Chapter 402: Dormant State
Meanwhile, Beatrice and the members of the Morgenstein Family had arrived some distance away from the Stark Estate.
However, their convoy could go no farther. The vintage sedans had come to a stop before a section of land that barely looked like an accessible area.
From where they stood, the destruction spanned across several acres, with enormous portions of the landscape completely decimated by the ongoing battle.
Beatrice was standing ahead of the others, staring into the distance.
Even from here, they could feel the sheer amount of magical energy pouring out from the battlefield was terrifying. Powerful presences repeatedly flared against one another, with each collision sending waves of magic across the surrounding area.
It felt as though the titans of this world had all gathered in one place and were now fighting amongst themselves.
None of the Morgenstein vampires dared move any closer.
They had originally come here intending to witness and join in the capture of those responsible for the death and disappearance of their family leader. But the closer they had gotten to the Stark Estate, the more obvious it became that this was no longer a battle people of their level could simply walk into.
Even approaching the area seemed dangerous.
A few of the vampires who had been particularly enraged by Dark Nova’s broadcast had also begun experiencing the effects of Nathan’s interference through the Astral Sea. Their earlier anger had gradually settled, and the urgency that had driven them all the way here no longer felt quite as overwhelming.
Beatrice herself had not experienced the same effect yet. But even she understood there was absolutely nothing she could accomplish by heading farther into that place.
The group was there a while, uncertain of what to do.
Then suddenly, a brilliant white light erupted somewhere in the distance.
Beatrice’s eyes widened at the sight of the light that stretched high into the skies like an enormous pillar, illuminating the devastated landscape around them before descending with tremendous force.
The distant ground was sectioned apart as the resulting impact cut across another portion of the land mass as a whole.
Several Morgenstein vampires instinctively stepped backwards. Even their family leader, Beatrice, visibly shuddered as she stared at the aftermath.
What they had just seen was an attack that came from King Arthur usage of the holy sword, Excalibur; unleashed against the remaining manifestations of Dark Nova and wiping them out in a single overwhelming attack.
Beatrice stared into the distance for several more seconds before clicking her tongue in frustration.
——
Meanwhile, at Bettie’s place...
At this time, following the effects of Nathan’s emotional alteration, Bettie’s father had been among those whose earlier anger gradually subsided.
He still knew what his daughter had done. He knew she had killed someone, and he certainly wasn’t happy about the circumstances surrounding it. However, the overwhelming anger that had caused him to yell at her earlier had disappeared, leaving him in a calmer state where he had somehow begun making peace with the reality of what had happened.
Bettie on the other hand, was current in her room.
She had gone through several moody stages over the past few minutes. First came the guilt from everything that had happened downstairs; her father yelling at her, the circumstances surrounding the deaths, and most especially, the upset expression her younger brother had given her after learning what she had done.
But all of that had eventually been pushed aside by something else that had occurred a few minutes ago.
When Isabella screamed, Bettie had felt it. Her eyes had widened at the time as a sharp pain suddenly struck her chest, almost forcing her out of bed. But what truly frightened her was what accompanied that sensation.
Which was the fact that, she had also seen it. An image of Isabella held within the grasp of the Hero in Black had appeared within her mind, followed by his hand driving straight through her chest.
Bettie had immediately grabbed her own chest as though she had been the one struck.
And the last phenomenon amongst all of these new occurrences; was that she knew where Isabella was.
There had been no call or message telling her where the Princess was at that moment, but somehow Bettie could feel her exact location as naturally as though something inside her was pointing directly towards it.
And accompanying that awareness was an intense desire to reach Isabella and help her.
Bettie couldn’t understand any of it.
What she didn’t realize was that she was one of the Dark Ones; a Blessed of the Mistress of the Endless Dark. And it had been this way for a while.
She was still in the Dormant State of Resonance all this while, which was why neither the presence of the blessing nor its effects had ever become apparent to her.
However, all of these had originated over five months ago, back in that facfory, when Bettie had nearly died from the poison inflicted upon her by the League of Assassins.
Isabella had saved her life. But the method through which she had done so had produced an effect neither of them had realized at the time, leaving Bettie connected to the Mistress of the Endless Dark and eventually making her one of her Blessed.
And now, Isabella’s scream had finally caused that dormant state to react.
Bettie was seated on her bed, staring blankly ahead as she tried to understand everything she had just experienced.
Then that sensation came again; that awareness of exactly where Isabella was, alongside the same burning urge to reach her.
Bettie slowly rose from the bed. She still had no idea what was happening to her, but she couldn’t remain here.
——
Back at the scene of battle...
"Everyone remember, we have to make this look as real as possible," Dark Bella said. "Atia is one of his Matrons. If she figures out what we’re trying to do, he’s not going to fall for it. We also have to be quick about this."
Ethan and Carson both nodded.
Dark Bella then placed her hand over Ethan’s left shoulder. Darkness immediately gathered around the severed area, flowing outward and taking shape until it formed an entirely new arm made from condensed shadows.
Ethan raised it before himself and flexed his fingers one after another. They responded perfectly to his movements, almost as though the arm were his own.
He then turned towards Dark Bella with a smile and gave her a nod.
She nodded back.
At this point, Ethan’s summons and Ishtar had also regrouped with them on the battlefield, having only arrived at their position a few seconds after concluding their respective fights against the manifestations of Dark Nova.
Then Ethan suddenly sensed something which made him turn towards the enormous section of earth where Norman had been sent underground.
"He’s coming."