The vitality drain returned three days later.
It started with the children. They woke crying, their small bodies trembling with a weakness no healer could explain. Then the elders. Then the warriors.
By the end of the week, half the family could barely stand.
Ethan felt it too—a deep, bone-weary exhaustion that no amount of sleep could cure. His limbs were heavy. His thoughts came slower. Even breathing felt like a chore.
『 Warning: Vitality Drain has returned 』
『 The family’s life force is being siphoned 』
『 Source: Morgause 』
『 Current Vitality: 55% of normal 』
He found Eleanor in her chamber.
She was sitting by the window, her face pale, her hands trembling. She had not been the same since the ritual—the ritual that had never happened.
Ethan frowned.
The ritual.
He remembered it. The sword. The light. The pain. But when he asked the healers about it, they looked at him strangely.
"What ritual?" they asked.
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
He approached Eleanor.
"Aunt. I need to ask you something."
She looked up.
"What is it?"
"The ritual. The Ancestral Awakening. The one where I gave my life force to save you."
Eleanor stared at him.
"Ethan... that never happened."
Ethan froze.
"What do you mean, it never happened?"
"You fell ill three days ago. You’ve been unconscious since. The healers said it was exhaustion."
She paused.
"You’ve been murmuring in your sleep. About rituals. About Morgause. About saving me."
Ethan’s mind raced.
"No. I remember it. The sword. The light. The pain."
He looked at her.
"I saved you."
Eleanor’s expression softened.
"You saved me a long time ago, Ethan. When you came back to this family. When you gave us hope."
She took his hand.
"But the ritual... it was a dream. A vision. Nothing more."
『 Warning: Memory inconsistency detected 』
『 The ritual may have been a vision 』
『 Or it may have been erased 』
『 Source: Unknown 』
Ethan sat in silence.
He did not know what was real anymore.
Had he saved Eleanor? Or had he dreamed it?
And if he had dreamed it, what did that mean?
That night, he called a family meeting.
He told them about the vitality drain. About his memories. About the ritual that may or may not have happened.
The family reacted with confusion, fear, and suspicion.
"He’s losing his mind."
"The drain is affecting him."
"We need to find a solution."
Ethan raised his hand.
"Whatever is happening, we need to stop it. The vitality drain is killing us. Morgause is feeding on our belief."
He looked at Vivienne.
"You know something. Tell us."
Vivienne stepped forward.
"Her name is Morgause. She was the first Blackwood. The one who made the deal with the Devourer."
The elders murmured.
"She was supposed to be erased from history. Her own children—our ancestors—destroyed every record of her existence. They sealed her away in the spaces between worlds."
"But she’s not gone," Ethan said.
"No. She survived. And now she is feeding on the family’s belief to strengthen herself."
"How do we stop her?"
Vivienne’s expression was grim.
"We must sever her connection to the family. But to do that, we need to understand how she was sealed in the first place."
That night, Ethan sat beside Eleanor’s bed.
She was weak—weaker than she had been in days. The vitality drain was affecting her more than anyone.
"You should rest," she whispered.
"So should you."
She smiled faintly.
"I’ve rested enough for a lifetime."
Ethan took her hand.
"The ritual... it felt real. I remember it. I remember saving you."
Eleanor looked at him.
"Maybe you did. Maybe you saved me in a dream. In a vision."
She paused.
"But the truth is... I am dying, Ethan. I have been dying for years."
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
"What do you mean?"
"I am not just the matriarch of this family. I am not just your aunt."
She paused.
"I am the Weeping Healer."
Silence.
"The original one. From three hundred years ago."
She told him.
Her name was Eleanor Blackwood. She was born three hundred years ago, the youngest daughter of the first Blackwood. She had watched her mother, Morgause, make the deal with the Devourer. She had watched her brothers, Arthur and Silas, fight and die.
And she had watched herself die.
"When Morgause was sealed away, I was the one who performed the ritual. I gave my life force to create the seal. I thought I would die."
She paused.
"But I didn’t. My soul lingered in the family bloodline, waiting to be reborn."
Ethan stared at her.
"You’re the original Weeping Healer."
"I am."
"You’ve been healing this family for decades. Without knowing who you really were."
"I knew. Some part of me always knew. But I couldn’t remember. Not until the Blood Sacrifice."
She took his hand.
"Every wound I healed cost me a year of my life. Every life I saved shortened my own. I have been dying for years, Ethan. I just didn’t know it."
Ethan sat in silence.
Then he asked, "How do I save you?"
Eleanor’s eyes met his.
"The Ancestral Awakening. It can stabilize the ancestors and restore my lifespan."
"How?"
"By uniting the belief of the entire Eastern Wilds. If every person in the region believes in the Blackwood Family—truly believes—the World Rebuttal will be stopped. And my sacrifice will be reversed."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Then we need to spread the legend. Faster than we planned."
That night, Ethan called a family meeting.
He told them about Eleanor’s true nature. About the Ancestral Awakening. About the need to unite the Eastern Wilds.
The family reacted with shock, disbelief, and hope.
"She’s the Weeping Healer?"
"The original one?"
"Then she can be saved?"
Ethan raised his hand.
"We need to spread our story. Not just to the family. Not just to the villages. To the entire Eastern Wilds. Every village, every city, every clan."
Thomas stepped forward.
"The messengers have already departed. They will reach every corner of the region within days."
"Good. But we need more than messengers. We need proof. We need something that cannot be denied."
He looked at Arthur and Silas.
"We need the Iron Ghosts to walk among the people. To show them that the legends are real."
Arthur nodded.
"Then we will go. Silas and I. We will visit every village, every city. We will show them the truth."
The next morning, Arthur and Silas departed.
Ethan stood at the gates, watching them go. Vivienne appeared beside him.
"You’re worried."
"I’m always worried."
"You shouldn’t be. The legend is spreading. The people are beginning to believe."
"It’s not enough."
Vivienne studied him.
"What do you mean?"
Ethan looked at her.
"The World Rebuttal is still growing. We’re running out of time."
He paused.
"And I still don’t know who that woman was. The one who saved me in the valley."
Vivienne’s expression flickered.
"What woman?"
"Silver hair. Cold eyes. She said she had been watching the family for a long time."
Vivienne was silent for a long moment.
"Did she give you a name?"
"No."
Vivienne’s face paled.
"There is another original ancestor. One who was erased from history. One who was never meant to return."
"Who?"
"Her name is Morgause. She was the first Blackwood. The one who made the deal with the Devourer."
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
"She’s alive?"
"She is not alive. She is not dead. She exists in the spaces between."
Vivienne paused.
"And if she has returned... we are all in danger."
『 New Threat Identified: Morgause 』
『 The First Blackwood 』
『 Her intentions are unknown 』
『 But she is watching 』
『 Next Milestone: Unite the Eastern Wilds 』