Chapter 288: 288. Samantha – 2

“Sister the elders were wrong, it’s not just you, it seems that we are both cursed,” Anasthasia spoke with a mirthless laugh.

She then looked at Samantha, who continued to cry on the ground, consumed entirely by her sorrow.

She watched in silence for a few moment and then from the corner of her vision she noticed William standing near the young man whose body was riddled with black veins filled with dark neurotoxins, his skin visibly corrupted as the poison continued to spread within him.

Samantha’s gaze slowly shifted toward William as well.

Samantha had already sensed his presence standing near her unconscious son, and as she turned around with trembling shoulders and uneven breathing, the remnants of her sobs still escaping her chest, she found him standing there quietly, observing her son.

The unnatural calmness mixed with the imprint of her fingers on his face made her nervous somehow, even though he had not said anything at all.

William carefully studied the boy and the level of corruption in his body, trying to think of a solution.

The differences between Samantha and her were clear, because unlike Samantha, whose features carried the elegance and softness of the Luneria bloodline, her son had inherited brown hair and dark pupils, physical traits that reflected another lineage.

Samantha had never wanted the curse to activate before the end of her life, and because of that fear she had deliberately chosen a partner who had no connection to power, nobility, or the hidden forces that governed the world, believing that by stepping away from her origins and blending into the simplest form of society, she could create a life that would remain untouched by danger, a life that would never trigger the curse that had haunted her since childhood.

She had chosen a quiet life in the heart of the Riverdale Empire, far from the borders where wars raged and far from the political struggles that surrounded the great clans, and she had disguised her identity so completely that even those closest to her had never known who she truly was, allowing herself to believe that she had finally escaped the nightmare that had once defined her existence.

For many years after her marriage, she had lived peacefully, raising her children in a humble household and convincing herself that the curse had lost its hold on her fate, but that fragile illusion had been shattered completely on the day the Bloody Tears incident struck Opera Town, a place that should have never been targeted, a place that held no strategic value, yet was chosen for destruction out of all the hundreds of cities and thousands of towns within the empire.

That day had taken everything from her.

She had lost her husband, who had known nothing of her past, and her daughter, who had barely begun to understand the world.

Her son who had survived that calamity was now on brink of death.

She lost control of the spells she had mastered over years of her youth, and the mana she had cultivated became inaccessible to her, leaving her as fragile as a mortal.

She still remembered how her injured son fought until the very end to protect her. The irony of the situation filled her with regret for destroying so many lives.

Yet somehow, she and her son survived, only to be captured by the cultists. Even then, she had hoped that revealing her identity as a princess of the Luneria clan would buy her time, but in desperation, she exposed herself to one of the most dangerous organizations in the world, and that decision led her here.

Slowly, she realized that the curse had not just taken away her cultivation and magical abilities but had also begun to affect her ability to think clearly.

Now, as she watched William standing before her son, she felt that same uncertainty rising again, because she could not understand what he intended to do or whether she should place her hope in him.

Suddenly, the boy lifted his gaze toward her, and in that moment, the voice of the curse spoke within her mind.

“He is looking at you… no, he is looking at me.”

The voice was deeply feminine and sharp

The presence of that voice did not frighten her, because it had accompanied her for years without harming her, speaking only when it observed something worth noting, and then retreating into silence as if it existed only to watch and comment, leaving her to interpret its meaning on her own.

William then turned his attention toward Tamasya, his expression was steady as he spoke.

“Create a high-level barrier and isolate us,” he said, referring to himself and the young man lying on the ground.

Tamasya, who had been lost in her own thoughts, returned to the present and nodded without questioning him, raising her hand and forming a transparent barrier of pure mana around them, carefully avoiding the use of shadow energy because she wanted to observe everything clearly without distortion.

William then raised his arms slowly and began moving them in a circular arc, bringing his hands above his head and then lowering them in front of his face before pressing his palms together and muttering.

“Sol Invictus.”

“Second form, Blessing of the Sun.”

As his hands slowly separated, an intense light burst forth from between them, so bright that it forced everyone present to shield their eyes. For a brief moment, it felt as though a fragment of the sun itself had been brought into the dark and suffocating cavern.

Tamasya staggered slightly under the sudden intensity and immediately called upon her shadow element, layering it over the barrier in a thin veil that did not block the view but softened the overwhelming brightness enough for them to witness what was happening.

What they saw next left them stunned.

William reversed his motion slowly, raising his hands upward as they opened, and as his palms separated further, the light gathered and condensed into a concentrated form, shaping itself into a miniature sun that hovered above him, growing steadily until it reached the size of a clenched fist, radiating heat and power that felt divine.

Maris standing at the corner of the cellar gasped in shock and instinctively kneeled her head as if she had witnessed the manifestation of a god, while the others stood frozen, unable to fully comprehend what they were seeing.

Anastasia’s expression changed for the first time since entering the room, as the cold emptiness in her eyes gave way to shock and then softened into a quiet smile filled with something she had not felt in a long time.

Hope.

For a fleeting moment, her vision blurred, and she saw Rudra standing before her in place of William, only for the image to fade and be replaced by William.

As the miniature sun stabilized, the barrier surrounding them began to tremble under the pressure of its presence, cracks formed along its surface, and a small portion broke, allowing a surge of heat and light to spill outward.

For a brief moment, it felt as though destruction itself had descended upon them.

Tamasya reacted instantly, reinforcing the barrier with her full strength, stabilizing it before the energy could spread further and cause harm.

Although no one was injured, which demonstrated William’s precise control over the power he wielded, the sheer intensity of the sun’s aura was enough to shake Maris deeply, while the others, being stronger, endured it with effort.

Samantha’s focus remained fixed on her son, and as she watched, she saw dark wisps of poison begin to emerge from his body when they came into contact with the light of the miniature sun, writhing and dispersing as if they were alive, fleeing from the overwhelming presence of the sun as if it were a predator that left them no chance to survive.

The process continued steadily, and over the course of a few minutes, every trace of the neurotoxin was completely purged from his body.

William then repeated the motion in reverse, slowly bringing his hands together and dispersing the miniature sun until it vanished entirely, leaving behind only a lingering warmth in the air.

He knelt beside the young man and carefully administered antidotes and healing potions, ensuring that his body stabilized after the purification.

Tamasya lowered the barrier, allowing the others to approach freely.

Samantha rushed forward and fell beside her son, holding him tightly once more, but this time her grip was filled with hope instead of despair.

William stood up and looked at her calmly.

“Your son is saved,” he said, but then she noticed that he was looking at her with a slightly intense gaze.

“But Goddess Xythia seems unhappy.”

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