Chapter : 216
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Chapter : 216
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The sun was setting over the 13th Unit's estate, painting the sky in warm shades of orange and pink. Inside the large manor house, the evening was peaceful and lazy, just the way Ken Eliot liked it.
Ken was sprawled across the long sofa in the main living room. His navy blue suit jacket was thrown over the armrest, his tie hung loose around his neck, and his messy black hair was flat on one side from pressing it against the cushion.
From the kitchen, the delicious smell of Naomi's cooking filled the entire hallway. She was making her famous spicy chicken stew, and even Laxmi had popped her head in three times to ask if it was ready yet.
In the corner of the living room, Sayma sat in her favorite armchair with a thick book open on her lap. Her glasses reflected the warm firelight as she turned the pages slowly. Zinia was doing push-ups on the floor nearby, counting under her breath.
Ira sat perfectly still on the windowsill like a stone statue, watching the sunset with her usual empty, unreadable expression. Risa was in the indoor garden, watering her plants and humming a little song to them.
Upstairs, Luna was doing what Luna always did. She was asleep. The lazy lightning user had crawled into bed at four in the afternoon and had not moved since. Her blanket was pulled up to her chin, and a soft snore drifted from her room.
It was, by all measures, a perfectly normal, quiet evening at the estate. The kind of evening that made you forget the Succession War even existed. The kind that made everything feel safe and simple.
Then Luna screamed.
The sound cut through the entire house like a blade of pure terror. It was not a small yelp or a sleepy groan. It was a raw, agonizing shriek that made every single person in the building freeze in place. The walls seemed to shake with it.
Ken's eyes shot open. His body went rigid on the sofa, every lazy muscle suddenly locked tight.
"What was that?" Sayma gasped, her book tumbling to the floor. Zinia jumped to her feet, fists already clenched. Ira turned her head toward the ceiling.
Naomi dropped her wooden spoon. "That came from upstairs," she said, her voice tight. "That came from Luna's room."
Ken was already off the sofa. He moved fast and quiet, his sleepy eyes suddenly sharp in a way nobody ever noticed.
They all ran for the stairs. Naomi was the fastest, her wind-enhanced speed carrying her up two at a time. Laxmi was right behind, flames flickering around her fists.
Ken took the stairs at a normal pace, his dark eyes scanning the hallway with cold intensity. Nobody noticed.
The hallway light was flickering. The magical lamps were sputtering and buzzing, their golden glow turning harsh and unstable. The air felt heavy, like something was pressing down from above.
And then they saw Luna.
She was lying in the middle of the hallway floor, crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut. Her silver-blue hair was fanned out around her head in a messy halo. But that was not the worst part.
The worst part was the blue fire.
Bright, unnatural blue veins glowed through Luna's pale skin, pulsing with a sickly, terrifying light. They crawled up her neck, across her cheeks, and down her bare arms like glowing blue roots. Her skin was burning hot. A wave of searing heat rolled off her body, making the air shimmer and warp.
She was gasping for air. Her chest heaved up and down in short, desperate breaths. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and tears leaked from the corners, rolling down her flushed cheeks.
"Luna!" Naomi screamed. She dropped to her knees beside her friend, reaching out, then yanked her hand back. The heat radiating from Luna's body was intense, almost unbearable. "Luna, can you hear me?"
Luna did not respond. She just gasped and trembled, the blue veins pulsing faster and brighter with each violent spasm.
"Her mana channels are on fire," Sayma said, her voice shaking as she pushed her glasses up with a trembling hand. "Look at her veins. That blue glow is not normal mana flow. Something is very, very wrong."
Zinia crouched down and carefully slid her strong arms under Luna's burning body. The earth warrior gritted her teeth against the searing heat but did not let go. "We need to get her to bed," Zinia said firmly. "Sayma, clear the path. Laxmi, get her blanket. Move!"
The team snapped into action. Sayma ran ahead, shoving furniture out of the way with her barrier magic. Laxmi sprinted to Luna's room, pulling the covers back and fluffing the pillow with frantic hands.
Ira appeared with a bucket of cold water and a stack of wet towels. Her face was as blank as always, but her hands moved with urgent, precise speed. She soaked a towel and draped it across Luna's forehead. The water hissed and steamed on contact.
"This temperature is not natural," Ira reported in her flat, monotone voice. "Her body heat exceeds forty-two degrees and is still rising. At this rate, her internal organs will begin to shut down within the hour."
Naomi's hands were shaking. She stood at the foot of Luna's bed, watching her friend writhe and gasp, completely unable to help. The fierce, confident warrior who never backed down from any fight looked utterly helpless.
"Get Dr. Chiha," Princess Iris commanded from the doorway. She had arrived seconds after the scream, her violet eyes wide with fear but her voice steady and firm. "Send someone to fetch him right now. He is the best physician in the capital."
Laxmi bolted out of the room. Her footsteps thundered down the stairs and out the front door, and then the night swallowed the sound completely.
Ken stood quietly in the corner of the room, his back against the wall. His face showed exactly what it always showed. A lazy, slightly worried expression, like someone who had been woken up from a nap and was not happy about it.
But underneath that mask, his dark eyes watched every single detail. The blue veins. The flickering lights. The searing heat. He had seen something like this before. Not in this life. In his old life, on Earth. In a story.
A manga he had read. A fictional disease that ate mana channels from the inside out. The name surfaced in his mind like a bubble rising from deep, dark water.
Blue Decay.
He did not say it out loud. Not yet. He just watched and waited, his hands stuffed lazily in his pockets while the room buzzed with panic around him.
It took Laxmi only twenty minutes to drag Dr. Chiha through the front door. The old physician was still wearing his night robe, his white hair sticking up in every direction, but his eyes were sharp and alert.