Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 690: A Horrifying Bloom ()

"How is the ignorance of the people to mistake that... girl as the High Queen’s reincarnation, how is it also a fault of mine? I do not control the minds of the people!" Lady Diandre hissed in displeasure.

"No, you do not. If you did, that would at least be one of the lost royal arcane magic." Lord Fintan replied blankly.

Lady Diandre’s fists clenched tighter at Lord Fintan’s words, it was true that the arcane magic had become difficult, nearly impossible for the royal heirs to practice.

Bound by the High Queen’s curse, the most promising of the royal heirs would exhibit one of the arcane magic abilities at best, and in this generation, there was only Adrienne with her mind manipulating magic.

But even in Adrienne’s case, her mind manipulation magic was unstable and she herself could not fully comprehend or control it and as such its benefits left much to be desired when contrasted with the High Queen’s original arcane abilities.

As for Lady Diandre herself, she had not been so lucky as to exhibit any of the arcane magic abilities, not even to an elementary level.

And so she had dedicated centuries to honing her nature magic to be far above all of her kin, but even then, the shackles of the curse on the royal bloodline were tight and suffocating, and the more time Lady Diandre dedicated to enhancing her magic, the more swiftly it dissipated.

At this moment, the Fae representatives were not even aware that Lady Diandre’s magic was only at its current level because of her dependence on absorbing stolen magic ability, otherwise how could she have maintained her rank up till this moment?

"The Fae royal lineage serves no purpose to our people at this point, and I am certain that reclaiming the abilities to restore the title of High Queen is nothing but vain hope for this generation."

"We have all witnessed Lady Diandre’s countless failures, even after shipping off so many of our daughters to seek a bond with the dragon lords." Lord Fintan carried on in disdain.

"Lord Fintan, I will advise you to stand down now. If Lady Diandre will not indulge in your challenge, then put an end to this." Lord João who had been quiet all along finally spoke up.

"João... you know the truth as well as the rest of us, but you are blinded by your vows to a declining lineage. I believe we must all accept at this point that the royal lineage will not be making a comeback." Lord Fintan let his words hang for a brief moment before he continued.

"What is a challenge? It is simply an opportunity for you to prove you still are worthy before this council. If you have any confidence in your abilities, your bloodline aside, a challenge should not be a concern to you."

"The way I see it, Lady Diandre has two options. Confront my challenge and defeat me with your abilities before this council...or, voluntarily step down." Lord Fintan stated blankly.

In the next moment, a unified stomping of feet announced the unanimous agreement of the Fae clan representatives.

Lady Diandre’s hands clenched tightly as she considered the possibility of defeating Lord Fintan. She had no excuses, she was much older than the young clan Lord and should rightly have more expertise, but how could she have expected Lord Fintan would be so naturally attuned to magic that at his age, he surpassed all the other clan representatives?

There were hardly any chances of Lady Diandre overcoming Lord Fintan and everyone gathered in the meadows knew it, or had an inclination at least.

And if Lady Diandre insisted on avoiding the challenge, she would only prove Lord Fintan’s words right and lose the faith of her people completely.

It was a situation of being between a rock and a hard place, there were no possible paths of retreat and there were no choices. What was to be done?

While Lady Diandre’s mind still reeled with thoughts, exclamations of horror drew her attention back to the present.

Lady Diandre glanced up at the very same moment, her eyes going wide as she took in the sight of a clan representative, dangling mid air by invincible bonds.

He struggled violently, kicking his hands and feet whilst calling for help, leaving everyone utterly astonished, as no one could trace the source of the attack.

And they did not even get to ponder, it all happened in the space of a single heartbeat, much faster than any of the clan representatives could comprehend or react, even Lady Diandre herself.

One moment, a clan representative was lifted off his feet by an invincible force, screaming for help and in the next moment, sharp red vines tore out of his skin, shredding his body from within so blood and flesh rained down everywhere.

His screams died out, his struggles seized and what was left of the shredded body dropped to the center of the meadows.

"He stomped the loudest... now, it will no longer be required of him muster such vigor ever again." A light voice followed the thud, as the corpse...or what was left of it, hit the ground. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Emerging from the close of trees was a face Lady Diandre could never have expected to see, none other than her own niece... Keila.

Donning black robes that obscured her silhouette, and completely contrary to her usual dark green riding suit, Keila walked slowly towards the gathering, a calm smile on her lips.

There was no need for questions, everyone could already guess that this was in fact the culprit of the horror that had just taken place. But how was Keila of the most gentle disposition between the two royal sisters even capable of such?

"We sometimes forget that our bodies... and all the components therein, are but a tiny piece of nature. Nature blooms... and nature dies..."

"Hence just like the plants and trees...we also can be made...to bloom. It is only that these mortal bodies cannot withstand it..." Keila spoke gently as she came to stand beside the remains of the clan representatives.

Her hand moved slightly, hovering over the corpse and from the red vines, blood red buds formed and then bloomed just as quickly into bright, beautiful flowers till the remains was completely covered in blooms, like a rose bush.

The entire gathering meadow fell into a horrified silence, even Lady Diandre herself found her words stuck in her throat, and a chill of terror ran down her spine.