Illimitable Until Death

Chapter 837: IUD-Chapter 832 The Genestellar of the Future

“Chi…”

A wisp of toxic miasma lingered in the air before dissipating with a faint hiss, as though evaporating into nothingness.

The overwhelming Prana that had filled the ruins just moments ago had now receded completely, leaving no trace behind.

In the midst of the desolate battlefield, where the ground was littered with rubble and destruction, Fang Li and Orphelia stood mere steps apart, gazing at each other in silence.

One pair of eyes gleamed with an icy blue radiance, his Waning Moon Dagger poised before him, its tip aimed directly at the girl before him.

The other pair, clouded with uncertainty, remained fixed on the school emblem at her feet— now cleanly severed in two.

Her crimson eyes wavered, reflecting an emotion she had never shown before.

For a long moment, Orphelia could only whisper in disbelief.

“…How could this be…” Her voice was barely audible, carrying with it a sorrowful tremor.

And yet, her reaction was only natural.

For Orphelia had lost.

The so-called strongest Strega, the reigning champion of the ‘Phantom Festa’ for two consecutive years, the overwhelming favorite to claim an unprecedented third title—had been utterly defeated.

And not just defeated.

Overwhelmed.

Something that had never happened before.

Thus, her eyes wavered in unprecedented confusion and disbelief.

Until a voice cut through the silence.

“There’s no doubt your Ability is formidable. The sheer scale of your Prana is beyond anything I’ve seen, and it’s only natural that you’d be called the strongest Strega.”

Fang Li’s tone was calm as he spoke.

“But your control over Prana is too unrefined. Your reliance on your Ability is excessive. Up until now, you’ve relied solely on those overwhelming advantages to crush your opponents. You’ve never faced a true challenge, never been forced to push yourself beyond your limits. That’s why, the moment your Ability was countered, your defeat was inevitable.”

That was why Fan Xinglou had been so certain.

Outside of a regulated battle in the ‘Festa’, Orphelia would stand no chance against Fang Li.

Her power was immense, but it had never been honed.

She had never been tempered in true combat.

And without her Ability to shield her, she was vulnerable.

“Even if you’re strong, you were never going to win against me.” Fang Li’s words were absolute.

“Because your Ability means nothing to me.”

No matter how powerful an Ability was— so long as Fang Li had the ‘Mystic Eyes of Death Perception’, he could kill it.

And once her Ability was neutralized, the untrained Orphelia had no way to stand against him.

“If I didn’t have these eyes, defeating you would have been far more difficult.” Fang Li regarded Orphelia with an unwavering gaze.

“But there are no ‘ifs’ in this world.”

“Just like you. If you had never become a Genestellar, if you had never awakened as a Strega, then you would never have been bound to this fate.”

At those words, Orphelia’s frail shoulders trembled violently.

Then, she finally understood.

“You… you know?”

Her voice was barely above a whisper, tinged with something fragile— something almost fearful.

Fang Li simply nodded, his expression unreadable.

“Yes. I know.”

“You are a Genestellar of the future.”

Why was it that Orphelia, despite being hailed as the strongest Strega, had such unrefined Prana control?

Because at the start—

She wasn’t a Strega at all.

She wasn’t even a Genestellar.

Yes.

Orphelia Landlufen was not born a Genestellar.

She had been nothing more than an ordinary girl.

Born in an orphanage in an unknown country, Orphelia had once been a quiet child who never spoke much, someone too gentle to even harm an insect.

Her favorite pastime had been tending to the orphanage’s small garden, caring for its plants with a delicate touch.

A girl who loved life, who understood its preciousness.

A girl who would never have harmed another living thing.

But in this twisted world ruled by the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, misfortune came without warning.

One day, Orphelia was taken away.

The orphanage, drowning in debt, had no choice.

To settle what they owed, they handed Orphelia over to a research organization.

That organization was a subsidiary of the Integrated Enterprise Foundation— the same conglomerate that controlled Arlequint Academy’s research division.

Their goal?

To create the ‘Genestellar of the Future’.

In other words, Orphelia became a test subject for human experimentation.

And as a result, she not only became a Genestellar but also awakened as a Strega— one with an incredibly lethal Ability and an unprecedented amount of Prana.

She was an anomaly.

A miracle.

Genestellars were supposed to be naturally occurring.

Artificially creating one should have been impossible.

Yet, by some stroke of fate, Orphelia had survived the process and emerged stronger than anyone could have predicted.

A scientific breakthrough of the century.

But the researchers never stopped to consider the consequences.

They never thought about what would happen when an ordinary girl— one who had never even fought before— was suddenly given the power of a god overnight.

It was like overinflating a balloon— it would inevitably burst.

And so, Orphelia’s power went out of control.

“Your body rejected the very power it was given,” Fang Li spoke coldly.

“No matter how much you tried to resist, your Ability ignored your will, consuming everything in its path. The buildings decayed, the earth corroded, and the plants you loved withered and died. The entire research facility was wiped out, and in its place stood nothing but a lifeless wasteland.”

Fang Li’s words struck like daggers, exposing the raw wound in Orphelia’s heart— her greatest tragedy, the secret she had buried deep inside.

“And in the aftermath of that destruction, it was the Integrated Enterprise Foundation’s Special Forces— the same ones affiliated with Rewolf Black Academy— who retrieved you.”

Thus, after a series of negotiations, Orphelia had been transferred from Arlequint’s jurisdiction to Rewolf Black Academy’s.

That was how she had ended up there.

The girl who had once been so gentle, who had once loved caring for plants, who had once feared taking a life—

Had been turned into a Strega who could do nothing but destroy everything around her.

“To you, that Ability has never been a blessing,” Fang Li stated.

He placed a hand over her chest, his gaze locked onto hers.

“Your fate wasn’t sealed with that school emblem lying at your feet. It was sealed the moment you gained a power that could erase life itself.”

And so, Orphelia had spent every day since in sorrow.

Because from the moment she became the strongest Strega—

She had been doomed to take away everything she had ever loved.

Past.

Present.

And future.