Drunk on power, Max could not see what he was doing to Stonehollow. His fists clenched as he savored the crushing pressure building inside him while he devoured all the mana in the surrounding land. The air itself seed to grow thinner, emptier, as if life were being wrung out of it. So much mana being stripped away was fatal to the crops and livestock.
Countless villagers wept as they watched their final stalks of wheat shrivel into brittle husks, bending lifelessly beneath the storm. The vegetable patches blackened at the roots, and the fruit trees drooped as though their souls had been drained from them.
Years of hunger would soon give way to death, and almost no one knew what had caused it except for the few who had allowed Max to undergo the awakening.
To many, it looked like divine punishnt for the sins of their ancestors.
As the mana in the area thinned, so did the vortex. Small tears began to open within the swirling darkness, revealing fragnts of the world outside to Max.
His excited eyes darkened the mont they t Rosalia’s face. Tears had dried in pale streaks across her cheeks, the wind tugging at her white hair as she knelt helplessly on the ground.
"Why are you crying...?" Max muttered under his breath. He couldn’t understand why she was not happy for him, why she, out of everyone there, was looking at him as though he were a monster... as though he had torn her world apart with his own hands.
A sharp pain twisted through his chest at the thought of being betrayed by her. But as more tears split open in the unstable vortex, the truth finally forced itself into his eyes.
The screams reached him first. Then the terror. Then the sight of Stonehollow crumbling beneath the weight of his awakening.
Only then did he understand that he was destroying everything.
Guilt and fear crashed over him like a tidal wave, washing away every trace of the pride that had filled him only monts before.
"I have to stop it..." he whispered, his head lowered. Deep in his heart, he had wanted to test the power of his system on this clan, to raise them to glory while absorbing their bloodline and growing stronger himself in the process. But now, he didn’t know how he would ever face Rosalia again after destroying her ho so recklessly.
"But it isn’t my fault..." He clenched his fists until they bled. "No... it is. It’s my power. I have to own it like a man."
Rosalia’s face reflected in his pupils. More than anything, he could not bear the sight of her tears. It was a feeling he could not explain.
He extended his hand, trying to imagine himself controlling the flow of energy, willing it to stop devouring the mana around him. But his face paled when he realized nothing was happening. No matter how many tis he tried, again and again, it didn’t work. He had not yet learned how to command his own power.
Filled with desperation, he turned to the system, hoping it could solve all of his problems. But no matter how many tis he called out, the system gave no response, leaving him with a growing sense of helplessness.
"I have to do it... stop... enough!"
As if answering the desperate cry in his heart, a violent pulse erupted from deep within him. The vortex vanished like a shattered cloud of dust, scattering in every direction. The winds battering the people nearby cald at once, allowing Henry to rise to his feet again.
He looked at Max with a hatred so deep it seed carved into his very soul. Never before had the urge to kill consud him so completely. A purple fla danced in his palm, fiercer than before, blazing with greater heat—yet sohow carrying a chill as cold as ice.
"I should kill you. I should make you slave away for the rest of your life for what you’ve done to us..." He stepped forward, and the fla in his palm twisted into the shape of a falcon. "But it was I who caused this, through my own misjudgnt in allowing you to awaken here."
The falcon shot from his hand like a beam of light. It brushed past Max’s ear and soared high into the sky, drawing his gaze upward as he followed its path.
"Still far away... We have ti to flee." Henry’s eyes burned with purple light, and faint reflections of the distant mountains and sky shimred deep within his pupils. "Gather the won and children. They must leave at once."
Then he turned toward Rosalia, who was still kneeling on the ground, her expression vacant as she stared at Max without once breaking her gaze.
"Rosalia!" Henry barked.
Snapping back to reality, Rosalia rose to her feet. Her eyes did not once fall on Max again, even as he stepped toward her with his hand half-reaching out.
"Yes, Father." She nodded and turned away, the tears in her eyes long since dried.
"Rosalia, wait. I can fix this, I—" Max called out desperately, but all he received in return was her gaze, empty of any warmth or light toward him.
She rushed toward him, stepping onto the shattered platform. A loud slap cracked through the village. The look in her eyes was sothing Max knew he would never forget for the rest of his life. The pain in them, the hatred in them, wounded him far more deeply than the slap itself ever could.
"Never show your face in front of again."
She turned and hurried away to follow her father’s orders, leaving Max standing there in stunned silence.
For a long mont, he remained frozen in place, unsure whether to chase after her or simply walk away.
Henry remained where he was as well, surveying the ruined surroundings until the purple fla in his eyes finally faded.
"Boy," he barked at Max, noticing the struggle carved across his face. "I can never forgive you for this." His eyes flicked toward Rosalia as he said those words.
"Do you want to redeem yourself? You will never be forgiven, but I, as the leader, can allow your sins to rest for now." He stepped toward Max, his tall and muscular fra casting an oppressive shadow over him. "Fight for us, even if it costs your life. Will you be a man for once?"
Henry could already see the imnse potential in Max’s power. He knew he could use it to hold back the approaching disaster, even if only for a little while. That would be enough ti for Rosalia to flee with the won, children, and the weakest mbers of the clan, while the n stayed behind to prepare for death.
Max lifted his head and stared at Henry in confusion, but sothing deep within him forced a nod. He did not care who the enemy was.
All he wanted was to see her again.
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