Chapter 59: Life
The Queen leaned over Fin’s body, her fingers tracing the faint outline where Hana’s sword had pierced him. She paused, her head tilted, a predator assessing wounded prey.
"Still warm," she murmured, a note of clinical interest in her voice. "Life clings stubbornly, doesn’t it?" Her eyes narrowed, focusing intently on his chest.
"Ah. There." Recognition sparked in her deep eyes. "A Silver Core embedded within him. How... unexpected. A rare prize indeed."
She straightened, a thoughtful expression crossing her features. She turned toward the pedestal beside her throne and retrieved the dark Mana Cell. It pulsed with a deep, internal rhythm in her grasp, radiating contained power. Walking back, she knelt beside him once more, holding the crystal above the wound.
"If you possess such a rarity," she mused, her voice soft, almost gentle, "perhaps you can withstand this, too? A worthy vessel for greater things."
She pressed the Mana Cell firmly onto the wound in his chest.
For several seconds, nothing happened. The crystal pulsed against his still skin, a dark jewel against pale flesh. Arachne, watching from the wall where she huddled, flinched back instinctively, shielding her eyes as if anticipating an explosion.
Arexa stood sentinel, impassive but watchful.
Then, the Mana Cell flared violently. Its internal light erupted, not outwards, but inwards, swallowed instantly by Fin’s body. Green energy lines, brighter and far denser than the faint traces he’d shown before, exploded across his skin like lightning trapped beneath glass.