A Peacock Husband of Five Princesses by day, a Noble Assassin by Night-Chapter 43: Kael and the Necromancer (3/5)

Dragons ravaged the skies.

After four years, the dragons were defeated and the Dragonlord was sealed once again but the Empire was broken into pieces.

Rebellions tore apart kingdoms.

Rogue generals waged war against their own rulers.

Civilizations crumbled overnight, their rulers slain, their lands swallowed by flames and blood.

The Empire of Crown did not stand a chance of reviving at all.

Kael exhaled slowly. He had read about the Great Tragedy, but history books never carried the weight of a survivor’s words.

And Lilith Crown was not just a survivor. She had lived through the end of an era.

Kael expected her to stop there, but she didn’t.

She continued, her voice steady—too steady.

"I lost him in that war."

Kael knew exactly who she meant.

"The man I gave up everything for. The life I chose over the throne. He was taken from me in that chaos. He was a hero who saved a village from the onslaught of wild beasts."

A silence stretched between them, deep and suffocating.

Then—

"I refused to accept it." Something dark flickered in her golden eyes. She continued. "I turned to magic. To the dead. I searched for answers that did not exist."

Her tone was almost… emotionless now.

"I tried to bring him back."

Kael’s breath caught in his throat when he heard those words. "Necromancy, isn’t it?"

Lilith looked at him and nodded.

He thought. "It is said that Necromancy didn’t exist until five centuries ago. If she has already become a necromancer back then, she would have likely been the progenitor… No wonder she could live for so many centuries…"

She then spoke as if it were inevitable as if the road she had walked could have led nowhere else. "And in the process," Lilith continued, "I learned how to command the dead."

She lifted her hand slightly, and dark mist coiled around her fingertips. "I could move them. Will them to rise. I could bring back bones and corpses, making them obey. Over the years, I made an army of dead, enough to topple down an entire kingdom at my will."

Kael felt his body tense.

Lilith’s expression did not change. "That was how I became the first Necromancer the world had ever seen."

Her fingers curled, and the mist dissipated, a sigh escaping from her lips.

"But it wasn’t enough."

Her voice lowered to something almost a whisper. "Because no matter how much I raised the dead… I could never bring him back."

Kael sat in stunned silence.

For thirty years, she had searched, experimented, and sacrificed—only to realize, in the end, that her pursuit was no longer about her husband.

Lilith’s golden eyes gleamed with something unreadable. Not regret. Not sorrow. Just… understanding.

"When I finally succeeded," she murmured, "it was…"

Kael swallowed, interrupting her. "You brought him back for real?" He was quite surprised to hear this as he never heard of true resurrection.

"No." She let out a quiet chuckle, subtly shaking her head. "I created… something else in the process. A being that carried his memories. That moved as he once did. That spoke with his voice. But it was not him."

Her voice was steady, but Kael could sense the weight of centuries behind her words.

"What I revived was a perfect imitation. A replica of a man who had long since passed."

Kael felt a chill crawl up his spine.

That was the truth of necromancy, wasn’t it?

It could raise the dead, could command their bodies, but it could never bring back a soul.

"The thing I created… was a lich."

She said it so simply, so casually, that Kael nearly flinched before furrowing his brows, "Lich?"

A lich is an undying being, capable of unleashing magic on its own. A lich can raise undead on its own. It has its own will. It can even talk. But, aren’t liches just shrouded in dark energies? They don’t have any human forms.

Perhaps, the earlier liches used to retain their human appearances? He couldn’t help but wonder.

"What did you do to him?" Kael then asked hesitantly.

Lilith let out a deep sigh. "I destroyed him."

Kael blinked. "What? Why?"

Her lips turned into a small, knowing smile. "I realized I no longer cared."

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There was no pain in her voice, no sorrow.

"It had been too long. The love I once held had faded. My obsession with reviving him… I realized that it was never truly about him."

She leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her palm.

"It was about the pursuit of Resurrection magic itself. The thrill of discovery. The challenge of doing the impossible."

For three decades, she had chased the impossible. And when she finally grasped it, she found that her heart no longer ached for what was lost. "Was it hard for you to let him go like that?" He couldn’t help but ask her.

