Favored by the Family That Will Become the Strongest! - Chapter 93

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“Never once have I forgotten you. Or rather…”
His voice dwindled toward the end. As though displeased with his own words, he dragged his arm across roughly.
Diena blinked.
‘Right.’
For Barcan, what had happened between Cassian and herself was recent. It hadn’t been long since Diena fled the House.
But to Diena, Cassian was someone from the distant past. Time enough to blur memory and feeling alike.
Her affection for him, her love—even her betrayal and sorrow had all faded to gray.
She remembered being quite devastated when she first ran from House Rothwell, weeping so bitterly she could hardly function for a time.
But now it felt as though none of it had ever happened.
“I didn’t answer him because there was nothing worth saying—but I suppose I should have handled it differently.”
When she’d encountered Cassian, she hadn’t ignored him out of lingering attachment. She’d simply known that conversation would lead nowhere but to pointless words like these.
Diena decided she owed Barcan absolute clarity about her emotional state.
“From now on, don’t hold back on my account. You can act freely. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I had no friends before coming to House Cardian. He’s not my friend.”
Barcan laughed outright. Seeing Diena’s unbothered demeanor, he felt reassured.
“I was already regretting it. Should’ve just hit him and bolted.”
Diena laughed aloud at his jest—then went very still, her head snapping toward something.
Barcan, startled, asked her.
“What? Something wrong?”
“Yes.”
Diena turned slowly.
“I think I’ve found them.”
“The Necromancer?”
Barcan stiffened, his gaze sweeping the street Diena was looking at. But to him, it appeared utterly ordinary.
The environment was certainly more barren than the Purification District, but otherwise unremarkable.
“Nothing stands out.”
Women haggling with a vendor before a stall with determined fervor. Parents out with their children.
And street urchins in rags, eyeing passersby hungrily. Nothing but the mundane rhythms of daily life.
Then, suddenly, an icy chill raced down his spine. The quiet energy began to roil violently—an abnormally thick, viscous aura.
Barcan’s brow furrowed.
“No… don’t tell me—”
“Yes. They’re about to rampage.”
It was an ominous presence any Ability User would sense. The darkness seemed to undulate before his very eyes.
All the Ability Users in the Southern Region would feel this, and the scale was large enough that those across the Empire could sense it too.
“If it’s this imminent, why is the Necromancer still in the city?”
Ability Users, unless caught truly off guard, could anticipate their own rampage to some degree. They felt the accumulation of Darkness in their bodies.
When a rampage seemed imminent, they were required by Imperial law to relocate to somewhere unpopulated beforehand.
Failure to do so meant that even if they were fortunate enough to survive the rampage itself, they would have to answer for the deaths they caused.
‘In my past life, the Necromancer was captured by our uncle precisely because of this.’
After the rampage left him unconscious, Cassian had taken him away—purportedly to be healed by the Saint Romie, though in truth he was locked in the dungeons beneath the House of Rothwell.
Remembering those days, Diena’s expression grew complicated.
“The Necromancer won’t have known they were about to rampage.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Someone—our uncle—has intervened. Just as he did with you.”
At her words, Barcan’s jaw clenched.
“The Rothwell Duke is clearly insane.”
At that moment, the street erupted into chaos.
People appeared and began herding the pedestrians to flee. Imperial Palace Guards stationed to defend the perimeter of the Purification District.
“Run!”
“An Ability User is rampaging!”
Alarms blared from all directions simultaneously. The crowd scattered with mechanical precision, fear etched into every face.
Their gaze fixated on one point. Barcan turned his head in the same direction.
In the distance, a massive violet vortex was rising. Even those fleeing stopped to stare, mesmerized.
“What… what is that?”
“Help us!”
Diena exhaled softly.
She knew their frantic escape was futile.
Most of the people here would have died in her past life. It had taken countless top-tier Ability Users working together just to suppress the Necromancer’s rampage.
The Holy Knight Order and Cassian had cleaned up afterward, but by then the damage was already catastrophic.
What Diena also knew was that Cassian, acting on Balthasar’s orders, had deliberately stalled, allowing the Necromancer to kill countless innocents.
“Diena, come here! It’s dangerous!”
Diena frowned at the voice behind her. Cassian was rushing toward them, his face desperate.
Holy Knights followed in his wake.
She was somewhat taken aback to see him so disheveled, though there was no time to dwell on it.
Barcan had seized her arm and was already pulling her into a run.
“What’s the plan now?”
“We reach the Necromancer first. Before Cassian does.”
“And once we’re there?”
“I’ll handle it.”
Barcan slowed slightly at Diena’s confident answer, his voice becoming thoughtful.
“Say we beat Cassian there. You suppress the Necromancer and then he’ll suspect you did it—he might figure out your ability. Are you sure about that?”
It was a reasonable concern. But Diena seemed equally certain.
“I’ve already thought that through. Once I suppress the Necromancer and bring them to our side, everything will fall into place.”
Her real purpose in coming here was different anyway: to save this powerful Ability User and bring them into their fold.
Barcan eyed her confidently and tilted his head, suspicious.
He hadn’t doubted her planning for a moment on the journey here. He couldn’t explain how she could be so certain of what would unfold, but if Diena said it, it had to be true.
She didn’t speak carelessly.
Yet no amount of faith could entirely suppress doubt.
“How can you be sure the Necromancer will join us? Plenty of mercenaries have deep resentment toward nobility.”
“Because I’m going to use First Strike Suppression from the start.”
“First Strike Suppression…?”
“Yes. They won’t have a choice but to listen. It’s a fight I can’t lose.”
“I’m worried what you’ll do, honestly…”
Barcan narrowed his eyes, studying her.
He didn’t judge people by appearances—least of all Diena.
And yet, against a top-tier Ability User, Diena looked terribly, almost heartbreakingly fragile.
He had much to say, but held his tongue.
‘She has her reasons.’
This was why one’s habitual conduct mattered—no matter how absurd the words, you ended up believing them anyway.
With that thought, Barcan gestured backward.
A black shadow writhed grotesquely, coiling around Cassian’s ankle. A harsh shout tore through the air.
“Damn it, Barcan Cardian, where are you taking Diena?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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