Master to the Rescue

While all this chaos is happening throughout the palace, Kaalhyme and his companions hug the walls and slip past all the other fighting Wills. "Fools," Kaalhyme spits out in derision. "You should've stayed obediently in the commander's soul and not caused any trouble."

Despite his hatred for the bandit Wills, Kaalhyme keeps his men together and focuses on the mission. They can't afford to join in the fighting; they're far too outnumbered to fight thousands of bandits and palace guards.

Being as focused as they are, it doesn't take long for Kaalhyme and the floating daggers to find the door to the dining room. Kaalhyme possesses a spear lying on the ground and abandons his stupid stick at last.

He then curls up his powers, then strikes at the lock on the door with all his might. The lock breaks apart, but the enchantment on the door is too strong; it is sealed shut and won't open.

Kaalhyme then reaches out spiritually to the other sword Wills still protecting Haalfrin's body in the chimney, and he orders, "Stay by the commander and keep still! I'll be taking the daggers to go find the nexus for the palace enchantments, and I'll break down the protection on the door from there… Just remember to keep prodding the commander's body and keep him releasing that Death Aura. We can't go anywhere outside the stuff, so it needs to reach far."

"Roger that!"

And so, Kaalhyme breaks through the ceiling. He doesn't quite remember how he knows this, but he has the feeling that the enchantment nexus is in a tower…

In reality, the Alsa'ree general in life had studied the Alasta capital and palace well, as he had been prepared to launch a sneak attack there during his war with the kingdom. Now, these strong instincts are left to his Will, who now has an entirely different use for this knowledge.

…Unfortunately, in his attempt to go above the palace and avoid the fighting, Kaalhyme and his troupe of daggers fly right into plain view of Officer Kalkass, who's still floating above the palace.

Over the last few months, Kaalhyme had trained his followers in Haalfrin's soul to keep in formations and work together. Hence, some of the daggers instinctually get in formation. A few get in the back, and they keep an eye on the rear and on the sky to protect against ambushes.

…And it's one of these rear guards that looks up and shouts out, "Enemy mage incoming!"

"Keep in formation!" Kaalhyme barks back as all his daggers maneuver behind him in an attempt to dodge the mage flying straight to them.

Unfortunately, Kalkass's magic is too strong, and he forcibly grips Kaalhyme's spear. Kaalhyme is the only weapon here that's different, and by using his spirit perception spells, Kalkass was able to figure out which of these Wills was the leader.

Just when Kaalhyme's Will is about to the erased, all the daggers circle around the mage and stab at his wrists.

Kalkass has a toughness enchantment on all his skin, so the daggers don't cut him at all. However, the blunt force of their blows bruises him, and Kaalhyme's spear is knocked out of his hands.

Without missing a beat, Kalkass reaches out with his other hand and attempts to grab the spear again.

One of the dagger wills reacts faster than Kaalhyme can, and he screams out, "No… CAPTAIN!" as he thrusts himself in front of the spear and is grabbed instead.

Kaalhyme's first instinct is to break formation and rescue his comrade, but he looks over at the tower he's traveling to, hardens his resolve, then barks out, "Break formation! All of you, abandon your daggers now and escape into the crowd of Wills below!"

"Roger, roger!" All the daggers immediately drop lifelessly from the sky and clatter on the palace rooftop, while a dozen silver wisps dart into the palace below.

As Kaalhyme's Will flees into the palace, he looks behind him and feels a new hatred well up in his heart. "Comrade, your sacrifice won't be forgotten… I'll avenge you one day!"

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After listening to the strange Wills talk to each other as they flee, Officer Kalkass puts his hand on his chin in thought, and he thinks, 'Most of the Wills in the palace seem to have no loyalty to Haalfrin… but these Wills are different. They're connected to this troublesome spirit mage somehow…'

Knowing this, Kalkass makes an educated guess. Looking over in the direction the spear and dagger Wills came from, he narrows his eyes. 'It can't hurt to go check over there. Perhaps Haalfrin's lurking there.'

Kalkass floats over in the direction of the dining hall. He's not really sure what he's supposed to look out for… but he never expected to see a single head sticking out of a chimney hole like a radish sprouting from the ground.

