Meanwhile, Kayden was making his way through the forest, anger gnawing at his features.
He caught sight of Grace's shadow running between the trees, her steps light and fast, yet somehow never quite slow enough for him to catch her.
Every time he reached for her, she moved farther away, like a shadow that could never be grasped.
As for Noll, he seemed hesitant, unprepared to do anything, like someone watching an inevitable fall without ever extending his hand to save the person.
Grace eventually leapt into the garden of Hazel's family home.
Kayden followed her, with Noll close behind.
Then she suddenly stopped and looked toward the brightly lit balcony of the house.
Kayden tried to calm her. "Please… calm down."
But Grace didn't listen. Or perhaps she simply didn't want to respond.
She stepped backward.
Then, with sudden force, she launched herself forward and jumped high into the air.
In a single moment, the window shattered, its glass scattering like cold sparks as Grace crashed into the room.
She saw a large number of people inside. But to her, their presence meant nothing.
Her eyes saw only Hazel. She approached her with steady steps, reached out, grabbed her face, and spoke with cold disgust.
"You're pathetic… Did you really think killing me would be that easy? I don't die from such simple methods."
Hazel trembled and desperately sought Isildar's gaze.
But he merely turned his face away and shrugged indifferently.
He made matters even worse by moving his chair aside, giving the scene more room.
At that moment, Kayden leapt through the broken window, followed by Noll.
They entered the room to find everyone silent, except Hazel, who was trembling like a trapped bird.
Kayden instinctively stepped forward until he stood beside Hudson.
He noticed Hudson's neck for a moment, his eyes tightening at the dark mark left by the rope.
"It's good that you survived…" he murmured quietly.
Then he raised his eyes toward Henry, who was watching in silence.
He seemed to be enjoying the scene just as much as Isildar.
Hazel suddenly screamed.
Her voice was shattered. "You're the one who took everything from me! Everything happened because of you… even this curse!"
She removed her cloak and pointed toward her mutilated body, a body distorted by the curse the way rust corrodes iron.
Kayden looked away.
Isildar did the same.
Neither of them wanted to stare at those holes. As though Grace were still drugged, she looked around the room once more until her eyes finally landed on Hudson.
A smile full of love and life appeared on her lips.
But there was something strange about that smile.
It didn't belong on the face of a catastrophe.
She gently shook her head, as though softly scolding him.
"Did you not even eat? My God, Lord of Time! What happened to your neck?" she asked worriedly.
But Hudson didn't say a word.
He merely shook his head.
He raised his hand slightly, as though surrendering, then whispered in a voice that nearly broke,
"Let's… finish this and leave this damned place."
The smile vanished from Grace's face.
Her features returned to the same cold hardness they had held before.
She slowly turned toward Hazel, facing her with a cold gaze, as though delivering a final judgment.
Hazel spoke bitterly as she watched the scene unfold before her, addressing everyone.
"She's a catastrophe… We should get rid of her, shouldn't we?"
But Isildar, who had been covering his eyes with one hand, answered in a calm voice filled with certainty.
"She's a perfect catastrophe."
"What do you mean?"
Isildar smiled and continued.
"Look at her carefully… She's a perfect catastrophe. How many souls did she consume to build this entity? The more blood she spills, the more complete she becomes."
Grace showed no emotion.
She raised her eyes toward him and spoke calmly.
"I stopped consuming."
Grace's declaration leaves the nature of her transformation unresolved, making the consequences of her having stopped consuming souls the decisive question for everyone in the room.
Isildar's curiosity only deepened. He leaned slightly forward, his voice filled with genuine intrigue. "And have you regained your memories? The ones from before your death?"
Grace answered, her eyes shimmering with fragments of a buried past. "Yes… I remember a great deal."
Hazel muttered so quietly that it was almost inaudible, as though passing judgment on everything before her. "How… disgusting."
Hazel stood near the window, a strange sharpness glinting in her eyes. Without warning, she reached out and seized Grace with all her strength, then violently shoved her toward the glass.
But when Hazel released her grip, Grace did not fall alone. She clung to Hazel with all her strength, dragging them both through the window.
Isildar immediately rose and looked down, his eyes widening, before jumping after them. When he noticed the others approaching, he spoke quickly, an unusual hint of excitement slipping into his voice. "No one comes any closer."
Hazel had the advantage. Grace had yet to recover her spiritual powers. Hazel slapped her across the face with brutal force, but Grace's body remained cold and unresponsive. That unnatural stillness only fueled the anger in Hazel's voice. "You're dead!" she screamed.
A fleeting smile appeared on Isildar's face before he could suppress it. Kayden noticed, but he said nothing, simply choosing to ignore it.
Hazel's voice rose again, saturated with hatred. "The dead should stay dead! Your part is over. Your purpose ended long ago."
Hazel stared down at her trembling hands, now stained with blood. She could no longer distinguish right from wrong. She lifted her eyes toward her father, who was struggling desperately to keep himself together. "Do you think I can't control this curse?" Hazel shouted.
Grace answered in a strained voice, each word seeming heavier than the last. "You're… nothing but a vessel." Hazel let out a laugh, a mad, broken sound that resembled pain more than mockery. "And what about you?"
Grace did not answer immediately. She merely stared at Hazel with eyes filled with hatred and contempt. As time passed, Grace began to understand something: Hazel did not lack the ability to use her spiritual powers. She lacked an understanding of everything else. And with every blow Hazel landed, something resembling fear slowly crept into Grace's heart.
