Chapter 10: Chapter10-The Awakening Ritual, Resonance of the Stars

“Hello, Ms. Timan!”

“Oh?! Lilith, you’re here!”

“How was it, did Leo like the oat biscuits I made?”

“Ah, you came just in time—on your way back, take this new honey-banana cake I’ve baked. Let Leo try it and give me his critique…”

Seeing Lilith’s radiant smile, the kind-faced middle-aged woman’s mood brightened instantly, and she quickly set aside her work.

Her gaze soon shifted to the breathtaking Elarielle beside Lilith, and she stiffened with sudden nervousness.

“And… and this lady is…?”

“This is Lady Elarielle—my mentor!”

“She’s an elf! A real elf, just like in the legends!”

Lilith clung tightly to Elarielle’s arm. The elf’s body tensed slightly at first, but she soon softened, gazing down at Lilith with fondness.

At her words, Ms. Timan gasped.

Even in this remote corner of the world, the nobility of the elven race was deeply etched into everyone’s hearts.

Her eyes darted nervously over Elarielle’s flawless face. Hastily, she brushed the flour dust off her skirt and stammered:

“G-greetings, noble elf-lady! Is there anything I can do to serve you?”

“There’s no need to be so formal, Ms. Timan. Please, just call me Elarielle. I am only a mentor—here in Dalton Town, no different from anyone else. Treat me as you would any neighbor, and… please take care of me.”

Yes, she told herself—she must learn Leo’s humility.

“N-no, of course! A guest of honor must be treated with respect!”

“Hehe, Ms. Timan, quick, bring out your best orlan-flower strawberry cake for my mentor to try! And… um, maybe give me a little too, just a taste!”

“…I-I’ll just have a little…” Lilith added weakly in a guilty voice.

Timan saw straight through the girl’s little ploy, but hurried back inside regardless.

An elf! She couldn’t believe Dalton Town had attracted someone of such stature.

They said anyone blessed to meet an elf would have their luck change for the better.

Her heart was bursting with joy.

But when she returned with the cake, the doorway was already empty—Lilith and Elarielle had vanished.

…

Grey Family Garden.

Still in high spirits, Lilith was dragged in by Leo.

“I told you to eat less cake. Who was it last year crying all night with a toothache?”

“Aw, but that was for Lady Elarielle, not me!”

“Tch, you think I don’t know you?”

Leo sighed helplessly at his mischievous daughter, though his eyes still glowed with deep affection.

But soon, Lilith’s attention was seized by the light filling the garden.

The whole place blazed with brilliance.

Her sapphire eyes widened, lips parted, utterly struck speechless by the sight before her.

“Father… this… this is…”

“This is a magic array,” Leo said gently.

He stroked her hair and guided her to its center.

“Close your eyes. Relax your mind. Listen as if to the whisper of the wind, and feel.”

Lilith inhaled deeply and obeyed, shutting her eyes. Her long lashes trembled nervously.

The moment she reached out with her senses—

Bzzzz!

The three-dimensional stellar array thrummed, low and resonant, piercing everything.

The threads of light blazed a thousandfold brighter in an instant.

BOOOOM!

This time, the sound shook the heavens themselves.

Not from vibration or noise, but the roar of world-rules being forcibly disturbed.

Above Dalton Town, the calm afternoon sky was swept bare of clouds in an instant.

The blue firmament shattered like glass, replaced by the infinite depth of cosmic space.

Countless stars blazed, so bright they drowned the sun, each one closer, clearer, more radiant than ever before.

It was as though the entire Castarella Nebula had been pulled into the planet’s very atmosphere.

A torrent of pure, vast starlight mana poured down, billions of silver beams cascading like the Milky Way in flood.

Every shaft struck precisely at the Grey family estate, funneling into the already-prepared Star Bloodline array.

Lilith’s body trembled, rising into the air as though weightless.

Her silver hair streamed wildly, wrapped in liquid starlight.

Her skin glowed white beneath the baptism of stars, countless motes appearing and flowing like microcosmic suns in orbit.

Again and again, they struck the ancient seal buried in her soul and blood.

She furrowed her brows, letting out a soft whimper, as though feeling a deep, primal ache.

Yet the stellar power wrapped around her remained infinitely gentle, shielding her core, transmuting the force into nurturing energy.

Day turned to night, stars poured like rain, and the power of the cosmos descended in waterfalls.

This was Leo’s gift to his daughter—

Her awakening ritual.

…

“Spirits of nature and stars above—what… what is happening?!”

Elarielle, in the garden, felt as though struck by a hammer.

The watering can in her hand crashed to the ground unnoticed.

Her emerald eyes reflected the reshaped heavens—the rivers of starlight piercing sky and earth, power so pure her soul quaked.

This was not mere energy.

It was the origin-force of an ancient starfield, forcibly drawn into this world.

“To summon the very essence of a star domain?!”

Elarielle’s flawless face turned pale, disbelief plain.

“What kind of… impossible power is this?”

“Lord Leo…”

Her millennia-old calm shattered, her heart tossed into raging seas.

…

The townsfolk of Dalton fell into the same awe and terror.

They stared at the blackened sky, at stars burning brighter than the sun.

They felt the divine, overwhelming aura.

One by one, they dropped to their knees, praying madly toward the mayor’s manor.

“It’s a miracle! A true miracle!”

“So many stars—they’re falling!”

“Gods, what’s happening?! It’s unbelievable!”

“It must be a blessing from the heavens!”

“Praise the stars and the goddess of nature—grant Dalton Town endless harvests, food and drink forever…”

“O gods, please grant me a beautiful wife…”

“…”

Meanwhile—

Across the continent, across the world—

every mighty being, every hidden power—

was wrenched from meditation or slumber by the cataclysmic phenomenon.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep