I regressed and became the Sword Ice King - Chapter 486

Chapter 486: Chapter 486- Mother’s Eye

The door shut with a metal click, leaving the Office room empty and quiet, with a heaviness that hung over Tacha’s head.

The Maid stood idly by for seconds, reliving the choice of her actions.

Sophia’s face replayed in her head.

Her words… her eyes… the longing… the begging.

The subtle emotions lay waste before her, unbeknownst to the Daughter of the Arcanus Household.

Tacha had shut it closed.

She had fought the urge to abandon herself in the tide of sorrow that had washed over every bone in her flesh.

The plan had to be upheld.

It wasn’t the decision of anyone… but the Matriarch of the Household.

‘I apologise, Lady Sophia.’ She thought to herself as she walked towards the desk of the Matriarch, trailing her fingers on its surface and taking a seat on the chair.

Her arms placed softly on the table, and her fingers intertwined with one another as her gaze, sharp and unnerving stuck to the door.

‘I will wait… as you have said.’

She recalled the words– her words.

Cressida’s instructions before her departure.

“With my current strength, I may be unable to kill all the Heads of the Household.”

Tacha eased the tension in her bones.

The coiling grip of a starved warrior seeking battle… and the tenderness of a Maid who had watched a young girl grow.

Everything relaxed– relapsed into folded cushions of years of self-resistance.

And the woman’s voice rang once again.

“What I have seen is different from what I had expected… but nothing matters with what lies in the future.

Be it now… or later, the Family Heads will die and the Twelve Great Families will fall.”

Then the flashes of crimson sparked in her onyx eyes.

The wailing… the cries… the guttural screeches… the Oracle.

FLASHBACK.

“Madam, this is wrong.”

Tacha’s voice bounced against the tightly sealed walls of Cressida’s office.

A high-pitched, concerned tone of a woman who had worked under the 12th Household, the Arcanus.

At this moment, the Office was as still as it was.

Lined by tall shelves containing books of old and new.

Arranged orderly against each corner of the room.

Seated in the middle was her Desk and Chair, though, where a disorganised array of books should have been found, a short, orderly stack of it was made.

Each corner of the table, and in the middle… a crimson orb that exuded a malevolent hue.

The orb sat on a cushion of its own. Black in colour, with laces of gold and silver.

And seated on the chair behind the desk was the woman of the hour, Cressida Arcanus.

Her lilac gaze was hinting at something ominous as it stared intently at the orb in front of her.

Her hands were gently placed on the desk.

Tapping idly while her thoughts spun in her head.

And in front of her, was Tacha, whose gaze revealed more than words ever could.

“You had sworn not to use the oracle. It is too dangerous a power, even for you.”

Cressida hummed playfully as she stared at the mysterious orbs.

Her lips curled into a tight smile.

“I know of my own power, Tacha.”

Tacha bit down on her lips.

“Then wh–

“Our little devil has experienced something none of us could ever dream of having in our lifetime… and it had occurred in the Academy.”

“Yes, I agree with you My Lady, but this… this doesn’t call for it.

A steep price is always paid, and what it took from you the last time was a life.”

Cressida shut Tacha a gaze, and the Maid just as quickly, looked away.

A silence descended between them as fresh cuts began to reopen.

“What did we agree on, Tacha?”

Tacha’s teeth bit so hard that blood trickled down her lips.

Her pupils danced a sad dance as they moved from side to side, erratically.

There was no way to escape a reply.

” … to never speak of it… ever again.”

She replied, her tone low and mild.

“Good,” Cressida muttered with satisfaction as her smile resumed and her attention shifted back to the orb.

“I had always wanted my daughter to follow in my footsteps… to walk the path of revenge and hatred that has bested our family for many generations.”

A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

“And here I am… finding myself rethinking after seeing for my own eyes the growth of that girl.”

A chuckle of amusement left her tongue.

“I want to know… I want to see… What kind of life awaits my daughter?”

She placed her hands on the orbs and, carefully, began to rub their surface with her palm.

Tacha immediately turned her head to the sight, and her body clenched as she resisted every cell that insisted she stop the Matriarch.

“My Lady, you won’t be able to defeat them this way… much of your energy will be taken.”

“Maybe… but everything I do… and everything I plan to do is to secure our name for my daughter.

If… there is a change in that, then I must know what caused it.”

Without awaiting a reply, she began to focus deeply on the orb.

