The hidden coldness behind that kind beauty finally reached Orion’s soul. His hypnotic state shattered and reality crashed upon him like a storm.
"Ahh!"
He howled as the searing pain spread across his flesh, burning deeper with every breath. The aura pressing down on him was absolute, unyielding. Resistance was meaningless. His sword arm trembled, powerless, until at last it slipped from his hand.
With a broken cry, Orion fell to his knees.
"No... no... why are you doing this to me? Let me go. Please, let me go!"
He begged onto his knees.
But the fairy like woman did not answer him. Her eyes, as blue as the infinite skies, shifted away from him.
Instead, her gaze fell upon Vahn. On his severed leg to specific.
With a gentle wave of hand, a radiant white light erupted from her palm. The light instantly reattached the leg to a fully functional level, almost as if reversing time.
Her eyes reflected Vahn’s astonished face.
"What should I do with him, Vahn?"
Her gaze bore onto him as though judgment itself sought his counsel.
Vahn recovered from his awe at once. Exhaling a sigh of relief, he looked at Orion’s pitiful figure writhing before him.
"Let him go, Seraphina."
The words dropped calmly, like stones into a silent lake.
And Seraphina immediately retracted her aura just slightly, so that Orion could escape away.
Witnessing this unbelievable scene, Emilia froze, her mind shaken. Orion’s own eyes also widened in disbelief. Who was this woman? And why... why would such a divine figure listen to him?
Even Seraphina tilted her head, faint surprise flickering in her serene eyes.
"Are you certain, Vahn? This man tried to kill you," she asked softly, her voice carrying a faint echo, like hymns from an unseen temple.
Any ordinary person would have demanded Orion’s execution without hesitation. To repay betrayal with blood was the way of cultivation world. Yet his answer was different. Different enough to pique her curiosity.
"I am sure," Vahn replied calmly.
He then turned back to Orion, his gaze turning cold.
"Listen well. I am sparing you not out of pity. Nor because I care for our past friendship. I spare you because this is repayment for the time you saved me from Cain. That debt is now settled. From this day forward, we are nothing to each other."
His words struck Orion harder than any blade. The burning pain that gnawed at his body twisted into something else. Guilt, loss, emptiness.
The weight of what he had thrown away bore down on him, colder than Seraphina’s holy aura.
His lips trembled. His voice, once proud and furious, now shook in quiet submission.
"I... I understand," he whispered.
Silence lingered before he dared to ask, eyes darting between Vahn and the divine figure above.
"But... can you tell me..." His throat tightened. "Who is she... to you?"
"You don’t need to know."
Vahn’s reply was colder than winter steel. It sliced through whatever fragile hope lingered in Orion’s heart.
Orion lowered his head, shame and defeat shrouding him. Yet before leaving, he gave one final glance at Emilia. His eyes trembled with longing and regret.
But Emillia had no reaction whatsoever.
So he turned and walked away, his figure fading into the shadows of the path.
Perhaps this would be the last time he would ever see her.
There was a silent atmosphere after he was gone, until Emilia’s voice finally broke it.
"Vahn..." Her lips quivered, her eyes searching his face with desperate unease. "Can you now tell me who is she to you?"
Her tone carried more than curiosity. It trembled with fear, with worry, with something she herself could not put into words.
"Sigh..." Vahn exhaled a long sigh. Explaining everything would be a storm of effort, and a part of him wished to avoid it. But it was better to clear things first than regret later.
However, before he could even open his mouth, a gentle yet commanding voice flowed beside him:
"I am Seraphina Dawnlight, the Saintess of Light."
Her words were calm, serene, yet they resonated like a bell in the heart of every listener. Then, without hesitation, she added,
"And I am his wife."
The statement was not a declaration of pride, but of truth, uttered as if written into the fabric of the world itself.
Emilia’s heart trembled violently. Her face became drained of color as though struck by lightning. The faint hope she clung to shattered in an instant.
"His... w-wife?" The word caught in her throat. "But how is this possible?"
She found it hard to believe. She too had heard of the legendary Saintesses, but to hear that one of them was actually Vahn’s wife was something she never expected.
"There’s nothing impossible, my child. Fate has chosen us both together," Seraphina said as she gracefully descended beside Vahn.
Seeing them standing as a couple, Emillia fainted.
Vahn sighed and caught her before she fell.
"Vahn, I think you should leave this girl here. We need to go," Seraphina urged.
Holding Emillia’s fragile body in his arms, Vahn shook his head.
"No. She is my friend. I can’t leave her alone. Just wait a while. After I deliver her to her home, I promise we will leave."
Seraphina said nothing more, but she didn’t leave his side either. She followed Vahn to the Village Chief’s house.
The Village Chief was relieved to see Emillia brought back safely, but the moment his eyes landed on Seraphina, he froze in shock.
Vahn quickly explained the situation, saying that Seraphina was his master and had come to take him away to their sect.
"Vahn, you’ve truly become a Cultivator... That’s incredible. Your grandfather would have been proud to hear this. But alas, fate was cruel," the old chief sighed.
Vahn nodded. "Chief, I need to leave now."
"You’re leaving? But what about Emillia? You know this girl has feelings for you, right? Or perhaps... this foolish girl hasn’t told you yet," Chief Wendelin asked, his eyes heavy with worry for his granddaughter.
Vahn glanced at Emillia, then at the old man, with an apologetic expression.
"I know of her feelings. But please tell her that I have none in return. But she will always be my friend, and I’ll come often to visit you both. Until then, please take care of her."
With that, he turned and walked away. He knew his words would hurt Emillia, but love was never something that could be forced.
The old man sat in silence, gazing at his sleeping granddaughter, pity welling in his heart.
"Granddaughter, I’m sorry. Fate is such a cruel monster. Those who seek love are denied, while those who reject love are pursued endlessly."