Chapter 66 Cursed Reunion

Chapter 66 Cursed Reunion
The words hung in the dead space between them, freezing the air right in Ravelyn’s lungs. But Ravelyn didn't drop her hands. Instead, her fingers tightened around the matte-black handles of the Nocturnis Fan.

The dark, heavy energy hummed against her palms like a living heartbeat, pulsing in perfect rhythm with the volatile fire in her veins.

Ravelyn lifted her chin. She looked straight at Kaelie's blank, deadpan eyes and let a sharp, mocking smile touch her lips.

"And why exactly shouldn't I have picked them up?"

Ravelyn asked, her voice cutting through the ringing silence of the corner. She lifted one of the fans, the midnight-purple steel catching the flashing red lockdown lights above. "Honestly, Kaelie? I think they suit me."

Kaelie didn't blink. The empty smile on her face didn't reach her massive, dilated pupils.

"But they don't belong to you," Kaelie said. Her voice didn't sound right. It was a flat, hollow rattle, completely stripped of any human warmth.

Slowly, Kaelie took a deliberate step forward. Her boots made absolutely no sound against the marble. Not a tap. Not a single scratch. It was completely unnatural.

Beside Ravelyn, Nina was practically vibrating with pure terror. She was squirming, her eyes darting between Kaelie’s blank face and the exit doors at the far end of the pavilion. Nina reached out, her fingers trembling violently as she grabbed a fistful of Ravelyn’s uniform sleeve.

"Ravelyn, please," Nina begged under her breath, tugging her backward with frantic, shaky jerks. "We need to go. We need to leave right now. There is something seriously wrong with her. That is not Kaelie."

"I know," Ravelyn muttered, her eyes never leaving the girl walking toward them.

Ravelyn stood her ground, planting her boots firmly against the obsidian floor. Her mind was racing at a million miles an hour. None of this made any sense.

The puzzle pieces were completely scattered, and none of them fit together. First, there was that sudden, brutal Vorath pack attack out of nowhere. Then, the weird, bloody death of the academy servitor in the lower levels. And now? Kaelie just miraculously shows up out of thin air, wandering into the Vault of the Divine during a high-tier trial?

Everything was just completely off.

Kaelie took another slow, silent step. The air around her smelled faintly of copper and old, rotting flowers. She stopped just three feet away, her upper body perfectly rigid.

"Hand over the weapons, Ravelyn," Kaelie said, her voice dropping into a demanding, rhythmic drone.

Ravelyn let out a short, dry laugh. She flared the obsidian fans open, the sharp metal edges slicing through the heavy air with a dangerous hiss.

"No," Ravelyn said flatly. "The weapons chose me, and I am definitely not giving them to you. Besides, let's look at the facts here. You're a light bearer. What exactly is a holy angel girl like you going to do with a weapon as dark as this?"

Kaelie tilted her head to the side. The movement was way too sharp, a fraction too fast, exactly like a broken porcelain doll. A dark, sadistic grin stretched across her lips, pulling her skin tight.

"There's only one way to find out," Kaelie whispered.
Before anyone in the room could even blink, Kaelie blurred.

She didn't just run; she accelerated with terrifying, monstrous speed straight at Ravelyn. Her fingers flexed, and right before Ravelyn's eyes, Kaelie's fingernails extended into long, jagged, black talons.

She raised her hand, aiming a brutal, fatal blow straight for Ravelyn’s throat.

Ravelyn gasped, her survival instincts kicking into overdrive.

With a hard, violent shove, Ravelyn threw Nina entirely out of the way. Nina hit the floor rolling, screaming in shock. Ravelyn tried to twist her own body to dodge the incoming strike, but Kaelie was moving way too fast.

It was too late.

The black talons sliced through the air. A sharp, burning line of agony exploded across Ravelyn's left cheek.

Slash.

Blood, bright and hot, immediately welled from the cut, dripping down her jawline.

The entire pavilion went dead silent for a single, horrified second. Then, the watching students erupted into pure, unadulterated panic.

"Oh my god! She just attacked her!" a student shrieked.

"Get out! Run!"

Everyone began to scurry away, tripping over weapon racks and scrambling toward the iron double doors in a desperate stampede to escape the corner.

High above them on a stone platform, a male fairy student with translucent, shimmering wings leaned over the railing, his face pale with horror. He pointed a shaking finger down at the pavilion.

"Kaelie has been corrupted!" the fairy yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking with terror. "The dark energy got her! Someone get the elders immediately!"

Hearing her name, Kaelie’s head snapped toward the source of the noise. Her neck moved with another loud, sickening crack. She glared up at the fairy on the platform, her jaw dropping open as she let out a deep, animalistic snarl that vibrated right through the floorboards.

"You are way too noisy," Kaelie hissed.

She didn't hesitate. Pushing off the marble floor with enough force to crack the stone, Kaelie launched herself directly toward the platform, her talons raised to shred the shouting fairy to pieces. The fairy dropped to his knees, covering his face with both hands, completely frozen in fear.

Ravelyn didn't even have time to think. Her body just moved on its own.

The volatile dragon mana inside her core flared like a gasoline fire. Before she could even register the thought of stopping the attack, a strange, dizzying pull yanked at her gut.

Pop.

The air bent. Ravelyn instantly teleported, appearing directly in front of the crouched fairy on the high platform.

The fairy, who was waiting for the fatal blow, let out a shaky, trembling breath he didn’t even know he was holding. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked.

Standing right in front of him, blocking Kaelie's path with her black bladed fans crossed in a rigid X-shape, was Ravelyn. Hot blood was still dripping from her sliced cheek, but her eyes were burning with pure fury.

Ravelyn didn't look back at him. She kept her focus entirely on Kaelie, who had landed on the edge of the platform, hissing like a wild beast.

"Are you just going to sit there and watch?" Ravelyn gritted out, her voice sharp and dripping with annoyance. "Scram!"

The fairy scrambled backward on his hands and knees, tumbling down the rear steps of the platform and running for his life.

Kaelie crouched low, her black talons scraping against the stone railing. The blood on Ravelyn's cheek seemed to drive her even wilder. She sniffed the air, her chest jerking in short, uneven spasms.

"You're fast, Rav," Kaelie rattled, her sadistic grin returning. "But you're bleeding. The dark core inside you smells so delicious. Give it to me."

"In your absolute dreams," Ravelyn spat back.