Pulling energy within her into the palm of her hand as the manifestation of dark mana.

It danced across her palms and onto the surface of the orbs.

The dark mana hummed violently as it came in contact with the orb and the innards of the object began to swirl tenaciously with the flow of mana.

Tacha watched in horror as Cressida’s eyes slowly began to close.

At that second, they locked gazes.

“Follow the rules… Tacha, do not anger her.”

And within the flash of a second, the Matriarch’s body shut off and her eyes closed.

A soft gasp escaped her lips just before the room was lit up in a rageful glow of crimson Dark Mana and electric currents.

The orb began to rotate within the cushion, floating into the air with purpose as an ear-scratching screech tore through the surface of reality.

Tacha fell to her knees with both arms blocking her ears, and her tearful eyes shut as the screech grew louder.

Twisting into the cries of mournful mothers, and the hollow wails of the deep ocean beasts.

From that sound was the birth of an abomination. A hollow projection of a wraith basked in pieces of crimson clothing and an Oni mask with a single, glowing eye.

The ghost creature appeared from the surface of the orb, rapidly growing in magnitude with its silhouette dancing against the walls.

The tearful screams and mourns died down, and a silence that killed took its place as the figure anchored itself to the Mortal Realm.

Its arms, long, slender and bony, with ancient phalanges that held onto a bloodied, beaded rosary wrapped around the sleeping body of Cressida Arcanus.

Its eyes of iridescent colours sparkled with a dark hue as it watched over the woman’s features.

The silence stretched, then a guttural hum broke it from the depths of the monster.

Tacha shivered under the sound.

Sweat dripped down her chin as her head was pressed to the ground.

The young Maid had not dared to look up.

No, she wouldn’t dare to… not when that ‘thing’ was there.

The embodiment of the Arcanus Household… the goddess who watches over them…

‘Mother Eye.’

She gulped the bile that hung with a bitter taste at the back of her throat.

‘Why would the Lady go as far as to seek answers from this abomination just because her daughter is going through puberty?’

That was what Tacha had assumed it was.

The typical romance play within a young girl thrown into the world for the first time.

She had told Cressida what she had thought, but the Matriarch had waved it off as prosperous.

Apparently, Romance was a comedic thought for the Arcanus Household.

‘So… what would this Witch say now…’

And as if responding to her question, the wraith spoke. Its voice is hard as metal, deep as a basin and wet like clay.

“You have resisted my call far enough, Cressida, and now that you seek me you wish to find the fate of another?”

“So shall it be.”

“You turned your back when my whisper first called,

Yet now you crawl, bloodied, to beg at my wall.

The answers you crave will bleed you dry,

For truth is a coin, and all must buy.

The loom of time is frayed, undone,

and the gods sit idle, watching the run.

Chaos has severed the mortal thread,

and destiny walks where it once was led.

Your daughter’s breath lies chained to the hand

of the seer who treads where no man can stand.

White hair, eyes that mirror the skies,

he shall fell the devil where your world dies.

But heed this verse, in shadows stated:

Love brights hatred, when fates are mated.

So mark it well, unfaithful one—

The goddess you spurned now weighs what you’ve done.

You asked for her fate, and I have shown,

but the price of knowing is yours alone.”

The room hummed once more and a loud cry shook it as Dark Mana and Electric currents spun in reverse.

Absorbed by the orb which served as the link.

The wraith danced with the wave of call from the orb and was immediately swallowed into its forever-falling basin.

The Crimson light dulled and dispersed into nothing as the Office resumed to what it once was.

Standing to her feet, Tacha glanced at the orb, then to her Master’s Awakening gaze.

Confusion played coy on her face.

“Once again, I have failed to understand the Oracle.”

Tacha said with a sigh.

Cressida shook her head as the light in her eyes dulled.

She sat up and rubbed her temples.

“The oracle is not meant for you to understand, but I, Tacha.”

Tacha nodded once.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

“It was frightening as always.” She muttered under her breath.

“So, may… May I know what is wrong with our Sophie?”

Cressida picked up a paper and a pen and began to write on it.

“Give this to her when the time is right… I’m sure you will know when that is.”

A frown formed on Cressida’s face.

“It seems like Sophia… is in love.”

Tacha’s eyes widened.

“Love?”

That single word felt more dangerous than any curse the Oracle had ever spoken.

FLASHBACK END.