Chapter 8: Melo is mine! Mom, you’re not allowed to…

With a fierce roar, the young girl’s entire body glowed with a golden effulgence, which then converged upon her right hand, completely encasing her right arm.

This was the very arm destined to wield the Sword of Gold!

As the light receded, a beautiful, golden armguard now adorned the girl’s entire right arm.

“I… I succeeded! I’ve succeeded… Ugh!!!”

Before the girl could even fully rejoice, a searing pain coursed through her right arm, forcing an involuntary cry of agony from her lips.

Yet, upon the golden armguard, intricate patterns of dark thorns re-emerged, twisting around her wrist like malevolent shackles.

From these thorny shackles, two black vines immediately sprouted, coiling insidiously up Melina’s right arm towards her shoulder.

“Ah… Ah!!!!!!”

Clutching her arm in sheer agony, Melina crumpled to the ground, the pain now far more intense than anything she had experienced during their initial resonance.

But just as swiftly, a brilliant golden light flared forth again!

This dazzling, brilliant radiance enveloped Melina’s arm, emanating from her heart and spreading outwards, ultimately clashing with the encroaching spiral of black thorns.

“Me… Melo… what are you doing!”

Melina gritted her teeth, her small face utterly pale.

Even as the agony from her right arm threatened to overwhelm her, she still did not wish for Melo to aid her.

For the instant she and Melo achieved resonance, they became one, and she could distinctly feel that the suffering Melo bore far eclipsed her own, yet it was a burden she was not meant to shoulder!

A nine-to-one ratio.

This was the precise allocation of suffering they each bore.

Evidently, the golden radiance Melo now released was an attempt to shoulder a greater portion of that agony for Melina.

But if Melo were to intervene in such a manner, what true meaning would Melina’s resolve then possess?

‘My lady, I admire your will, but I am well aware of your limits. If this continues, your spirit will not be able to withstand it.’

Melo’s voice echoed within her mind, yet its forced composure failed to mask the inherent tremor.

How could Melina fail to discern that Melo was enduring nearly ten times her own excruciating pain!

“Silence, Melo! I am the Spirit Master, I am the Knight! You are to obey me! Release your hold and let that accursed Thorn’s Kiss ascend!”

Melina gritted her teeth, each word a rasping whisper forced through the narrowest of gaps.

Her eyes were bloodshot, the sheer agony contorting her once beautiful features.

As if sensing the young girl’s unyielding resolve, Melo let out a soft sigh and relinquished her hold.

In the very next instant, the black thorny spiral swiftly coiled up Melina’s shoulder, completely binding her entire right arm in its grasp.

“Ugh…”

The girl didn’t even register the sensation; her eyes merely rolled back, and she promptly succumbed to unconsciousness.

Melo was forced to revert from her manifested armor state into human form.

Her complexion, however, was equally pallid; her legs buckled beneath her, and she slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.

It was at that moment that Aida entered the room.

“How is she?” she inquired of Melo, cradling Melina in her arms.

Melo’s arms, which supported her trembling form, still quivered. Forcing herself to regain composure, she spoke with a shaky voice, “My lady… she adamantly refused my assistance in sharing her pain, and ultimately, she could not endure it and lost consciousness.”

She struggled to bring her kneeling knees together, her hands meticulously aligned, and bowed her head, “I humbly apologize, Madam; I failed to adequately care for my lady.”

“Raise your head, my lovely maid.” Aida offered no reprimand; instead, her voice was imbued with tenderness.

Melo straightened up again, finding Aida’s gentle gaze fixed upon her.

The noblewoman offered a faint smile, addressing Melo, “You mustn’t underestimate my daughter, Sir Knight of Radiance! She is Aida’s own, the next head of my Esbel family. And furthermore…”

She paused, her smile deepening, “She is your Knight, your Spirit Master. Though she is still weak, I implore you to grant her more trust; believe that she will never bring dishonor to the name of ‘Radiance’!”

“Madam…”

Melo’s lips trembled, her nose stinging with emotion, and though she parted her mouth, no words emerged.