"Yeah, it was." Lilith nodded. "But, in the end, he wasn’t real. There’s no point in enjoying a false reality."

Kael couldn’t tell if he found that tragic or terrifying.

She had sacrificed everything for her pursuit, and in the end, she had let go without a second thought.

What kind of person did that make her?

Lilith tilted her head, watching him. "Are you afraid?"

Kael met her gaze. If he said he wasn’t afraid of her at all, it would be a lie. Not because she did those things to him earlier as he wasn’t conscious to fight her. But it was because of the ease with which she not only mended his mana core but made sure his original soul realm was still intact. It would usually take a demigod, a bunch of priests, and an hour of grand ritual in the church to do the task.

This woman had seen the world fall. She had defied death itself. She had created the first lich. And yet—she sat before him, amused, curious, and entirely at ease.

Kael handled his emotions and calmly shook his head. "No. Just wondering what kind of lunatic I’m dealing with."

Lilith chuckled. "The best kind, of course."

Kael listened intently as Lilith continued her story.

"The truth is," she said, her golden eyes flickering with something akin to frustration, "humans were never meant to live as long as the elves, dragons, or magic beasts. Our bodies simply aren’t made for it."

Kael nodded slowly. It was common knowledge that even the strongest human mages, warriors, or demigods could only extend their lifespan to about three centuries—and that included using elixirs till the end of their life.

Lilith leaned back, crossing her arms. "Early human mages understood this limitation too. So, they tried… other methods. Some sought immortality through magic. Others believed divine ascension was the answer. And then…" she paused, her expression turning unreadable, "there were those who thought the solution lay in our very blood."

Kael frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Interbreeding," Lilith said simply. "Humans began mixing their bloodlines with elves, dragons, and other long-lived species, believing it would grant them the same longevity."

Kael grimaced. "And it didn’t work."

Lilith shook her head. "No. Half-elves, half-dragons, even celestial-blooded children… None of them could escape the human lifespan limit. No matter their ancestry, they still died when their human blood dictated."

Kael frowned. "Then how did you manage to live for six centuries?"

Lilith hesitated, then exhaled. "There are legends," she murmured, "of an island. A place hidden from the world, where humans live as long as dragons."

Kael stiffened. "Atlas. I read of it."

Lilith nodded. "Yeah, The Island of Atlas."

It was a myth—a story told in ancient texts, whispered in forgotten ruins. A land where humans had somehow broken free of their mortal constraints and achieved true longevity.

Some claimed it was blessed by the gods. Others believed its people had discovered a secret beyond magic itself.

But no one had ever found it and for millennia, everyone believed that it is located at the edge of the world until some travelers managed to discover that there is no such thing as the edge of the world.

"You found it?" Kael asked.

Lilith turned to face him, her golden eyes gleaming in the dim light. Yeah, I did."

Kael listened intently as Lilith recounted her discovery.

"The Well of Aetheris…" he murmured. "A divine gift capable of granting eternal life."

Lilith nodded, her expression distant, as if reliving memories from centuries ago.

"The island was abandoned, its people long gone. But their knowledge remained—inscribed in ancient ruins, hidden within relics, waiting for someone worthy to decipher it."

She clasped her hands behind her back, gazing into the darkness. "I spent years unraveling their secrets, trying to understand how people extended their lives. And in the end, I found the well."

"But if the legend was true, then, how did those people perish in the first place?" Kael questioned.

Lilith’s lips curled into a smirk, but there was no amusement in her eyes. "The Waters of immortality wouldn’t exactly make one immortal, but they merely extend one’s lifespan anywhere from 100 to 1000 years and, of course, give eternal youth. I only received roughly 400 additional years of lifespan. And currently, my age is around 647."

Kael narrowed his eyes, his mind still processing everything she had told him. "So, you will only live for another three years?"

Lilith shook her head calmly. "Not exactly. I created the forbidden spell of Life Drain, through which I can just continue to drain life span from the dead bodies that didn’t have a natural death and absorb it for myself. At the moment I have—" She took a brief pause, her crimson lips curling. "Ten thousand more years I guess?"

"Ten thousand?" Kael gasped.