Blade of the Goddess
Chapter 54 - A beautiful discovery

Chapter 54: Chapter 54 - A beautiful discovery

"Lidia! Lacey! Aurora! Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay!" Zion asked as he ran into his room, but it was completely decimated.

On the floor were Lacey and Aurora, both being treated by a healing mage, with Raven handing them over.

"Zion!" They all shouted with glee, happy to see that he was okay.

He hugged the three of them, thankful to see them alive, but anxious to know what happened to Lidia.

"What happened? Please tell me Lidia’s okay."

Instead of getting an answer, he only got grim expressions.

"What the hell happened? Who would attack ALL four factions? And why did they take Lidia? None of this makes sense!"

"I know, Zion. However, Lidia wasn’t the only one who was taken. I got word that some people from each faction were also taken."

"I would have gotten here quicker if it wasn’t for that demonic human bastard who stood in my way!"

"You too?" Raven asked

"What?"

"I fought against a demonic human as well, his power was in the Transcendent stage. But it didn’t seem like he attacked me with the intention to kill me because, after a few minutes, he left. I also got word that this also happened to the other faction leaders."

"My opponent was a Grandmaster. Not as strong as yours, but strong enough to hold me off. Dammit! Only if I were stronger."

"Don’t beat yourself up over it, honey. We’ll find them and stop whatever they have going on." Raven reassured him, but that didn’t make Zion feel any better.

"I’m leaving the academy for a while. Lacey, Aurora, come, we’re going home."

"I was actually planning on shutting down the Academy for a bit. I don’t have kids caught up in this mess. The king also made an announcement, putting the kingdom on lockdown until further notice."

Zion didn’t respond, his mind was focused on finding his lover and friend. Swirling his finger, he called for his owl, which arrived quickly, taking him and his girls back home.

---

"Science Team, I want satellites in orbit by the end of today. Stealth team, search the entire capital for any clue, I don’t care how weird, stupid, or unrelated it is. Intelligence Team, I want the entire network to cover the whole kingdom. If you hear something, tell me immediately. Weapons Team, get EVERYTHING ready, I’m not sitting back anymore. If those fuck ass demons wanna play, then I’ll let them know who they’re fucking with!"

It had been a week since Lidia and Alice went missing, and Zion barely slept at all. He spent every waking hour trying his best to find any clue related to their disappearance. He even went back to the dungeon just to see if there was anything he missed, but not only was it completely destroyed, but the Church of Arion currently occupied that area.

"Lord Zion!" One of Zion’s men called out to him.

"What? I’m busy, so make it quick."

"She is Alice’s mother; she is asking for you."

"Sigh, take me to her."

Zion arrived at the guest area of his home, where he saw Alice’s sickly mother sitting uncomfortably on a luxurious couch. It was obvious she wasn’t used to being in a place as fancy as his home.

"S-Sir Zion!" Audrey called

"Just, Zion, and what can I do for you?" He asked, his voice calmer than normal

"Please tell me you’ve found my daughter, please! I can’t bear to know that I failed as a mother!" She started sobbing, her thin arms wiping away the tears running down her face.

"I haven’t found her yet, but I’m doing everything I can. Please just be patient. I won’t let anyone hurt your daughter, my friend."

Audrey felt slightly better after hearing him call Alice his friend. Once she learned that Zion was the one who helped them, she didn’t know what to say. His mother’s reputation was something everyone in the kingdom knew, regardless of status, and Zion followed in her footsteps when it came to such a reputation.

"How are you holding up? Is your new home to your liking?" Zion asked

"Y-Yes," She smiled, "Maybe a bit too big, but Gregory and Tiana love the extra room."

"Heh, glad to hear it. You won’t have to worry about a home or going hungry for the rest of your life, I promise you that."

"Thank you, Zion. I-I will leave now so I don’t get in your way, but please tell me if you find my daughter."

"Don’t worry, I will." He smiled

As she got up to leave, Zion took an opportunity to scan her body using his mana sense, and what he found was shocking to its core. Her body had no trace of mana in it whatsoever. It was as if her body completely rejected it.

