next week was a whirlwind of delegations, negotiations, and silent threats.
The Eastern Alliance, humiliated by the exposure of their kidnapping plot and the subsequent exposure of their compromised security, issued a formal apology — but refused to name those responsible. Commissioner Zhang Wei vanished. His replacement, a young, ambitious diplomat named Lian Chen, spoke of "new cooperation" with the Aurelia Empire.
But Ethan didn't trust her.
He watched her during the diplomatic summit with his [Intention Reading].
Beneath the polished words and perfect posture, he read fear. And beneath the fear — calculation.
She didn't want peace.
She wanted to understand what happened — and how to weaponize it.
Meanwhile, the Northern Kingdom, represented by Seraphina's father, Prince Aric Crystallis, pledged a full alliance. He offered not just military aid, but access to the kingdom's sealed archives — where, rumor said, the ancient seals that bound the Apostles were originally forged.
Elena was ecstatic. "If we can find the design patterns of the original seals," she told Ethan, "we might be able to strengthen or replicate them. We could fortify every major city. Protect every academy."
Seraphina's eyes were distant as she listened. "My mother's journal mentions a ritual — the 'Binding of the First Light.' It was used to seal Malachar. But the cost…" She trailed off.
"The cost?" Ethan pressed.
"A life. The person who performs the ritual must become the anchor — their soul fuses with the seal. They don't die. They… cease. Become part of the magic."
Silence fell.
Aria reached for Ethan's hand without looking at him.
"Someone would have to volunteer," Elen said quietly.
"And who would?" Victoria asked, arms crossed.
They all knew the answer.
It wouldn't be Lucien — his divine link made him too incompatible with ancient seals that predated the Goddess's arrival.
It wouldn't be Seraphina — the Crystallis bloodline had already been stretched too thin.
It wouldn't be Elena — her affinity was spatial, not binding.
It wouldn't be Victoria, Luna, or Aria.
Then who?
Ethan didn't answer. He didn't need to.
But for the first time, he saw something in Seraphina's eyes that he hadn't seen before.
Not duty.
Not grief.
Not loyalty.
Resignation.
Like she had already chosen.
Chapter 32: The Scholar's Awakening
Elena spent the next ten days in the academy's deepest library, surrounded by ancient texts, fragmented runes, and half-decayed scrolls she'd uncovered from forbidden archives.
She didn't eat. Didn't sleep. Didn't leave unless someone dragged her out.
She was trying to reconstruct the sealing ritual.
And she was failing.
Because the text she needed — the Codex of the First Light — still hadn't been found.
Until one morning, when Aria appeared with a book wrapped in white silk.
"I found this in the church vaults," Aria said. "It was kept hidden. Not because it was dangerous… but because it was too sacred."
Elena took the book. Her fingers trembled as she opened it.
Inside, every page was written in a language she had only read about in theory — the tongue of the First Mages, the primordial users of magic before the elementals were defined.
And on the final page, drawn in liquid silver that glowed faintly in the light, was a diagram.
The Binding of the First Light.
"Elena," Aria whispered. "You can translate it, can't you?"
Elena didn't answer at first.
She traced the glowing sigils with her finger.
"Yes," she finally said. "I can."
Then she looked up, her eyes wide with realization.
"I have the key. But it's not in the magic."
She paused, voice barely above a whisper.
"It's in the bond."
"What do you mean?" Seraphina asked.
Elena closed the book.
"The ritual doesn't require power or blood or sacrifice."
She met each of their eyes in turn.
"It requires love."
Silence.
Then:
"Love?" Victoria scoffed.
Not cruelly. Not mockingly.
Just… confused.
"I didn't say 'romantic love,'" Elena said. "I said bond. The kind that binds a healer to a patient. A protector to the people they guard. An assassin to the one who gave her freedom. The kind that makes someone choose a stranger's life over their own."
Her gaze fell to Ethan.
"You made the sacrifice. The Apostle nearly took you. And you still chose to live — not for yourself, but for us."
She turned to the others.
"Seraphina, you froze a stadium. You gave your strength to keep others safe — even when your own body was failing."
She looked at Aria.
"You pulled people back from death's edge, even with no strength left. You didn't heal them because you were told to. You healed them because you couldn't bear to let them go."
She looked at Victoria.
"You fought like you were trying to burn away the whole world's sorrow, not just the demons in front of you."
She looked at Luna.
"You saved everyone, even though you could have disappeared into the shadows. Even though your father was just being healed. You stayed."
Elena looked at Lucien.
"And you fought with everything," she said, voice softening. "Not because you were chosen. But because you refused to let anyone else carry the burden. Even if it meant dying."
She closed her eyes.
"I've spent my life believing magic is math. Numbers. Equations. But what we did… that wasn't math."
She opened her eyes. Tears shone in her glasses.
"That was… love."
The room was quiet.
Ethan didn't know what to say.
Then Lucien spoke.
"Then let's make the ritual."
All eyes turned to him.
"What?" Seraphina asked.
"I said, let's make the ritual. Whoever performs it — I'm ready to be the anchor." He looked at Ethan. "You're the one who saw this coming. You're the one who changed it. You're the one who made us better."
Ethan shook his head. "I didn't make anyone anything."
"You made us choose," Lucien said. "And I choose this."
"No," Elena said quickly. "You're not the anchor. Your connection to the Goddess makes you incompatible with the oldest bindings. The ritual requires someone… less divine. Human."
Luna stood up.
"I will."
Everyone turned to her.
"You?" Aria said.
"I'm not a healer. I'm not a princess. I don't have divine light or arcane theory." Luna's voice was quiet but steady. "But I've been bound to shadows all my life. I've been used. Abandoned. Told I was nothing. But you… you looked at me and saw me. You didn't want to change me. You wanted me to choose to become more."
She looked at Ethan.
"You were the first person who didn't try to control me."
She turned to the others.
"And you — you were the first people who didn't make me carry my burden alone."
She met Seraphina's gaze.
"Let me be the anchor."
"No," Seraphina said sharply. "I am the last Crystallis. My bloodline is tied to the original seals. My soul is already woven into the binding matrix. I'm the only one whose essence can stabilize it long-term."
She turned to Ethan.
"I won't ask you to let me go." Her voice cracked. "But I won't let anyone else die for this."
Tears gathered in Seraphina's eyes — something Ethan had never seen.
She was going to sacrifice herself.
And she wouldn't let anyone stop her.
Ethan stepped forward.
"Let me."
All heads turned.
"Ethan, what?" Aria whispered.
"I'm a transmigrator. I'm not from this world. My soul isn't bound to the natural order the way yours are. The ritual doesn't need a mage. It doesn't need a hero. It needs… a variable."
He looked around the room.
"I'm the anomaly."
He looked at Seraphina.
"I'm the one who broke the story."
He looked at his five heroines.
"And I'm the one you all made… something more than an extra."
Silence.
Then Seraphina nodded.
A single tear fell.
"Do it."