Chapter 319: One Month Or Six Months?

A/N: Hello. First, I would like to apologize for leaving without saying anything. There was a setback I was facing and I had to leave. However, things are better now. Thank you for your continued support while I was gone. The comments, the golden tickets, the reviews, and the power stones. I appreciate it. Dark Dragon is now back.

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Noah sat there, staring into nothingness, looking but not seeing anything. His brain was a muddle of thoughts.

Was he really going to die? Did that mean he wasn’t truly the chosen one? That he wasn’t destined to do anything but die in a world that didn’t belong to him?

He didn’t know when it started, but the resentment began to build with the same intensity as the dizziness came and went. Slowly at first, then frequently.

He resented the kingdom of Camelot for bringing him here. He was perfectly satisfied with being on earth and hadn’t asked to be brought to fight a war that wasn’t his. He resented High Magus Edric for casting the spell. He resented everybody for existing. For living happily when he was about to die.

He exhaled, blinking. He had never had to wonder how he’d feel if he had a limited time to live, but he hadn’t expected to feel so… numb.

Another dizzying spell swept over him, and he felt the blood rising from his throat. As the world wavered around him, he grabbed the piece of cloth at his bedside table, pressing it to his mouth just in time for blood to spew out.

A second later, he wiped his mouth clean and dropped the rag back, exhaling deeply as the dizziness faded away.

He swallowed the metallic remnant of the blood in his mouth with another despondent sigh.

’Status.’

[Status:]

[Noah Webb]

[Race: Dark Dragon]

[Rank: B]

[Potential: FFF]

[Affinities: Darkness, Fire, Void, Decay, Hunger, Ink, Bone]

[Core Attributes:]

[Strength: B]

[Endurance: A+]

[Agility: A+]

[Mana Capacity: SS]

[Magic Control: S+]

[Skills: Roar (FFF-Rank), Dark Furnace (SS-Rank), The King’s Dominion (SS-Rank), Decay of a Thousand Ages (SSS-Rank)]

[Spells: Fireball (F-Rank), Utter Annihilation (SSS-Rank), Frigid Hunger (F-Rank), Null Stride (A-Rank), Pocket Cube (S-Rank), Feast (S-Rank), Heat Sight (FF-Rank)]

Just as he expected, another three of his spells were gone. Just like that. And ahead of schedule.

The D-rank Rot, the A-rank Pillar of Judgement, and the S-rank Void Bolt spells.

Of course, Professor Cecilia had explained it all to him. At the rate his spells were disappearing, he had less than a month to live.

Mana Leeches were like that. They hid inside the mage, eating and gorging themselves up, and when they revealed themselves, all it meant was that the mage was now aware that they would be dying.

Of course, Cecilia was busy, burying herself in her research and trying to find a cure, but he didn’t hold out any hope.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. He lifted his head, and opened his mouth, speaking for the first time in what felt like forever.

“Come in,” he croaked.

The door slowly creaked open, and in walked the last person he’d expected. Queen Ines.

“Huh.” He said flatly. “What a surprise.”

“You don’t look surprised,” she said as she walked in.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get a bigger surprise than discovering I’ll be dead in a month.”

She paused, before nodding. “Fair enough.”

She took a seat beside his head, and he stared at her, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“And what’s our great queen doing in the academy, in the room of a peasant?” he asked. “Aren’t you afraid of contracting a Mana Leech?”

“Mana Leeches don’t move like that.” She said, before pausing. She stared at him for a few seconds, before speaking, voice gentle. “How are you feeling, Noah?”

“Like shit.” Noah said flatly.

Ines sat there, nodding slowly.

“Just get to the point.” Noah said before she could say anything else. “I have so little time left, I’ll rather waste them on feeling sorry for myself than small talk.”

“And what if I came simply for a visit?” Ines asked. “Just to see how you were doing?”

“Unlikely.” Noah said immediately. “You probably have a cure and are here to cut a deal or something. Please tell me you have a cure.”

“I’d have to let you down, Noah.” She said softly. “There is no cure for this.”

Noah said nothing, having expected that.

“But you’re right.” She continued. “I’m here to cut a deal.”

“What do you want?”

“I want someone dead. And I want you to confess to the crime.”

Noah chuckled. “I see. Use the dying man as a legal and political sacrifice. Smart. But what do I get out of this?”

“Six months of life.” Ines said.

Noah blinked, his attention focusing on her in an instant. “What?”

“There’s an artifact in the royal armory.” Ines continued. “It can freeze you in time as you are. It will preserve your power and even amplify it, but there’s a caveat. It’ll only last six months and at the end of those six months, you die. Nothing can stop it. Not even having immortality.”

Noah’s thoughts began to race. “So, I get six months of life, in exchange for confessing to a crime I didn’t commit at the end of those six months.”

“Think about it.” Ines said. “You don’t have to kill the person, just confess to the crime. And you’re dying anyway. You simply choose the time you die. In a month, or in six month’s time.”

Noah stared at her, his brain racing. Why did this fit so nicely? Was it planned? But even if it was, did he have a choice?

So, right now, the question was, did he want to die now or later?

The answer was pretty obvious. However, just as he opened his mouth, the world froze.

He blinked. Ines sat there in her regal dress, not moving an inch. The color of the world darkened into an off-white color.

“What the fuck?” Noah muttered. Was this another symptom of him dying?

“I wouldn’t take the deal if I were you.”

Noah’s head snapped to the corner of the room just in time to see Lady in Dark step out of the shadow there.

The fighter in him wanted to jump out of bed and beat Lady in Dark into a pulp, but the rational part of his mind wondered what was the point. It didn’t matter anymore.

“What do you want?” He sighed wearily.

“I’m here to tell you that I have a way out for you.” Lady in Dark grinned, her teeth gleaming through the darkness in her hood.

“I can heal you, Noah Webb.”

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