Aida lifted her daughter into her arms, her gaze turning to Melo. “Can you stand, my dear maid?”

“Ah! I… I can!”

Melo quickly stood up.

Her inherent pain tolerance was far superior to Melina’s, and though she bore a significantly greater share of the agony, her resilient will, honed on countless battlefields, allowed her to swiftly regain her composure.

Seeing that Melo was indeed fine, Aida seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, nodding with quiet satisfaction. “I trust you will never disappoint me, and I also believe that the decision I made back then was absolutely correct. Therefore, Melo…”

Her gaze grew distant, her tone wistful, “Have no reservations. For me, for Nana, and for your own sake, go forth and do what must be done!”

With those words, she carried Melina out of the room.

Melo stood stunned in the training room, still lost in the profound implications of Aida’s words, when she heard Aida’s voice once more, echoing from further down the hall outside the door.

“Oh, right, since you’re perfectly fine now, don’t you dare skip today’s maid special training!”

Upon hearing those words, Melo shuddered visibly, a look of utter terror flashing in her eyes!

It was as if the mere mention of ‘maid special training’ was even more terrifying to her than the excruciating pain inflicted by the Thorn’s Kiss!

****

Upon reaching Melina’s bedroom, Aida gently laid her daughter upon the bed.

Just as she prepared to rise, she felt a pair of small arms encircle her neck.

“Mommy, can you stay with me for a little while?”

Aida paused, then leaned down and lay beside her daughter.

“Mommy is so cunning; Melo and I were the ones who actually endured the pain.”

Listening to her daughter’s soft complaint, Aida’s expression momentarily flickered, as if recalling something distant, but she quickly regained her composure.

She gently pulled her daughter closer into her embrace, murmuring softly, “My dear, you’ve worked so hard.”

“Melo worked even harder, you know…”

Melina mumbled from within the warmth of her mother’s arms.

Aida couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “Yes, she certainly worked harder; after all, you are still too weak, so she must bear more for you.”

“So Mommy isn’t allowed to bully Melo!”

Melina snuggled deeper into her mother’s broad, soft embrace, pouting playfully, “She’s *my* maid, *my* companion spirit weapon. Mommy isn’t allowed to… Hnn…”

As she spoke, the little one in her arms gradually settled into an even breathing pattern, her words trailing off, unfinished.

Aida gently stroked her daughter’s back, then glanced down to find Melina had already drifted off to sleep.

The tenderness on her face gradually faded, replaced by an expression both icy and grim… like a blizzard in the depths of winter.

Three days.

This was the elapsed time from Melina completing the contract to manifesting her external armor.

However, this was nowhere near enough to adequately prepare Melina to step onto the Knight’s Arena stage!

While the competition imposed no resonance rate restrictions—any Spirit Master who wasn’t a titled knight and possessed a companion spirit weapon could participate—a Spirit Master capable only of manifesting external armor would clearly possess no competitive edge whatsoever.

And less than half a month remained.

Within this half-month, Melina needed to be capable of manifesting her Spirit Art Battle Armor, at the very least.

In other words, the resonance rate between her and Melo needed to reach a minimum of 50%.

It wasn’t that Melina would then be deemed qualified to contend with the reigning champions; rather…

Only when the resonance rate exceeded 50%, thereby enabling Melo to manifest the Spirit Art Battle Armor of [Radiance], would Melo truly be able to unleash her inherent combat potential!

After all, the one truly capable of dictating the battle’s outcome was Melo, not Melina.

In Aida’s original, carefully laid plan, Melina was to be the primary agent of revenge, and the vendetta was slated to commence much later, allowing Melina ample time to grow.

However, Melo’s unexpected arrival had thoroughly ignited the smoldering flame of hatred that had been suppressed within Aida’s heart for over a decade!

The presence of this world’s strongest Titled Knight made Aida utterly unable to bear it any longer!

Thus, she had grown utterly impatient!

She was now consumed by an urgent desire to witness the hideous, terrified expressions on the faces of those arrogant noble bastards who had condemned her husband to death, when they finally faced their own demise!

“Melo, I sincerely hope you won’t disappoint me, otherwise…”