Chapter 202: Deal with the Demon
With cold temperatures setting in and more snowfall throughout those weeks, the people of Ciricu huddled up for the ensuing season. But though the town as a whole enjoyed a torporous serenity on the surface, the happenings just beneath were anything but ordinary.
At the request of Lyon and the elders of Ciricu, construction on the canal ...
2024-09-14 15:16:57 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 201: The Demigoddess's Trial
Lysette took two long and deep breaths as she emerged out of the caverns and back on the peaks of the Spire Mountains, one with each of her bodies. The feedback of having both of her and Karchek’s body standing side by side was still disconcerting, but she was learning to adapt. Still a long way to go, but she already had an idea o...
2024-09-07 21:06:28 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 200: Avatar
For two days, Lysette sat motionless in the cave. Between its natural seclusion far away from any other Cultivators and the wealth of Essence that had filled the caverns following Karchek’s death, it was a veritable smorgasbord of dense fog ripe for absorption. And Lysette drank fully of the opportunity, letting it coalesce within her but not yet b...
2024-09-07 21:05:56 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 199: Demonic Consultation
Lysette descended deeper into the caverns where Karchek had previously been sealed away. The intense pressure that was present last time was greatly diminished, now merely a trickle compared with what had previously been a flood of hatred and contempt. In addition, the wards which had previously surrounded and permeated the caverns were...
2024-09-07 21:05:26 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 198: A Cozy Morning
Lysette sat within her room and Cultivated throughout the rest of the day and through the night. She had become extremely adept at doing so passively, to the point where it had become habitual and almost instinctual when not absorbed in battle. But after her fight with Zarielle and the subsequent sparring session with Serrena, Lysette wanted ...
2024-09-07 21:04:45 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 197: Relearning to Fight
Serrena and Lysette stood back to back and each walked ten paces before turning around and bowing to one another. Lysette tilted her neck back and forth, eliciting a single crack, while Serrena stretched her arms behind her neck, groaning a bit as she did.
“Alright, Rayleigh,” Serrena said. “Your training for this morning is ...
2024-09-07 21:04:13 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 196: Consequences
Lysette opened her eyes and was surprised to find herself alive, conscious, and back, seemingly safe and sound, in her home back in Ciricu. She pinched herself, and after trying a bit harder than she’d expected, she felt the barest twinges of pain among her arm. She sat up, again with no difficulty, and when the morning sun caressed her skin,...
2024-09-07 21:03:19 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 195: The Incarnation of Darkness
Zarielle scowled with such intensity that it put Serrena’s and Kiarra’s previous attempts to shame. Her arms dissolved into a multitude of tentacles, and then those split off into even more strands that all undulated about and around her. Her divine aura flared to life, sending with it a gust of wind that pushed Lysette back ...
2024-09-01 17:03:40 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 194: Midnight Reckoning
Another productive day followed the fourth interrogation of Captain Potani. Lysette, together with Amalia, Gerald, and Lilia, had begun constructing the actual waterway that would one day lead into the future Lake Ciricu.
Progress was slow, yet steady. Lysette used her new ability to manipulate plant matter to churn the topsoil, bre...
2024-09-01 17:02:56 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 193: Promise
Three more days passed. Progress was slow yet steady on all of the projects Lysette had committed to. She spent most of the afternoons reshaping the forests to the north and east of Ciricu. The smell of herbs and dirt in the air, the cool breeze flowing through her hair, the sense of purpose, and the feeling of using her power to uplift and bu...
2024-09-01 17:02:26 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 192: Construction Begins
Lysette stepped out of the jail and took a heavy breath of the cool air filling the town of Ciricu. As she did, she left Nicholas behind at the jail with instructions to alert her if any of the prisoners tried anything.
Outside, there was no rain to speak of, but a couple of gray clouds were interspersed among several other white puffy o...
2024-09-01 17:01:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 191: Interrogation
Lysette shivered with delight as the first lights of the false dawn began rising over the town of Ciricu. The lingering sensations from Mirae’s extensive touch throughout the evening continued to echo upon her skin, a wonderful reminder of the first night spent with her love in too many days.
She roused from an early morning of light Cultiva...
2024-09-01 17:00:49 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 190: Recovery
Lysette reappeared just along the northern outskirts of Ciricu. Kiarra appeared next, followed by Lilia, then Gerald, and finally Nicholas as reality reformed behind their teleport. None of them showed any signs of injury or discomfort as they stood up and looked around, a welcome sight, and proof that her dangerous foray had borne fruit.
The...
2024-09-01 17:00:17 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 189: Lysette's Reclamation
The pale form of Asterion stood back up, rubbing his jaw slightly as he turned back to face Lysette. His face was stoic, unflinching as the two stared each other down, before he broke out into a slight smirk.
“Your efforts are commendable, demon child. But they are fruitless. Aimarion will know peace. It will know t...
2024-08-25 16:33:53 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 188: Battle Within the Thigh and Mind
Lysette took a long, deep breath as she sat in the center of the circle and looked at the others sitting around her. Lilia with her quiet resolve masking a hint of fear. Nicholas stared with an inquisitive head tilt, as though he wanted to study the feat about to occur. Gerald remained brash and gung-ho, providing the ...
