There was confusion inside the acropolis. The nobility of the province, shocked by the heavenly talent of the young princess, barely had time to recover when the God of Light himself appeared.
Apollo, who descended from heaven for the sake of a little girl! What an honor! What greatness!
Aristocrats, from patricians to respectable matrons, turned into enthusiastic children, eagerly gazing at the divine silhouette of the most beautiful of men. The air was filled with whispers and exclamations of amazement.
Someone self-confident was already preparing marriage proposals. Someone resourceful hastily handed over the task of distributing and selling information to his subordinates. Someone really wise was silently watching Katerina's reaction.
The eyes of Fulvius, Eve, Adam, and his brothers shone in unison with the Altar. The holy daughter, holding her breath, desperately tried to see the beautiful face of her divine father once more.
The mother and son stared unblinkingly at the Altar light blocking their view. Only blurred silhouettes could be seen through the haze of light. Gripped by the general excitement, Gray seemed relaxed, secretly hoping to receive the same treatment as his sister. Meanwhile, Katerina could barely contain her anxiety.
Her mind told her that the God of Light would not harm her daughter, that Grace would probably benefit from this meeting. But her maternal instinct defied logic, filling Katerina with growing anxiety.
"It's really frustrating when someone talks to my child without permission. Even if it's God himself. Am I really that paranoid of a mother?' She was tormented to herself.
In the entire acropolis, she was the only one who tried to see in the pillar of light not the most beautiful man alive, but her daughter.
The glow gradually dissipated, revealing the towering figure of Eric and little Grace, who was happily tinkering with something.
The priest carefully led the princess to her older siblings, who had already undergone the awakening ceremony. He nodded silently to Eva and Fulvius, looking at his right hand. His fingers, folded like a "pistol," served as a prearranged signal, momentarily stunning the two clergymen.
There was no need for explanations. With the advent of Apollo, all their plans had to be changed. God's will is the law. All they had to do was take care of her performance.
Fulvius hurriedly began giving orders to his subordinates, and Eva went up to the king to report everything.
Her next words made Adam tremble. The mixture of awe and disbelief didn't show on his cold face, but his brain was working at full capacity.
'Haa... I really didn't expect that the utter nonsense we invented to preserve our reputation would turn out to be true. Should I be happy or sad? For a moment, uncertainty gripped him, but it was quickly replaced by firm determination.
'I'm sorry, Katerina. I have no choice. For the sake of the province and all mankind. Adam concluded, nodding approvingly at his first wife.
Everything was developing so rapidly that Katerina did not have time to take care of her daughter's well-being, as Eric hurried to take her son away, since the energy in the pyramid was not infinite. Meanwhile, the governor had already taken his word.
"Citizens of the Roman Empire, citizens of the province of Light! Be proud! Today, the divine Apollo has blessed us with his appearance!"
"Please stay calm. We have received instructions from our patron to continue the ceremony. So keep the order. It's God's will, Phoebe."
Deciding to complete the awakening ceremony first, Katerina postponed all problems with the nobility for later. Watching her son being hurriedly led down the aisle, she suddenly realized how painful and sweet it was to see her children grow up.
"It's impossible that Prince Grey also has an S-class rainbow core," the crowd whispered.
"They're twins, why not? Look how similar they are."
"My God, two legendary-grade S-class cores at the same ceremony? Seriously?"
Gray walked down the aisle, ignoring the comments of the "extras." How did he know that strange word? Suddenly, the excited exclamation of the elder sister broke through the hum of voices:
"COME ON, LITTLE BROTHER!" a gentle smile blossomed on the boy's serious face. And my thoughts turned in a new direction.
'I can't lose to little big sister. I wonder what kind of core I'll have? It doesn't matter, though. Even if it's an E-class, Mom will take care of everything. You think you're going to have to fulfill Grace's wishes? I would do it anyway.'
"Of course, I don't want to upset my mom and dad. Wait, what do I care about this old man? He shows up once a month, looks at me like I'm a leper. What did I do to him? Aren't you my father? Oh, it doesn't matter. The main thing is that I'm always with my mom and sister.'
Finally, Gray reached the top of the altar, where his sister had recently awakened. The boy's distant expression was replaced by anticipation and excitement. The "Origin Sphere" was right next to him, resembling an incipient galaxy.
Watching its smooth surface, Gray ignored the priest's monotonous lecture. He knew everything he needed to know from his mother's explanations, he watched his sister wake up, and now it was his turn.
As soon as Gray placed his small palm on the smooth surface of the sphere, the pillar of light descended on the entire altar again. The boy closed his eyes in an attempt to concentrate. The tickling in the navel area was clearly felt. As naturally as breathing, he guided her up her body, from her solar plexus straight to her fingertips.
As soon as the energy separated from the body, the sphere turned black, so deep that it began to absorb the surrounding light.
'No, no, no, no! Wait, it doesn't have to be like this. I did everything right. I.. I still feel a slight tingling sensation. Gray thought in panic.
Trying to figure out what exactly he had done wrong, Gray felt a painful prick from his back. Tilting his head, he saw that a sharpened blade was sticking out of his chest, and his neat white robes were turning sticky, turning red.
[Was I stabbed? Seriously?]
Gray's thoughts froze. He slowly turned to the priest, seeking an explanation. Allaric towered over him, his face distorted by a gentle but fanatical smile. In his hand, he was still clutching the white dagger whose tip had pierced the boy's chest.
