The explosion at the Ducal Castle woke the whole town. People took up spears, hand crossbows, and torches, then went out into the streets and began patrolling on their own. There was not the slightest sign of disorder. The visiting adventurers were warned to stay in their rooms. This town had its own backbone, and it would not allow bandits or thieves to violate it.
The members of the Council of Guilds, those councilors in long robes and helmets, came out of their homes. Their attire was modeled after the Masked Lords of Waterdeep, but it was only a clumsy imitation. At this moment, the purple-robed councilors led the militia in escorting the true duchess out of the castle.
Men and women, old and young, residents of every race in town, all gathered in the marketplace.
Everyone hoped to see their firm and wise iron-fisted leader.
What they saw with their own eyes was a pitiful old woman who could only babble.
"Gods above, what in the world is going on?"
Daggerford sank into grief and bewilderment.
A vast conspiracy had dragged this briefly peaceful little town back into storm and uncertainty.
Skyl stood on a small boat drifting along the Delimbiyr River. The young stablehand, Bordon, was on the verge of death.
"Cough… cough, help…" The stablehand kept coughing blood, and his eyes slowly dimmed.
A firefly landed on the succubus's seductive, wickedly beautiful forehead. Her lips parted slightly. Only a few could hear the wailing of her soul.
The warlock holding the silver scepter raised his head to look at the moon and took a brief breath. Then he took a bottle of Dittany Potion from his pocket and fed it to the stablehand. He lifted the young man onto his shoulder and carried him back to Daggerford.
Bordon had passed out, and Skyl could still hear his breathing gradually weaken. The fiend's claws had broken the stablehand's ribs and pierced his heart. His internal bleeding was extremely severe. One bottle of Dittany Potion could not save him.
Daggerford was in chaos and motion. The sorrowful atmosphere was like a flock of crows circling in the night sky.
"Tempus bless us. Let Lady Morwen recover."
"Who hurt Lady Morwen?"
"We should choose a new duke. But who should it be? Lady Morwen's nephews and nieces aren't in Daggerford, and they may not be as outstanding as Lady Morwen."
It was at this moment that the key figure, Skyl, returned. In his hand, he held a headless fiend corpse. On his shoulder, he carried the breathless stablehand. A severed head hung at his waist. He descended from the sky on an [Eldritch Blade] and landed lightly among the crowd in the marketplace.
The councilors and the duchess's household retainers surrounded the warlock. Guards, militia, and townspeople formed layer after layer around him, tight as an iron barrel.
Skyl looked around. Facing the anxious questions, the suspicious and frightened eyes, he did not let the people's voices ferment into panic. With a [Light] spell, he made the succubus head hanging from his waist shine brightly.
He held the head as if he were carrying a lantern, and the swaying light made the crowd fall silent.
Everyone looked at the man standing beneath the moon, surrounded by torches and bathed in magical radiance.
His calm face was harder than steel.
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Murderer!"
But no one else echoed it. The warlock's extraordinary charisma suppressed the unrest.
"I have been in Daggerford for some days. Some of you may still remember me. Morwen Daggerford exiled me. By all rights, I should not have remained here, but now I have returned anyway. Look at the fiend's head in my hand. Her name is Pencheska. Not long ago, she had another name, Morwen Daggerford. The one who exiled me was not the true Morwen, but this succubus."
A councilor stepped forward to ask, "You are saying the duchess was replaced by this fiend? That's impossible. She often visited Tempus's shrine. How could a god and his priests allow a fiend to enter a temple?"
"The true duchess is still alive. She was only charmed by the fiend with magic and unknowingly became an accomplice. You can settle that matter yourselves. What I want to tell you is this, people of Daggerford, a girl named Mia once told me that the people of Daggerford would not give up the fight. That left a deep impression on me.
"Mia. Her father is a carpenter, her mother makes handmade candies, and her grandmother usually works as a seamstress. Now that good girl has died at the hands of a fiend. The other victim tonight is this young stablehand. Before this, many servants in the Ducal Castle had already been corrupted into undead.
