Chapter 155

Chapter 155
Third person POV

The violent silver column of light gradually subsided. The crystal chain's cracks stopped spreading and even began to heal. Vitalis's light also stabilized. The purification ceremony miraculously continued.

"Hold on!" Donny shouted with his last strength. "We're almost there!"

Time seemed to freeze. Finally, Vitalis's light reached its peak then slowly diminished. The moonlight energy was completely absorbed by him, a silver-blue glow gently enveloping him.

He stopped crying, falling into peaceful sleep, his small face flushed with healthy color.

"Success." Donny whispered weakly. "The genes have been purified. He will grow up healthy."

As his words fell, his form swayed and he collapsed to the ground, falling into deep unconsciousness.

Seraphina finally released her grip. Her body tilted backward, and Lucian caught her in his arms, but the next second, he himself lost consciousness. Both collapsed to the ground together.

Dwayne also fell from massive life force loss, his face terribly pale, breathing faint.

Willow stopped chanting, her wooden staff breaking with a snap. She staggered several steps. Ember caught her in time, but she was too weak to stand.

"Quick! Everyone needs immediate treatment!" Ember shouted hoarsely.

Warriors rushed forward. Claire carefully lifted Vitalis into her arms—the cub slept peacefully, breathing steadily, face rosy, as if he had never experienced a life-and-death trial.

"He's fine, really fine." Claire's tears flowed freely, but she quickly realized the danger to the others. "Get them all to the treatment rooms!"

Northern Peak's healers arrived swiftly. Under Ember's direction, they placed the five unconscious individuals in separate treatment rooms.

"Their life force depletion is too severe," an elderly healer said, shaking his head after examination. "Especially Donny—he bore too much energy impact. Seraphina and Lucian were also seriously injured by the backlash. They'll need at least three days to awaken, and we must continuously administer life herb essences."

Ember clenched her fists, holding back tears: "Please save them, I beg you."

"We'll do everything we can." The healers began their work.

For the next three days and nights, lights burned continuously in the treatment rooms. Healers took turns administering life herb essences to the five, monitoring their faint vital signs.

Ember remained almost constantly at Seraphina's side, while Claire carried Vitalis between treatment rooms, letting the cub's scent comfort his unconscious parents and grandparents.

On the third evening, Willow was the first to awaken. She weakly opened her eyes, her first words: "Vitalis..."

"He's fine," Ember immediately came forward. "The ceremony succeeded. His genes have been purified."

Willow closed her eyes, a relieved smile appearing on her lips.

A few hours later, Dwayne also regained consciousness. He struggled to sit up, only to find he could barely lift his hand.

"Don't move," a healer pressed him down. "You've lost too much life force. You need to rest."

"The others..." Dwayne asked hoarsely.

"Willow has awakened. The others are still unconscious, but their vital signs are slowly recovering."

Another day passed before Lucian finally opened his eyes. His first reaction was to sit up abruptly, but weakness nearly sent him tumbling from the bed.

"Seraphina! Vitalis!" he called out hoarsely.

"They're both alive," Ember's voice came from the doorway. "Vitalis is healthy. Seraphina is also recovering. You need to rest, Lucian."

"I need to see her." Lucian struggled to get out of bed.

"You can barely stand!" Ember tried to stop him.

But Lucian stubbornly supported himself against the wall, shuffling step by step toward the adjacent treatment room. When he saw Seraphina, pale and weak, still unconscious, his eyes instantly moistened.

He knelt by the bed, gripping her cold hand, saying quietly: "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should have protected you both..."

Half a day later, Seraphina finally showed signs of awakening. Her fingers moved slightly, her eyelids trembling.

Lucian immediately gripped her hand tighter: "Seraphina? Can you hear me?"

Seraphina slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurred. She saw Lucian's face, pale and gaunt with exhaustion, struggling to speak: "Vitalis..."

"He's fine," Lucian's voice choked. "The ceremony succeeded. He's been healed."

Seraphina closed her eyes, tears sliding down.

Donny was the last to awaken. A full four days later, he finally emerged from deep unconsciousness. He had suffered the most severe damage. Even after waking, he was so weak he could barely speak.

"Worth it," he looked at those who came to visit, forcing out a smile with difficulty. "All worth it."

On the fifth day, when everyone had recovered enough to converse, Ember finally raised the question that had been haunting her.

"Why did the vessel suddenly shatter?" She looked at Donny. "You said vessels made from moonlight stone should be indestructible."

Donny nodded weakly: "Indeed they should be. Unless..."

He suddenly thought of something, saying with difficulty: "Bring the fragments. I need to examine them carefully."

