"You could use them as a chrysalis," Magdalyna said from where she lay, horror and understanding combined in her voice.
"Grow power inside them that you couldn’t grow yourself. And then claim it when they’ve reached sufficient strength."
"Exactly," Suyajna confird.
"I seduced Jaenor’s father. Conceived a child with him. And from the mont Jaenor was born, I began preparing him for his purpose."
She looked up at her son, still suspended and convulsing, and her expression was complicated, genuine love mixed with ruthless purpose.
"I loved him. Truly. He was my son, and I cared for him the way any mother would. But I also needed him. His power, his potential, his ability to achieve what I couldn’t achieve directly. So I shaped his life carefully. Ensured he faced challenges that would force him to grow. Protected him from detection until he was strong enough to matter."
"The attacks," Rena whispered.
"So were real," Suyajna admitted.
"The curse is genuine, and people genuinely fear the Arkwright bloodline. But others I orchestrated. Carefully calibrated threats that would push Jaenor to develop his capabilities without actually killing him. Each challenge made him stronger, more capable of containing what I would eventually beco."
Morgana continued the explanation.
"I appeared in his life as his aunt. Soone he could trust, who would teach him to control his powers. And I did teach him everything he needed to know to achieve the rger of aura and origin energy. To create an origin aura. To beco the perfect vessel."
Her voice grew softer.
"I never wanted to hurt him. Never wanted him to suffer. But it was necessary. Every battle, every trauma, every mont of fear, all of it was tempering steel. Making him strong enough to survive being used this way."
"You monster," Taeryn snarled.
"You raised him. Taught him to trust you. And all of it was preparation for... for this?"
"Yes," Morgana said simply.
"And I’d do it again. Because I needed Suyajna, and this ti she needed to be stronger than those pests who co for her."
She looked at Suyajna with absolute devotion.
"I won’t let them kill her again. Won’t let them continue this persecution. And if that ans sacrificing my nephew, using his power and his life to give her what she needs, then yes, I’ll do that. Because so loves are worth any price."
Suyajna pulled Morgana into a kiss, tender despite the horror of the situation, and genuine affection despite the manipulation and betrayal surrounding it.
Taeryn gasped, "What the fuck?!"
Rena sneered, "FUCK YOU!!"
When they separated, Suyajna turned her attention back to Jaenor.
"Now cos the final step. I’ve manifested using his power, claid physical form through his rged capabilities. But to truly ascend, to beco what I need to be—"
She raised her hands, and dark energy gathered around them.
"I need to absorb him completely. Take not just his power, but his essence. His very soul. Consu everything he is and integrate it into what I’m becoming."
"That will kill him," Magdalyna said.
"Completely. Not just his body, but also his consciousness, his spirit, and everything that makes him Jaenor. He’ll cease to exist in any form."
"I know," Suyajna said, and there was genuine sorrow in her voice.
"He was born for this purpose. His entire existence has been preparation for this mont. And he’s served that purpose beautifully."
She began floating upward, toward where Jaenor hung suspended.
"I’m sorry, my son. Your sacrifice will an sothing.
Through your death, I’ll achieve power that the Ascended themselves will have to respect.
I’ll beco a Sovereign, no, beyond Sovereign. Sothing new. Sothing unprecedented."
Her hands reached toward Jaenor’s chest, dark energy coalescing around her fingers, preparing to tear his essence from his body and consu it.
"Goodbye, my beautiful boy."
And as her hands made contact, as the absorption began, Jaenor’s bloodshot eyes, filled with agony and betrayal and absolute despair, finally fell closed.
The screaming stopped.
His body went limp.
And darkness began to flow from him to her, his very self being devoured by the being who’d claid to be his mother, who’d used him from birth, who was now taking everything he’d ever been.
His companions watched in horror as the boy who’d saved them, who’d fought beside them, and whom they’d called friend and family was systematically erased.
And could do nothing but watch as it happened.
Suyajna stood complete.
The absorption had finished.
Jaenor’s essence, his power, his mories, and his very soul had been integrated into her being. Dark energy still crackled across her skin, settling as her body adjusted to containing forces that shouldn’t coexist in a single vessel.
She was more than she’d been before manifesting.
More than she’d been in any of her previous lives.
The origin aura that Jaenor had so painfully developed, the unified power that had made him unprecedented, was now hers. Combined with her own ancient daemon nature, with centuries of accumulated knowledge, and with the ticulous planning that had brought her to this mont.
She was magnificent.
A being that transcended categories, that existed in the space between divine and demonic, between mortal and Ascended.
Her presence pressed down on everything around her like physical weight. Those still conscious in the clearing—the demon general, the corrupted witches who’d survived the earlier battle, even the Seven Sins themselves—fell to their knees involuntarily.
Not from conscious decision, but because their bodies recognized sothing that demanded obeisance.
Baren’s dragon form collapsed, his legs buckling despite his trendous strength. Taeryn and Darian dropped their weapons, unable to maintain a grip on steel when simply breathing required all their effort. Rena fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the woman who’d stolen everything from her closest friend.
Raelana had already passed out, her origin energy sensitivity overwheld by proximity to power this vast. Her body had shut down rather than process sensations it wasn’t designed to handle.
Suyajna turned slowly, examining her new body, flexing fingers that now contained forces capable of rewriting reality. Her black eyes swept across the clearing, cataloging reactions, assessing the effectiveness of her presence.
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