Chapter 19
Kane's POV
I swung my sword again and again, cleaving through the fireballs Seraphina spat forth. Splattered darkfire scorched my skin, each collision pushing my stamina to its limit.
"Seraphina, spare her!" I roared, my voice barely audible over the crackling flames. "She's no threat to you!"
The massive wolf Seraphina let out a low growl, purple flames dancing across her body, those three scars looking even more grotesque in the firelight.
She wouldn't listen to me at all.
"You think I'd believe you?" Her voice exploded directly in my mind. "A coward who'd abandon even his mother's vengeance for a woman—and you still talk about our great cause?"
"I haven't—" Before I could finish, she'd already gathered an exceptionally massive fireball. That sphere of purple-black flame illuminated nearly the entire forest.
Its target was Ella.
"No!"
I raised my sword to block it, but the fireball's impact force far exceeded my expectations. The tremendous explosion sent me flying backward. My back slammed hard against a tree trunk, the sword tumbling from my grip.
I struggled to lift my head, watching that fireball streak toward Ella.
"Ella!" My shout tore through my throat.
The fireball exploded at her feet, thick smoke instantly swallowing her figure.
I couldn't see anything, could only hear my own violent heartbeat.
Seraphina reverted to human form. Stella stood before me draped in deep purple robes, her face bearing a triumphant smile.
"Your weakness has been removed," she looked down at me. "Now you can focus on the plan to seize power."
I struggled to stand, but wounds covering my body left me nearly immobile.
There was no sound from within the smoke. That girl who'd spent countless cold nights with me in the Blood River wasteland, just like that—
Suddenly, Stella's smile froze.
She whipped her head toward the depths of the smoke, her expression turning wary and shocked.
"This energy—" Seraphina growled from within her. "Impossible—"
I felt it too.
A frenzied energy was gathering within the smoke. That dangerous sensation made my blood nearly freeze.
Stella immediately raised her defenses, purple flames forming a barrier around her.
She reached out and pulled me within the barrier.
"This little slave you brought back is quite something," she said through gritted teeth, her voice carrying wariness for the first time.
The next second, an intense wave of light exploded from within the smoke.
It was the purest, most searing crimson flame. Everything in its path burned to nothing—vegetation, earth, even the air itself was burning.
This wasn't Seraphina's witch-corrupted darkfire, but true elemental power—destruction so pure it was suffocating.
Stella's barrier trembled violently. She clenched her teeth, maintaining it with all her strength, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
"Retreat!" she roared. "Retreat now!"
I didn't dare argue. Under Stella's cover, we withdrew rapidly as that crimson fire raged behind us, reducing the entire forest clearing to scorched earth.
Only when we'd run far enough did I dare look back.
Behind us remained only a deathly silent expanse of black ruins, not even a wisp of smoke.
Was Ella still alive?
---
Inside the West Wing manor, Victoria was waiting anxiously.
When she saw Stella and me stagger in, she cried out: "Who injured you both like this?"
I'd only been burned by darkfire—painful but not fatal.
Stella's injuries were far worse. Her entire left arm had been charred, skin carbonized and split, revealing the flesh beneath.
Victoria quickly fetched ice and herbal dew. Stella sat in a chair gasping for breath, her scar-disfigured face full of shock.
"This little Omega is no simple matter," she spoke slowly, her voice low. "What she commands should be true flame element. Which means she may very well be a descendant of the Crimson Flame Warlord!"
I froze completely.
"Impossible! She's just a little slave I brought back from Blood River. How could she have such an identity?"
"Moreover," I tried to convince myself, "the Crimson Flame Warlord was Blood River's most valued minister. How could his descendants become slaves?"
Stella let out a cold laugh.
"You should understand the principle of meritorious subjects threatening their lords," she said. "I was once Silver Moon's Silver Fang War Mother, yet didn't I end up living in isolation? We haven't heard from the Crimson Flame Warlord in years. After that battle, he was gravely wounded. Presumably, his family within Blood River territory must have undergone major upheaval."
She lifted her head to look at me, her gaze sharp.
"You must secure this Omega to our side," Stella said. "Elemental power is no trivial matter. Each one represents top-tier combat strength capable of altering the balance between packs."
She paused, continuing: "Don't be fooled by all the shifter clans scattered across this continent. Those truly in positions of dominance have always been only three wolf packs—Silver Moon, Blood River, and Stone Ridge. Each pack commands one elemental power: ice, fire, and earth. These three elements have been passed down in orderly succession, never falling to outsiders."
"Then why have we never heard of Stone Ridge making any military moves?" Victoria asked while carefully applying medicine to Stella's wounds.
"Stone Ridge calls itself 'the eternally neutral pack,'" Stella said. "Mother Earth Gaia is their faith. Their existence is solely to guard the earth element from falling into others' hands."
I recalled something Father had once mentioned.
"I once heard Father mention that there are five elemental spirits in total. Besides fire, ice, and earth, there are two more elements—wind and thunder."
Stella smiled, the expression looking somewhat eerie against her scars.
"Those two elements have never been witnessed," she said. "If the Silver Moon clan didn't truly possess elemental magic, who would believe such legendary tales?"
She looked at me, her expression turning serious.
"I can sense that Omega's wolf spirit has been sealed by some kind of power," Stella said. "Go bring her back. We absolutely cannot let this power fall into Julian's hands."
I stood up, every wound on my body throbbing with pain.
"I will," I said.
But inside I was thinking: Ella, who are you really?
That girl who wept for me in the Blood River wasteland, that girl I thought was just an ordinary Omega—she possesses such terrifying power?
If what Stella said was true, if she really was a descendant of the Crimson Flame Warlord—
Then what did everything I'd done to her even mean?