Chapter 321: The Venomous Serpent's Fatal Prophecy Begins!

Still, Brynessa didn't believe she would lose.

She was a High B-rank, while Selene was still only at the Early B-rank, and despite the terrifying inheritance Selene had just awakened, the difference between their cultivation realms remained real.

Brynessa therefore called upon her own Origin Skill.

'S-RANK ORIGIN SKILL.'

The declaration existed only within her thoughts, and after activating the skill, she spoke a low whisper that was so faint that only Peiro was capable of hearing it.

"Fate of the Venomous Serpent."

Yet nothing appeared to happen.

There was no visible surge of power, no dramatic transformation of the surrounding space, and no obvious supernatural phenomenon that would indicate that an S-Rank Origin Skill had just been activated.

Peiro, however, raised his eyebrow slightly.

'A magic that belongs only to demons has appeared within the Beast Race.'

'Interesting.'

He didn't say anything aloud, but the strange nature of Brynessa's power further convinced him that her existence, and perhaps even her birth itself, was not as simple as it appeared.

Meanwhile, everyone else remained confused because Brynessa had clearly activated her Origin Skill, yet nothing seemed to have changed.

Before anyone could properly react or even begin wondering what she had done, Brynessa spoke another phrase.

"S̷e̷r̷p̷e̷n̷t̷'̷s̷ ̷O̷m̷e̷n̷"

Everyone heard something, but to their ears, the words sounded like incomprehensible gibberish, as though the sounds themselves refused to conform to the language they knew.

Selene's expression, however, became serious.

She had read about something similar in her family's library before, and she remembered that certain demons were capable of using words that technically belonged to the Valtharion language, yet were still fundamentally different from ordinary speech.

Later, scholars had discovered why.

Conceptual magic could not be spoken through normal words, because every individual word and every single letter within that ancient form of language carried its own power, something ordinary Valtharion words simply could not contain.

It was similar to trying to write a name upon sand with nothing more than a stick, because although the name could be written, even the slightest movement of wind would be enough to erase it and scatter the grains until the original meaning disappeared.

To properly express conceptual magic, the user needed a higher level of language, or perhaps an entirely different form of letters and words capable of remaining intact until the concept itself had completed its function.

Selene also remembered that the books had mentioned several famous examples of conceptual magic, including curses, fate, destiny, luck, and other powers that could not be understood through ordinary magical principles.

That was exactly why her expression had become so serious.

Conceptual magic could not be judged by normal standards.

And in the very next moment, that truth became clear.

A small spectral serpent appeared behind Selene's crimson throne.

It was only about one foot in size, yet despite its tiny body, its appearance immediately created an uncomfortable sensation in the surrounding atmosphere as it hovered near the upper portion of the throne, positioned close to Selene's head.

Selene's eyes narrowed. While a bad premonition rose within her heart.

'Curse magic?'

If Brynessa could hear that thought, she would have laughed.

Selene was right.

It was curse magic.

Yet Brynessa's Origin Skill was called Fate.

The irony of that contradiction was something Brynessa herself had never managed to understand throughout her life.

Why was she called a user of fate when the actual ability produced by her Origin Skill behaved like a curse?

She had once asked Iveron about it.

'Was fate a curse?'

But Iveron had never answered her directly.

Instead, he had simply told her that fate belonged to things that had been forgotten, things that could no longer be touched.

At the time, Brynessa had misunderstood his words.

She had believed perhaps Iveron meant that fate itself had disappeared from the world and that nobody could truly wield the power of fate anymore, which would explain why the name of her Origin Skill had remained Fate while the actual ability it produced had become something closer to a curse.

Yet even now, the answer remained unknown.

And as the small spectral serpent floated silently behind Selene's throne, that contradiction once again revealed just how strange Brynessa's power truly was.

"What's this?"

The others were equally confused as they watched a small spectral serpent appear beside Selene, yet none of them could identify what they were actually looking at, because only the members of the Royal Family—and even among them, primarily those belonging to the Emperor's bloodline—had access to knowledge regarding this kind of magic.

The last Demon War had happened far too long ago, and most of the people living in the current time had never witnessed the rare conceptual-type magic that had once terrified entire generations. As time passed, much of that knowledge had been buried inside ancient records, while the true horror of such abilities had gradually faded from the world's collective memory.

But now, this was something many of them were about to remember today.

Brynessa didn't stop after creating the first curse.

Instead, she continued building her spell, quietly casting several more curses toward Selene.

"P̷r̷o̷p̷h̷e̷t̷i̷c̷ ̷B̷i̷n̷d̷"

The instant the strange words were spoken, invisible threads of curse power emerged from Brynessa's Origin and silently connected themselves to Selene's Blood Sovereign body.

No one in the arena could perceive those threads.

The only person capable of seeing them clearly was Peiro.

Selene, meanwhile, remained calmly seated upon her Crimson Throne as she tried to understand what Brynessa was doing. The information she had encountered in her family's library regarding conceptual magic had been extremely limited, and the deeper records containing more detailed information were kept inside sections that she had never been permitted to access.

Still, there were two things she distinctly remembered, and both were important.

The first was that if a curse user was killed, the curse would eventually disappear with them.

The second was far more important.

One should never act rashly after being cursed, because curses possessed activation conditions, and if the victim didn't understand what those conditions were, a reckless reaction could cause the curse to progress further or trap the victim within its effects.

Selene had already lost the first advantage.

She couldn't simply kill Brynessa before understanding what kind of curse had been placed upon her, which was precisely why she remained where she was instead of launching an immediate attack.

She needed to understand the curse, even if she could only figure out part of its effect.

After all, a curse didn't necessarily reveal or activate its full potential the instant it was cast.

Brynessa continued her preparations and cast a third curse.

"S̷e̷v̷e̷n̷f̷o̷l̷d̷ ̷O̷m̷e̷n̷"

This time, seven small purple symbols appeared around Selene's Crimson Throne, each one representing a different omen.

𖤐

𖥂

𖦹

𖧧

𖨆

𖩧

𖫔

The strange symbols hovered silently around the throne, rotating slowly around her.

Selene narrowed her eyes as she examined them, but even she had never seen those symbols before, while the spectators were equally confused because none of them could understand what the seven strange marks represented.

Brynessa, however, continued without hesitation.

She had already finished preparing everything she needed. Now it was time to use her ultimate ability.

'S-RANK ORIGIN SKILL: Fate of the Venomous Serpent.'

'ULTIMATE SKILL!'

The declaration existed within Brynessa's mind, and in front of her gigantic serpent head, a small purple magical symbol slowly began forming in the air.

It didn't simply appear. The symbol was being written.

One strange mark after another emerged as though an invisible hand were tracing each letter through space itself, and before anyone could understand what Brynessa was actually writing, another voice escaped her lips.

"F̷a̷t̷a̷l̷ ̷P̷r̷o̷p̷h̷e̷c̷y̷"