"A fiend was hiding in Daggerford. In time, she would have killed even more people. Do not think I shattered your peaceful lives, because peaceful lives never existed. A venomous snake was hiding in your bed, ready to bite you at any moment. Now that I have killed the snake, if you believe I did wrong, then I despise your foolish ignorance."
The crowd buzzed.
"Is he telling the truth, or is it all a lie?"
"Should we believe him?"
"He doesn't sound like he's lying."
Skyl threw the succubus's body aside, then placed Bordon's body on the ground.
The stablehand's father had died on an adventure, and his mother had passed away early. He only had a few familiar male servant friends in the castle. Now he lay there alone, with no one to shed tears for him.
"Adventurer Skyl, if what you say is true, the people of Daggerford will remember you forever."
The councilors gradually accepted the warlock's account and prepared to reward him for his righteous act.
Skyl lowered his head and looked at Bordon's corpse. "Give me a diamond. It doesn't need to be large, but the quality should be good."
"Is that the reward you're asking for?" the councilor asked in surprise. "You may ask for more. Once Lady Morwen is able to preside over affairs again, she will reward you with a house, gold coins, and gems."
"I don't need money." Skyl's calm words were like iron spikes, forcing the councilor to step back. "I want to save an innocent life."
The councilor who served as head of the Leatherworkers' Guild stammered and shouted behind him, "This adventurer needs a diamond! Hurry, find him a diamond!"
"What are you going to do? Young man, he's already dead. How can you save a corpse?" someone else could not help asking.
"I will resurrect him."
Everyone was astonished.
A diamond representing hope was slowly passed into Skyl's hand.
He lowered his head and inspected it for a moment, then began casting the 5th-level [Raise Dead] spell. A long incantation slowly flowed from his mouth. The diamond in his hand turned to dust and drifted down onto the corpse, restoring the broken body, awakening the brain once more, and guiding the soul through the Ethereal Plane back into its body.
"Ah!" Bordon let out a painful groan in his sleep. The experience of returning from death was too agonizing, and he immediately fainted again.
During the hour-long casting time, no one moved. Everyone quietly watched Skyl snatch a life back from death, and only afterward did they offer their cheers and applause.
"This is a miracle. May the gods bless Daggerford, bless this young man, and bless Lady Morwen."
"What an incredible mage. He really is a good man."
Skyl's spell dispersed the crowd's grief. A miracle performed in public could restore faith to the desperate. Everyone present tonight would surely remember this warlock.
The councilors of the Council of Guilds maintained their restraint and coldness.
"By Tempus, I truly don't know how to thank you."
Skyl's calm gaze turned beyond the crowd.
Everyone turned to look.
The chestnut horse walked forward with steady hoofbeats, parting the crowd. The people of Daggerford saw a rider shrouded beneath a hooded robe, her hands bound by rope, leather straps fixing her legs to the saddle. Leading the horse were Mia's parents and grandmother.
The cold aura of the undead frightened some people back.
Skyl stepped forward and took the reins, then nodded to Mia's parents. "Do not grieve. The High Tower King will take good care of this girl. She will return."
Undead Mia let out a low, hoarse growl.
The warlock mounted the horse and tied the succubus's head to the saddle hook like a horse lantern. With a flick of the reins, the chestnut horse broke into motion, trampling through the people's calls and bright farewells as it sped away without stopping.
"Who is he, really?" A bystander scratched his head and sighed. "He just came like that, and now he's gone like that."
Mia's parents and grandmother embraced one another and wept, softly chanting the honored name of the High Tower King.
"High Tower King, we pray to you. Please let Mia return safely."
"High Tower King, accept the faith of humble mortals, whoever you may be…"
Prayer after prayer drew divine power from a distant realm.
The stars in the night sky shimmered faintly, and on the horizon, a new star slowly rose.
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