The days blurred together in a steady rhythmâmorning after morning, Lady Divine arrived punctually, her runes blazing across the room as she pulled out the writhing strands of infernal energy, and Max absorbed them into his body like a black hole swallowing poison.
Each time the energy weakened within Lenavira, her breathing grew calmer, her body more stable, the violent fluctuations in her aura subsiding.
By the end of the third month, the process was complete. The last trace of infernal energy was drawn out, dissolving into Maxâs palm with a final hiss. The runes dimmed, vanishing like mist into the air.
Lady Divine exhaled softly, her sharp gaze sweeping across Lenaviraâs body. She ran her hand over the sleeping elfâs form, her senses probing every inch of Lenaviraâs mana veins and soul palace. Her brows furrowed.
"Strange..." she muttered, her voice unusually quiet. "With all the infernal energy removed, her elven bloodline should be healing itself by now. Her mana should be flowing freely again, and the slumber of her royal bloodline should have ended naturally. But..." she paused, pressing her palm lightly over Lenaviraâs heart, "...for some reason, her bloodline is still dormant. Itâs as if something deeper is keeping it asleep."
Max stood beside her, his expression heavy. For months he had watched Lenaviraâs suffering, doing everything in his power to cleanse her. Now that the corruption was gone, she should have been wakingâbut she still lay motionless, her skin black as obsidian, her silver hair dulled to grey, the mark of her dark elf form still clinging to her like chains.
"...Then whatâs the problem?" Max asked, his fists tightening. "If her bloodlineâs free, why wonât she wake?"
Lady Divine shook her head slowly. "Thereâs more at play here than infernal corruption. Itâs just than I canât seem to find anything wrong with her bloodline nor with her body. She is absolutely fine theoretically." She narrowed her eyes.
Maxâs jaw locked. He hated situations like this where he couldnât understand the problem.
"Let me try something," he said suddenly. His tone was firm, decisive.
Lady Divine turned to him with a questioning look. "What do you mean?"
Max didnât answer. Instead, he stepped closer to the bed, his hand hovering just above Lenaviraâs chest. His eyes closed as he reached inward.
A golden radiance began to leak from his body, warm and brilliant, chasing away the cold aura of the dark elf form lingering in the room. His blood boiled with light, every heartbeat pumping out an overwhelming sacred aura.
The Heavenly Luminance Sacred Bloodline.
Golden lines spread across his arms, branching like rivers of light beneath his skin. His body itself became like a sun, glowing with pure sanctity. The bed, the walls, even the runes Lady Divine had left behindâall shimmered faintly under the glow of his bloodline.
Lady Divineâs eyes widened slightly, but she said nothing.
Max, his voice low but steady, recalled the words of the elven guardian he had met long ago, within the Nine Dragon Paintings in Obsidian Dragon City.
She had told him that the Heavenly Luminance Sacred Bloodline and the Heavenly Luminance Royal Bloodline were not separate at all, but two rivers flowing from the same divine source. One carried the power of sacred brilliance, the other of noble radiance. When the two bloodlines touchedâwhen bearer met bearerâunexpected phenomena often occurred.
And Lenavira... carried the Heavenly Luminance Royal Bloodline.
"If they really are connected," Max thought, his golden aura intensifying as he lowered his hand to her palm, "then maybe I can wake her bloodline myself."
Max had never truly tested the words of the elven guardian before. He had always wondered if the Heavenly Luminance Sacred Bloodline he carried could resonate with Lenaviraâs Heavenly Luminance Royal Bloodline. Now, faced with her fragile stateâtrapped in the abyss of her dark elf formâhe no longer hesitated.
Slowly, almost reverently, he extended his hand. His fingers hovered above hers for a heartbeat, then pressed lightly against her pale, unmoving hand.
The response was immediate.
A dazzling golden light burst forth from Lenaviraâs body, spilling into the room like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. Her hair, once dull and grey, shimmered as strands of liquid gold threaded through it, reclaiming its former brilliance. Her skin, blackened by the curse of her dark elf form, began to pale, returning to the luminous white of her true elven heritage. Her veins pulsed faintly with light, her bloodline stirring like a sleeping dragon woken from slumber.
"Her bloodline... itâs awakening?" Lady Divine whispered in shock, her normally calm composure faltering. Her eyes narrowed, studying Maxâs golden aura, then Lenaviraâs shifting body. She could see clearly nowâit wasnât her runes, nor her arts. This was bloodline to bloodline resonance.
And yet, she could not understand it. "How... how can a humanâs bloodline awaken an elfâs? This shouldnât be possible." Her tone was hushed but filled with disbelief.
Max, however, didnât dwell on her words. His lips curved faintly into a smile as relief washed through him. "Good... itâs working." His golden light grew brighter, wrapping both him and Lenavira in a radiant cocoon. At the same time, he felt something shift inside him. His own Sacred Bloodline trembled, like it too was evolving, undergoing a transformation he couldnât yet name.
But just as hope surged in his chestâ
Something went wrong.
The golden light flickered. Lenaviraâs transformation halted midway. Her golden hair dimmed back into ash, her pale skin blotched with creeping black lines. The radiant aura collapsed as quickly as it had risen. With a shudder, her body sank once more into the abyss of her dark elf formâher skin darkened completely, her hair turned lifeless grey, and her presence returned to that same corrupted silence.
"No..." Maxâs voice cracked, his expression darkening as his hand trembled against hers. "No! She was right there! She was almost back!"
His chest tightened with a suffocating weight. He could still feel the faint echo of her bloodline reaching out, struggling to awakenâonly to be smothered by an unseen force. His golden aura dimmed, his body shaking as despair gnawed at his core.
"Why? How did this happen?!" His voice was raw, demanding, almost desperate. He turned to Lady Divine, his eyes burning. "Her bloodline was awakening. I could feel it. Then it just... stopped. Something pushed it down again. Why did this happen?"