Before starting the chapter, please don't forget to read author's note, I need your opinion....
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While Ethan and his team went back to the capital city, Esdeath's corpse was taken to the Dwarf Kingdom. Right now, her body was laid out on a patient bed, right beside Visra, who was lying unconscious in a dire state.
Visra only had one or two days left to live, but she had finally found a donor. Of course, it was Esdeath. Visra couldn't get any other donor because there were so many people already in line for a kidney, people with much higher priority. She was far, far back in the line.
Getting a donor in such a short time was a miracle. Yet somehow, her luck had turned. No one wanted the kidney of a black-haired girl who had killed hundreds of people, even if it was offered for free. Because of this, there was no competition for Visra.
Right now, Dwarf doctors were performing the operation. They worked with steady hands, carefully taking out the kidney from Esdeath's still-warm abdomen before placing it in a special cool box to keep it safe.
Next, they began the operation on Visra. The head doctor gently removed the bandages from Visra's side and looked at the failing wound. An injection to nullify the pain had already been given.
He carefully made the incision at the perfect moment. At the same time, the other doctors used their nature affinity to heal Visra simultaneously. The healing was not too strong or too weak, just enough to stop the blood from flowing out and to keep the patient's condition stable.
This was the great advantage of having a nature affinity. In normal operations, everything has to be done with incredible speed so the patient isn't harmed by being open for too long. But people with nature affinity can heal themselves and others slowly. This means that for a short time, a patient's life is not in danger when their organs are taken out. So, even if it's a heart transplant, there's no great hurry as long as the procedures are done perfectly, giving the operation a very high success rate.
It took some time, but they carefully and successfully transplanted the kidney. They didn't even stitch the wound closed. Instead, they simply used their nature affinity to seal the skin, leaving only a faint scar behind. It was not high-level light magic, after all, where no scars are left at all.
Normally, anyone who has a kidney transplant would have to be very careful for the next few weeks. But with this kind of healing, Visra could even be walking in a few hours and running again in a few days.
She was finally saved.
----
From the start to the finish of the operation, Tenha was waiting outside the operating room. After the doctors came out and told her it was a success, she thanked them with tears of gratitude in her eyes and finally went to have dinner, a feeling of deep satisfaction settling in her heart.
By the time she was finished with dinner, it was already past midnight. Although she wanted to go back home and sleep, she felt she had already done what she could for the last wish of her senior, Krona. But then she thought she should at least meet Visra one last time, to see the person her senior's sacrifice had saved.
She walked back to the hospital and quietly opened the door to Visra's room. But when she stepped inside, she found Visra was not in bed. She was standing by the window, looking up at the brilliant stars and the full moon hanging in the dark night sky.
"Ohh, you're awake already!" Tenha said, her voice soft with surprise and relief.
Visra turned around, a gentle smile on her face. "So you were the one who saved me?"
Tenha shook her head slowly. "No, it was my senior, Krona. She was also the person who led the team to save you and the other specimens!" She didn't mention Esdeath's kidney at all. Instead, she made Krona the savior, wanting Visra's gratitude to go to her fallen friend.
Visra's eyes lit up with hope and admiration. She stepped closer and took both of Tenha's palms in her own. "Really? Where is she? I would like to show my gratitude to her!"
Tenha's expression froze in an awkward way. For a few long seconds, she didn't say anything, the weight of the news heavy on her tongue. Then, she let her head hang low and said in a quiet, pained voice.
"She's dead," she said slowly, each word feeling like a blow.
"Ah—" Visra's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know what to say anymore.
She placed a hand over her heart and squeezed it gently. "Although she saved me, I never met her. I never even saw her face. I know I can't feel the same pain as you are feeling right now," she said softly to Tenha, her voice full of empathy.
Tears began to flow down her own cheeks as she continued, "But I'll make sure to live my life to the fullest, so her sacrifice won't go to waste!"
---
Meanwhile, at the same time in Celsius, it was past midnight. Although Emma had argued with Ethan to rest more, he didn't listen and went to the royal palace.
He had no idea that the trial had actually been postponed to the next morning. He just wanted to know what was going on with the trial and what the final judgment would be.
After he arrived, he met with Cassandra, Violet, and Sylvania and finally learned about the situation.
"Nothing will happen with the delay, right?" Ethan asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
Cassandra shook her head lightly. "No, the outcome will be the same, whether it's today or tomorrow," she said with complete confidence.
"See? You should have at least rested until morning. You're only being hard on yourselves!" Emma said with a pout on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," Ethan admitted, realizing his mistake.
"Now we have to go all the way back there!" Emma sighed with frustration.
"Don't worry, you can rest in the guest rooms of the royal palace," Cassandra said, bringing a wave of relief to everyone. "Come with me," she said casually.
As they walked out, Cassandra's steps suddenly halted. Ethan showed a shocked expression as he saw the person standing in front of them, too.
In front of them, Brenna was standing with a firm expression. Behind her were Kailith and Alice. Kailith was holding Alice by her waist as if she were a heavy bag, while Alice struggled, trying to escape for some reason but unable to break free.
