Maelona stared at the door for a long moment, her anger simmering beneath the surface. Finally, she let out a deep sigh, turning on her heel and heading back to her room.
’That bitch is really starting to get under my skin…’ Maelona thought, her irritation clear as she closed the door behind her.
Her usually vibrant green eyes momentarily flickered red as a wave of exhaustion washed over her. Feeling the familiar weariness creeping in, she quickly moved to her drawer, pulling out the last remaining bottle of her ’Medicine’ and downing it in one swift gulp.
A relieved sigh escaped her lips as her eyes returned to their normal green hue. She stared at the now-empty drawer with a sense of unease, ’I need to contact Aether,’ she thought.
Even though they were connected by the Eternal Seal, Maelona had avoided reaching out to Aether since he left.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to… she did, desperately… but something held her back. It felt… wrong, like an intrusion into his life.
She had hoped, perhaps foolishly, that Aether would contact her first. But days turned into weeks, and still, no word from him. The realization that her beloved son-in-law might have forgotten about her stung more than she cared to admit.
’It’s not like I wanted him to…. ’ she tried to convince herself, but the emptiness in her chest said otherwise.
Maelona’s cheeks flushed as she stared at the empty bottle in her hand, unsure how to process her feelings about the ’Medicine.’ “Well, since my daughters know the details, I suppose it’s fine…” she mumbled, trying to push the thoughts away as she prepared to lie down.
But before she could relax,
Knock, Knock
Maelona frowned, irritated by the interruption at this late hour. She opened the door to find… Liora.
“What brings you here at this time?” Maelona asked, her eyes half-closed with a mix of curiosity and irritation.
Liora’s lips twitched, noting the irony in Maelona’s mirrored words. Without a word, she extended her hand, offering a small rectangular box.
“What is this?” Maelona frowned, her suspicion growing.
Liora shrugged casually. “I don’t know. Aether told me to give it to you as soon as possible.”
At the mention of Aether, Maelona’s eyes widened, her heart skipping a beat.
[+1000 AP]
Her face softened immediately, her earlier irritation melting away as she gazed at the box… She knew what was inside, ’So… he didn’t forget about me after all…’ she thought, a warm feeling spreading through her chest.
A gentle smile curved her lips!
However, just as quickly, doubt crept back in. Her brows furrowed as she looked at Liora with a questioning gaze. “How did you get it?”
Liora simply shrugged, unwilling to offer an explanation. But Maelona wasn’t about to let it slide… this was too important!
The idea of her son-in-law reaching out to another woman before her gnawed at her insides, fueled her growing annoyance.
She really got annoyed.
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Seeing that Maelona wasn’t going to drop the subject, Liora finally relented and told her the truth….. As the words sank in, Maelona’s face slowly hardened, as though she had swallowed something bitter and vile.
’Not bad…’ Liora mused, watching the fury build in Maelona’s expression. ’If I had known it would piss her off this much, I would have told her sooner…’ She nodded to herself, satisfied.
“So… you’ve been exchanging letters, huh?” Maelona mumbled, her eyes flickering with dark, unreadable emotions.
Here she was, directly connected to Aether through the Eternal Seal, yet he hadn’t reached out to her…. not even once to check if she was okay. And yet, he sent letters to Liora, of all people.
What kind of twisted joke was this?!
Maelona gritted her teeth, her anger bubbling over as she glared at Liora. “I knew your tribe was shameless, but why are you still trying to seduce him? Can’t you see he’s in love with my daughter?! He’s going to marry her, you bitch!”
Her voice rose in frustration, her emotions finally spilling out.
Liora casually picked her ear with a finger, barely acknowledging Maelona’s outburst, “So what? It’s not like I care about being his first… or whatever number,” she replied haughtily.
Maelona’s lips twitched furiously, about to retort when Liora leaned in, licking her lips suggestively, “You know, in our tribe, the women prefer to mate with men who have more wives. It means they’re powerful, more worthy~”
Maelona stared at Liora, speechless for a moment, then sighed in resignation. She knew shouting wouldn’t solve anything. All she could do now was pray her daughter was doing her best to hold onto Aether.
As they both turned to leave, resigned to the night’s events,
“MOTHER!!!”
Liora’s long wolf ears twitched at the familiar voice. She quickly stepped out into the corridor and looked towards the street, where she saw Kaelen approaching, his face pale with dread and hurry!!
….
…
Inside the Academy…
A hideous, raspy voice echoed from the top of a building.
“Hrhahr….”
The creature was a towering abomination, a grotesque fusion of mechanical spiders and rotting corpses. Its swollen body was covered in decaying flesh, its glowing red eyes oozing malevolence.
A gaping maw lined with jagged teeth dripped with vile saliva, making it an utterly repulsive sight.
Its red eyes fixed on the stadium, sending a wave of terror through the onlookers. Standing at 20 feet tall, this monstrous entity embodied a pure nightmare, as if it had crawled straight out of the darkest depths to bring nothing but destruction and despair.
Smaller, severed-head spider-like minions swarmed around it, creating an even more horrifying scene.
SsssssHhhhhhhhh
The eerie sound of wind echoed through the silence before—
THUNDER!!!!!
Lightning and thunder crashed in the sky as rain began to pour, though it couldn’t reach inside the dome that shielded the stadium.
The monster’s mouth twisted into a grotesque grin as it let out an indescribable sound, “Mryrr Crreearrtrrnnnrrrrrrr” – an unintelligible but terrifying utterance.
Long, spindly legs ended in razor-sharp claws, one of which stabbed into a massive bell, hurling it toward… Alaric!
“MOVE!!!” Alaric shouted, his voice filled with urgency as everyone scrambled to get out of the way.
BOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!
The bell crashed to the ground with a deafening explosion, sending a deep, resonating wave that nearly tore everyone’s eardrums.
Aether rubbed his ears, visibly annoyed by the creature, ’Fuck, it’s fucking disgusting…’ he thought, glancing at the other students who were beginning to panic.
’Tsk’ He clicked his tongue, If they scattered, it would be impossible to execute the plan without sacrificing a few lives. He quickly looked at Victor.
Victor’s voice boomed across the stadium, “DO NOT RUN AWAY!!”
His command froze everyone in their tracks.
Alaric stepped forward, his face grim but determined, “Calm down, students. None of you will die under my watch!” He exchanged a knowing glance with the professors and remaining guards, who nodded in resolute agreement.
Alaric then turned to the Elite class students, “I’ll handle that thing. You all focus on finding a way out!”
As Alaric and the others prepared their weapons, Delphine was about to follow them when—
“You’re not going,” Victor muttered before—
Ssshhhhhhhh
“AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” Victor threw her out through a small hole in the dome, which closed immediately after. He had used the controller of the Arcane-Less Dome Artifact to seal it back.
Alaric blinked, taken aback, about to demand an explanation when Victor spoke, “Her hand was mutilated, and she doesn’t have her spider. She’ll be fine.”
Alaric frowned… that wasn’t what he had intended to ask.
Meanwhile, outside the dome, Delphine managed to stabilize herself as her powers returned. She hovered over the dome, biting her lip in frustration. She understood why Victor had done it, but she desperately wanted to help her students.