The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 57

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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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Episode 57
“How’s that! Identical, right?”
Ludian bounced his shoulders excitedly as fish born from his hands swam through the air with lazy grace.
“Wow, it’s exactly the same! How did you do that, brother?”
Tiel’s eyes sparkled as she stepped closer to the fish Ludian had created.
Ferdi reached out to gently catch the child’s hand, worried the flames might hurt her.
But then.
Tap.
“Aha, I’m happy to meet you too.”
The fish made of flames touched its snout gently against Tiel’s nose bridge.
And in that process, Tiel suffered no injury whatsoever.
Ferdi, watching silently, raised his eyebrows.
Was it possible?
Of course, if Ludian possessed the same extraordinarily refined Innate Ability Application as Cassius or Alpheus, it would be possible.
But Ludian couldn’t manipulate his Ability that precisely. So how could there be no wound…?
‘Oh, now that I think about it.’
Tiel hadn’t suffered any injury when she stopped Ferdi’s rampage either.
As if the flames born from their hands instinctively protected their small, precious younger sister.
‘Protection.’
Yes, that was it—protection.
Ludian and Ferdi’s power protected Tiel by instinct.
Realizing this truth, Ferdi smiled and released Tiel’s hand.
There was no need to guard the child when she couldn’t be hurt. Their power would keep her safe.
Ferdi found himself newly aware of how precious Tiel was to them. And then it happened.
Tiel opened both her palms carefully.
Her small hands, spread open shyly, looked as delicate as flower buds.
Whoosh—!
But what bloomed at their ends was far warmer and more beautiful than any flower.
Two fish created in Tiel’s hands drew back in alarm upon seeing the flame-shaped fish placed before them.
Their way of cowering at something unfamiliar resembled their mistress perfectly.
Yet the lights, true to their mistress’s nature, feared nothing—they flinched at the strange, but neither fled nor trembled.
Warm light carefully enveloped the power Ludian had created.
Olivier and Ferdi watched in silence, along with Tiel and Ludian who had used their Ability.
The fish tangled together, then burst with a pop in mid-air, scattering.
The sight was rather like fireworks.
“…That was actually quite good.”
Ferdi nodded. Tiel beamed in delight.
“It was so pretty! The best! It looked so much, much more beautiful than when I do it alone!”
“Ahem, well! My power went into it, after all!”
Ludian tried to appear composed, but his smile already stretched ear to ear at Tiel’s praise.
“Show me more! Please!”
Tiel bounced in place. Ludian’s shoulders shook with delight as he stepped back from her.
“You want to see more, is that it?”
“…Hey, Ludian. Keep it reasonable….”
Just as Olivier tried to restrain Ludian, a massive flame erupted from his hands.
“That fool never knows the meaning of restraint.”
Ferdi let out a wry smile and delivered the jab. Tiel glanced nervously at Ludian, then tugged softly at Ferdi’s sleeve.
“Hmm?”
“That… you shouldn’t use that word about brother. We should use nice words, shouldn’t we?”
“Nice words? Ha, nice words don’t come out when I look at Ludian. Fine, I understand, Tiel.”
Watching Ferdi, Tiel sighed quietly to herself.
Ferdi and Ludian, her two brothers, were constantly at each other’s throats without pause.
And now that Olivier had joined in, they barely spent any time not fighting.
‘Though most of it is Ludian’s fault, if I’m being honest….’
Still, calling him that word seemed a bit much….
Roar—!!
Then the flame born in Ludian’s hand flared once more, taking the shape of a massive sword made of fire.
The faces of three children darkened as they confronted the endless, burning blade.
“Honestly.”
This time, even Tiel couldn’t stop him.
Olivier turned to Ferdi with obvious irritation written across his face.
“Wasn’t today supposed to be about helping Tiel with her Innate Ability Application?”
“Who brought that lunatic along?”
Tiel cautiously raised her hand.
