After a few moments of walking in the sewers, they finally stopped, and Vars smiled, “We reached it,”

“The vault?” Arad asked, and Vars shook his head, “No, the entrance to the dungeon,”

“What dungeon?”

“The one they keep prisoners in,” Vars replied, “This is a fort, remember?”

“We can’t go all the way to the vault by the sewers since no one would need sewers there. The closest we could get is the guard’s quarter beside the dungeon’s entrance.”

“Then we keep digging. Why risk the dungeon?” Jack stared at Vars.

“Tremors or magic could ring the alarms set around the vault. We have to approach it by the front door and get in.” Vars waved his staff, pointing at the hole above them. “We go to the dungeon,”

“Hold on,” Jack approached Vars, “You were all about secrecy. Anyone smart enough to make those gates before would do the same with the vault. Opening it’s door will notify everyone in the fort that someone got inside.”

Vars pulled three potions, “I have a plan. We use those.”

“Ghost potions,” Liliana stared at Jack, “They are one use only, but it will allow Vars, Arad, and Gojo to get into the vault, snatch the artifact, and void step away afterward,”

“And we?” Jack looked at her, and she stared back at him, her fists resting on her hips, “Our job is to lockpick the whole way across the dungeon, make sure no one spots us, and then lock everything behind us. Then we leave on our own,”

“Then our job is to take them to the vault and then sneak out,” Jack scratched his chin, “That makes sense, but wouldn’t you have been able to do this without me and Arad’s help?”

“Actually, no,” Vars shook his head, “I have a lot of mana, and I’m hard to move, the same for the artifact. Gojo alone won’t be able to get us both out. That’s why I needed Arad’s help,” ．

Arad looked at Vars with a surprised face, “Even brother can’t?” He then turned toward Gojo, “Are you two for real? How could I help?”

“The main problem is the artifact. It’s almost a divine object, and it’s hard to teleport and impossible to destroy. Add to that that to keep it in control I have to constantly cast magic to prevent it from attuning to any of us,” Vars lifted his hand, and a blue magic circle started floating above his palm.

“I will be the one drawing the magic of the void teleportation. You only have to assist me. Unless you can teleport high magic or artifacts.” Gojo looked at Arad with a smile.

^I should be able to do those calculations for the artifact. Leave it to me^

“I can teleport the artifact,” Arad replied with a confident face. Doma’s skills can’t be underestimated.

“If you say so,” Vars scratched his head, “If you fail, I will have Gojo teleport us a second time,”

He walked beneath the hole and looked up, extending his staff. “Is it clear up there?”

“I sense no one,” Arad replied, “And there is no magic,” Gojo added.

Vars turned toward them and nodded, “Then, take a deep breath.”

Mass polymorph: Flies

A faint light rushed from his fingers enveloping everyone. In the blink of an eye, they became a swarm of flies.

Jack looked at himself, “I’m a flie?”

“I didn’t change your voices, so don’t talk,” Vars stared at them, “Let’s fly silently through the dungeon. The last thing we want is to alert the guards.”

The two guards at the dungeon entrance were asleep, deep into their dreams.

Vars flew first toward one of

Gojo flew toward him and stored them in his stomach. Those would be useful later.

After flying through the dungeon and having Jack and Liliana lockpick every door the keys didn’t open. They finally reached the closed passageway to the sealed vault beneath the fortress. A large stone door on one of the walls.

“This went smother than I expected,” Arad commented as he saw the door.

“I was planning for this for years. I would be damned if a single guard showed up,” Vars replied, turning everyone to their humanoid form. He then looked at Jack and Liliana, “This is where we separate. You have three minutes to escape the fort. Hurry,”

Jack and Liliana nodded as they rushed away. Vars then pulled the ghost potions, handing one to Gojo and one to Arad. “Drink those, and we will become ghosts for one to three minutes.”

