Chapter 119: Awakened Power and Lingering Grief

“Please?” What did she mean by that?

Nomnom’s parting words left Yalin utterly bewildered.

Was she asking him not to bother her?

Or was she pleading with him to protect the young lady?

Yalin couldn’t decipher it, yet he found himself unwilling to dwell on it further.

In any case, his ties with the Astria family were severed today. As for Luluti’s future, Yalin simply didn’t care.

He turned and departed, his figure swiftly melting into the city’s encroaching darkness.

Acadia Academy – Arcane Division.

As the midnight bells faded, the student dormitories had long since plunged into darkness.

The ancient, classical edifice now stood in silent vigil amidst the profound night.

Yet, Celeste remained awake.

She stood by the balcony, gazing silently at the distant mountains.

She extended a hand, and a golden flame spontaneously flickered into existence, dancing continuously in her palm. Its brilliant light illuminated her delicate features, casting a glow upon her fiery red hair.

“I’ve recovered a little… but it’s still far from enough.”

Celeste felt the flow of magic within her body, murmuring softly.

The death match against Carol that day had inflicted wounds far more severe than they appeared on the surface.

Despite a long period of recovery and her body’s slow self-healing, a persistent blockage remained, leaving her far from her optimal state.

‘That woman… who exactly was she…’

Recalling the incident, Celeste still felt a lingering sense of dread.

Her bizarre and irrational abilities, coupled with her utterly illogical, frenzied behavior… by any measure, she did not seem like a sane individual.

However, a particular phrase she uttered during a lull in their battle continued to haunt Celeste’s mind, an persistent echo like a curse.

[Are you an Awakened one too? It’s not pleasant, having your body controlled by those entities, is it?]

Celeste stared at the golden flame in her hand, its pure and sacred radiance starkly different from any ordinary fire.

What her opponent referred to as an ‘Awakened one’ must surely pertain to this very condition.

Indeed, she could sense that this power transcended the existing magical system.

It could no longer even be called an element; instead, it was something far more unique, an unparalleled existence.

Celeste found herself reminiscing about the past.

She remembered being quite young then, perhaps only ten or so. One day, while playing outside with Yalin, she suddenly felt unwell.

A powerful wave of dizziness then consumed her consciousness, and she instantly fainted.

Though Yalin swiftly brought her home, her condition worsened instead of improving. She developed a terrifying high fever, remaining unconscious in bed for over three days.

During this time, the Ravenster family leveraged their connections to find the most renowned doctors in the vicinity. Yet, after an entire afternoon of diagnosis, they remained utterly helpless.

Just as Celeste’s family wept in despair, having even prepared themselves for the loss of their daughter, she suddenly awoke.

There was no gradual recovery, no period of weakness; it was as if she had merely woken from a dream. Not only did her high fever vanish instantly, but her body also healed at an astonishing pace.

Moreover, after that incident, it was as if a switch had been flipped within her, awakening an astonishing magical talent.

Whether elemental magic or white magic, she wielded both with effortless mastery.

The manipulation of magical energy, a daunting task for ordinary individuals, felt as natural to Celeste as a function of her own body, presenting no difficulty whatsoever.

Consequently, whispers began to spread among the people, proclaiming her a favored child blessed by the gods.

The gods, it was said, not only pulled her back from the brink of death but also generously bestowed upon her unparalleled power.

And it seemed that their words held a kernel of truth.

Although her consciousness had been largely dormant during those three days of unconsciousness, she retained a few fragmented memories.

She vaguely recalled her soul seemingly shedding its mortal shell, venturing into a peculiar space that defied conventional understanding.

There was no up, down, left, or right; it felt like a silent void, yet also like being adrift amidst cold, distant stars, her body floating weightlessly.

Like a speck of dust suspended at the edge of the universe.

And in the deepest reaches of that boundless firmament, within a darkness that transcended human comprehension, some ineffable, magnificent entity seemed to gaze silently upon her minuscule self, traversing the currents of time and space.

Immediately after, a grand and ethereal voice resonated directly within the depths of her soul.

[Fulfill thy destiny…]

Upon waking, the phrase seemed to echo in her ears, though at the time, Celeste dismissed it as mere illusion.

Now, however, it seemed the matter was far from simple.

She could feel an invisible tether, piercing through dimensional barriers, linking her body to those higher-dimensional entities.

Furthermore, she could even allow those incomprehensible, higher-dimensional powers to temporarily reside within her, manifesting miracles in the mortal realm capable of twisting reality itself.

In essence, she possessed the power of a deity.

Yet, as the mysterious Black-robed figure had stated, this sensation of being forcibly filled with an alien power was utterly unbearable, even sickening to the point of nausea.

Each time she wielded this power, a portion of her bodily sensations would be forcibly extracted, no longer belonging to her.

The sensation was akin to being a puppet, manipulated at will by unseen strings.

Celeste furrowed her brow, shook her head, and momentarily discarded these thoughts.

She closed her fingers, and the golden flame dissipated, plunging her surroundings back into darkness.

That dangerous madwoman, having taken the full force of her all-out attack head-on, must surely be suffering now.

However, she had not vanished; the threat persisted. Moreover, that individual had brazenly set her sights on Yalin, daring to plot harm against him.

Therefore, no matter what, she had to grow stronger.

Strong enough to be able to protect Yalin.

Meanwhile, in another corner adjacent to the city, within an old manor.

Luminas, having just concluded an entire night of intense training, casually wiped away the sweat trickling down her forehead and cheek. She then sat on the cool stone steps of the courtyard, resting the thin blade of her rapier against her hand.

The silver-white rapier, etched with intricate magic circuits, shimmered with a watery luster under the starlight, gleaming brilliantly.

“The stars are beautiful tonight.”

Luminas slowly raised her head.

She gazed up at the brilliant starry sky, a rare spark of light appearing in her usually listless eyes.

Come to think of it, there were times like this when she was a child.

Back then, the courtyard wasn’t overgrown with weeds, and she wasn’t alone.

She would always sit in her parents’ warm embrace, under the same sky, extending her tender little hands to count the stars one by one.

Her ears would be filled with her father’s hearty laughter and her mother’s gentle whispers.

However, such happiness was fleeting, vanishing as swiftly as a shooting star.

Before long, her parents met with an accident during an archaeological expedition to ancient ruins and never returned.

Soon after, her grandfather, who had raised her, also disappeared without a trace, as if he had simply vanished from the face of the earth.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, she was left utterly alone in the vast family home.

A faint sadness bloomed within her usually unemotional heart.

Luminas lowered her head, tightening her grip on the rapier resting on her lap.

Soon, it would be time for the grand finals of the Viktor Cup.

It was the focal point for all students, the stage where the academy’s strongest would be determined.

On that day, she would face Celeste on the same arena.

As for the outcome, she would most likely lose.

Yet, even so, she refused to accept defeat.

Losing to anyone else would be acceptable, but she simply could not bear to lose to Celeste.

She wanted to prove to her parents that she could stand on her own, that she could survive even alone.

More than that, she wanted to prove to her grandfather that she was not the mediocre mortal he perceived her to be.

She too was a chosen one, worthy of bearing the Tingel family’s honor.

Therefore, she refused to lose.

No matter the method, no matter the cost, she was determined to defeat Celeste.

This unwavering obsession had become the sole reason she continued to wield her sword.