2024-08-25 16:33:17 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 187: The Deep Ravines
The following morning arrived after an uneventful night. Despite the rough day prior, morale among the group remained high, although Kiarra expressed some minor grumbles about the lack of creature comforts on their travels. Among the conversations during breakfast and just after camp for the day, two threads of conversation recurred. ...
2024-08-25 16:32:32 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 186: The Mountainous Path
Lysette and Serrena spent the rest of the night in a session of joint Cultivation, with a primary focus on empowering the six humans traveling among them. Serrena worked with the group collectively, while Lysette spent most of her evening focusing on repairing Amalia’s Spark further. She infused it with Essence little by little, searc...
2024-08-25 16:31:53 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 185: A Journey of Nine
Lysette arrived at the dining hall at dawn, eager for one last custard delight before she departed. Despite the early hour, the hall was stuffed nearly to capacity. Hundreds of students, if not close to a thousand, were frantically scarfing down food. No immediate signs of the Royal Army drill instructors screaming at students...
2024-08-25 16:31:18 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 184: Lysette's Identity
The eleven students atop the Domark Cultivation Academy’s dorm rooftop stood in silence as Lysette revealed her divinity to the group. More than half of them already knew, but the reactions of the four who didn’t were as varied as the eclectic group themselves.
Gerald looked to Mirae with jaw agape, unable to speak what was already be...
2024-08-25 16:30:32 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 183: The Rooftop Gathering
Lysette stood atop the dormitory roof, Mirae just behind with their arms around her waist, pulling her into a hug. The sun descended upon the western horizon, and as its golden glow shone through the various buildings of Domark, Lysette couldn’t find it within herself to hate any part of the town. It wasn’t perfect— it would need...
2024-08-18 01:39:20 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 182: Priestess and Goddess
Lysette and Mirae walked up the stairs of the infirmary hand-in-hand, eventually reaching the backside of the fourth floor where Amalia lay resting. As they stepped into the hallway and Lysette confirmed her presence with her aurasight, she realized that Mirae’s ability was even more precise than Lysette had initially thought. Lysett...
2024-08-18 01:38:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 181: Recruitment
“To make sure I understand correctly,” Sergeant Major Niman said. “You two are seeking around a dozen students to join you on a covert military operation. Do you have any specific criteria involved? Any particular specialization you wish your team to focus on?”
“Specialization as in–?” Mirae started before being cut off...
2024-08-18 01:38:19 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 180: Showing Off
Lysette took a long and deep breath of the warm Domarkian air as she stepped outside of the palace gates and looked up at the crisp blue skies. It was still only mid-morning, and yet, the next few days would be hectic indeed.
“I think I’ll meet up with the two of you later,” Serrena said. “I need to take care of some personal matte...
2024-08-18 01:37:50 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 179: Deliberations at the Palace
Lysette was stunned when she, alongside Mirae and Serrena, touched down on the outer perimeter of the floating island. In contrast to the relative laxity of security and surveillance over the previous two months, there were numerous soldiers and paramilitary personnel stationed throughout the town in full uniform. The two nearest...
2024-08-18 01:37:25 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 178: The Walking Upheaval
Lysette led the way into the Hunter’s Guild’s main headquarters just as dawn broke, with Mirae following hand-in-hand. Despite it being so early in the morning, there were a fair number of individuals who were loitering about in the main lounge. None of the conversations happening seemed particularly important: some general smalltal...
2024-08-18 01:36:41 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 177: The Noble Demon
Lysette and Mirae enjoyed a hearty dinner of bean and rice soup as Evelyn and Joseph had promised. It was an absolutely delicious meal— the soup was rich and flavorful, with an assortment of regional herbs and plenty of garlic and onion for added spice. More than the taste, however, was a degree of comfort and familiarity and human connect...
2024-08-11 21:08:04 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 176: Construction
Lysette and Mirae made their way through a leisurely stroll through the woods just to the northeast of Ciricu proper. The air was still thick and vibrant with the scent of the recent deluge. And as the droplets of water on the leaves all around refracted the sun’s warm rays into a glittering spectrum of greens and golds, a sense of calm and s...
2024-08-11 21:07:45 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 175: Of Home, Hearth, and Heart
After two hours of heavy rains punctuated by fierce lightning, the rains over the small idyll of Ciricu dissipated, and the sun peeked through the clouds shortly after local noon. As light shined in through the small window, Lysette roused from her restful torpor, stretching a bit before again pulling Mirae into her embrace.
“Ug...
2024-08-11 21:07:09 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 174: The Return Home
Saffron and Lysette emerged from the catacombs just as the first glints of the upcoming dawn appeared against the evening horizon. The air was refreshingly crisp, and as Lysette took a deep breath of the thin mountainous air, it hit her just how thick and oppressive the air throughout the catacombs had been. Her wounds were nearly fully heal...
2024-08-11 21:06:05 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 173: Mirette's Decision
Mirette walked forward, stepping in the line of sight between Saffron and Karchek. Their eyes flickered with unwavering certainty, knowing that, despite the superficial racial similarities between themself and the demon before them, Karchek was at best an untrustworthy cad. At worst, he was a monster who would gladly gorge himself on the ...
2024-08-05 00:05:19 +0000 UTC View Post