Chương 68: Chapter 67: The Calamity

As they approached the Holy Temple, the personalities inside Nina's subconscious looked around in awe.

"Wow, it's so pretty," Lily said.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Nina?" Nina glanced outside before giving a small nod.

"I guess."

"Hey, Damien, are you okay?" Lily asked.

"Your back still looks painful. Are you sure you're fine?"

"I'm fine," Damien replied calmly.

"There is no need to worry."

"That's good." While Lily continued speaking, Lucian remained quiet.

"Lucian, what are you doing?" Lily asked.

"I just..." Lucian frowned.

"I don't feel right about this." His eyes remained focused on the approaching temple.

"Knowing how that priest acted earlier, I don't think this will end peacefully." When they finally reached the gates of the Holy Temple, the priest stepped away from the carriage. He approached one of the guards standing nearby. The guard wore a strange device over his ears, something Damien immediately noticed. Damien narrowed his eyes. What is that? He attempted to observe their conversation, but before he could understand anything, the prison carriage opened.

"Get out." Damien slowly stepped outside. One step. Then another. He walked toward the entrance of the Holy Temple while the priest watched him with a satisfied smile.

"Enter." Damien looked at the gate. Something was wrong. I don't understand. This doesn't feel right. I don't trust this. However, he had no choice but to continue. The moment he stepped through the entrance... His knees suddenly weakened.

"I don't feel good..." Inside Nina's subconscious, Nina immediately stood up.

"Damien?" Before she could say anything else, a powerful gust of wind swept through the area. Damien. Lily. Lucian. Elias All of them were thrown backward, forced back into the depths of Nina's subconscious. Nina froze.

"System?" Silence.

"System?" Her expression changed.

"No..."

"No, no, no..." A memory surfaced in her mind. Not again. Not again. Panic began spreading through her thoughts. She did not know what to do. Then her eyes focused. The priest. He was the cause. At that moment, the body created by the System for the host began to lose stability. Nina looked toward the outside world.

"If you're willing to do something to my family..." Her voice became cold.

"Then I can play that game too." Her body began to distort. Automatic emotional regulation error. Host emotional state: critically unstable. Immediate correction required. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Nina looked at the System notification.

"If the person responsible for this is still alive..." Her expression hardened.

"Then my people won't come back." She took control.

"I just need to remove everything in my way until they return." Outside, the messenger watched with satisfaction.

"This will teach them."

"This will teach those arrogant people who believe they can challenge the Holy Temple." The device he controlled was designed to suppress magical abilities. It reduced a person's power until only their most basic trait remained. For most people, losing their magic caused fear and confusion. That was the purpose. A temporary punishment. A warning. A reminder of who held authority.

"After this, they will understand never to oppose me again." One of the guards hesitated.

"Is this really correct? Didn't the Saintess order us to bring the person back unharmed?"

"Silence." The messenger looked annoyed.

"If this person meets the Holy Saintess in this condition, there will be problems." However... As he watched Nina's body kneel on the ground, clutching her chest, his smile slowly disappeared.

"Wait..." The body began changing. The color of the skin faded. Darkness spread. The guard stepped backward.

"Was this person even human?"

"I don't know," the other guard replied.

"But I am not staying to find out."

"I am coming too." The guards immediately released control and handed it back to the messenger before running away. He had no intention of taking responsibility for whatever happened next. The messenger watched him leave and laughed.

"It's only a temporary reaction." He had seen many people temporarily lose their powers under the Holy Saintess's authority. Each person reacted differently. This was nothing. At least... That was what he believed.

"Perhaps increasing the strength will make the lesson clearer." He adjusted the device. The suppression increased. Then increased again. And again. A cruel smile appeared on his face as he watched Nina tremble. Then... An error appeared.

"Error?" He looked confused.

"Oh." The device had reached its limit. He casually threw it aside.

"There is always an emergency stop, if need" As he thought that, the figure before him slowly stood. The darkness covering the body began to rise. It spread. It expanded. The human shape became something else entirely. The body stretched into an unnatural form, the back opening as a pair of wings emerged. The figure lifted its head. Where eyes should have been, only empty white remained. The messenger froze. A hand reached toward him. Darkness wrapped around his throat. He was lifted into the air.

"How..." The word barely escaped. The creature stared at him.

"How dare you." The messenger's expression changed completely. This was impossible. The suppression was supposed to remove power. Not create this. Then he remembered something the Holy Saintess had once said. Never suppress someone with a unique innate ability. Because for some people, the abilities they displayed every day were not their true power. They were restraints. Safety mechanisms. Limits placed upon themselves. Removing those limits did not weaken them. It revealed what had always been hidden.

The messenger's eyes widened.

"No..." The force around his neck tightened.

"Who would have thought..."

"A commoner..."

"Had an innate ability like this?" The creature threw him down. His body crashed into the ground. Pain exploded through him. He screamed. But the creature continued forward.

"Stay away..." He tried to move. He tried to escape. The darkness touched him. His body began changing. But there was no blood. Only pain. The creature did not kill him. It continued. Again. And again. The messenger remained conscious through every moment. Unable to move. Unable to escape. Unable to even look away. The darkness rebuilt him only to destroy him again. The process continued until the suppression finally began weakening. Only when the other personalities started returning did Nina stop.

She felt their presence. Immediately, she sealed away the memories. They would not see this. They would not know. Looking at the messenger, Nina walked toward him.

"You're lucky they're fine." The man could not respond. He was too traumatized. Nina reached forward. Darkness surrounded her hand.

"Take all of his power."

"Leave him with nothing except the consequences of his actions." The darkness obeyed. His holy power disappeared. His memories of the event vanished. Then his body was restored. Nina returned to where she had been before. She lowered herself into a crouched position. The magic suppression device remained nearby. She had overheard the guards. She knew how to disable it. Once everything was finished, the darkness returned to her. Nina looked toward the System notification. An error remained.

Her expression became cold. The System immediately adjusted the information. The error disappeared. Nina sighed. She closed her eyes. Then she extracted the presence she had created. The Calamity stood before her. The two stared at each other.

"Calamity?"

"Yes."

"I see." Nina extended her hand. The Calamity slowly returned to her body. From this moment forward… She would no longer remain passive. Self-worth value +40 Current Self-worth: 56