217 Ascendance
Selma Payne’s POV:
This was a complex problem that had no solution.
Which was more important, to Mullwica; her own life or her only daughter?
The answer was self-evident. This woman, who had been wandering for half her life, finally chose her daughter and gave up on herself.
I even suspected that she accepted the fate of being beheaded by her son because she could have a legitimate reason to replace her daughter’s eyes with hers. In this way, her daughter would not have to bear the suffering and sin in her heart and could live a normal life with her mother’s silent gift until the end of her life.
However, she didn’t expect the devil to interfere and turn her family into the victims of the tragedy.
“I don’t think I can spread this discovery. In fact, I should keep it a secret forever. History has proven that anyone could easily turn into a demon in the face of life and power. The price to pay for testing one’s humanity was too great. No one knew whether people would choose strength or kinship in the future for the opportunity to explore their fate. If you’re not careful, the gift of fate will become the spark for your family’s extermination.
“But is it right to hide it? Do I have the right to deprive my descendants of the chance to save their lives? I don’t know. I was too selfish. I wanted Madeline to live a safe and peaceful life, and I hoped that countless children like her could live peacefully. However, this was simply a cycle of contradiction. It was either to kill one’s family or die. Goddess of fate, can you give me some guidance?”
“Let death plunder my sins. If this can redeem any of my selfish consequences, I’ll gladly endure it. Fate is like a play; some established plots can never be avoided.”
Mullwica only had so much information about the Eye of Insight. After flipping through the notebook, there was nothing else.
Dorothy had been out of it ever since she finished reading the notes. We all knew what she was worried about.
Just like Mullwica’s dilemma, did Dorothy have any other choice? The only blood relatives she had left were her grandmother and her parents. A werewolf couldn’t have the Eye of Insight, so the remaining option was her father, whom she had never met.
But the problem was if we found her father, and her father, who had never shown his face, was willing to sacrifice for his daughter, would Dorothy accept it?
I understood this strong-willed girl. Her kindness was like a soft spring that couldn’t contain a single grain of sand. She would always stick to her principles. Even if he was an irresponsible father who had never raised her, she could not calmly accept his life as compensation for the lack of fatherly love.
“Dorothy…” I pulled Mullwica’s logbook from her tight, pale hand and said softly, “Don’t overthink it. This is only a part of the records. There are still so many notes. Mullwica must have other research. No matter how much you think about it now, it adds to your troubles. As long as we keep looking, we’ll find another way.”
Dorothy forced a smile, still in a daze.
My words were complete nonsense. My empty and powerless consoling words had no effect.
Dorothy’s abnormal behavior continued until dinner time. We did not dare to say anything more, afraid that this girl who had fallen into a state of panic would become even more anxious.
It was destined to be an eventful day. In the evening, Master Mary received news from the royal family.
“Linda is awake.” Master Mary looked serious. “But she’s not in good condition.”
“What happened?”
“There have been some… changes in her.” Master Mary showed us the pictures from the palace.
The picture seemed to have been processed in a punk style, and there was a silent noise. In the middle of the image was not the Linda we thought it was, but a lump – forgive me for using this quantifier term – a lump of soft silk-like thing that we couldn’t see the shape of.
If I had to find something to describe it, I could only say that it was like a newly formed cocoon, as if there were butterflies or moths inside.
“This is Linda?” The picture gave me a strange sense of disgust, as if looking at it for too long would trigger something in my body. “How did she become like this? Is it the influence of the pine forest?”
Master Mary shook her head. “Tracy and the werewolf grandmasters were helpless. They can’t break through the cocoon’s defense and are afraid that using force will hurt Linda. So, they can only wait and see.”
“This is ‘Ascendance’,” Dorothy suddenly said.
“What?” We looked at her in surprise. “How did you know?”
“In my father’s notes, he recorded this phenomenon.”
Dorothy took out a small notebook from thin air. This was a widely circulated sorcery among the sorcerers, commonly known as ‘notebook’. It was usually hidden in the souls of the sorcerers and would only appear when used. Dorothy flipped to a page and showed it to us.
“Without a doubt, this is a complete transformation of evil. When a living being is willing to submit to the power of evil, he or she would gradually degenerate into a hotbed for the incubation of the demon. It could be an egg, a cocoon, or an embryo in the boiling lava.”
