YM778.TV Chapter 169: For My Daughter
Then he froze and witnessed a sight that completely confused him.
As he observed Valencia\'s unconscious body, he saw tiny arcs of lightning that sparked every few seconds.
"What... the?"
Gerrard was completely bewildered.
Slowly he approached her and extended his hand carefully towards Valencia\'s body.
CRACKLE!
"...!"
a shot of electricity attack him, forcing to retract his hand back.
"Impossible..." he breathed. "Could it be...?"
His mind raced back to the years after his wife\'s passing, Valencia\'s unexplained sickness, the consultations with the best scientific minds... the answers they couldn\'t find.
They theorized it was a phenomenon within her, a barrier preventing any elemental attribute from ever manifesting.
He recalled one particularly disheartening day, after a bout of fever and chills, when Valencia fainted during training.
It was the familiar onset of a young body preparing for the surge of an elemental awakening. Yet, the following day, her hopes were dashed as she fell ill once again.
Gerrard had cared for her with ceaseless devotion, never losing hope even as years passed without a sign of an attribute.
Yet now, against all odds, he witnessed the very power she\'d been denied, sparking around her unconscious form.
What he was witnessing right before his eyes is the same lightning his wife once commanded.
And an emotion he locked deep within his heart almost leaked out.
drip...
A single tear, he had shed for both his daughter and wife.
All he could do was simply smile.
Stepping forward once more he Ignored the pain, and reached for her again.
CRACKLE!...CRACKLE...CRACK-
The electricity crackled against his skin, but it was a sting, not a deterrent.
Regardless of the pain he received, Gerrard scooped her into his arms.
"I\'m proud of you, Valencia," he murmured, another tear slipping down his cheek.
He felt her warmth, the slight rise and fall of her chest, and a profound sense of relief washed over him.
"Gerrard."
As he turned to leave, he heard Florian\'s voice.
And he simply turned around seeing the King standing on the half-broken stage.
A shadow crossed Florian\'s face as he watched Gerrard hold his daughter.
"We aren\'t going to let this slide, are we?"
Florian\'s voice was measured, a hint of steel beneath the polite inquiry.
"Alessandro told me they were merely playing, but somehow, Valencia suggested a duel?"
Gerrard nodded grimly.
"My daughter isn\'t one to offer a fight. I know she\'d rather play with her dolls than wield a training sword."
His tone held a subtle warning. "Let\'s forget this happened."
"...!"
WAAAAAAA!
A massive burst of his aura blasted over the room, and an overwhelming display of absolute power was raining.
The walls trembled, paintings rattled, and papers danced in chaotic spirals.
Florian seeing this stood firm, shielding Alessandro with his cape.
Yet, as the aura pressed down like a physical weight, a flicker of genuine fear crossed his eyes.
Gerrard in terms of aura outmatched Florian by a mile.
A wry smile struggled to remain on his lips and Florian surrendered.
"Haah... alright, alright..."
The aura vanished as quickly as it came.
Gerrard\'s smile returned, yet there was an edge to it now.
"Excellent. I\'ll see you at the ceremony later, then."
Florian waved a hand. As he turned, his gaze fell upon his unconscious son.
His own smile was gone. "You\'re still so strong, Gerrard..." he muttered under his breath.
"If only Garrick hadn\'t took you in..."
After the camera footage of Valencia and Alessandro\'s duel was erased, one undeniable truth remained – two element wielders had awakened in the heat of battle.
Alessandro manifested the coveted element of life.
Valencia awakened the destructive power of lightning.
What should have been a moment of triumph turned into a source of lasting trauma for Valencia.
Every time she saw Alessandro, even years later at the Great Families\' gatherings, she trembled.
His cruel words echoed in her mind, the lingering pain of their battle.
Gerrard, keenly attuned to her distress, observed her anxiety.
From that day forward, he allowed her to skip those meetings, providing her the space to heal.
[Flashback Over...]
...
...
...
[Paris, Champs-Élysées - Dawn\'s Blade Arena, Arena Hallway]
Valencia blinked, realizing, with pain, that she was no longer the same girl who had duelled Alessandro years ago.
Yet, the sting of his cruel words about her mother remained a wound that time had never truly healed.
The sight of Alessandro standing just paces ahead brought it all rushing back.
His laughter, the taunts about weakness, the contempt woven into every word he\'d hurled at her, at her mother\'s memory.
It was a wave of nausea and rage that washed over her, setting her body trembling.
Alessandro leaned closer. "What\'s wrong? You look... pale?"
Valencia flinched as the echo of the past cruelty thundered in her ears.
— "Maybe your dear mother couldn\'t handle a real fight either."
An unbidden memory flickered to life: Alessandro\'s smirk as he mocked her mother...
"No... stay... stay back..." Her words were barely a whisper, lost on him as he persisted.
— "That\'s why she died, didn\'t she?"
"Should I take you to a doctor?" His hand reached out, a mocking offer of help.
— "Your mother was a disgrace!"
Suddenly, another hand came into view, swatting Alessandro away with a sharp, unexpected motion.
A figure emerged, clad in elegant clothing suited for the Parisian winter.
His hair, which looked like he had gotten out of bed, had it parted in the middle, flowing down his neck.
Behind a pair of glasses, his blue eyes blazed with a piercing intensity.
Alessandro stumbled back, shocked.
This person moved with a speed that defied his understanding – there was no trace of mana, none of the familiar signs of the power wielders he was accustomed to.
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To Be Continued...
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Authors Notes:
- Garrick\'s Aura shook the entire building of the Heroes Association.
- For clarification, primordial attributes cannot be attained by hard work as attributes have no upgrades but rather variations for each one.
- All elements have a primordial variation and those with a primordial attribute like Fire can use every type of sub-variation of it example: Lava, flames, Magma, and Lightning.