The suffocating quiet in the grand hall had reached a fever pitch.
In the wake of the world-altering news that had already sent shockwaves tearing through the capital, every eyes was locked onto the center of the room.
The absolute silence felt heavy enough to crush a lesser man, yet Barn stood unbothered at its core.
”Oh, so you said my daughter is special.
I want to know how,” Duke Nightbane spoke, his voice carrying the chilling resonance of an absolute monarch.
He stood alone in the center of the floor; even his shadow-retinue had slipped away into the far corners of the hall, putting as much distance between themselves and the impending collision of powers as physically possible.
Every soul present—including Prince Wilhem, his face twisted in a mixture of disbelief and growing rage, and the Saintess Sylphia—held their breath, their gaze pinned entirely on Barn.
Barn did not flinch.
Placing a calm, measured hand over his chest, he offered no bow, no lowering of his head.
His posture remained towering and absolute.
”I am Barn—a Master,” he declared smoothly, his deep voice carrying into every silent corner of the grand room.
“Someone who guides and makes others grow.
Someone who awakens another’s hidden potential.”
Duke Nightbane’s sharp eyes narrowed slightly before he offered a single, slow nod.
“Yes.
I knew as much, given how you awakened the potential of my wife’s niece and made her stronger.
I know everything that transpires, and I intended to have you evaluate my daughter…
though it seems you have already taken the liberty.”
”Yes,” Barn replied, his dark eyes shifting briefly toward Lady Nyxara.
“I have felt her power.
Her strength is immense, but it is far from normal.
The mana produced by her body appears as standard Dark Mana on the surface, but it is constantly transforming into True Dark Mana—a rare strain of energy that possesses innate resistance against Light and Divine elements.
It makes her magic far more lethal, but equally volatile.”
”So what is the problem?” Nyxara asked, her voice tight, unable to grasp the underlying danger.
”To harbor such an element without dying, one must either fully comprehend the underlying nature of Darkness, or be born with a true divine darkness vessel,” Barn explained, pausing deliberately to let the weight of his words sink in.
“You possess neither.”
The crowd stirred, the tension rising sharply.
”In short,” Barn continued, “what you are experiencing is an Affinity Transformation.”
”Affinity Transformation?” Nyxara repeated, a flicker of genuine shock crossing her features.
Duke Nightbane tilted his head, his interest completely piqued, while the surrounding nobles leaned in, trying to piece together the arcane theory.
”It is a rare phenomenon,” Barn expounded calmly.
“Occasionally, individuals are born with dual affinities that are polar opposites in nature.
Under normal circumstances, such a combination is nearly impossible to master; if someone is born with Fire and Water, the opposing forces clash internally, rendering the caster completely unable to wield either safely.
However, if one affinity is inherently stronger than the other, the dominant element smothers the weaker one.
Over time, as the weaker mana is forcibly compressed and consumed by the dominant element, it mutates.
It gives birth to a True Element or a Greater Element—like a flame that resists intense cold and cannot be extinguished by normal water.”
Light glinted in Nyxara’s eyes as the pieces began to fall into place.
”Yes,” Barn stated plainly.
“Lady Nyxara was born with both Dark Energy and Divine Moon Light.
But because her darkness was dominant, the transformation is nearly at its absolute end.
In a matter of days, it would have permanently consumed her lighter affinity, turning her fully into a True Dark Mage—and erasing her true nature.”
”Can it be reversed?
Can her original affinity be reawakened?” Duke Nightbane demanded, stepping forward, the legendary authority in his voice wavering with rare paternal concern.
”It can,” Barn replied smoothly.
“However, during the process, her Dark Mana will revert to standard mana for several days.
She will be forced to learn total control over her Divine Moon Light immediately, or the raw output could injure her internal circuits.”
Both Nyxara and the Duke offered stern, silent nods of understanding.
Off to the side, Rosalina stood frozen.
Her jaw was clenched so tightly her teeth ground together, her fingernails digging deep into the fabric of her forest-green dress.
She was trapped in a political dead zone—powerless to intervene, unable to claim credit, and forced to watch the entire power dynamic of the kingdom re-align around Barn in real time.
Bitter frustration burned in her chest, but she knew that a single misstep right now in front of Duke Nightbane would mean absolute ruin.
”What kind of utter nonsense is this?!” Prince Wilhem suddenly barked, his composure snapping as he took a furious step forward.
“Her?
Wielding Divine Moon Energy?
It’s impossible!”
Ignoring the Prince entirely, Duke Nightbane fixed his gaze on Barn.
“Can you perform this reawakening?”
”I can,” Barn said simply.
Without waiting for permission, he stepped forward and took Lady Nyxara’s hand.
