IATAOTHKG | CHAPTER 94 – Novexa Novels

[CHAPTER 94]

Caliph, who had been watching Meyna with a tormented heart, finally came to his senses and picked up the sword he had dropped.

As proof of the recent bloody battle, the blade was thickly smeared with black monster blood.

Outside the enormous dome, swarms of monsters gathered in a writhing mass.

“Krr…… khaaaak!”

Clack!

Clackclack!

Clack!

Clackclackclackclackclackclackclack!

Clackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclack!!!

They spread their jaws wide, slamming their bones together as thick, viscous saliva dripped down like resin.

They were desperate to break through the barrier and devour the people inside, but crossing the boundary seemed extremely difficult.

“That is an overwhelming amount of mana.”

Rob, who had approached his side, spoke with a dazed expression.

He was one of the few AA-rank mages, someone who lectured at the Ability Users Academy whenever he was not on a hunt.

Even Rob’s formidable protection magic had been completely absorbed into the barrier Meyna had deployed.

The person herself, Meyna, seemed unaware of what she had done.

Standing frozen before the altar as if nailed in place, she merely stared up at the massive dome with the same stunned expression as everyone else.

“Why Lady Winslet……?”

Nephew Brown trailed off as he wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead.

As the members of Guild 928 stood in collective confusion, Sera approached them.

With a hardened expression, she asked Caliph.

“You didn’t know?”

Caliph’s gaze, which had been fixed on Meyna, slowly shifted to Sera.

“I knew.”

He added in a flat tone.

“That Meyna would soon awaken as a healing mage.”

He had not heard it directly from her, which had left him feeling foul beyond words, but.

Biterion had told him instead.

He had even already shared intimacy with her at her estate, experiencing her healing firsthand through his own body.

However, for some reason, Sera frowned and shook her head.

“No, no.”

Her facial muscles twisted as she spoke, forcing only the corners of her mouth upward in an unnatural smile.

“I meant whether you knew that Biterion and Meyna would form an imprint.”

The moment her words ended, Caliph’s features froze like ice.

So shocked that even his focus blurred, his eyes barely managed to hold Sera in view.

“What are you talking about?”

Sera studied Caliph’s expression carefully, then let out a hollow laugh.

“So you really didn’t know.”

“……”

“Impressive, Lady Winslet. To deceive everyone so perfectly with such an innocent face.”

* * *

One of those people had even been Meyna Winslet herself.

A talent highly cherished by Banje, and although she stood on the brink of awakening, she was still, for now, an ordinary person.

“Did you really intend to kill Lady Winslet?”

“Of course not.”

“Then why did you do such a thing?”

“Sera.”

Gadrien called her daughter’s name in a voice that was both gentle and imposing.

As she began stroking Sera’s head as if handling a puppy, Sera reflexively closed her lips like a well-trained animal.

“You know this now as well, but Lady Winslet will awaken as a healing mage. Judging by the mana flow, she will be at least an S-rank healer.”

“……”

“But Sera, have you forgotten?”

“……”

“That it took a full six years from the day you first suffered awakening pains until you actually awakened?”

Gadrien’s expression vanished in an instant.

Her ruby-like red eyes stared directly into Sera’s face.

Her gaze was sharp like a finely honed blade, her lips carrying an eerie hint of secrets long buried.

It was a face that summoned memories of a horrifying past.

“That day, if I had not helped you, you would still be living miserably, waiting for an awakening that might never come.”

Awakening, something that could not be achieved through effort nor bought with money, belonged solely to the realm of the divine.

The only way for a human to hasten an awakening was to drive the one suffering awakening pains into the brink of death.

“Answer me, Sera.”

Lowering her voice, Gadrien whispered, stroking Sera’s hair with the same gentle yet practiced touch she had used in her girlhood.

“If I had not poisoned your soup that day, would the you of today exist?”

Sera shook her head.

“Meyna Winslet must awaken as soon as possible. She is the only healing mage capable of handling Biterion.”

Among the children she had borne and raised, there were always those she favored more than others.

To Gadrien, Biterion was an exceptionally special son.

From the day he awakened before even reaching adulthood, she had lived in constant fear that he might offer his power to the Empire.

The stability and peace of the Empire meant nothing compared to her son’s safety.

She would rather he live hidden from the world forever.

“It was a miscalculation. I thought he would live like a flower in a greenhouse within a secret estate, never imagining he would cut his own wrist.”

The first time Biterion attempted to end his life without leaving even a single note.

He had been only eighteen years old.

“After that, he started writing farewell letters like diary entries. Slashing his wrists, hanging himself, throwing himself from heights.”

“……”

“We brought him back and saved him again and again, and when we finally restrained his limbs, he bit through his own tongue.”

Gadrien’s face twisted in anguish as she recalled the horrific past.

After closing her eyes for a while to regain her composure, she slowly opened them again.

Sera stared blankly at the faint smile surfacing in Gadrien’s bloodshot eyes.

“Then this spring, he suddenly began exposing his mana, as if sending a signal to someone.”

“When we looked into it, he had collided with a woman at the Bonsel Knight Hospital, and she survived.”

This spring. Bonsel Knight Hospital.

Sera recalled the memory, certain it had been that day.

The day Caliph was injured by a monster’s horn during a hunt.

Tear stains had dried on Meyna’s cheeks as she ran in panic.

Had she met Biterion by chance that day?

“If a son who had been obsessed with dying out of loneliness and guilt chose to step into the world, only to possibly lose his life now as a holy knight.”

“……”

“As his mother, shouldn’t I do something?”

Only then did everything fall into place.

After discovering Meyna’s existence, his mother had tried to push her into a near-death crisis to hasten her awakening.

“Banje is soft-hearted at the crucial moment.”

Gadrien let out a sigh.

“Why agree to send Spiculum, only to change her mind at the last moment?”

Sera’s eyes wavered.

The only person in the Empire capable of taming and controlling Spiculum was Banje Motenson.

Naturally, Sera had believed that Banje was the one who sent Spiculum to kill Meyna.

If Banje changed her mind at the last moment, then could it be…….

“Was it also you, Mother, who tried to kill Professor Motenson?”