Chapter 1659: The last Sacrifice

___Somewhere in Elysium__

Another of Alinna’s tantrums was unfolding.

"YOU USELESS PIECES OF TRASH!"

A vase flew across the room and shattered against the wall. Moments later, a crystal glass followed, scattering glittering shards across the marble floor. Alinna stood amidst the wreckage, her chest heaving, her face twisted with rage. Her once pristine appearance had become disheveled, her trembling hands clenched into fists.

" How dare they? How dare they?!" Alinna muttered incoherently, pacing back and forth as stress and madness began to consume her. Her trembling hands clutched at her hair, and her bloodshot eyes darted around the room, as though searching for someone to blame for her misery.

Her healing gift was weakened almost dissapeared completely. The divine power that had once made her untouchable, the very thing that had elevated her above ordinary humans, had abandoned her without warning. And as if that humiliation weren’t enough, someone had appeared to take over her most important duty: purifying the toxic lands.

Tasks that once demanded her sacred touch, a kind of power that only further elevated her standing in the world, were now performed by someone else: an unknown figure, a mysterious man with neither a face nor a name.

Alinna’s fingernails dug into her palms. Her lips curled into a bitter grimace as she recalled the whispers spreading throughout Elysium. The admiration in people’s eyes had begun to fade, replaced by curiosity, doubt, and—most humiliating of all—pity.

How could they look at her with pity? Where were the reverent gazes? The desperate prayers? The endless praises that had once followed her every appearance?

She is Alinna, the saint of the S.A.I.N.T. Organization! A woman hailed by the organization as a new goddess—a divine figure whose radiance is said to surpass even that of Princess Lorient herself!

She had been adored. Respected. Beloved.

But now?

Now, the very people who had once knelt before her were turning their eyes toward someone else—an unknown man who had appeared out of nowhere and stolen the attention she had spent years earning.

Just because he could purify the toxic land! Just because of that one ability, they had forgotten her. Forgotten her miracles, her sacrifices, and everything she had done for Elysium, for the world. It was as though none of her past achievements had ever mattered, as though she could be discarded the moment someone more useful appeared.

Alinna’s face contorted with suppressed rage, her eyes blazing with hatred. "How dare they?! After everything I’ve done for them—how could they just forget me like this?!"

Her voice rose into a furious shriek, tears of rage welling up in her eyes. "This isn’t fair! It’s just not fair!"

"No..." she whispered, her voice trembling with disbelief. Then, her expression shifted into something terrifying. "No. No, no, NO!"

She swept her arm across the dressing table, sending bottles of perfume and expensive ornaments crashing to the floor.

"That wretched man!" she shrieked. "Who does he think he is?! Stealing MY place, MY purpose, MY glory!" Her eyes burned with a vicious hatred that no amount of divine light could ever conceal.

They could take away her healing gift. They could give her sacred duty to someone else. They could even strip her of the title that had once made the entire organization bow to her.

But they would never make her accept defeat!

Alinna would not allow herself to become some forgotten relic, cast aside the moment she ceased to be useful. She would become greater than the Lucient, greater than Princess Lorient. If the people of Elysium needed a miracle to worship, then she would give them one. If they needed a goddess, then she would make certain they remembered why they had once believed she was one.

"There must be a way! The gods wouldn’t abandon me! They wouldn’t... they wouldn’t..." she bit her thumbnail, frantic.

The door opened quietly. Salvo stepped into the room, his gaze sweeping over the scattered shards of glass, the overturned furniture, and the woman standing amidst the wreckage—or rather, the wretched creature who called herself the Saintess.

’What a joke.’

He had known it was a joke from the very beginning. He and Alexander had only taken Alinna in because of her Ashen Gift. The title of Saintess, the reverence of the masses, the ridiculous notion that she was some divine incarnation—all of it had been nothing more than a convenient arrangement. Alinna herself, however, had been foolish enough to believe her own lies.

She thought she possessed the power to heal the sick, to cleanse the afflicted, and to perform miracles worthy of a goddess. Yet the truth was far less glorious. Her so-called healing gift merely transferred sickness from one being to another. She did not eradicate disease; she simply shifted the burden onto someone else, someone innocent....And the most amusing part?

Even today, she still doesn’t know the truth about her own strength. For years she enjoyed the adoration of others, accepting their prayers and praise as if she were truly blessed by heaven, without once questioning the nature of her miracles.

Vanity is indeed the greatest sin.

How utterly pathetic.

Salvo watched as Alinna’s trembling hands clenched into fists; her face contorted with the fury of a woman who had lost everything—everything she believed had once made her special. She clung stubbornly to her delusions, still convinced that, somehow, she could reclaim the glory that had slipped from her grasp.

What a pitiful girl.

His lips curled into a faint, humorless smile. Perhaps the woman’s stupidity could still be put to some use. After all, a person is only truly useless when no one knows what to do with them—and Salvo and Alexander had already devised a new plan for this fallen saint.

"Alinna," he said, crouching down before her, appearing as gentle and warm as an angel sent from the heavens.

