Chapter 253
“Anyway, I took their ancestors’ blood. I’ve dissected their bloodlines enough that I don’t need more now. Most were born and raised here, so I just let them live on. No point demanding payment for something I no longer need.”
That was her answer to whether the others paid a price. Once, but not anymore.
If Ysaris stayed here for generations, her descendants would likely be the same. Whether it was purification abilities or Tennilath’s power, someday, Lena would no longer need blood from ability users.
But Ysaris’ curiosity didn’t end there. If anything, solving one question only spawned countless others.
“Lena, what exactly are you researching? Where do you usually go? If you were tracking the black mages, I heard they were wiped out this time. So why… why do you want blood like they did?”
As far as Ysaris knew, ordinary mages had no interest in bloodline abilities. It was only after her kidnapping that she learned the black mages still existed—and that they coveted Tennilath and her blood.
Which naturally led to the next question.
Does Lena practice black magic too? What’s the connection between that and bloodline abilities?
A shadow crossed Ysaris’ face as her thoughts darkened. Lena shook her head with a sigh.
“You never tire of asking, do you? I’ve told you before—don’t ask about my research.”
“I’m sorry, Lena. But since my child and I are directly involved, I had to. You know we were kidnapped because of our blood.”
“Fair. I suppose it’s natural to wonder. Doesn’t mean I’ll tell you, though.”
Was she brushing it off again? Just like always.
Ysaris swallowed a sigh. Extracting information from this woman, shrouded in secrets, was endlessly frustrating.
What will it take to make her talk? Did my grandparents and mother never learn her secrets either?
Suppressing her exasperation, Ysaris lowered her gaze. She was about to drop the subject when Lena unexpectedly asked:
“Do you know why the Ancient Era collapsed?”
“…No. There are no surviving records, not even myths. It’s a complete blank in history.”
Humanity’s recorded history began after the Ancient Era. The only glimpses of that lost civilization came from occasional unearthed relics.
“The Age of Grand Sorcery—that’s what they called it. The humans of that time…”
The title reeked of arrogance. But the magical artifacts from that era far surpassed anything modern mages could create.
“The reason such a prosperous civilization fell is simple: greed. They craved too much knowledge, applied it recklessly. They tried to surpass human limits—and ended up dooming the entire continent.”
A golden glint flickered in Lena’s enigmatic eyes.
Humans enslaved every race they could—elves, dwarves, vampires, dreamwalkers, lycanthropes—using them as test subjects. Under the direction of infamous black mages, they conducted horrific experiments to create a “new humanity.”
Countless races were sacrificed. Their unique traits were extracted and forcibly grafted onto humans.
The resentment of those races became a curse, embedding itself as conditions and side effects in the abilities humans stole. The “perfect” new humanity was flawed from the start.
Still unsatisfied, humans eventually targeted the one race they should never have touched.
Dragons. The absolute rulers of the continent.
A newly hatched dragon child—Lekiana—was kidnapped and experimented on. The dragons’ wrath was enough to overturn the world.
Every race humanity had wronged joined the dragons’ crusade. Even at the height of their power, humans couldn’t withstand such fury.
Facing extinction, they activated a final, desperate measure, a continent-shattering meteor spell. If we die, we all die together.
No one could stop the cataclysm. Meteors rained down, volcanoes erupted, earthquakes and tsunamis ravaged the land.
…When Lekiana awoke, shielded by layers of dragon magic, every living thing was dead. The continent lay in ruins, unrecognizable.
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