Frost crystals seeped through the walls of the ancient magic classroom as Ith lit seven serpent-shaped candelabras. The black liquid roiling within the lead crucible reflected the faint, dark patterns pulsing across her neck, and the candlelight cast jagged shadows over the eyepatch on the right side of her face. Beneath the black leather, vessel-like traces faintly showed—the divine punishment curse crawling outward from her heart, slithering beneath her skin like a living thing. Every time she used magical power to touch the Alchemy Array, tiny beads of blood would ooze from the edge of the eyepatch, trickling down her neck to vanish into the Ouroboros totem embroidered in silver thread on her black robes.
"This is perhaps your penultimate lesson. It also reminds me of some old friends... Tonight's topic is not ancient magic, but alchemy—transmutation."
"Nicolas Flamel sat across from me like this centuries ago." She suddenly pulled back her left sleeve, revealing the spreading black patterns creeping up her forearm. The students watched in horror as those veins devoured the firelight within the room. "The first question he asked me was—"
Chapter 237