I sat there quietly, fingers resting against my knee, trying to decide what I should ask next.
Before I could even settle on a single thought, Lycrane spoke first.
She turned toward Reha and said in her usual undeterred, calm tone, "Now, as things seem to be settled here, I want you to unseal my powers."
Right after saying that, she crossed her hands and looked at the person inside the glass coffin intently.
For a moment, I froze.
"Eh… What does she mean? Her powers… sealed?"
I was almost at a loss, thinking what she meant by those peculiar words. My mind stumbled over the possibilities, trying to make sense of what I was hearing.
Suddenly it clicked.
The first thing that surfaced in my mind was the memory of Lycrane's earlier fight.
She had faced a B-rank monster and, against all expectations, had struggled. She—the SSS-Rank Swordsaint—struggled.
By common knowledge, a B-rank monster is no small threat, but compared to an SSS-rank Swordsaint, the difference should be as wide as earth and sky.
Someone of her level shouldn't have had any difficulty. Not against something like that.
And yet, she had.
That obviously meant there had been something limiting her, something holding her back from using her full strength.
So when she spoke of having her powers unsealed, the meaning became very clear to me.
Lycrane's true strength had been bound. Bound by Reha Bellcrack, the twentieth Archmeister of Friscus, and apparently an immortal from the looks of it.
I glanced at the woman inside the glass coffin.
If it really was Reha who sealed Lycrane's powers, then her strength had to be on a level far beyond anything I, a mundane human, could ever imagine.
After all, if even an SSS-rank Swordsaint could be restrained like that, then what did that say about the one doing the restraining?
I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as I reevaluated Reha's strength.
If Lycrane's powers were sealed, then her obedience to this powerful entity was not something she had chosen in her own volition.
She was being forced.
Yes, as absurd as it may have sounded, the SSS-Rank Swordsaint was being blackmailed.
I let out a small sigh and looked at Lycrane, finally understanding what her reasoning was when she deceived me into coming here and then handed me over to these people.
To her, it was an easy choice.
If she wanted to get her powers back she needed to do one task. And that was to find someone with an affinity for spectrum sorcery.
That someone happened to be me.
I shook my head in exasperation.
All of this lined up far too neatly for it to be anything else.
As I pieced these thoughts together, Reha gave a soft chuckle.
She tilted her head slightly and, without hesitation, said to Lycrane, "Yes, yes, I shouldn't keep you waiting. Now, should I?"
Saying that, with her unseen shadowy mouth, Reha suddenly moved back and disappeared. Vanished without a trace.
And just then, something shifted in the room.
On top of the glass coffin, where an old woman had been sleeping in stillness for so long, there was sudden movement.
Her body stirred.
The quiet air inside the hut broke in that single instant.
Then, without any warning, she abruptly sat up straight, her back rigid and her gaze empty.
"Ah…"
I gasped and drew in a cold breath.
'What's happening?'
The old woman, with lifeless eyes, slowly stood up straight and started walking toward Lycrane, her movements feeling ethereal.
Her hollow gaze fixated on Lycrane, the old woman crouched down beside her.
Lycrane did not stay still as she slowly and elegantly pulled at her clothes and exposed her milky white neck to the old woman.
With a swift motion, the old woman bit into Lycrane's neck.
I could only watch in stunned silence as a pained expression appeared on Lycrane's face, which was already flushed red, as small beads of sweat fell from her forehead.
She bit into her lips, enduring a kind of pain that was only known to her.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the red-haired twins sitting in a calm and composed manner, sipping their tea.
Right at that moment, the old woman released her teeth and moved back.
In the next instant, Lycrane's face suddenly contorted as she buckled over and started vomiting out a yellowish, slimy liquid.
On a closer look, I realised small worms were wriggling and squirming in the mass of yellowish pus.
Seeing that, the old woman leaned down and started licking them, taking them into her mouth.
I held back the urge to vomit, making myself look away.
'What the fuck!?' was my thought, as an odd stench penetrated my nose.
Before long, the floor was wiped clean, saliva sticking to the carpet.
I rolled my eyes and looked at the old woman who had once again taken her place on top of the glass coffin and was already falling asleep.
Just as she fell asleep, the shadowy figure inside the glass coffin suddenly appeared back with a smug smile, as if saying, "See, did you see what I did there? I am powerful, aren't I?"
My hands shook slightly. My chest felt tight, and I realised my mind was still trying to process everything that had happened.
I could barely make sense of it.
'Disgusting' was the only praise I could give her.
Seriously, I thought this 'unsealing' thing would look more magical. It just had to be a completely disgusting horror show.
And I knew, with all certainty, there was more of this to come.
"Ugh… where did my peaceful and quiet ordinary life go? Woe is me!"
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A/N: Are you enjoying the story so far? If you have a favourite part, I'd love to hear about it! If there's something you don't like, please share that too—it helps me improve. Your feedback means a lot to me, so leave a comment, no 'please' leave a comment. I don't know how the story is going, is it doing well or poorly? Kinda demotivating…
Honestly, I could really use some motivation right now, and even one comment can really make my day and help me write more chapters… :)
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