Si-Yoon dragged the massive Scepter of the Void now officially his "supportive stick" across the cold stone floor. He shoved Mortem's gift, the Skull of Crying Children, further into the corner. It was surprisingly loud, even when dormant.
He located the real entrance to the private study: a simple lever hidden behind a moldy tapestry depicting a particularly depressing feast.
He was thankful Kallian had at least maintained standard evil architectural design; the hidden room always uses a lever.
The entrance hissed open, revealing a much smaller, round chamber carved directly into the bedrock.
This was the true inner sanctum, lined with shelves of detailed ledgers and a single, heavy stone desk. More importantly, resting on a pedestal in the center, was the source of all his dread: a massive, leather-bound volume titled, in glowing runes:
"The Ballad of the Holy Hero: COMPLETE EDITION."
Si-Yoon hurried inside, dropping the Scepter with a loud CLANG that echoed unnervingly.
Finally. The script. Let's see how badly I'm about to die.
He rushed to the pedestal, the pages feeling brittle and cold beneath his skeletal touch.
The chapter was brutally specific: "The Skeleton Lord, drained by the parasitic curse planted by the Ancient Lich and weakened by years of tyrannical mismanagement, raised the Scepter of the Void one final, futile time. The Holy Hero, illuminated by divine grace, split the Scepter, the Lord, and the Obsidian Throne with a single, righteous blow."
Si-Yoon clacked his jaw in sheer horror. "Tyrannical mismanagement? That's what I'm doing right now! And parasitic curse? Ancient Lich?"
He quickly scanned the preceding chapters. The original Kallian had been a brilliant, if ambitious, young mage who was tricked by the Ancient Lich, Zygone, into accepting a ritual that was actually a parasitic curse, forcing him to act as the continent's villain while Zygone drained his power and manipulated his kingdom into ruin.
"Zygone," Si-Yoon hissed internally. "The puppet master..."
This explained everything. Kallian wasn't meant to be an evil mastermind; he was meant to be the tragic victim who sets the final stage. The only way to survive the Holy Hero was to break the curse.
His panicked musings were abruptly interrupted by a sharp knock on the hidden stone door.
"My Lord," Lyra's voice cut through the rock, muffled but distinct.
"I have returned with the ritualistic analgesic. I trust your communion with Chronomancy is proceeding?"
Si-Yoon shoved the massive book under the desk. Think, Act, ACT!
He had to be focused, powerful, and deeply irritated by her interruption, but in a way that reinforced his commitment to The Act.
He grabbed the Heart of the Forgotten Saint and held it up like a crystal ball.
"Enter, Lyra," Si-Yoon commanded, his voice deliberately strained, as if he were fighting an invisible mental battle.
Lyra slipped into the study with unnerving speed. She carried a silver tray holding a steaming, dark liquid in a simple clay mug. The air immediately smelled like burnt sugar, copper, and something that made Si-Yoon's non-existent nose itch.
"Ah, the Basilisk Eye and Shadow-Root Brew," Lyra announced, presenting the mug.
"It is meant to bring about Focused Pain while maintaining extreme alertness. I assure you, My Lord, the extraction process for the eye tissue was performed with maximum efficiency."
Si-Yoon looked at the contents. The liquid was black, swirling with oily colors, and at the bottom, two large, unblinking green spheres bobbed ominously.
He nearly gagged on his own jawbone.
"That is... impressive."
"You command me to drink it, My Lord?" Lyra inquired, her gaze intense.
Si-Yoon knew the original Kallian would never consume something so basic. He would use it for a more grand purpose. Also, Si-Yoon was fairly certain drinking liquefied reptile eyes would make him permanently blind, even as a skeleton.
"No, Lyra," Si-Yoon declared, gripping the Scepter tighter.
"This brew is Too Pure."
Lyra froze.
"Too... pure, My Lord?"
"The Chronomancy Grimoire requires not mere focused pain, but complex, multi-layered misery," Si-Yoon elaborated, channeling the pretentious art critic he once played in a community theatre production.
"This brew is too linear. It is a single note of agonizing agony. We require depth. We require dissonance."
He took the mug from the tray. Lyra watched him with rapt attention, ready for the next piece of dark wisdom.
Si-Yoon looked around the room, spotted an old ledger of tax receipts on the floor, and, using the Scepter, nudged it toward the brew.
"Find a way to incorporate the Taxes of the Fifth District into this ritual," Si-Yoon commanded with absolute gravity.
"That ledger represents the anguish of thousands of starving peasants and the utter frustration of the accounting department. It is bureaucratic, soul-crushing despair. Mix that kind of mortal misery with the primordial agony of the basilisk, and then you have dissonance worthy of my study."
He handed the mug and the ledger back to Lyra.
Lyra clutched the items to her chest, her eyes blazing with newfound understanding.
"My Lord... you are a genius.
To use the financial misery of our lowest subjects as a catalyst for a time-bending ritual! A true display of your contempt for all living things!"
She bowed deeply.
"I shall return with the perfect, layered brew. A brew of Cosmic, Financial, and Ocular Suffering."
Lyra swept out of the hidden room, leaving Si-Yoon alone once more.
Si-Yoon slumped his frame over the stone desk.
"Contempt for all living things? No, Lyra...Contempt for bookkeeping. But if that buys me another hour of seclusion, fine."
He looked back at the chapter detailing his inevitable death, then glanced at the Scepter of the Void leaning nearby. He now had the script, the props, and a terrifying, bloodthirsty supporting cast.
"Okay, Zygone," Si-Yoon whispered to the silent room, his voice taking on a new, steel-like resolve.
"The Holy Hero and the entire continent are about to attack me. But I'm an actor. And the best way to change the ending is to completely rewrite the script."
He opened the book and began to read, his one-man show finally finding its purpose... survival!