[CHAPTER 93]
Meyna, who had walked forward as if possessed, suddenly came to her senses and staggered backward.
“No, no, that’s not right.”
A confused voice spilled from between Vaneysa’s twisted lips.
“The Empire will fall?”
It looked as though different personalities were fighting to take control of her body.
Casadin Central Square descended into chaos.
Terrified spectators fled in panic, while others crowded closer, unable to suppress their curiosity.
Members of the Imperial family and the Association hurried to assess the situation.
The massive pendulum clock embedded in the clock tower wall pointed to exactly four o’clock.
Daaang…… Daaang…… Daaang…… Daaang…….
The four chimes echoed quietly, as if announcing the end of the world.
Meanwhile, Caliph, having lost sight of Meyna, swept his surroundings with a sharp gaze.
“Biterion Parker!”
Spotting the Crown Prince standing there as if stunned, he called out his name like a thunderbolt.
“Pull yourself together!”
It was a command to take care of Meyna.
After confirming that Biterion seemed to understand and was heading toward her, Caliph roughly tore off the bothersome veil and ceremonial robe.
He drew a longsword from the scabbard at his waist and called out to the guild members scattered around.
“Rob, Gamri, Nephew. All members of Guild 928, assemble in front of me!”
At his booming voice, like that of a commander leading a subjugation or war, the guild members gathered in an instant.
Sensing danger from the ominous wind and the High Saintess’s strange behavior, Caliph relayed his orders to them.
“We must protect the civilians. If they scatter in fear, we won’t be able to respond to danger, so don’t let them leave the area.”
“Yes, Captain!”
The eight guild members moved in perfect unison.
After confirming once more that Biterion was approaching Meyna, Caliph forced his reluctant feet to move and ran toward the civilians.
“Young Lady. It’s dangerous. Please come to me.”
Biterion spoke to Meyna in his usual calm voice.
However, Meyna could not bring herself to move away from the altar.
“You are mistaken.”
Vaneysa, who had been smiling like a demon, spoke with a dignified face as if she were a different person entirely.
“The great Farman Empire, built upon the blood and sweat of its citizens, will never fall. As long as this universe exists, our Empire and its people will surely enjoy eternal glory!”
Meyna stared blankly at the sight of Vaneysa’s eyes being engulfed in pure white light.
As before, the pupils, irises, and sclera were indistinguishable, but this time it took the form of light rather than darkness.
“Your Highness. Do you see it?”
Meyna asked in a trembling voice.
“See what, Young Lady?”
“The light.”
“……”
There was no reply from Biterion, perhaps because he could not answer.
Only Vaneysa’s voice pierced Meyna’s ears and her mind like a spear.
“Only the one who exists outside the order of this world can save us. The one who has long lain dormant will soon awaken, answering the call of all life that exists upon this land!”
“Cast that horrible witch out of this world. Send her back to where she belongs, ghk— cough!”
Vaneysa spewed a torrent of black blood onto the altar and collapsed as if dead.
The prayers of the saintesses came to a halt.
Black clouds covered the sky, blotting out even the faint moonlight.
At that moment, when shock made it feel as though time itself had stopped.
“Kyaaaah!”
“It’s a monster!”
The citizens’ screams snapped everyone around the altar back to reality.
Meyna also turned her head toward where the screams were coming from.
From the towering Thales Mountain Range in the distance, an indistinct dark crimson energy was surging forward.
It looked like an extremely fine sandstorm blowing in.
Caliph could be seen in the distance, standing at the front with swords in both hands, as the knights and mages of Guild 928 formed ranks and shielded the civilians.
They drew their swords, axes, and various weapons all at once.
“Sera, no!”
The Empress cried out desperately.
Sera, who had already shed her dress and was wearing her jaguar-like uniform, led her guild members and ran toward Caliph.
Other ability users followed behind her.
Meanwhile, high-ranking Imperial officials floundered about in terror.
“Someone, o-open a portal!”
“Open a portal immediately so Her Majesty can be escorted to safety!”
Whether to protect the Empress or to use her as an excuse to save themselves was unclear, but a mage from Guild Imperial opened a portal and evacuated all Imperial personnel.
“Please go with them, Young Lady!”
Biterion urgently pushed at Meyna’s back.
However, Meyna did not move.
The stench of rot began to spread from somewhere, and almost simultaneously, citizens screamed in agony.
“I can’t see!”
“Aah! My hand is rotting away!”
“Someone, please help!”
It was not only the people.
Grass, trees, the ground, and even the insects flying in the sky.
Everything that held life was rotting away at a terrifying speed.
“Ah…… ngh!”
Overcome by unbearable pain, Meyna collapsed, gripped by an intense abdominal agony far beyond anything she had felt before, accompanied by severe breathing difficulty like that day in the bathroom of the Kairive Estate.
Monsters surged in with the dark crimson sandstorm and attacked the civilians.
They were grotesque forms, with all flesh torn away or rotted, leaving only bones behind.
Clang—!
At the front, Caliph swung his sword at a massive monster.
As Rob cast a protection spell, a pale green light enveloped Casadin Central Square, and mages representing each guild reinforced it with different hues of light.
“Captain! Behind you, watch your back!”
Gamri shouted after cleaving a monster’s head off with his axe.
At the moment a grotesque mass of skulls tried to leap onto Caliph’s back.
Meyna, who had been writhing on the ground in agony, suddenly went still.
The tearing abdominal pain and breathing difficulty vanished in an instant.
Meyna slowly rose to her feet.
Light of many colors, reminiscent of an aurora, wrapped around her.
The circular light gradually expanded, covering the entire square like a dome protecting the thousands of Imperial citizens gathered there.
“Aah! Please save me!”
“I-I can see again!”
New flesh sprouted over the rotted skin and exposed muscle of the people.
It was not only the people.
All life that had perished moments before was restored within the beautiful multicolored light.
The stench of rot and the smell of blood began to fade away.
In their place, the fresh scent of lush greenery, delicate wildflowers, and clean flowing water filled the square.
Sensing that the situation had changed, ability users stopped fighting one by one.
“What is this?”
Avalkin Shimmer, an A-rank Holy Knight from Guild Jaguar, muttered as he looked up at the dome of light.
“It’s an awakening.”
Sera replied.
The overwhelming mana flowing through the square was something even she, a top-tier healing mage, had never once unleashed or controlled.
“An awakening? You mean Lady Winslet?!”
Silently wiping monster blood splattered across her cheek, Sera watched Caliph lower his sword.
He was staring at Meyna standing far away, as if he could not believe the scene unfolding before his eyes.
Caliph clenched his teeth and closed his eyes, his face looking as though he were bearing all the suffering in the world.
As if believing that closing his eyes would make this reality disappear.
