The Blessing of the Primordial (Part 3)
While Nduma Ngola spoke, the VIP section of the arena was equally ablaze with excitement.
Inside the luxurious chambers, with service fit for royalty, the key figures of the Intermediate Neutral Zone had gathered. Among them, in one of the reserved rooms, was the Guild of the Divine Lions.
Its leader was Zacarias Mbakassi, of the Mbakassi family — a bloodline whose influence stretched even into the Advanced Neutral Zone.
It was said that their ancestor had once been a Fire Lion, bearer of an SS-level talent, who had served as a loyal follower of a Monarch.
Zacarias himself had inherited a fearsome gift: the Soul Flame, an SS-level fire capable of burning not only flesh, but the very spiritual essence of his enemies.
He watched the ceremony with a sly, intrigued smile.
"Interesting…" he murmured. "So he really managed to invite Nduma Ngola to preside over this ceremony?"
His assistant, a woman also of the Fire Lion Clan, leaned slightly and replied:
"Yes. He is truly here, bringing with him all the weight and grandeur of such an event."
"But to invite someone from the Ngola Clan requires a fortune. Especially Nduma," Zacarias said. "It's highly likely they had help from someone of a higher floor."
"You mean…?" asked his assistant, wide-eyed.
"Yes. The rumors I've heard must be true. The Kikana family is seeking a marriage alliance. Mungo Kikana also has an SSS-level talent. If he unites with Nzinga Otchali, then their descendants would carry, at the very least, SS-level talents. Such a union would grant nothing but advantages to the race of the Black Ravens."
In another chamber was the Guild of the Daughters of the Sun.
This was a special guild, accepting only women. It was led by Daisy Solaris, of the Solaris family, from the race of the Golden Ravens — a family of immense influence across all floors.
Unlike other guild leaders who had fought for years to carve their names into the Divine Domain, Daisy had always carried power.
Not only was she born into a family of staggering might, but she also inherited an SSS-level talent, just like Nzinga Otchali.
Yet there was a crucial difference: while the rest of her race inherited talents tied to the Sun, Daisy was born with the Holy Word, an SSS-level gift — mastery over the Law of the Word.
That meant, as long as she had mana, anything could be created.
On the eve of her ceremony, the air was heavy with expectation. Everyone, without exception, was certain that Daisy would be blessed by the Primordial. It was almost unquestionable — as if destiny itself had been written since birth. But the plans of men are never the plans of the Primordial.
That night, darkness brought the unexpected. There was an assassination attempt. Not a common ambush — rumors said that even two Saints of level 600 took part in the assault.
What followed was a battle that shook the foundations of the Advanced Zone. The ground was drenched in crimson, and the streets echoed with steel and screams. That night, there was a true massacre.
The target had been Daisy alone, but the attack nearly triggered a full-scale war. Her coming-of-age ceremony was no ordinary event — it was entangled with hidden interests, rival clans, and shadowy schemes. To witness the birth of a Monarch was a temptation no sane enemy would allow.
Daisy was not killed. The attempt failed at its ultimate goal. Yet she was struck by a cruel poison — one that corroded the heart itself. The substance was so vile that even the greatest healers hesitated to touch it.
Though the poison could be cured, time was not on her side. On the day of the ceremony, Daisy was unable to appear. She was replaced by another youth — also blessed with a rare SSS-level gift. But compared to Daisy, he was nothing more than a pale ember before the rising sun.
It is said that Will Solaris, patriarch of the Solaris family, collapsed under the weight of shame when he realized his daughter would not attend her coming-of-age ceremony. He had shaped his entire life, every decision, around Daisy's future. To see that future crumble broke him. He withdrew into his golden halls, a shadow of himself, consumed by silence, shame, and fury.
But while Will fell, Cindy Solaris, Daisy's mother and principal wife, did not. Known throughout the Divine Domain as the Touch of Death, she rose like a storm. She called emergency councils, rallied armies, forged alliances, and lit the fires of a war that rages to this very day.
The battle that began on that black night has lasted for over twenty years. Billions of lives have been lost. And still, there is no sign of an end. Rumors whisper that even the Final Neutral Zone is preparing someone strong enough to intervene — someone with the power to end the bloodshed.
Yet the greatest wound was not the blood spilled, but the emptiness left inside Daisy. Her entire life had revolved around the ceremony. Every prayer, every sacrifice, every drop of sweat had been for that day. To lose it was to die while still breathing.
For Daisy, not attending the ceremony was more than failure. It was the denial of her very existence. The girl who had been destined to shine as an eternal sun sank into an abyss of shadows. She questioned herself, hated herself, blamed herself. And thus began a cycle of deep despair — a prison of the mind, as cruel as the poison that had eaten away at her heart.
Until one day, without warning, Daisy awakened.
It was no ordinary awakening, but a rebirth. As if the cosmos itself had chosen to breathe life into her once more, she suddenly recovered her consciousness. Strangely, the poison that had consumed her heart, the toxin that had stolen her future, was gone. As if destiny, tired of mocking her, had granted a second chance.
Daisy realized she could no longer live as merely "the daughter of the Solaris family." She refused to remain a shadow of a lost ceremony, or carry forever the shame of her parents. So, she did what few dared: she broke free from the chains of her lineage.
Like all others, without her family's influence, she began at the Base Zone, among the weakest. But Daisy did not seek inherited glory. She sought to forge her own name.
And thus, a legend was born.
With her own hands and unyielding will, she founded the Guild of the Daughters of the Sun. A haven for underestimated women, who found in her not only a leader, but a living goddess.
Today, Daisy Solaris is revered.
Though she never stood in the ceremony that was to decide her fate, her innate gift — the Word of God, an SSS-level power — never vanished.
It still burns within her, unshakable, a testimony that the Primordial never errs in those He chooses.