Chapter 282 - 282: 282 THE CONVENT OF BJORK GITA

282 THE CONVENT OF BJORK GITA

Damen learned from experience and the experiments he did with the other victims. He could estimate the effects of Devour's backlash on him.

"I think I can take this dead creep right here", he murmured.

This body was freshly dead…. Even though from an S-Rank, the backlash should be bearable.

He knelt beside Acyros and placed a hand over the corpse.

"Devour."

Dark energy rippled outward from his palm, seeping into the dead flesh like black veins spreading through marble. The remaining fragments of Acyros' power — the echo of his darkness, trembled, and resisted weakly…

… Then they surrendered.

The remnant power surged into Damen.

His spine arched.

For a split second, he tasted shadow — cold, predatory, and vast power that once belonged to Acyros…. Then it dissolved into him.

"Great," he muttered as the surge settled. "First time I've tasted the power of an S-Rank."

Energy stabilized through his limbs. His muscles tightened.

His stats flickered to life.

Name: Damen Dark

Strength Rank:4A Meta Rank:3A Blood Rank:AA Psychic Rank:3A Armor Rank: 4A

Strength:94847 | Charm:31580 | Meta:64587 | Command:64588 | Blood:23560 | Armor:119085

A slow grin touched his lips.

Then he turned back toward Eryn.

His grin faded. "Eryn…", he cried.

Her eyes were open.Wide …. but empty.

The thousands of metal strands covering her body remained extended, gently vibrating as if tuned to a distant frequency. Yet she didn't blink or move.

He stepped closer.

"Eryn?"

There was no response from her.

He extended his senses to the surrounding.

There was no psychic signature attacking her or foreign presence invading her mind.

Her body was here… but her consciousness wasn't.

"What is happening to you, Eryn?" he asked quietly.

The metal strands twitched.

And somewhere deep within her unmoving gaze—

Something struggled.

------

[Two months ago]

Eryn walked through the gates of Silver City University of Meta Science, her hands tucked casually into her pockets.

Except she wasn't Eryn.

She wore Damen's face.

The disguise was flawless — Damen's bone structure, gait, breathing rhythm were perfectly imitated by her.

Eryn came to the university disguised as Damen, not because Damen needed attendance taken for him…. the reason was simply because she was bored.

She couldn't walk around as herself — not with what she had become.

Her friends were busy saving the city, fighting wars, surviving crises.She needed something normal to do… to kill time.

As "Damen," students gave her a wide berth. Conversations died when she passed. Whispers followed in her steps.

Damen was notorious here, feared and respected.

That suited her fine.She had no interest in making friends.She just wanted time to pass.

Then—

A woman stepped into her path.

Eryn instinctively slowed.

The woman looked to be in her early forties, poised, composed, dressed modestly yet with quiet authority. Her gaze locked directly onto Eryn — not at the disguise, but through it.

Eryn prepared to sidestep.

Then the woman spoke.

"Eryn… I found you at last."

The world seemed to tilt.Inside, her pulse spiked.

"How can anyone recognize me in this form?"

Outwardly, she kept her expression cool.

"I don't know who you're calling," she replied flatly, already turning away.

"Eryn," the woman continued gently, "I am your mother Zalira's sister. Zora."

Eryn nearly stumbled.Her breath caught.

Zalira.

She hadn't heard her mother's name spoken so directly in months.

"I think you're mistaken," she said quickly, but the certainty in her voice was gone.

Zora stepped closer, lowering her tone.

"It isn't convenient to talk here. Not… like this. Come with me."

Eryn hesitated but curiosity warred with caution.Against her better judgment, she followed.

They arrived at a quiet café near campus.

Morning light filtered through tall windows. Only a few patrons lingered over at this hour. They chose a corner table that protected their privacy and secrets from leaking out.

Eryn, still wearing Damen's face, studied the woman across from her with guarded intensity.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

Zora's eyes softened.

"I am your aunt, Zora. Have you truly forgotten me?"

Eryn searched her memory. The cheekbones and the arch of the brows. There was a resemblance to her mother lingering there.

"I don't remember you," she admitted.

"That isn't surprising," Zora replied calmly. "We were not allowed to visit often. The Veyrans do not welcome us."

Fragments of memory surfaced in Eryn about… her mother's family.

They were from a secretive religious convent in a distant city. They rarely visited or contacted each other. The people in the Veyran household seldom mentioned her mother's side.

"Why are you here?" Eryn asked.

Zora drew in a steady breath.

"I came to heal you. After we learned what happened to you… Mother sent me to Silver City. She wants you to return with me. To the Convent of Bjork Gita in Axiom City."

Eryn's eyes narrowed.

"Mother… you mean Grandmother?"

"Yes. Sharomis misses you dearly."

The name struck something deep in her chest.

But suspicion rose quickly.

"How did you find me?" Eryn asked. "And how can you see through this disguise?"

Zora smiled faintly.

"We do not recognize our own by sight alone. We recognize them by resonance. You carry Bjork Gita blood. It sings the same note as mine. No mask can silence that."

Eryn leaned back slightly.

"Bjork Gita… who exactly are you people?"

"Your mother, your grandmother, and I — we are from the Convent of Bjork Gita. It is not merely a religious order. It is a lineage."

Eryn hesitated before asking the question that had haunted her for months.

"You said… you can heal me from my cursed mutation?"

Zora's expression shifted — it was not pity, but something closer to pride.

"My dear niece," she said softly, "what you call a curse is not a bad thing at all. It is our heritage. The mark of Bjork Gita."

Eryn's fingers tightened under the table.

"My mother had this. I thought she was infected?"

"Yes. Zalira carried it in her blood and now you do too. She wouldn't admit it even to your father… blaming the mutation on an infection is an easy cover."

"So, what happened to me… the mutation… it wasn't because of the Nuralith experiments?" Eryn pressed.

"What the Nuralith did awakened what was already sleeping in your blood," Zora explained. "They triggered it. They did not create it."

The words felt like the ground giving way.

"So, I was born like this?" Eryn whispered. "Born a freak?"

Zora's voice sharpened.

"No. You were born extraordinary."

Silence hung between them.

"You carry Annunakin blood," Zora continued. "And your potential surpasses both your mother and me."

Eryn shook her head slightly.

"But it transforms me. It overwhelms me. I lose control. It turns me into something monstrous and hideous."

"That is not monstrosity," Zora said calmly. "What you have now is only power without guidance."

She leaned forward.

"Come back with us. To Axiom City. To the Convent. We can teach you to master it. To awaken your greatest potential — without losing yourself."

Eryn's eyes flickered.

For the first time in a long while, the word home did not feel entirely foreign.

"Alright," Eryn said finally before adding, "I'll go with you, after I inform my friends, I'm leaving."

------

[Back in the Crater of the Well- present]

Damen stepped closer, his boots crunching against fractured stone.

Eryn stood motionless at the center of the crater, thousands of crimson metal strands fanned out behind her like a torn celestial sail. They shimmered faintly, twitching in restless pulses.

"Wake up, Eryn," he said, his voice firm but controlled.

There was no reaction.

Her eyes remained wide. Open but empty.

He closed the distance and reached for her shoulder.

The moment his fingers brushed the fabric—

The Crimson Sail reacted.

Hundreds of razor-tipped strands snapped toward him in a blur, stopping just inches from his throat, his chest, and his eyes.