The Seed of Awakening

An uncontrolled-grade forbidden artifact?

The magic mirror's answer sent a jolt through Olivia's heart, a cold chill surging from the depths of her soul.

She had encountered three forbidden artifacts before.

The Oblivion Pocket Watch from the orphanage, Melanie's Dream Pendant, and the Door of Infinity that Ronan had brought out this time.

However, all of those were sealed-grade forbidden artifacts!

Forbidden artifacts that could be sealed were considered within a controllable range. As long as they were sealed properly, it was safe even to carry them on one's person.

But uncontrolled-grade... that meant it was impossible to seal!

Subconsciously taking a deep breath, Olivia chanted in her mind.

'Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me the details of this forbidden artifact.'

【Name: Seed of Awakening.】

【Danger Level: Uncontrolled-grade.】

【Appearance: A black seed covered in fleshy sprouts.】

【Effect: Possesses living characteristics and moves autonomously. It grants living traits to everything in its vicinity, bringing them under its control. Living beings will gradually fall under its influence, becoming controlled by the Seed of Awakening without realizing it.】

【Note: The Seed of Awakening has an influence range of five hundred meters, with itself at the absolute center. Since it cannot be sealed, it must be destroyed immediately upon discovery. If you lack the power to destroy it, report it to the Church.】

【Note 2: Forbidden artifacts follow the Law of Indestructibility; even if destroyed, they will eventually reappear somewhere else in the future.】

...

The amount of information was staggering.

After absorbing the details, Olivia fell into deep thought.

'Possesses living characteristics? Is that why the statues in the gallery came to life? They pretend to be statues when people appear to avoid notice, but once discovered, they try to eliminate the witnesses? But why would the Seed of Awakening appear in the statue gallery? Did someone place it there?'

Olivia lowered her head and whispered in her mind.

'Magic mirror, magic mirror, who is the holder of the Seed of Awakening?'

【There is currently no clear holder. According to records, the Seed of Awakening last appeared a hundred years ago. Its holder at the time was killed on the spot by a transcendent of the Church, and the Seed of Awakening was destroyed.】

It was destroyed, yet it had reappeared.

Furthermore, the gap was exactly a hundred years. Olivia instinctively felt something was wrong, as if an invisible hand was looming over the statue gallery, orchestrating some kind of conspiracy.

She continued to reflect on the notes regarding the Seed of Awakening and noticed another issue: the Law of Indestructibility. This law felt somewhat terrifying.

Since forbidden artifacts were constantly being born, if they were truly indestructible, didn't that mean their numbers would only increase? In time, wouldn't this world become a place crawling with forbidden artifacts?

At the thought of such a possibility, Olivia felt the crimson moonlight spilling over her grow several degrees colder.

In such a world, would there even be room for humanity to survive?

"Phew... From the look of it, even if such a future exists, it would be in the very distant future. There's no need for premature anxiety; I must focus on the matter at hand."

Olivia whispered to herself, forcing her body to relax.

She looked up toward the quiet path ahead, hearing the sounds of battle coming from behind a row of buildings.

She quickened her pace and rushed forward. After turning a few corners into a small alley, she saw a familiar figure—it was Raymond.

At that moment, Raymond hoisted a statue high and slammed it violently into the ground, shattering it by sheer force. Fragments of other statues were already scattered across the pavement.

Judging by the number of fragments, there had originally been two statues here.

Even when facing two living statues simultaneously, Raymond was still able to handle them.

"Olivia." Raymond looked up. "It seems you've solved the problem on your end. I'm fine here as well. I'll check the other areas next. You should search a bit more too; we can't let these statues harm the civilians. This is our responsibility as members of the clergy."

"No problem," Olivia nodded.

Raymond's massive frame was surprisingly agile as he ran. He turned and quickly vanished from the alley.

Olivia moved in a different direction, her mind still racing with thoughts about the statue gallery and the Seed of Awakening.

Suddenly, a thought struck her. She skidded to a halt, her elegant brows furrowing as she carefully reconsidered the information about the Seed of Awakening.

'The influence range of the Seed of Awakening is five hundred meters from its center.

'If that's the case, those statues affected by it shouldn't be able to move beyond that five-hundred-meter radius.

'The statue I dealt with earlier and the ones here are almost exactly five hundred meters from the statue gallery. Does that mean the Seed of Awakening is inside the gallery?'

At this realization, Olivia immediately turned around and sprinted back toward the Soltu Statue Gallery.

As long as she dealt with the Seed of Awakening, all the statues would immediately lose their living characteristics. This was the crucial link.

Based on the magic mirror's description, the terrifying part of the Seed of Awakening was its ability to animate its surroundings and even enslave living people over time, but the seed itself likely didn't possess much combat power.

A five-hundred-meter distance wasn't particularly long.

Before long, Olivia arrived at the statue gallery. She removed the Cross Grace from her necklace once more, enlarging it into a sword-like shape. Gripping it tightly, she stepped quickly into the gallery's main exhibition hall.

As soon as she entered, Olivia's expression shifted drastically.

She saw Ronan flying through the air like a ragdoll, hitting the ground with a heavy thud and rolling several times. A trail of blood marks followed his path.

As for Vanessa, she was curled up in a corner. It was unclear what had happened, but a large pool of blood was spreading beneath her.

They had been defeated?

The statue wielding a sword and shield, which had just sent Ronan flying, and another statue holding a spear were about to continue their assault on Ronan. However, Olivia's arrival caused them to turn their heads, fixing their stone gazes on her.

"Be careful..." Ronan, his face covered in blood, managed a strained whisper from the floor. "Watch out for the floor, the walls... and the ceiling."

After saying those words, Ronan's eyes slid shut, his strength spent.

Olivia's nerves were pulled taut. She hadn't expected to see this scene upon her return. She could tell Ronan wasn't dead yet, but what did his warning mean?

The floor, the walls, and the ceiling?

She had to be careful of those places?

'Right, the Seed of Awakening can grant living characteristics to everything around it. That "everything" naturally wouldn't be limited to just statues; it means every single object. The reason only the statues were moving before was that they were humanoid and had limbs, making movement easy. But besides them, other things have actually been gaining living traits as well...'

Olivia's mind raced, and she quickly understood the situation.

She guessed that Ronan had likely been ambushed by other living objects in the environment. Caught off guard, he had been heavily injured in a short amount of time, falling into this state.

But now was not the time to worry about Ronan.

The eyes of the two statues were made of stone, yet Olivia felt as if a freezing gaze was piercing through her, sending shivers down her spine.

Even without other living objects, these two statues alone didn't seem like something she could handle. Even Gray, a Card Master who had achieved his second advancement, had found them extremely difficult to deal with.

And she was merely an Ascetic of the first advancement.

She was in grave danger.