53: Life

Two months had passed since Xylara's punishment.

The memory of the aetherius whip still lingered—not in pain, but in purpose. Xylara had not forgotten. She never would. The lesson had been carved into her very essence, reforging her spirit into something stronger.

And now, she sat in absolute silence, her legs crossed in the middle of her personal chamber, aetherius swirling around her like golden mist.

Meditation had become her sole focus. Stabilizing the power Kiara had given her was no easy feat. Unlike the magic she once wielded—ethereal, deceptive, existing only in the mind—aetherius was real. Raw, unfiltered, and untamed. It wanted to devour. To become. And if she could bend it, shape it into her illusions, they would no longer be mere deceptions.

They would be reality.

A flicker of power pulsed from her fingertips, a ripple in the air forming the shape of a dagger. The illusion was crisp, solid. She reached out, touched it—only for the blade to dissolve into shimmering dust.

Xylara exhaled slowly. Not yet.

But soon.

_________

Vynessa had grown.

Not just in height, though her once-childlike frame now held the beauty of a girl on the verge of womanhood. Her features had matured into something undeniably enchanting, a silent promise of the celestial succubus she was destined to become.

And yet, her greatest transformation lay not in her appearance, but in her mind.

Elizabeth's errands had served their purpose well. Refining her thoughts, honing her discipline. She was no longer the naive girl who stumbled into Lycius's presence, barely grasping her own desires.

No—Vynessa knew what she wanted now.

Him.

The obsession had taken root, deeper than before. It clung to her like an unshakable force, growing stronger with each day. And no matter how disciplined she became, no matter how much she matured under Elizabeth's guidance, there was one thing she could not control.

Her sleepwalking.

Again and again, she would wake to find herself kneeling in the training chamber, her head resting on Lycius's lap. His energy surrounded her, filling the vast space with golden light, his very presence intoxicating. It was not something she did intentionally.

Her body simply moved toward him. As if drawn by an invisible tether.

Each time, Elizabeth or Lana would pull her away, but they never stopped her. They never told her to resist it.

Perhaps because they understood.

They felt the same pull, after all.

__________

Lana and Elizabeth were as composed as ever. They had long grown accustomed to Lycius's prolonged cultivation, their patience unwavering.

Elizabeth, ever the strategist, had shifted her focus to managing affairs outside the training chamber. Monitoring Vynessa's growth. Organizing the vast resources at their disposal. And, of course, making sure no one dared interrupt Lycius's training.

Lana, on the other hand, remained within the castle's depths, her presence always near Lycius's chamber. Though she did not disturb him, she could feel the changes. The power that radiated from him.

His aetherius had reached a level where it could no longer be ignored.

The very air shimmered with golden energy, so thick that it was visible—waves of light cascading through the chamber like a living force.

To a lesser being, it would be unbearable. Suffocating. But to those closest to Lycius—Lana, Elizabeth, Xylara, and Vynessa—it was comforting.

Like basking in the presence of divinity.

__________

Deep within Lycius's shadow, Kiara observed everything.

She always did.

Her time in the darkness had been fruitful, though one matter had required her attention.

The succubus.

The woman who had foolishly entered her domain.

Her condition had worsened as time passed. No mortal, no demon, no creature born of ordinary magic could survive in Lycius's shadow for long. The sheer pressure of his presence had crushed her, unraveling whatever resistance she once had.

So Kiara had made a decision.

She moved the succubus out, relocating her among the twenty-five captured city lords—though in truth, those men were no more than playthings, stripped of all pride and power.

And yet, as Kiara observed the broken succubus kneeling among them, she could not help but sigh.

Her master had forgotten something.

It was unlike him, but then again… he had been focused on his cultivation for so long.

He had forgotten to gift the city lords to Lana and Elizabeth.

That, at least, was an easy task to remedy.

Kiara vanished into the darkness, already making her way to complete what had been overlooked.

Even if her Master had forgotten…

She never did.

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