Chapter 23: Suppression
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Half an hour later, Furina walked slowly around the room, supported by Liu Yuan.
Strictly speaking, Furina could already walk on her own. But since Liu Yuan feared she might stumble again — and because someone clearly didn't mind being supported — the two continued like this.
Liu Yuan was careful, her gaze never leaving Furina. Hydro elemental energy diffused softly behind Furina, under Liu Yuan's precise control, ready to react if anything happened.
Furina, cheeks flushed, stared down at her toes in silence. They were standing far too close; if she lifted her head, she'd see Liu Yuan's eyes. So instead, she focused on slowly reacquainting herself with her body step by step.
"By the way, Liu Yuan…"
"What is it?"
"I've been unconscious for so long — hasn't anyone come looking for me?"
The thought suddenly struck Furina.
Logically, as the so-called Hydro Archon, if she had been unconscious for two weeks, someone should have noticed. Her schedule was always packed — how could she vanish for so long without anyone barging in?
And if she really had fainted, shouldn't a doctor be monitoring her? Why was it that no one had come, and she had been left alone this whole time… except for Liu Yuan?
"Hmm. Many people did."
Liu Yuan nodded, answering without hesitation.
"Many?!" Furina nearly choked. "Cough… H-how many?"
"Probably… everyone in Palais Mermonia. There are still a few Melusine guarding the door."
Liu Yuan thought for a moment, as if mentally tallying the numbers, then gave her calm reply.
"Then why didn't they come in? Wait… could it be—"
Furina's eyes widened.
"I stopped them all."
"You… you stopped them all?!"
"I stopped them all."
The answer came just as calmly.
Furina froze, staring at her in disbelief. "…Even Neuvillette?"
"Yes."
Liu Yuan's tone remained steady, but Furina's shock deepened.
Over five hundred years, she had seen Neuvillette act only a handful of times — always against those who, though guilty, abused their power with reckless arrogance.
And every time, after defeating the Duelist, those people would boast in the Opera House… until Neuvillette silenced them effortlessly, subduing them with a mere flick of his hand.
From then on, Furina understood Neuvillette's strength was unfathomable.
She had even asked Clorinde once, out of curiosity, about his true level.
Clorinde's answer had been simple:
"I wouldn't last a single move against him."
Clorinde — the strongest Duelist in all of Fontaine, perhaps even in its history. Furina had judged countless duels over the centuries, and she could count on one hand the fighters who could match Clorinde's skill.
And yet she admitted she couldn't withstand even a single move from Neuvillette.
And now, Liu Yuan was telling her she had blocked him. So easily that her tone carried not the slightest effort?
For a brief, absurd moment, Furina wondered — could Liu Yuan actually be the true Hydro Archon?!
Leaving aside her wild speculation, Liu Yuan wasn't lying.
On the evening Furina collapsed, the servants of Palais Mermonia immediately sensed something was wrong.
The first to notice was the maid who always brought Furina her afternoon tea.
Everyone knew their "Hydro Archon" demanded her sweets at a precise time every day — if she didn't get them, she'd make a fuss.
But when the maid tried to enter Furina's room with her tray that day, she found the door firmly sealed.
Confused, she carried the tea back, mentioned it to the other maids — and quickly, they realized something was off. Lunch hadn't been delivered either.
Panic set in. Their "Hydro Archon" had vanished.
The news raced up the chain of command until it landed directly on Neuvillette's desk.
Without hesitation, Neuvillette left his office and hurried to Furina's chambers.
But the moment he arrived, he found her room enveloped by pure, overwhelmingly powerful Hydro elemental energy — sealed shut, with not the slightest gap.
He frowned. That energy… he had sensed it before, faintly, about six months ago, radiating from Furina.
At the time, he hadn't thought much of it. Furina had lived as a powerless damsel for five hundred years, never once wielding elemental energy. Still, her unchanged appearance and longevity suggested she had power of some kind. Perhaps, he assumed, she had merely chosen not to use it — except through the Oratrice Mécanique d'Analyse Cardinale.
So when that Hydro power had flared half a year ago, Neuvillette assumed she had simply regained control of it. It was only natural, after all, for the Hydro Archon to wield Hydro.
Now, however, this method of sealing was far beyond his comprehension.
Tentatively, Neuvillette merged his consciousness into the elemental barrier, seeking to identify its caster. He believed he would simply find Furina's presence within.
But instead, he failed.
The Hydro energy that had always been affectionate to him now pushed him out, rejecting his perception entirely. The barrier was absolute, impenetrable.
For the first time, Neuvillette experienced Hydro itself refusing him. And worse—woven within that energy was an aura that made his eyes widen.
Suppression.
An absolute suppression of status.
As the Hydro Dragon Sovereign, Neuvillette had never been dominated by another's mastery of water. Yet here, standing outside Furina's chamber, he felt it — an overwhelming force that reduced his authority, his very essence, to submission.
The presence of an unknown entity.
.
.
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