“We walk inside, wait till the spell wears off then snatch the artifact.” Gojo smiled, “Wait, you have to cast your magic to prevent it from attuning to us,”

“Of course,” Vars downed his potion, and his body disappeared as he turned into a ghost.

Gojo and Arad did the same.

Arad could feel his chest clenched. His head throbs as fog clouds his mind. Doma and Mom’s presence in his inner mind seemed to fade away rapidly as his whole body disappeared. “What in the…” He gasped, holding his head.

“Feels awful, doesn’t it?” Vars giggled, “Don’t worry, no one can hear or see us,”

Gojo shook his head, blinking twice to clear his vision. “This is worse than alcohol,”

“Becoming a ghost literally messes with your body functions. The mind fog is normal.” Vars replied.

^Doma, Mom?^ Arad called inside his head, but he could only hear distant screeches fading away into his void.

“Something is off. I can’t hear Mom,” Arad mumbled.

“Of course, you can’t,” Vars looked at him, “We’re currently in the ethereal plane as ghosts. Curses can’t follow us here. You will hear her again once the potion wears off,”

The three walked into the vault, seeing mounds of magic weapons stacked over each other. This is where the human army kept most of its weapons.

“There it is,” Vars walked forward, approaching a rusty brown dagger, “The blade of death, it’s been decades since I last saw it,”

“Hurry,” Gojo stared at him, “We don’t have time, right?”

“We have a bit. Let’s wait till the potion wears off,” Vars replied as he sat there, waving his hands to prepare the magic.

As the potions wore off, Vars lifted the dagger, “Finally, it’s time,”

Arad scratched his head, “I still can’t hear them,”

“Don’t worry,” Vars clapped his hands.

SWOSH! Gojo disappeared, and the cubic artifact he held fell on the ground.

Arad’s head looked down as his arms went limp. The purple light in his eyes flickered for a moment before fading.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Vars walked toward Arad with a smile on his face, “You know, you and your brother are a real pain in the ass. Do you know how much it took me to figure this out?” He laughed, tapping Arad’s face.

“Now, go to the dungeon, kill anyone that enters,” Vars growled.

Arad silently turned, walking toward the vault’s door.

CLICK! With a flick of his fingers, Vars opened the door.

As Arad left and the vault was locked Again, Vars cracked his neck. “Buruma,” He said, and a skeleton appeared beside him. “Yes, my lord,” It said in a woman’s voice.

“Take this cube and fly as far as you can. Only stop if you reach the other side of the world.” He pointed at the cube.

The skeleton reached with her hand, but the moment she touched the cube, her arm cracked.

“What?” Vars gasped as the cube started vibrating violently, the ground beneath it getting crushed. “You **ing monster!” He growled.

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR! A violent roar burst from the cube, shaking the whole fort and reaching the city.

The skeleton woman stared at Vars, “What should we do?”

“I’ve spent years preparing for this day. Forget two hours. This will barely keep him inside for an hour. I must hurry,” Vars turned and pulled his staff, “I will attune to the artifact. You lead the undead army to the city and start the slaughter. I need souls to ascend.”

“What about the other void dragon?” She asked.

“I mind-controlled him. The witch in his head was a problem, but I pushed her away with that.” He pointed toward the ghost potion, “He won’t be up anytime soon,”

****

Arad walked toward the middle of the dungeon and stood in the middle of the largest room, blocking the way toward the vault.

“Who are you?” A guard shouted as he saw Arad walk inside. He pulled his sword and approached.

CRACK! In the blink of an eye, the guard’s body split in half as two swords appeared in Arad’s hands.

As other guards heard the noise they rushed in, but none of them made it halfway into the room without being ripped apart. In less than ten seconds, no sign of life besides Arad could be found in the dungeon.

****

Back in the city, the paladin general heard Gojo’s roar booming in the sky and stood, “What’s this? It’s coming from the fort…” And soon he gasped, sensing hoards of undead emerged from the mountains. “Call to arms!” He shouted, rushing out as fast as he could.