Chapter 141: The Remaining Scar

Chapter 141: The Remaining Scar
Chapter 141: The Remaining Scar

Melissa’s POV

The wind, which carried the smell of blood and ashes, brushed past my ripped cloak as I stood at the edge of the battlefield. The conflict was over. The black deity has vanished. However, something continued to stir within me. A profound, unseen, and painful scar was left in its wake.

We won, everyone said.

Why, though, did I feel as though I had lost something?

Kane silently watched from a few paces behind me. I could feel his steady, worried eyes on my back. Since we got back from the wrecked skies, he hadn't said anything. Perhaps he was at a loss for words. Perhaps I didn't, either.

I encircled myself with my arms in an attempt to ward off the chill. From within, not from the air.

Kane's voice pierced the quiet, "Melissa." "Are you alright?"

I looked in his direction. He had black circles under his eyes, which were exhausted. His cheek bore a new scar. But what broke my chest was the way he stared at me, like if he didn't recognize me.

"I'm not sure," I said.

He approached me, but he didn't make contact. You haven't said anything. Far away. You haven't slept.

"Kane, how could I sleep?" My voice cracked as I asked. "I see what I became every time I close my eyes. What I nearly did.

"You weren't her," he remarked softly. You resisted it. You returned.

I examined my hands. They stopped glowing. They appeared to be just regular hands. However, they had been dark. They had ruined it. They had also saved.

"I've changed," I said.

"No," he responded as he moved to stand next to me. "You're more powerful."

That was what I wanted to think. However, I felt exhausted, as though a piece of me had been abandoned in that shadowy sky.

I sat by myself outside the sanctuary later that evening. Above me, stars blinked, but they seemed far away. chilly. Inaccessible.

The air began to shimmer.

I was encircled by a gentle, golden glow. And the goddess emerged from that radiance.

She had a crown of shimmering moons and white garments that flowed like water. She had too much depth in her eyes.

Softly, she said, "Melissa."

With my heart pounding, I stood up. "You're here, you are."

She remarked, "Child, I never left you." "However, I had to let you pursue your interests."

"I nearly didn't return," I acknowledged. "I nearly caved in."

However, you didn't. I am here for that reason. Her eyes grew softer. "The balance is upset, even though the war is over."

I scowled. "Equilibrium?"

The world is precariously precarious. You have to mend the sky you broke, the power you roused. Otherwise, every realm will fall into ruin.

I gasped. "What am I supposed to do?"

She took a while to respond. Rather, she held up her hand, and the atmosphere shifted. Before me, a vision blossomed: a white stone altar that glowed with divine energy. Its sides were engraved with symbols I couldn't read.

However, one name stood out.

Mine.

The goddess responded, "Go to the altar." "Your ultimate goal will become clear there."

The light went out before I could say anything.

I went into the northern woods the following morning, following the direction of the vision. I told Kane I had to do this alone, even though he wanted to come.

As I went more into the forest, the atmosphere became quieter. The singing of the birds ceased. The breeze held its breath as well.

Then I noticed it.

The shrine was in a clearing with flowers blooming in the stone fissures and vines encircling its base. But golden light streamed through its centre.

And my name is on the top border.

“Melissa.”

Seeing that engraved on ancient stone made my heart stop. It was written by whom? What was the duration of its presence?

I moved in closer. The ground shook when I touched the altar, and there was a voice that reverberated everywhere.

"The one who carries both light and shadow will either repair what was damaged or destroy what is left."

With a gasp, I withdrew my hand.

What was meant by that?

Abruptly, a shadow moved over the sky. I expected to see a bird as I looked up.

However, the sky was empty.

Just a feeling that I was being observed.

A bright fracture had appeared along the stone as I turned back to face the altar.

Darkness flowed from it along with light.

My name wavered.

Then I heard it.

A frigid, low murmur that scuttled through the woods like an unwelcome wind.

"Elissa..."

I turned around.

There was nobody.

However, the voice reappeared.

"You can't escape who you are."

The crack grew wider, and the altar pulsed stronger.

With my heart racing, I retreated a step.

At that moment, I noticed another word gradually carving itself into the stone beneath the altar, glimmering dimly.

An additional name.

Kane.

I gasped.

What was meant by this?

Why was his name showing up as well?

Was fate involved?

Or give up?

I realised one thing as the altar widened and light and dark poured into the air like an impending storm.

This was not the end of it.

Not quite yet.

Something old shook from far beneath the altar.

And the goddess said in my mind:

"Your soul will be put to the test by what comes next."

With my heart pounding, I looked at the dawning light, aware that

The actual conflict had not yet started.