"Excuse me, Miss Aurora, while you’re here, why don’t you let me take a look at your condition? Maybe I can find a way to help you."

"Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I’ve been to many doctors before, and none of them could find the problem. Even the church couldn’t help me with a divine blessing."

"Why don’t you let me check your condition? My doctors are way better than you might think." He smiled

"Alright, if you insist."

Zion led Audrey to one of his labs, one that specialized in medicine, healing, and every medical practice he managed to write down using his ability to recall knowledge from his past life, the headache he had after almost blowing his head off, metaphorically speaking, of course.

"Hey, Derry, could you take a look at her body? She has a medical condition that hasn’t been discovered yet, and she was never able to get treatment."

"Sure." The tall, busty blonde lady agreed. She was Zion’s head Doctor who learned all medical practices in this world, no matter the form, and combined that with the medical scientific knowledge of Zion’s past world.

"First, let me run some tests, sit down." Derry approached the now-sitting Audrey and used her mana to scan her body. Like Zion, she also saw that Audrey’s body was devoid of mana.

"Hmmm." Derry then used healing magic to see if she could inject mana into her body, seeing as this was the easiest way to do so.

"Ow." Audrey groaned in pain.

Zion and Derry flashed each other a concerned look, then turned back to Audrey.

"Ma’am, did it hurt when I injected mana into your body?" Derry asked

"Y-Yes, just slightly." She answered.

Zion then asked, "Miss, have you been able to use mana before?"

"Y-Yes, when I was about 10 to 18. But I was never good at it. My power was always pretty weak. Once I reached the age of 18 and got pregnant with Alice, I lost my ability to use mana forever."

Zion’s eyes widened with shock. He didn’t know if it was a connection, but with Alice barely being able to use mana and her mother not being able to use it at all, he made a hypothesis that their condition was genetic.

"Derry, take her through an MRI, CT, and PET scan."

"Understood."

After strapping Audrey to the machine and running all three scans, Zion and Derry looked at the results on the screen, and what they saw completely shocked them.

"Her mana pathways are clogged!" Derry shouted

"No, not clogged, they’re dry, as if they haven’t been watered with mana. Not only that, but her mana paths are inside out. I’ve seen that before, but not on this scale. Look at her heart, you see that black mass there?"

"Yeah, let me zoom in." Zooming in on Audrey’s heart, they got a better view of what was going on.

"That looks like impurities." Derry assessed

"Like, the impurities that leave the body once a person breaks through to the Master Stage?"

"Yeah, those impurities, but that’s impossible. Impurities can’t build up like this. And look at this, it’s not only around her heart, it’s around her Lungs, Large intestines, stomach, spleen, Small intestines, Bladder, Kidney, Heart Governor, triple heater, Gall Bladder, and Liver. I’m surprised she is even alive!"

"Wait, impurities built up in her heart, and the heart is central to circulating mana in the body." Zion started thinking with his hand on his chin

"Well, technically our mana veins, or pathways, are what allows for circulation,n but it’s our heart that pumps the mana for circulation in the first place." Derry corrected

"Yes, but each place in her body that has built up impurities is connected to a mana path. In fact, they pass through those specific areas. Holy fucking shit I just discovered the best thing I could have possibly discovered!" Zion shouted with excitement

"What are you talking about?" Derry asked, furrowing her brow

"I’ll tell you later, but just know that I found a way to get stronger. First things first, Ma’am! I know your condition! It’s called Mana deficiency syndrome. It’s a condition where the body rejects mana because the mana pathways in the body completely flip inside out, causing all mana to spill out of your body, not being able to absorb it anymore."

Audrey’s eyes lit up. He was the first person to ever figure out her condition. ’Maybe he can help me!’ she hoped

"Is it treatable?" She asked, now filled with determination.

"Yes, but it’s painful. You see, I’ll have to-"

"Do it!"

Zion paused, "What?"

"Whatever you need to do, do it!"

"You could die. While I did cure this before, it wasn’t on the same scale as your condition."

"Do it."

Zion stared into her now fierce eyes and smiled. He liked her bravery and determination.

"Hop on that medical bed, it’s time to start operating."