Warriors quickly brought the collected vessel fragments. Donny forced himself to sit up, carefully observing each piece.

When he saw the black marks on one fragment's edge, his expression changed drastically.

"These are corrosion marks." His voice trembled with anger. "And this type of corrosion... is shadow moon toxin."

The room fell into deathly silence.

"Shadow moon toxin?" Willow looked at him in shock. "Hasn't that been lost to history?"

"Extremely rare, but not nonexistent." Donny said through gritted teeth. "And this toxin must be applied hours in advance to take effect at the ceremony's critical moment. Which means..."

"Someone deliberately sabotaged the ceremony." Lucian's voice was cold as iron. "Before the ceremony even began, someone tampered with the vessel."

Seraphina instinctively held Vitalis tighter. She remembered the cold smile that had flashed in Mira's eyes the evening before the ceremony.

"It was Mira," she said quietly. "It must have been her."

"But we have no proof," Dwayne countered. "And the day before the ceremony, she was with Claire the whole time."

"No," Claire suddenly spoke, her voice trembling. "At dusk, Mira said she needed privacy and left for a long time. I didn't think much of it then, but now that I remember... when she came back, her hands had dirt on them. She said she'd accidentally fallen."

She paused, her face growing paler: "And I remember, her direction was exactly toward the ritual grounds."

"Last night when I was on duty, I did see a figure lurking near the ritual grounds," a warrior added. "At the time I thought it was a wild animal, but the body shape and movements were definitely wolf-like."

"Find Mira immediately," Lucian struggled to stand. "I need to confront her face to face!"

"Alpha," a warrior said hesitantly. "Mira... disappeared the night of the ceremony."

Everyone froze.

"When?" Lucian demanded harshly.

"During the ceremony, Mira was supposed to remain in the guest room area. But later we discovered she'd taken advantage of the guards' attention being drawn to the ceremony and slipped away with her luggage."

The warrior added quietly: "I was on night duty. The guest room area was too quiet. I didn't expect she would seize the opportunity to escape. By the time we noticed, she was already gone."

"She knew something would happen, so she left early," Donny said coldly. "That's the best evidence."

Dwayne closed his eyes, his face filled with pain and self-reproach: "Mira, was it really you?"

"Dwayne, the facts are obvious," Willow said firmly. "Shadow moon toxin, lurking at the grounds before the ceremony, vessel corrosion, fleeing the night of the ceremony... all evidence points to her."

She sighed: "Jealousy and resentment blinded her heart. She wanted to destroy what Seraphina treasured most—Vitalis."

Seraphina listened to these words, holding Vitalis tightly in her arms. Anger, fear, and lingering dread intertwined.

"She almost killed my child," her voice, though weak, burned with cold fury. "If not for everyone's desperate rescue, if the ceremony had failed..."

She couldn't continue.

Lucian struggled to her side, embracing both her and Vitalis: "I will find her and make her pay for everything she's done."

He turned to everyone. Though weak, his voice still carried authority: "In my capacity as Alpha of Blackmane Pack, I declare: Mira Wilson is immediately expelled from the pack and becomes rogue! All wolves have the right to hunt her down and bring her to justice! Her crimes are not merely attempted murder—she has desecrated the sacred ceremony and defiled the Moon Goddess's grace!"

Dwayne nodded painfully: "This is your decision, and mine as an elder. Mira has crossed every line."

He looked at Seraphina, his eyes full of guilt: "I'm sorry, Seraphina. I should have seen her true nature earlier. My oversight nearly caused irreparable tragedy."

Seraphina looked at Dwayne's sincere remorse and nodded gently. She knew Dwayne was also a victim.

"Dispatch tracking teams," Lucian ordered. "We must find her."

"Yes, Alpha." The warriors accepted the command and departed.

The room fell into silence. Though they had survived, Mira's betrayal had left deep scars in everyone's hearts.

Donny spoke weakly: "Though the process was perilous, the ceremony ultimately succeeded. The genes in Vitalis's body have been completely purified. He will grow up healthy."

He paused: "However, because of the energy loss of control, Vitalis may manifest powerful abilities earlier than ordinary cubs. This is both a gift and a responsibility requiring extra vigilance."

Seraphina looked down at the sleeping Vitalis in her arms, tears finally falling—not from sorrow, but from relief after surviving catastrophe and gratitude.

"No matter what, he survived," she said quietly. "We all survived."

Lucian held mother and child tighter: "I swear, I will never let anyone harm you again."

Outside the window, moonlight remained bright and clear. Though this night's trial had ended, the scars and lessons it left would be forever etched in everyone's hearts.

Some things are more precious than life itself—that is love, and the courage born of love.