Actually, when Maruti got arrested, Brenna wasn't there. But when she came to deliver dinner to Maruti, she saw a crowd of people murmuring and whispering to each other. After asking around, she found out from the locals that Maruti had been arrested for being involved with Esdeath and Ethan, Her own son was one of the people who had arrested Maruti.
She immediately panicked. As she was thinking about what to do, she saw Kailith and Alice coming towards her for further inspection. They wanted to know more about this situation, although Brenna also had no idea what was truly going on.
So the three of them had departed for the royal capital right away and finally arrived here, past midnight.
Kailith was restraining Alice so she wouldn't cause any trouble out of anger. Although Kailith herself was feeling very angry, at least she could hold it back.
Ethan immediately came forward with a worried and puzzled expression. "Mother? What are you doing all the way here?" He reached out to place a comforting hand on Brenna's shoulder, but she immediately brushed it off and stepped back.
"First, tell me why you were there when Maruti was arrested? Why is she even arrested? This is some kind of misunderstanding, right?" Brenna asked, her voice a mix of frustration and anger.
"You should have defended her instead! She is a good person and our neighbour!" she added.
"No, there's no misunderstanding. She is an evil person. She misled others, proclaiming herself a prophet," Ethan replied in a low, comforting voice.
"Yes, Auntie, he's right. She is an evil person who plays with people's beliefs!" Violet said. She had known Brenna for years, and she knew Brenna was a kind, good woman who often only saw the good in others.
But then, a sudden realization hit Ethan, and he asked, "Don't tell me... you believed her words too?" He thought that Brenna was actually one of Maruti's believers and worshippers.
He immediately went ahead and hugged her. "Don't worry, Mom. She'll be exposed tomorrow and be punished for playing with your beliefs!"
But instead of hugging him back, Brenna cried and started slamming her hands on Ethan's chest, like a helpless girl trying to defend herself.
"Tch, you aren't understanding! I'm saying she is not a bad person!" Tears flowed down her face as she spoke, and even the bracelet she was wearing snapped from the force of her emotions.
Of course, Ethan wasn't hurt by her punches at all, but he was definitely heartbroken to see his mother cry. What he didn't understand was why his mother was overreacting so much.
"Why are you defending her so much? She didn't deserve your trust at all! You shouldn't be this kind to just anyone!" Ethan said, a slight anger in his voice. Seeing his own mother defending his enemy definitely made him a little angry.
"I'm NOT being kind to just ANYONE! It's because I LOVE HER!" Brenna shouted loudly, admitting that she loves Maruti.
Violet, Sylvania, and Emma's eyes widened in shock.
Even Cassandra was kind of shocked. She had suspected a relationship between Kailith and Maruti, but Brenna's relationship was completely out of the box.
But the most shocked of all was Ethan. Suddenly, everything started to make sense. He realized why his mother had been showing so many small changes lately, like praising herself, saying she was still young, and suddenly taking an interest in jewelry, clothes, and makeup.
"Why didn't I realize it?" he thought to himself, a wave of self-blame washing over him.
Brenna stepped back, her head low and filled with guilt. "I was trying to tell you for a long time, but you get irritated every time I bring up her name. She is not what you think she is!"
"I know it's wrong, but I can't help it. She even warned me, but I was the one who made the decision. That's why I know," Brenna added. She felt guilty at herself and angry at the current situation. This was the worst possible time to tell Ethan about it, but she couldn't hold it in anymore.
Ethan ignored whatever his mother said. He gritted his teeth, his face twisting in pure rage. Right now, there was only one word echoing in his mind.
"MARUTI!" he roared, turning and running towards the exit of the royal palace, heading for the house where Maruti was being held.
"Ethan, stop! You need rest!" Violet shouted, but Ethan didn't even slow down.
Brenna also ran behind him, but her speed was no match for Ethan's at all. Seeing this, Violet quickly used her gravity magic to make Brenna float, pulling her along as she followed Ethan.
"Let me go! Let me go! I'll kill everyone! I'm the only one who's allowed to punish her!" Alice shouted as she struggled violently in Kailith's grip.
"Arlecchino, stop! Just switch back to Alice already!" Kailith struggled, her muscles straining to hold her in place.
"Tch. Go after Ethan or restrict this idiot? What should I choose?" Kailith muttered, already in a dire situation.
---
At the same time, unknown to anyone, in the apartment that Lortell, Esdeath, and Selene called home, Selene was quietly standing by the window. Her eyes were locked on the night sky.
She stared blankly with her sparkling silver eyes and then saw something coming towards her with incredible speed.
In just a few seconds, it got extremely close, but Selene casually reached out and caught it without any effort at all.
It was none other than Esdeath's ZK-20. The moment it landed in Selene's small palm, it shifted and changed, shrinking into the shape of a simple rubber ball.
Selene let out a soft breath of relief after seeing it. She turned back to look at her personal room.
In front of her, many weird and scary materials were stored. The ground was covered in intricate magic patterns drawn with the dust of dragon bones. Many red-glowing candles flickered in different corners of the room, and some strange resources were even floating in the air.
The room's atmosphere was very gloomy, like a powerful dark magic ritual was about to take place.
In the very center of the room, a female dead body was lying down, completely naked.
Selene smiled with childlike innocence as she clapped lightly.
"Time for resurrection!"