Chapter 296: Ice Phoenix (1/2)
She was sitting in her garden, admiring the flowers with her returned sight. Her face looked a lot better than the first time they met. In recent days, he understood what Larza meant.
Without her powers to haunt her, the Daughter of Ice and Fire was a beauty that toppled kingdoms. The cracks that lined her face before were nowhere to be seen, only a smooth and unblemished skin was left. Her clear eyes regained their color after that layer of frost was washed away.
As he walked closer to her, he got to see her heterochromatic eyes again. He was amazed the first time that he saw it. One of them was ice blue and the other was blazing crimson. The change in Dia could be called nothing less than miraculous.
'Even still,' Arthur bowed as he stood in front of her. She turned to him with a smile. 'I'll test her just once. That's what the barrier is for.'
”I heard you've met the Knight of Courage,” Dia asked curiously. ”How was it?”
”It was a meeting, no more no less.” Arthur shook his head. ”Have you heard your father's orders?” He probed and Dia carried a sad expression.
”It pains me that he chose power over me, but there's nothing that we can do.” Dia shook her head. ”I believe that I can overcome it.”
”During the ceremony, your father will make sure to strengthen the Bloodline Order,” Arthur said. ”My lady, I think we need to change our plan.”
”What do you mean?”
”I can awaken your powers now,” Arthur said as he slid his hand into hers. His aura flowed into her. ”We can do it now so that your father wouldn't be able to strengthen the order.”
”Didn't you say it was risky to hasten it?”
”It's the same risk as tomorrow,” Arthur said. ”However, we'll have the advantage once we do so.”
”Do it,” Dia said without hesitation. ”I don't want to be restrained anymore.” She stood up and grabbed Arthur with her other hand. ”Do it and stay by my side forever.”
”Yes, my lady.” Arthur shook his left shoulder and the bag fell to the ground. The leaf floated from it and stood between them. Its barrier was stronger than before, but it didn't matter. Arthur could've awakened Dia long ago but he chose not to because he wanted to plant the Bestial Order.
Arthur reached out toward the leaf and grabbed it. He stopped the aura from seeping into it and the barrier weakened. After that, his aura gushed into Dia who grunted and took root in her body.
Her core was filled with his powers and the bestial order formed fully. The seed grew larger and took root in her core.
”Use my powers to break the leaf's barrier,” Arthur said and Dia did as she was told. She reached out with her hand overflowing with the aura of creation and broke the barrier of the leaf.
Once she touched the leaf for the first time, the process began. A giant pillar of light shot out toward the sky and the mansion began to shake. The night turned to day as everyone in the mansion was alarmed by the influx of power.
'Her traits are merging with the herb as a catalyst.' Arthur felt Dia let go of his arm. Her body was a warzone of conflicted powers with a newly arriving pacifist. The herb turned into a stream of gentle mana that slipped between the two.
Arthur saw the change firsthand. The icy mana melted and the fire mana turned blue. They wrapped around each other as they turned into something else entirely.
From her back, a set of wings began growing just like the ones her father had. The only exception was that it wasn't blazing fire, but a gentle blue flame that gave bone-chilling coldness.
Two red sharp horns grew from her forehead as Dia rose in the air. The magnitude of power that she released made Arthur breathless. This was the power shown by the merging of two high-grade traits with opposing characteristics.
”Dia!” Duke Zenos descended from the sky and shouted. He looked on with confusion at his daughter. ”Slave! What is the meaning of this?!” He turned toward Arthur with rage.
However, Arthur didn't answer but waited for Dia to awaken fully. The garden was soon swarmed with people who have been invited by the Duke, including Larza. She looked at Arthur with cold suspecting eyes but couldn't do anything because Dia's powers were pushing everyone away.
The Knight of Courage also arrived and looked on with a smile. Arthur's eyes met hers and he saw a questioning look on her face. All of these people gave him different orders and proposals, but he chose none of them.
The light gathered above Dia and condensed into a giant bird. With long wings and icy feathers, the bird looked like nothing that any of the present people have seen.