Chapter 424: The Spread Of Darkness

Elaine went ahead to take her bath, get dressed, and use the rest of the time she had on her hands to regulate her internals.

Sealing her essence units into safe nodes, locking them out of reach, it was her way of ensuring that another episode didn’t repeat itself soon.

Though this process would also restrict her abilities as an evolver, she felt it would be okay since she was home.

She had her mother, her father and a whole lot of other allies looking out for her, it was safe to say that her safety was guaranteed.

Suddenly breaking her out of her immersed meditation was a doorbell, chiming all over the place.

She had a visitor.

And just from sensing the presence on the other side of her room door she could identify who this visitor was, and the frown deepening on her face showed she didn’t fancy this newcomer very much.

The chime of the doorbell rang again, this time accompanied by a bold masculine voice.

"Elaine darling, you came home, yet you didn’t see it fit to come greet your betrothed... sigh, whatever shall I do with you!"

The voice had barely finished speaking when she moved like a spectre, faster than a blink, appearing before the door and swinging it open, and she stared coldly at the figure revealed on the other side.

Her head tilted to the side as she spoke coldly, "I thought I made myself very clear the last time, you will be wed to my corpse before I let you, filthy scum, have your way."

Her harsh declaration rang cold.

But the figure she spoke to remained unfazed, wearing a spiteful smirk.

This was none other than her fiancé in name, Nolan Griffith, her third cousin, arranged to be her husband in order to keep the bloodline pure.

Though fortunately their family branches were diverse enough that no one had to get married to their direct siblings or first cousins.

And Elaine’s hatred of their arranged union stemmed from more than just the fact that they were related, it was also because she felt Nolan wasn’t worthy.

Nolan, wearing a nonchalant smirk, stepped forward, intent lurking behind it.

"Tsk! Tsk! I had hoped the change to our reality might have changed things... It seems I was wrong," Nolan chuckled.

Elaine frowned as he took a step into her room, his mere presence seeming even more unnerving than before.

"Cut the crap, Nolan, what do you want, and why are you here?" Elaine asked coldly, her expression frosty as ever.

Nolan seemed to sense the pressure she gave off, and understood immediately that she wasn’t fucking around.

Strange, Elaine seemed more averse to his presence than usual... he squinted, examining her from head to toe, ’Could it be...’

The smile on his lips faded into a dark expression, "What! Is there anything strange about me coming to check on my fiancée after coming back from a long journey! Or are you just disgusted by my presence because you found someone else!"

Elaine’s lips curled downwards into a frown, her voice turning cold as she listened to his words, "Cut the crap, Nolan, there was never any form of affection between us and there will never be!" Elaine declared flatly.

One could tell, by both her expression and her tone, that she meant it....

Nolan’s expression settled into a dark grin, as he clapped, "Nice! Nice! I just came back from the delegations with the Duskreavers and this is what I get, nice one, Elaine! I thought the change in times would give me a chance with you."

He then scoffed, his head tilting backwards, his eyes cast down at Elaine, "Now I see you for the whore you are, parading yourself as high and mighty when you’re anything but, mark my words, bitch! You will pay for this!"

His expression going cold, Nolan gave Elaine one last glance and walked away, hands clasped behind his back.

Elaine slammed the door shut, wearing a confused frown, unable to understand where this gall came from.

Nolan had never acted like this with her, she never once hid her dislike for him, and he never went out of his way to force his affection on her.

The most he did was admire from afar, but this time he had the audacity to come to her door with all the confidence of a man ready to claim what was long his.

This wasn’t the Nolan she knew, something about him had changed.

Her jaw tightened with certainty, but alas she could only shelve the matter aside. Whatever Nolan had going was the least of her problems.

She needed a way to restore balance to her essence, she needed something that would boost her affinity with ice, hence why she came home.

So she returned to her bed to meditate and complete the process of sealing off the excess death essence thriving in her veins.

With this, another episode shouldn’t happen anytime soon, or catch her unaware in public.

Her doorbell chimed again a few minutes after, this time her mother’s voice was the one that came from the other end.

"Okay my little snowflake, it’s time for dinner with the family."

Elaine straightened the crumple at the edge of her gown, as she rose and headed to the door.

Opening it, her mother snatched her by the arm, leading her straight towards the dining hall...

Meanwhile at the same time.

Walking through a dark hall, Nolan could be seen, wearing a deeply unpleasant expression, though he had finally gotten to see the woman he had long coveted since he was a child.

Yet he barely even got the chance to compliment her beauty and the changes she had undergone since the origin descended.

He had thought this was his chance to prove himself to her, his genetic lineage was strong, granting him powerful Noble grade abilities.

He was a powerful awakened, and if he was given a chance to show his awesomeness to her, maybe she might have fallen for him, and come to understand that he was worthy.

Especially since he had gotten a new upgrade to his strength on his recent trip to the Duskreavers.

His eyes were obscured by a flowing liquid light of darkness, his voice overlapping with wailing wraiths as his expression twisted savagely.

"Just you wait, we will make you pay!"

The eerie call rang loud across the empty hall, as he came before a dark box sitting on a platform at the heart of the dimly lit abandoned hall.

The box pulsed and snapped open, causing Nolan to quickly fall to his knees, his eyes going entirely black.

"Greetings to the source!" his warping voice echoed.

As a reflection of a familiar figure formed out of the rising billow of darkness.

Liora Duskreaver... a sick grin played on her curling lips as she looked down on her new subordinate.

The Griffith family didn’t know yet, but the delegation they had sent to the Duskreavers for trade and a talk on possible alliance had been infected with something dark and vile.