Warily, Kalkass sets down on the roof and pokes the boy's cheeks. The officer bends down, reaches out with his fingers, and opens the unconscious mage's mouth.

'He's frothing in the mouth'" Kalkass notes. He then pinches open Haalfrin's eyelids and sees that the boy's pupils are dilating and twitching. 'Bah!' Kalkass spits out, 'Poison!'

Looking down, Officer Kalkass spends a moment to reflect on the situation. 'If Sir Haalfrin is unconscious right now, then he's definitely not directing the warring Wills in the palace… However…'

He looks down with a cold look in his eyes, 'This is his power, though it appears to be out of control. If he dies, then the killing will stop.'

Kalkass looks over and sees the black fog slowly expanding. Right now, it's about to pass through the palace walls and enter the city.

The officer tightens his grip on his sword and raises it above his head. 'I'm sorry. You seem like a talented young man, but I have to kill you now.' Screw his orders to bring back Haalfrin. The civilians' lives are more important.

Right as Kalkass's sword is about to slam down on Haalfrin's skull, a powerful force yanks his sword right out of his hands. Kalkass looks to the side and sees his sword floating in the air.

Looking at the Will inside his sword, Kalkass shivers for a moment. This Will… It's stronger than all the others in the palace. It was at least a 3rd gate mage in life.

Kalkass jumps backward for a moment, anticipating a follow-up attack, but instead, his sword reaches down, and taps the tip of the hilt on Haalfrin's skull… Then, a buzz of white fire engulfs them both, and Haalfrin disappears from his spot, along with the sword.

"Teleportation!" Kalkass shouts out in surprise as he steps forward. "That's Kalastros's Will!"

Kalkass doesn't have time to chase after Kalastros, as he hears a mage Will in the chimney shout out, "Don't let the enemy chase after the commander! Use your life for this mission!"

Resolutely, 2 dozen swords charge out of the new opening in the chimney, and they surround Kalkass.

"Tch!" Kalkass spits. "I don't have time for this!" If he stays and kills all the Wills here, then Haalfrin and Kalastros will be gone for good.

And so, he beats a few swords off, pivots on his heels, and flies off in Haalfrin's direction. Doing some teleportation tracking is a basic skill for Threshold soldiers, after all, so he won't have to look hard to find the exit point where Kalastros teleported his apprentice.

Still, being unable to teleport himself, Kalkass flies through the sky with 2 dozen swords chasing after him.

When the flying swords manage to distract Kalkass from casting his spatial tracking spell for the 4th time, the man is about to lose his cool and rip apart the swords and shred their Wills.

However, just when he's about to abandon his pursuit to do this, he hears a loud tearing come from the sky as an object flies through the air so fast that it produces a sonic boom in its wake.

Kalkass looks down and sees a familiar metal gauntlet rising from the crater on the ground. Kalkass doesn't even have to use his spiritual perception to tell whose Will that is. "Captain…," he mutters.

The man's lips quiver for a second, then he straightens his back and nods his head at the floating gauntlet. "I'll trust my back to you, boss."

The gauntlet waves at him and nods up and down. "I got you, friend," the Will in the gauntlet seems to say, "Go finish the mission."

Kalkass gives one final solute to his captain before finishing his spatial tracking spell and zooming away in the air.

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The Former Archmage's Will looks down at his apprentice he's holding, and he sighs in his heart, 'Who is this boy anyway? …Well, I suppose it doesn't matter.'

This Will is only a few days old, and, unlike all the other Wills, his instincts are fairly weak… for he died peacefully, having let go of his attachments in this world. This is why he hasn't spoken until now, nor has he helped at all before. In fact, Haalfrin was under the impression this whole time that he never got his master's Will in the first place, because of how invisible it is in this Soul Realm.

However, at the moment when Haalfrin was about to die, Kalastros finally unearthed some of his desire – his WILL. Now, the only thing left for this Will is his deep concern for his apprentice.

Feeling his resolve harden, the old mage's Will grows firmer, and his intelligence starts to return to him. His vision becomes clearer, and he starts to feel a greater connection to the world. The boy he's carrying with his magic feels more familiar to him, and the palace below makes him feel nostalgic.

Kalastros grins in his heart as he starts teleporting randomly – hoping to lose any pursuers.