Awakening

At eight in the morning a few days later, Cecia was lying in bed, unable to sleep soundly. She wrinkled her nose and tossed and turned.

Her head was filled with the exact same line:

“The sun of this realm shall eventually return, just as the Second Dawn shall inevitably arrive.”

Here it was again—that exact same sentence. Lately, this bargain daughter of hers had been appearing in Cecia's mind with increasing frequency.

The King of Dawn and Dusk whimpered and acted spoiled inside Cecia's mind, reciting words likely copied from the mouth of some lousy bard.

She did not look like a deity in the slightest.

Unbothered by how cloying it was, she buried her head in Cecia's chest as she communicated intermittently.

Where was the Shadow of the Sun, the guardian deity of the Abyss Cult in legends? Where had it gone?

Thinking of the fiercely terrifying Shadow of the Sun from the legends, Cecia silently stopped pondering.

Cecia originally wanted to laze around in bed on this lovely weekend, but the bustling cries of vendors and chatter of pedestrians outside her door forced her to get up, resigned to her fate.

Getting out of bed, she stretched lazily. A gentle breeze drifted through Cecia's light nightgown, revealing the well-defined muscle lines on her fair stomach.

Slipping into her slippers, she padded over to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

She didn't have to gnaw on potatoes for now. After working part-time for a while, the young girl's wallet had gradually grown thicker, giving Cecia extra money to upgrade her meals.

She snapped her fingers, and the fireplace in the distance ignited. The burning firewood toasted the golden-brown bread, wafting a rich aroma of honey. Cecia brewed a cup of Distant Mountain black tea and settled comfortably into her newly bought rocking chair, swaying gently back and forth.

Brewing a cup of black tea right after waking up in the morning was truly delightful!

Now that Cecia's Fireball had advanced to Lv. 3, she finally understood the feeling of “Fireball being an extension of her hands.” She could now precisely control the temperature of the stove.

Looking at Lv. 3 Fireball on her status panel, Cecia sank into deep thought in her rocking chair.

Why hadn't her Fireball even been able to break the skin of the Night Wolf when she fought it that night?

It wasn't until two days ago, while browsing through books in the school library, that Cecia discovered spiritual creatures corrupted by Abyssal power had all their physical functions enhanced.

Their temperaments were also far more ferocious!

However, Cecia was no longer worried. After all, with her Lv. 3 Fireball, she was confident she could blast a Night Wolf straight to death!

Even against a Night Wolf enhanced by the Abyss, Cecia would never be in as miserable a state as last time.

Soon, she would be able to undertake a Spirit Realm Excursion and successfully advance in rank, finally ridding herself of this absurd Abyssal curse.

The wounds on Cecia's body had been casually healed by the King of Dawn and Dusk. Aside from a slight itch from the fresh skin on her arm, all the other scratches were completely gone.

Touching the healing scar on her arm, the faint itching sensation of new flesh growing made her unable to resist scratching it twice more.

“I told you not to scratch it.”

A slightly disgusted voice from the King of Dawn and Dusk echoed in her mind, followed by a cool touch covering the scar, causing the itching to fade significantly in an instant.

Cecia raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Not crying today?”

“…I was not crying,” the King of Dawn and Dusk said, her voice sounding somewhat muffled. “This seat was merely expressing longing for Mother in an appropriate manner.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Cecia took a sip from her tea cup, having no intention of arguing with this bargain daughter of hers.

After spending time together over these past days, she had completely figured out the King of Dawn and Dusk's temperament. This guardian deity, depicted in legends as fiercely terrifying and ruling the border between the Abyss and dusk, was essentially just a clingy, affectionate entity starved for love.