After the Pope finished his prayer, the church bell began ringing again. At first, the bell's sound resembled the chirping of birds, but gradually, it transformed into something akin to a roaring volcano.
One of the lanterns atop the church—specifically, the one on the far right—suddenly lit up as if someone had pressed a hidden button. In that moment, I felt a powerful force flowing within me, something that seemed almost divine. My guess was that this was the legendary holy power I'd only heard about in stories.
Shortly after, the second lantern lit up. Everyone watching the lanterns was left breathless in an instant. Normally, the lanterns would light up gradually, not all at once! Internally, I was overjoyed. This wasn't the first time such a phenomenon had occurred, though—it had happened once before during Emperor Arthur's ceremony! That meant I might receive a blessing almost equal to his.
My palms were sweating with excitement as I focused on the lanterns. Everyone else was so fixated on them that no one noticed the intelligence I shouldn't have as a baby. Honestly, I was far too excited at the moment to bother hiding it.
The third lantern lit up just as quickly, and in my excitement, I blinked. When I opened my eyes again, even the fifth lantern was already shining.
"W-What?"
"Hey! This is absurd! Even Emperor Arthur's lanterns started filling up slower after a point, but this one doesn't seem like it's planning to stop!"
Shouts erupted from all around, but my entire focus was on the final lantern. Shortly after, it too began to glow—without losing any momentum—and shone as brightly as the sun. The once soothing sound of the bell now turned into a catastrophic tone, reminiscent of a war horn.
'At last! Even my father, who is incredibly powerful, could only light six lanterns! Seven is unimaginable!'
Amid my joy, a loud shattering sound broke through even the deafening bell chime.
CRACK
The source of the sound immediately caught my attention.
'Wait, why is there a crack on the lanterns?'
"Angelica, my child!"
"Stay back, Agatha! You can't help her!"
Hearing my family's panicked cries, I turned to them. My mother was sobbing as though she'd received the worst news in the world, while my father held her back to stop her from approaching me.
'Why?' I asked myself, but the answer came to me immediately.
The lanterns in the church exploded with an immense burst of light, creating a beam that seemed to connect the heavens and the earth. The force of the explosion sent my family and everyone watching the ceremony flying backward. If not for the church's structure and the quick defenses of other powerful individuals, things could have been much worse.
"Angelica! My child, where are you?"
I could still hear my mother's voice, but I had no idea what was happening to me. If I could have seen myself from the outside, I would have realized I was at the center of the beam of light.
'Ahh, it hurts. Why do these things keep happening to me? Did I anger the God of Luck? AAaHhhh!'
Suddenly, I felt the most excruciating pain I'd ever experienced. With the tiny bit of willpower I had left, I felt my bones, muscles, hair, and even my undeveloped teeth breaking apart and reforming.
I didn't know why, but my body—and perhaps even my soul—was undergoing some kind of transformation.
The bones that had once been as hard as metal shattered, and in their place, new ones formed, gleaming golden, not too hard, not too soft, feeling as if they were made from the finest material in the world.
My infant muscles tore apart one by one. In their place, new muscles formed, as strong as the ropes used on ships.
My once-soft nails hardened and began to grow. They now resembled the claws of powerful dragons from fairy tales. Instinctively, I retracted them, realizing I now had a hidden weapon.
The only dragon-like features that remained unchanged were the ones I already had, but I could now feel an additional pair of wings on my back.
'I feel like amazing things are happening, but it hurts so much! If I die, none of this will matter.'
I wondered if there was anything I could do. Honestly, I didn't have many options, so I thought about my abilities.
'Oh, right! I have an ability called Weak Healing. I'm not sure exactly what it does, but it seems like my only chance!'
I felt like I was running out of time. Admittedly, feeling myself grow stronger was exhilarating, but the problem was, it hurt too much.
Pain is one of the most important sensations for survival. If someone feels pain, it means they are alive. But pain doesn't come without reason. It signals that something is wrong—that there's something harming the body or soul, something threatening life itself.
If you are resilient, you might not pull your hand away when held over a flame, but that doesn't mean your hand won't burn.
This feeling was the same. I could endure it—great—but if this continued, my soul would suffer immense damage. The power of a god was not suitable for a weak baby!
'Please work, [Weak Healing]!'
After casting the spell, the pain subsided a little. I even felt my soul relax.
'That's it! [Weak Healing], [Weak Healing]...'
By the time I had used Weak Healing a total of 20 times, most of the pain had disappeared. But there was bad news… I was almost out of mana! I could feel it flowing into the spell like a roaring river. At most, I could use it four more times.
'I have to hold on. It'll only hurt a little more!'
Only 30 seconds had passed, but it felt like I had been in this state for ages.
As the pain intensified, I used Weak Healing again. And again… and again, until I was down to my final cast.
'Ahhh! I don't have much left. Weak Healing, please, let this end!'
When I used the last of my mana, a numbing sensation spread throughout my body. With my mana depleted, I was on the verge of losing consciousness. I was so numb that the pain had nearly disappeared.
'No! If I pass out now, everything will be over. Just a little more. I can feel the light dimming! Ahh, I can't hold on any longer!' I thought, before finally blacking out.
Shortly after I lost consciousness, the light's intensity diminished, and Angelica emerged—now lying amidst the altar, covered in blood, bone, and fragments of organs.
"Angelica!! Hold on, your mother is here to help!"
At that moment, a beam of light passed by Agatha, and someone appeared above Angelica.
"Please endure this, my daughter. If you don't give up, everything will turn out beautifully!"
Arthur bypassed Agatha and rushed to Angelica's side, casting every healing spell he knew.
"Clear the area immediately. Visitors, I'm sorry, but you will need to wait in your rooms for a while. Everyone from the town, return to your homes. The ceremony is over for today."
After the First Prince gave orders to everyone, he turned to the Pope:
"Summon everyone who knows healing magic!" he commanded before heading toward Angelica.
"Father, how is she?"
"Bad, but she's not in critical danger. It's not as disastrous as I feared."
"If this is considered fine in such a situation, what would your 'disastrous' scenario look like?"
"Take good care of her, Fahrat. Her entire body looks as if it's made of light. This means her entire being, even her soul, has undergone a transformation. Only the strongest beings can endure something like this. Yet, somehow, she's still alive and seems to have successfully completed the transformation. Anyway, that's enough for now. We'll talk once everything is resolved."
"Alright."
Meanwhile, in another dimension
"I truly didn't expect you to succeed, little candle. But I'm glad you did. If you had been harmed because of me—albeit unintentionally—I would have been very upset, and I might have angered that person. Though I don't really care, dealing with small insects can sometimes be tiresome."
The being, who appeared to be floating in a void, drifted into thought for a moment. Though its face and body were invisible, there was no doubt it was the most magnificent being in existence. It was like a radiant sun personified!
"Let's see how far you'll go, little dragon. I wish you success on your journey. 'Beware of the darkness, but never shy away from it...'"
****
Thank you for reading