Chapter 454: Chapter 454- Ascension

Thalia’s response was followed by the same thing that had plagued them since a moment ago. A solemn silence.

Nothing more needed to be said amongst the girls, but to Fiona, everything needed further context.

“What?”

She muttered under her breath after what seemed like an eternity.

“What do you mean?”

Her eyes narrowed into pinpricks, and her body leaned forward.

It wasn’t just confusion that played in her eyes now. Something else claimed its presence in those dark blue eyes. The darkest amongst the siblings.

It was fierce and overwhelming.

Claiming a presence that could not be ignored.

The others, Thalia and Rebecca may have missed this subtle detail. This one change in her demeanour which should ordinarily be compared to a killer.

But Elsie didn’t, and the young girl gulped plainly as she raised her guard.

She wasn’t going to take chances.

“It’s like we said, Fiona.” Rebecca began. “If you heard about the Academy’s destruction, then that must have been information released by those above.”

Fiona arched her brow even further.

Those above? The King, the law and the Great Families.

These were the only few things Fiona considered to be “above”, but she understood clearly what she meant.

‘Kira Merlin.’

News of her timely intervention had spread far and wide, but nothing about the feet she performed or her specific actions which saved the students.

‘only vague praises… like how she captured Rhabanz… or summoned thousands of portals to save everyone.’

The thought alone ignited the dangerous glimmer in her eyes.

“Kira Merlin?” she asked, and her sisters nodded in response.

“What else happened?”

The temperature in the Cabin seemed to have been rising with the heat of the moment.

Emotions, unchained and unrestrained, now flowed freely, and a mix of reactions was seen, clearly vivid on the girls’ faces.

Rage. Sadness. Guilt. Pain.

Elsie could see all the various changes, and her entire being wanted nothing of it!

“A man appeared. The Crimson Lord.”

Fiona’s eyes flared open and her face paled.

That flicker… that danger that Elsie was terrified of… wavered?

It was Elsie’s turn to be surprised, now.

“The– The leader of the Red Peacemakers?”

Fiona’s words broke, and her shock could not be contained.

This was different.

Far different from what she had expected.

After all, it would be more than odd if someone of her stature claimed she wasn’t aware of the Head of the Band of Hyenas.

Their motives. Their actions. Their members.

She had tracked them all– tried to at least. But the more she did, the further she distanced herself from the truth.

But nonetheless, one important piece of information had made itself quite clear.

The Crimson Lord… was a being that couldn’t be touched, but by how much?

She whipped her gaze at them.

“How strong?”

Thalia turned to her, her gaze serious.

“A 14th Star… a Saint.”

Fiona visibly flinched.

‘Shit… if someone like that actually came… then it’s a surprise that any of them are alive.’

A Saint… it was difficult to reach.

Far too difficult.

Awakening was one thing, but Ascension? Oh… that was far from human.

‘The things we do, our prowess and skills… everything is within Human limits.’

Her thoughts lined up in order.

‘Humans literally abandon a part of themselves to ascend…’

In other words, to ascend… You must rid yourself of corruption… the Humanity within you, and take up something more. Ancestral, you might say.

‘They thread through a path that defines them… and tells them who or what they are.’

In other words, extremely confusing.

With that thought, she leaned back to her seat.

“So that man killed him?”

It wasn’t to say that if the Crimson Lord was responsible for her younger brother… then realistically, there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

Unless, well, they reached Ascension which was the 12th tier in power.

“No.”

Fiona’s eyes lit up at the response, and she instantly turned to the girl who replied.

Elsie Darkpelt, who had regretted her decision almost immediately.

Fiona stared at the girl with curiosity.

Letting the quiet stretch for a while before she turned to her sisters.

“No?”

“We weren’t done with the whole story,” Thalia explained, while Fiona frowned slightly.

She sat back in her seat and folded her hands, a long, tired sigh escaping her lips.

‘Just like her to jump to conclusions.’

Thalia thought with a smile slowly forming on her face.

“The Crimson Lord did make things difficult for us… but we were able to hold him down with a Mana Vortex.”

“Mana Vortex?!” Fiona repeated as she sat up, yet again.

At this point, even she was beginning to tire of her reactions, but who could help it? One mind-boggling thing after the other was flying out of their mouths like an experience that played out.

‘The fuck? And they survived that?’

She kept the question to herself, but their story was beginning to look like an elaborate joke to get at her for all her pranks back in the day.

“Wait? Are you serious?”

Rebecca nodded with a serious expression, and that alone foiled any lingering doubts.

Rebecca had always been the serious type. Even more so than their eldest, Gloria. Though, not as uptight.

“First was the mana reflux… then the mana vortex.”

She explained.

“We left the Academy first, leaving Raph… and Kira Merlin.”

The clear-cut hesitation in Rebecca’s words had not been missed, and understandably so.

After all, out of everyone here, it could easily be said that Fiona hated the Witch of the West the most.

And understandably so, considering their history.

With that, her response was expected.

“Kira, that bitch.” She muttered. “She must have had something to do with his death… shit. How did he end up alone with that Witch?”

And she meant it literally. Not the nickname the public so vehemently gave her.

“We…” Thalia sighed, with an awkward stare as she hugged her shoulders tightly.

She knew more than anyone that this was going to be the hard part.

“… we trusted her.”

Silence.

Then chaos.

“You did what?!” Fiona jumped to her feet with an outburst of mana.

A force that had erupted in a concentric wave before slamming against the Coach.

A loud groan echoed, before the wheels of the wooden vehicle came to a forced halt, and the loud curses of the Coachman.

“Damn it! These shitty roads are back at it!”

The room stayed still in that silence, with the sisters all, instinctively looking away from one another.

Thalia, especially, glanced at the ring still neatly worn over her index finger.

Soon, the moment-that moment began to replay itself.

‘It had been subtle… almost non-existent. A feeling you would have missed if you didn’t understand what you saw… but we… we had trusted that woman.’

And ultimately, it led to the same thing.

‘Betrayal.’

Fiona stared at her sisters in disbelief. Plain disbelief.

There was nothing more that needed to be said… but, she could at least tell by their reactions.

It was a regret that would not repeat itself.

With an exasperated sigh, she fell to her seat as the sound of metal and iron clanging together echoed from the outside.

Elsie slowly turned to the window, and there, she could see the Coachman working on a broken wheel of his coach at the side of the road.

‘Poor guy…’

She thought, before the sound of Fiona’s voice pulled her away from it.

“So, what’s the deal with the girl? What does she have to do with any of this?”

“Oh,” Thalia muttered as she glanced at Elsie. “She’s a… a chance.”

“A chance?” Fiona repeated, urging her to explain further.

“We think Raph is still alive.” She explained further. “Elsie here is from the Darkpelt Werewolf tribe… and is apparently our younger brother’s mate.”

Fiona, once again, sat up with widened eyes.

“WHAT?”

‘Where the fuck have I been when all this has been happening?’

Apparently, watching over things at home.

‘Hah… true.’

She answered her own question and focused on the issue at hand.

“His mate? He’s fifteen.”

“Well, so is she,” Thalia replied with a shrug.

“What?” Fiona turned to Rebecca. “And you just accepted this?”

Rebecca shrugged as well. “It’s Raph.”

That alone, seemed to placate the urging rise of questions and disapproval from Fiona, because, just as she said.

‘It’s Raph… that wretched boy is far from normal.’

Not the bad kind, but the type you would want to trust.

‘Not exactly for children his age, though.’

She scratched the back of her head.

Completely stumped and beyond confused.

‘I’ll just have to accept everything for what it is, going on from here.’

“So… since she’s his mate, she should be able to tell whether or not he’s alive, right?”

Further explanation wasn’t needed.

Beastkins were known to be extremely loyal to their partners.

They stayed single for the rest of their lives if they passed away, and could tell them apart from others.

Either through a sense of smell, hearing, or chemical, it didn’t matter.

‘And since she’s a werekin, she should be able to smell him… and also tell if their partner is alive or not.’

She wasn’t entirely clear how it worked, but she was certain of it.

Experience had told her so.

“Well, yeah. That’s the whole gist… so we’re keeping her with us until then.”

Thalia replied with a curt nod.

“Hm, I see” Rebecca muttered as she folded her hands and kept her gaze on Elsie.

Time went on while she did so, and so did the silence, which for Elsie, had begun to be very uncomfortable.

The young girl, after what felt like forever, built enough courage to finally confront her.

“Um…sorry, Miss. Fiona, but is there…anything wrong with my face?”

The others seemed intrigued by the question as they turned to Fiona, but the latter continued to stare.

Her expression growing ever more confused, until—

“When did you find the time to sleep with my brother?”