Compass & The Grail (1)

The pearl was like death. It had a stench that made one wish to regurgitate their stomachs, but it was an odd stench. Despite that sensation, an unbearably pure aura emitted from it. It could be described as it trying to remove all the toxins from one's existence, establishing that revolting feeling.

While it reached near Akane, whose eyes were wide and filled with disbelief, it flickered with faint traces of that pure light. 

Then, in a split second, the ritual had ended.

Akane felt a temporary liberating feeling, as if she was no longer burdened. Her hands were lifted away from the sword, and her eyes flashed with a light. With an instinctive desire for survival of not just her but her entire race, she lunged towards the pearl in an act of self-sacrifice.

She knew that pearl wasn't after her, but the Ancestral Hope.