The movement sent a wave of agony through Gray's entire body. My breath caught in my throat, and the world swam before my eyes. The screams of the crowd came to him as if through a column of water, indistinct and distant. Consciousness began to slip away, dragging him into the darkness.
The last thing Gray saw before plunging into darkness was Allarik's face. The priest's eyes shone with a strange, almost unearthly light, and on his lips was a smile full of awe and ... something else that the boy could not understand.
The sounds around them merged into a cacophony – screams of horror, exclamations of surprise, someone's furious roar. But all this gradually faded away, receding, until it disappeared completely, leaving Gray alone with a throbbing pain and a cold slowly spreading through his body.
Katerina, seeing what was happening through a blurred screen of light, almost lost her mind. Pure, insane rage swept through her entire being. Her magic core pulsed with energy, and her aura exploded with murderous intent. She rushed to the altar, ready to smash it to pieces and skin alive the cardinal who dared to harm her son.
Suddenly Adam and Fulvius appeared in front of her, followed by ten novices of the religion of light. Did they really want to block her path?
In her madness, Katerina decided to attack first and then ask questions. A thin sword materialized in her hand, which immediately came down on Fulvius. The blow was so fast and deadly that the cardinal only noticed a flash before flying off into the crowd, choking on his own blood.
Without wasting a second, Katerina turned to Adam. Her fingers flashed, forming a fire spell. "Adam, what the fuck is going on here?!" Katerina's roar rose above the noise of the crowd.
The fireball rushed towards the governor. Adam barely managed to form a light shield. "I'm sorry, darling, it's God's will. Phoebe," he gasped, deflecting the attack, but his reply missed the target.
Katerina was already rushing down the aisle. The ten acolytes couldn't slow her down. It resembled a swift ray of destruction.
"Is she a Celestial (7)? How?! She shouldn't have taken the last step so quickly." A thought flashed through Adam's mind as the heads of his three subordinates rolled across the floor.
Katerina had never felt before that ten meters could be so far away. Every second counted, and she knew it. With her normal speed, she would have overcome them in the blink of an eye. Now, the distance seemed insurmountable.
She didn't really want to hear anything from Adam. The question was asked rather on an exhale to dissipate the mana accumulated from rage. The only thing she wanted was to be with her son at least a second earlier.
The last meters. Katerina saw Gray's frozen face, pale and motionless. This sight gave her superhuman strength.
The final push. The sword sliced through the air, tearing the barrier of light apart.
With a fanatical smile, Allaric held onto the hilt of his dagger, immersed in prayer. Blood stained his sleeves, but he didn't notice it, nor the screams of the crowd, nor the approaching battle. His time was running out.
"God, may your name be glorious..." - the words of prayer escaped from his lips at a feverish pace...May you deliver us from sin. Grant the innocent redemption, and the future sinner punishment. In the name of the Light, I proclaim the "SEAL". Phoebe."
The dagger of light energy dimmed slightly. Allaric pulled it out of the boy's back, ready to complete the ceremony. But the look on the child's face made him freeze.
Gray's blue eyes stared blankly. The black pupil pulsed, trying to engulf the cornea, resembling an ancient beast in a cage.
For Allarik, the world has narrowed to these eyes. The whisper of death, the touch of the grim reaper's scythe-all this he felt with frightening clarity. His instincts screamed at him not to move, otherwise the beast would break out of its cage and devour him, and the reaper would take his soul.
Those seconds of hesitation became fatal.
Eric heard a crack like glass breaking. The shield of light could not withstand Katerina's fierce attack. A searing pain shot through his left side. He barely managed to protect himself with the energy of the light before he was thrown off the altar.
He felt a blow against the "indestructible" marble column of the temple. A crackle. Cracks began to creep across the stone. Or were they his bones? These were his last thoughts before he passed out from agony.
Finally, Katerina found herself next to her son. Her hands, trembling with rage and fear, reached out to Gray.
"GREY!!!!! GREY!!! DON'T DIE, SON, MOM'S HERE. MOM IS NEARBY. sorry. I'M SORRY," Katerina's desperate cry tore through the air. She clutched her son to her chest, trying to stop the bleeding with trembling hands.
Cassia materialized from the shadow of her mistress, ready for battle. Her appearance was accompanied by the fall of three more novices.
"WHY, ADAM, WHY?! TELL ME THE REASON!!!!!" Katerina sobbed. With one hand, she was covering the boy's wound, desperately chanting healing spells. His other hand was shaking, pouring potions that seemed to appear out of thin air on Gray.
Adam sighed heavily, scattering the remnants of the attack. "There is a prophecy of Matthew for a period of 5,000 years. One of the three great prophecies. The other two have already been fulfilled." His voice was low, but every word was like a hammer. "It says: "When day and night lose their rhythm, it will be born, marking the decline of humanity.""
Katerina froze, not stopping the treatment. Adam continued: "This is a secret known only to Roman senators and top pontiffs. Grey is the harbinger of the night. Sealing its core during the awakening is the only safe option for humanity. We had no choice."
The air was thick with tension. The palace guards were converging on the place of the ceremony. Gray lay unconscious, his life hanging in the balance.
Katerina looked up at her husband. There was a storm of emotions in her eyes-rage, pain, disbelief. "There's always a choice," she whispered. "And you chose the wrong one."
Adam took a step forward, but stopped when he saw Cassia tense up. The situation was teetering on the brink of disaster. One wrong move could lead to bloodshed on an unprecedented scale.
"Katerina," Adam began, but she interrupted him.:
"no. Don't you dare call me that!"