"Salvo, you have to help me."

Her voice trembled as she turned toward him; her eyes, reddened by tears, were now filled with frustration.

"My healing abilities are far superior to Princess Lorient’s! I have performed miracles that even her couldn’t do, yet now they treat me as if I’m a nobody!" Her fingers clenched tightly.

"That unknown man from Harland has taken over my duties, and now the people sing his praises instead. Have they forgotten who I am? Have they forgotten that I am the one they once called the Saintess—the new savior?!"

Salvo watched her quietly.

How amusing. She actually thought she was better than the legendary Princess Lorient. She had no idea what her Ashen Gift truly did. She had never questioned why her miracles came at such a peculiar cost, nor had she ever considered where the sickness she supposedly cured might have gone.

To Alinna, she was a chosen saintess.

To Salvo, however, she was merely a fool who misunderstood the true nature of her own power, Nevertheless, a fool can still be useful.

"Alinna," he said gently, "have you ever considered that perhaps the problem isn’t your gift, but the way the world perceives you?" ℯ

She stopped pacing. "What do you mean?"

"Your healing abilities are extraordinary. I have never denied that." Salvo’s expression softened into one of sympathy.

"However, people are fickle, Alinna. They don’t understand the value of what they possess until someone else offers them something new. Today, they praise the one who purifies their land. Tomorrow, they may find another miracle to worship." His words soothed her wounded pride even as they deepened her resentment.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she demanded. "Simply stand aside while they replace me? Allow Princess Lorient and her followers to look down on me?"

"Of course not." Salvo answered so quickly that she stared at him in surprise.

"You are the Saintess of the S.A.I.N.T. Organization, Alinna. You were once elevated above Princess Lorient herself. Do you truly believe that such a position was given to you for nothing?"

Her expression shifted. The shame in her eyes gave way to a flicker of pride.

"No," she whispered. "I was chosen because my gift is special."

"Exactly."

Salvo had to resist the urge to laugh. All it took was a little praise, and she was already rebuilding the throne in her mind.

"But being special is not enough," he continued. "If you wish to reclaim your place, you must prove that your worth extends beyond the miracles you have already performed. The people must see something greater—something so extraordinary that they will have no choice but to turn their eyes toward you again."

Alinna leaned forward. "Something greater?"

"There are sacrifices that must be made for the greater good." His voice grew solemn. "Sometimes, those chosen for a higher purpose must endure hardships that ordinary people could never understand. It is an unfortunate burden, but one that falls upon the shoulders of those with the power to change the world."

She listened intently, her desperation slowly transforming into anticipation. "What sacrifice...? Tell me!"

"That depends on how far you’re willing to go." Salvo let the silence linger.

He knew precisely what she wanted to hear.

She wanted reassurance that she was still special, that her lost position could be reclaimed, and that the humiliation she had suffered would one day be repaid. Most importantly, she wanted someone to tell her that she had not lost everything.

"You have already given so much to Elysium and the world" he said. "Surely you would not allow all those sacrifices to become meaningless simply because your path has grown more difficult?"

Alinna shook her head vehemently. "Never! I refuse to be cast aside. I refuse to let that man take everything from me!"

"Then you understand what must be done." Salvo stepped closer and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Alexander and I have been considering ways to restore your position. It won’t be easy, and I cannot promise that you will remain ...unchanged after going through it. Yet, if it succeeds, you might once again become the figure the world turns to, so much so they might even forget about the Lucient."

Her breath caught. "Do you mean it?"

"Would I deceive you about something so important?" The question was delivered with such genuine concern that Alinna felt ashamed for even entertaining the possibility.

Alinna believed Salvo wouldn’t deceive her. He and Alexander had supported her when others had doubted her. They understood her importance. They understood that her gift was something extraordinary. Unlike the ignorant masses, they knew she deserved more.

"Tell me what I should do," She said as she growing impatient.

Salvo observed her for a moment, concealing his satisfaction behind a composed expression. Finally. Her vanity and pride had overcome her fear, while desperation had done the rest.

"First, you must understand that this may demand more of you than anything you have ever faced before. You must be prepared to set aside your personal comforts, your doubts, even your own desires, for the sake of a greater cause."

Alinna hesitated for a moment.

Then, she recalled the humiliation of being forgotten, the shadow of Princess Lorient that loomed over her like a dark cloud even after she was long gone, and the unbearable prospect that history would remember her only as a failed saint.

Her hesitation vanished.

"If that’s what it takes to reclaim my position, then I shall do it," she stated firmly.

Salvo smiled. "That’s the Alinna I know."

He turned away before Alinna could catch the cold glint in his eyes. Alinna was convinced that she was on the verge of regaining her lost glory. She believed that her extraordinary gift of healing would once again make her an indispensable figure to Elysium.

She remained entirely oblivious to the fact that the very power she took such pride in was the reason Salvo and Alexander had chosen her in the first place. And as long as she continued to see herself as a the Saintess, she would never suspect the true fate they had in store for her.