“It’s alright, Tiel. You didn’t do anything wrong. The mistake belongs to that lunatic for forgetting the whole point and running wild.”
Ferdi spoke with perfect gentleness, his murderous intensity from moments before completely erased.
“But, brother… if you learn Innate Ability Application, can everyone make something like that?”
Tiel asked carefully, pointing at the thing (?) in Ludian’s hand.
Certainly, showing it off at this moment was inappropriate, but apart from that, it was an impressive and formidable blade—enormous and sturdy-looking.
‘Could I do it too?’
Tiel’s Ability was definitely different in nature from theirs.
The Asterian Innate Ability—power that burns all things in the world.
But Tiel’s Ability was a warm power that illuminated all things in the world.
So creating something similar to the massive Flame Sword Ludian had made would be nearly impossible.
Tiel herself understood this well. So she felt no desire to make a sword. But still….
‘I want to create something.’
Something other than fish, which sprang forth regardless of her will.
She couldn’t use the same Ability forever. Yet she was born with only one.
That’s why she was learning Innate Ability Application—to create hundreds of abilities from the single Ability she possessed.
Noticing Tiel’s sparkling eyes, Olivier and Ferdi exchanged surprised glances.
Then, after a brief silence.
“…You can do it!”
“Of course! Our Tiel can do anything! You could make something even more brilliant than that idiot?”
“I’ve never once thought about surpassing brother Ludian, though….”
Tiel laughed bashfully.
“I’ll make the Asterian name proud!”
Her two small fists, clenched firmly, seemed to embody her determined resolve.
“Tiel, that’s wonderful.”
Ferdi stroked his younger sister’s soft hair as he murmured the words.
“But remember this: if it becomes too hard, you don’t have to do it. The Asterian name won’t fade just because you spend your whole life at leisure.”
“Yes, of course.”
“See, that fool won’t stop at doing it just here—he does it everywhere. But the Asterian name hasn’t suffered a single blemish because of it. So, Tiel.”
“If it gets hard, don’t push yourself, jeez, I worry about you two so much. Right? Our Tiel will do fine on her own!”
Olivier, picking up from Ferdi’s words, smiled warmly and ruffled Tiel’s hair affectionately.
“Hey, guys, I’m….”
Beyond that warm scene, Ludian stood alone, looking somehow forsaken.
The arc of his red sword seemed lonelier than ever today.
***
A place of darkness.
No one knows where it is.
Even the woman blinking vacantly in that place doesn’t know where she is.
It was only natural.
The place where she dwells is the lowest place in the world.
The darkest, coldest, most terrible space in existence—assembled from the darkest things ever gathered.
“….”
She blinks quietly.
Her detached demeanor, as if indifferent to how much time passes. Her vacant expression, as though her soul had been stolen. As though….
She had been robbed of the most precious thing she had held since birth.
Yet no one pays attention to her in this state. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say no one exists to pity her.
For this place was a space where no living thing could exist.
No life could possibly sympathize with her plight.
Her dazzlingly beautiful golden hair had lost its luster, buried in darkness.
Her once-gleaming eyes had long since taken on the same color as the darkness itself.
The woman slowly lifted her head.
She doesn’t even properly know who she is. So naturally, she also doesn’t know what she wants to do.
But she clearly knew what she ‘must do’.
[Open the Path.]
An eerie, unidentifiable voice issued a quiet command. The woman’s skeletal arm moved like a marionette doll.
Her withered fingers moved with a creaking, screeching sound, and her wrist bones twisted with a sickening noise.
Then.
Boom—.
With a tremendous reverberation, an entrance appeared beneath the woman’s hands.
It was a space large enough for a single person to pass through.
Then the woman’s eyes flickered to life. Her drooping arms regained their strength and moved. Her back, which had been leaning against a wall she couldn’t even see, pulled away.
“….”
Her eyes had become even darker and blacker than before.
The woman stepped lightly with her hands and entered the space she had opened.
And then she vanished.
Without a trace.
Into the darkness.

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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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