Melina. The rest turned into a hazy blur. People rushed to them, asking questions, but Alistair waved them all off, demanding to see Heilia at once. She was in the infirmary, so that's where he took Melina.

But the elf couldn't help her. Her healing magic couldn't stop the blood. Alistair watched in horror as the life seeped from her. He cried, he screamed, he held her close. Yet it was all pointless.

"Take my life in her place, I beg you. Just don't let her die. Don't let her die!" Alistair said.

"Boy, are you stupid?" A gruff voice asked him. Master Gilbert.

He had no clue when or how the old baker had come to the infirmary. The time had turned pointless. But the little wyrm was sitting on his shoulder, chittering nervously.

"What?" Alistair looked up in half a daze.

"Do you think she'd be happy if you gave your life to save hers?" Gilbert shook his head in disapproval.

He could understand the implied meaning of his words. Melina had already seen him die once. Only now did he realize how terrible it must have been for her, holding him and feeling how his body slowly grew cold.

"But she's dying!" He whimpered.

"Aye…" Gilbert said and sat down next to him. "Oh, you foolish child, why do you try to carry the weight of the world on your measly shoulders…"

Gilbert reached out his hand and touched Melina's forehead. There was some sort of stone in his hand, and he seemed to hesitate for a moment before pressing it against her skin. The stone began to glow gently. The blood stopped dripping from Melina's nose and eyes. The stone shone brighter and brighter until it finally cracked and dispersed into tiny golden dust.

Slight warmth returned to Melina's body, although she still looked incredibly pale. Her lips had turned blue at some point, and she felt lighter.

"What did you do? What was that stone?" Alistair asked.

"A stone of sacrifice," Gilbert answered solemnly.

"Stone of sacrifice?" Alistair gasped.

He had heard of the term before when he had just begun his training at the Church. The Archbishop had called it one of the three sacred treasures of Alemahria bestowed upon them by the System God itself. But the Archbishop had claimed that the Church was safeguarding the three treasures until the day came that they would need to use them.

"How do you have it?"

"I was once a Holy Knight," Gilbert shrugged casually. "In either case, Melina will be fine now. Lay her in the bed, call Heilia, and let her do her job. She's lost a lot of blood and will need to recover it."

"Wait, a moment, Master Gilbert. This is the stone of sacrifice you're talking about. It'll grant your wish, but you must pay a fair price for your wish to be granted. What did you pay with?" Alistair asked.

"The System," the old baker replied.

"The System? I don't understand."

"I gave up my access to the System to save her life. Believe it or not, it was valued rather highly," Master Gilbert explained.

Alistair wasn't sure what to think. Giving up access to the System was a huge sacrifice. Somehow, losing one's life almost felt less detrimental. Alistair wouldn't have hesitated to do it for Melina's sake, but thinking about it, what could he do without the System afterwards? He wouldn't be able to protect her anymore.

"Are you alright with that?" Alistair asked.

"I can't say that I'm pleased to lose it. It had a lot of perks, especially the skills that kept that damned rheumatism at bay," Gilbert muttered. "But I couldn't let this fool die."

"I'm amazed you're willing to go so far for an apprentice, Master Gilbert," Alistair said. "Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful, and I'll provide you with the best doctors and medicine to help combat your illnesses. But it still seems to me that you're willing to go excessively far for someone who, on paper, is just your employee."

Gilbert scratched his beard awkwardly. "Yeah, I figured you might catch on sooner than this clueless lass. Yes, Melina is more than just an apprentice to me. I wasn't sure at first, but her recklessness and pull towards magic more than proved it."

"Prove what?" Alistair asked.

"Melina is my granddaughter."