The moment their skin met, Barn channeled his energy, pushing a thread of exceptionally pure, dense mana straight into her arms and surging toward her internal core.
He took absolute control, guiding her wild, turbulent mana paths with surgical precision.
Nyxara gasped as the wave of foreign, pure energy flooded every corner of her body—reaching channels and deep mana veins she didn’t even know existed.
A sharp, stifled groan escaped her lips; her teeth gritted hard as the sensation oscillated violently between intense, overwhelming pain and deep, intoxicating relief.
”Aah…”
Barn paid her physical reaction no mind as his consciousness dived straight into her core.
Within that inner sanctum, he found a storm of dense, crushing darkness.
But buried beneath those suffocating layers, tiny, scattered particles of brilliant light were struggling to survive, desperately trying to devour the surrounding shadows—only to be crushed and forced into mutating the darkness instead.
Spell Weaver.
Mana Thread.
Telekinesis.
Barn activated his specialized class features in tandem.
Utilizing his refined willpower, he wove microscopic threads of pure mana, catching every single scattered particle of Divine Moon Light.
With immense precision, he dragged them together, compressing them into a concentrated sphere at the center of her core.
He then poured his own immaculate, unrefined mana directly into the newly formed sphere.
Because his mana was fundamentally absolute, it acted as the ultimate catalyst, allowing the suppressed Divine Light to devour it, multiply, and stabilize. Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
As the light expanded to cover the majority of her core, a staggering wave of internal pressure washed over Barn’s mind.
Yet he did not falter.
Using his Spell Weaver capabilities, he constructed an intricate, semi-permanent matrix of Mana Threads—acting as a secondary nervous system that artificially separated her Dark and Light affinities until her own mind was strong enough to keep them balanced.
To Barn, the intricate process felt as though hours were passing in meticulous assembly.
In the real world, merely a few minutes had elapsed.
To the onlookers in the grand hall, Barn and Nyxara simply stood motionless, hand in hand.
Suddenly, a violent burst of pitch-black aura erupted from Nyxara’s body.
The surrounding nobles recoiled in sheer terror, sensing lethal danger—yet no one dared draw a weapon while Duke Nightbane stood watching with unblinking eyes.
The dark energy condensed, enveloping Lady Nyxara entirely until she appeared as a sleek, pitch-black statue.
But rather than destroying her, the shadow mana began restructuring her physical vessel—tempering her skin, reinforcing her muscle fibers, and instilling a radiant, unnatural sheen across her form that dramatically heightened her resistance to all external physical and magical attacks.
Then, the darkness shattered.
A blinding, ethereal light burst from her form—a brilliant radiance that carried the paradoxical sensation of freezing cold and gentle warmth simultaneously.
The pure, unadulterated Divine Moon Light illuminated the entire hall, casting long, sharp shadows across the shocked faces of the elite.
With a final, soft pulse, the divine light retreated back inside her body, settling cleanly into her core.
Barn released her hand and stepped back.
Silence fell over the room once more.
Nyxara stood entirely still.
Tears began to well in her eyes, spilling over her flushed cheeks—not from pain, but from the sudden, overwhelming harmony restored to her soul.
A few feet away, Duke Nightbane stared at his daughter, his own hardened composure cracking as tears filled his eyes.
With a simple flick of her wrist, Nyxara raised her palm.
A hovering orb of pristine, shimmering Divine Moon Light materialized instantly above her fingers, glowing with absolute purity.
”Thank you, Lord Barn,” Duke Nightbane said, his voice dropping into a register of profound, dangerous gratitude.
“House Nightbane will forever remain in your debt.
We must take our leave to stabilize her condition…
however, we shall attend House Artecus’s gathering tomorrow evening without fail.”
Without another word, the Duke turned, guiding his daughter out of the hall.
The surrounding high nobles, sensing that the main event of the afternoon was over, began to disperse in a flurry of hushed, panicked murmurs, eager to send emergency missives to their respective faction leaders.
Soon, the grand hall was nearly empty, leaving behind only a handful of royal loyalists, trembling Church members, and the high-ranking royals.
Prince Wilhem stood frozen, his face pale and contorted with humiliation and rage.
Realizing his political authority had just been thoroughly shattered in front of the entire court, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the hall, his entourage scrambling frantically behind him.
The Saintess stood frozen near the dais, staring at the spot where Nyxara had manifested divine power, paralyzed by sheer shock.
Beside them, Sylphia’s hands shook beneath her silk sleeves, her mind racing in absolute terror.
That was pure Moon Light…
she thought, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
If a High Noble House possesses a true Divine Moon wielder…
my position, the Church’s authority…
everything is in mortal danger.