Chapter 93: [Chapter 93 ● The Thrall of the Sovereign!]
’Even though he had already deactivated the ability, the effects are still lingering. This human would probably need half an hour to an hour before returning to normal,’ Clementine mused before shaking her head.
"But we don’t have that much time."
With a simple wave of her hand, she levitated Azara into the air. Grabbing the woman by her long crimson-black hair, Clementine activated her ability: Bloodbound Thrall. One that had been built upon the foundation of her sub-ability, Absolute Thrall, which originated from her Lust Throne: Scarlet Corruption.
More accurately, the ability she had created upon that foundation was Thronebound Thrall. However, that was a considerably higher-tier and higher-ranked ability, one the current Clementine was obviously incapable of activating. As such, she had created a lesser derivative to suit her present circumstances.
What Bloodbound Thrall did was exactly what its name implied. As a corruptive ability, it corrupted Azara’s loyalty toward Clementine. It was not enslavement; rather, it rewrote memories, emotions, attachments, and loyalties through corruption itself.
With Azara’s soul already weakened and destabilized by Aezaleon, coupled with Clementine’s absolute authority over lesser bloods through Blood Harmony Absolute, the corruption was immediate. There was no resistance whatsoever.
An abyssal black energy erupted from Clementine’s palm and spread across Azara’s entire body. Within seconds, the darkness had enveloped her completely. Yet just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. The black energy dispersed entirely, revealing a perplexed Azara. At the same time, she had also been freed from her previous vegetative state.
During the process of corrupting her soul, Clementine had simultaneously stabilized and reinforced it. Making her soul became denser, her existence gaining additional weight, and the newly established connection between them subtly strengthening her foundation.
As a result, Azara emerged noticeably stronger than before.
Azara blinked, instinctively understanding that something fundamental had changed. Looking into Clementine’s interested eyes, she couldn’t help but smile wryly.
"Just who are you people to manhandle a High Monarch like me when you’re clearly much weaker than me?"
Clementine blinked. "You’re taking your current situation much better than I expected. Impressive."
"So I’ve completely become a slave now, huh?" Azara asked in a calm yet strangely fascinated tone. "I feel no loyalty toward my teacher, the academy, this city, or even my own family. Only toward you. And somehow, it all feels perfectly natural." Her expression became increasingly complicated.
"Really... just what have you done to me, Master?"
By now she was already standing and looking at Clementine with genuine curiosity. She felt no anger, no humiliation, and no resentment. Instead, all she felt was an unshakable loyalty, a boundless sense of servitude, and an almost instinctive desire to obey—perhaps even pride in becoming her servant.
Azara laughed inwardly. The laugh was hollow and filled with self-mockery, yet she couldn’t deny those emotions because they were undeniably hers.
That was what made them so terrifying.
They told her, with absolute certainty, that she was no longer the same Azara Blazeshade who had entered this room.
Afterward, the two spoke for some time, and Clementine, being the confident woman she was, proudly revealed her identity: a calamity.
However, that pride wasn’t shallow; it was built upon absolute strength. Even in her current state, Clementine was utterly confident that nobody in Varion—or even the surrounding cities—was capable of overriding her corruption. In fact, merely detecting it would already be an extraordinary achievement.
Removing it was simply impossible.
—-—-—
While walking down the street, Aphryne suddenly sensed another group of adventurers entering Nytherion’s domain.
At some point, she had already expanded the darkwind’s influence, increasing its effective radius to nearly three thousand meters.
The party she had detected was currently approaching from the south, roughly three hundred and thirty meters away. Trait II — Silence Omniscience immediately began interpreting the disturbances they created: two mages, one swordsman, one archer, one healer, one heavily armored defender, one scout, and an assassin.
Aphryne’s lips curled upward slightly. ’A standard seven-person adventurer party.’
The conclusion formed almost instantly within her mind. Since before even arriving in this city, Clementine had already explained the various combat specializations, battlefield roles, and common party structures used by the outsiders, thus, identifying them was hardly difficult.
What surprised her more was something else.
All seven were ascension rank four, yet despite their respectable material prowess, their spiritual foundations were remarkably weak, only spiritual ascension rank two. Every single one of them.
That immediately piqued Aphryne’s curiosity.
Was increasing one’s spiritual ascension rank truly that difficult? She honestly had no frame of reference. Unlike ordinary ascendants, she had not advanced through years of effort, enlightenment, hardship, or accumulation.
Her own spiritual ascension rank had risen naturally as part of her evolution, one that had occurred less than three days ago. As such, Aphryne had little understanding of what qualified as normal progression.
Still, a proud smile appeared on her face. ’With husband’s sub-ability, raising our spiritual ranks shouldn’t be difficult at all.’ The thought instantly improved her mood.
Looking toward the south, Aphryne sensed the adventurer party continuing their cautious advance, completely unaware that they had already stepped into the hunting grounds of a happy calamity. A faint excitement appeared in her crimson eyes. Since they had come all this way, it would be rude not to greet them personally.
With that thought in mind, Aphryne changed direction and leisurely began walking toward them.
A moment later, she vanished.
Voidstride Instantaneous Propagation activated, and her figure crossed the three hundred and thirty meters separating them in less than a second. There was no sonic boom, no explosive burst of speed, and no visible movement trail.
One moment she was elsewhere, and the next she stood atop a nearby rooftop overlooking the adventurer party below.
The seven outsiders continued moving cautiously through the street, weapons ready and senses stretched to their limits. It was completely pointless.
Aphryne watched them for a few moments before raising her hand. Then, with an amused smile, she formed a childish sniping gesture using her fingers and thumb.
"Shoot~"