Whenever Grace's eyes fell upon Hazel's neck, she saw faces. Dozens of eyes stared back at her, laughing mockingly. Hazel was suffering, and Grace understood that clearly.
Grace finally answered, her voice cold and edged with sarcasm. "I'm not a vessel. I'm far better than that. I take what I want… unlike you."
Yet Grace had not concealed what she truly wanted. She wanted to see the face of the curse, to uncover its true nature.
From the corner of her eye, she glanced toward Hudson. He had begun moving his lips in a steady rhythm before closing his eyes. It was an unspoken agreement between them—small gestures that only Grace could understand.
Then something happened that Grace had never expected. It happened far too quickly.
The curse began moving through Hazel's body. Her bones shifted, tearing through flesh as they reshaped themselves into a massive wing. Blood sprayed through the air, splattering across Grace's face, a sight horrific enough to send terror through everyone watching. Yet moments later, skin rapidly grew back over the exposed bones, covering the monstrous structure once more.
Kayden watched in silence, his eyes widening at the sight of the wing. For a brief moment, he was genuinely fascinated, nearly complimenting it without thinking—until he saw the holes. Dozens of them appeared across the wing, each one filled with an eye staring directly at him. Kayden froze, a cold sense of dread running through his veins.
"Damn those holes…" he muttered under his breath.
Beside him, Isildar turned his face away, disgust plainly written across his features. "Why are there so many holes?" He tried to stop himself from looking, but he wanted to see the fight, so against his better judgment, he glanced back again.
On the other side, Nol was beginning to lose his composure. His voice trembled. "Shouldn't we intervene? Grace could actually die!"
But Isildar stopped him. "Let's see… what happens." His tone was firm.
Hazel's attacks were no longer the same. They had grown heavier, more brutal, and even Grace was beginning to struggle to defend herself.
Hazel rose first. Her eyes glowed with an unfamiliar light, while the enormous skeletal wing behind her continued to pulse with the curse. Grace, meanwhile, slowly pushed herself to her feet. Her breathing was ragged, her hands trembling, but the steel in her eyes had not yet broken.
Hazel did not wait. She lunged at her like a savage beast, her fist crashing into Grace's face again and again. With every strike, dust erupted from the ground alongside splashes of blood, yet Grace's body remained unnaturally still.
"You don't feel anything!" Hazel screamed, her voice twisted between agony and madness.
Then she raised her skeletal wing and swung it with tremendous force. The air shrieked as the massive limb cut through it like a deadly cry, striking Grace with enough force to send her crashing into the ground.
Grace rose again, then staggered a few steps backward, blood running from her mouth and forehead. Hazel could not understand what her opponent was planning, but she realized that something was taking shape.
Grace bit down on her lip and noticed that her hands were bleeding as well. Her fingers trembled, yet she calmly brought her palms together and raised them before her face. Her voice rose above the noise of the battle, carrying a plea filled with unwavering certainty.
"My great Lord… Lord of the present, the past, and the future… Lord of Time, Lord of all things… my Lord, Ron Feng! Grant me the strength to rid myself of this curse!"
Isildar's eyes widened in rare astonishment. He had not expected events to move this quickly. He muttered without realizing it, "Time… it's accelerating. Insanely fast. Is the one trying to ascend nearby?"
Events unfolded faster than anyone could have anticipated. Grace finished her plea, and a mysterious light appeared in the sky, yet no clear response came. Even so, Grace's faith did not waver. She knew her Lord would never leave her to drown.
As for Hazel, terror seized her. She could only attack again, her fist driving straight toward Grace's jaw in an attempt to silence her forever. But Grace caught her wrist and shoved her away with force before striking back, blow after blow, as though returning everything Hazel had done to her.
Hazel crashed to the ground, her wing trembling, and Grace planted her foot on it with brutal force. Hazel screamed as she felt the bones shatter beneath her foot, but the curse did not relent. The bones began growing back, new holes opening across the wing, each eye within them laughing and weeping at the same time. The sight was less like a living creature and more like a nightmare feeding on Grace's pain and the disgust of everyone watching.
Grace, who had always desired to devour souls, wanted this time to break Hazel with that same hunger. But Hazel, driven by rage, rose again, seized Grace by the hair, and slammed her head against the ground repeatedly until blood covered the earth. Yet Grace did not scream. She merely stared at her with an unsettling calm.
"Why won't you fall?!" Hazel screamed, her features twisted by tears and blood.
Grace laughed, her voice ringing through the battlefield. "My Lord is watching over me… I will not fall before you!"
The next instant, a colossal bolt of lightning tore through the sky and struck Hazel's wing directly, filling the air with the sharp smell of burning flesh.
Hazel screamed at the top of her lungs, terror flooding her eyes. "Father… save me!"
But her father stood helpless, watching his body tremble, his eyes unfocused. He was nothing more than a frail human standing in a battlefield far beyond his station.
Grace raised her head, her eyes glowing with a strange light, and called out with renewed vitality, "Didn't I tell you? My great Lord is present everywhere… Where is your lord?"
Suddenly, another bolt of lightning struck near Isildar. His body jolted, pure astonishment spreading across his face.
"I didn't do anything! This is completely unfair!" he shouted in protest.