[3rd POV]
At the Ro'nark Family mansion, all nurses and doctors were in a hurry as news spread that the water of the Matriarch of the Ro'nark Family had broken.
She had been pregnant for about nine months, so all the staff rushed to the Matriarch's room. There she lay on the bed in a lithotomic position.
The doctor rushed in and checked the leakage of water, then said to the Matriarch's sister, who was holding her hand,
"Her water just broke. It will take another 3–4 hours for the baby to be delivered, so please empty this room. Only essential personnel will be allowed until childbirth. Please cooperate."
Sasha, the Matriarch's sister, looked at the doctor, then at her pleading expression, and nodded.
She ordered in a stern tone,
"Everybody leave this room. Only nurses and the doctor will stay here."
Then she looked at the doctor again and said in a lower tone,
"Please take care of my sister, doctor. She has given birth before, but it has never been this painful."
The doctor immediately nodded.
"Rest assured, Madam. We will take good care of the Matriarch and the coming child."
Sasha nodded, looked at her sister, still holding her hand, and said softly,
"Don't worry, big sis. Everything will be alright. I'm right outside the room if you need anything—you just have to ask."
The Matriarch nodded while panting and bearing the pain. She tried to speak to her sister, but the assault of pain only allowed whimpers to escape her lips.
Seeing her brave, warrior-like sister in this state, Sasha could only guess the reason behind it. With worry in her eyes, she walked out of the room.
After coming outside, she ordered a guard to bring the family Oracle — the man who divined future possibilities and guided the best course of action for the Ro'nark Family.
---
Soon after, the guard returned with a man who had a white beard, a goatee, and a tied-back ponytail. Rounded glasses rested just below his eye line, and his middle-aged face was free of blemishes or wrinkles — a sign of his power level.
He hurriedly came before Sasha, bowed, and spoke with reverence in his voice,
"Good day, Madam Sasha. I heard the Matriarch went into labor — a joyous occasion. Do you need me for anything?"
Sasha didn't waste time.
"Yes, Oracle. Big sis is in a lot of pain. She had two children before, but she never showed this kind of expression, and the last two were delivered easily. I just want you to check if there is going to be any problem with big sis or the child."
The Oracle and Sasha moved to the side as he closed his eyes to look into the possibilities of both mother and child.
While he began his work, Sasha stared at him with expectant eyes. Since yesterday, her sister had been in unbearable pain, and no amount of sedatives or alchemical mixtures had helped.
She worried deeply for her sister — the one who always sought and fought dangers for both her maternal and in-laws' families. Seeing her suffer now, when her first two births were easy, gnawed at her heart.
Something was wrong. She could feel it.
---
When Malcom, The Oracle, was summoned here, he never imagined that what he would witness today would change his life forever.
First, when he looked into the future of the Matriarch, he saw her regaining her strength and walking once again on the path of power.
But when he turned his metaphorical gaze toward the unborn child —
He saw nothing.
Instead, he felt the gaze of a being so vast that his knees buckled. The sheer presence crushed him, and he collapsed onto the floor.
He heard — and felt — a voice.
"Wretched mortal, trying to gaze into me… you sure want to die."
That was all the Supreme Being said.
The Oracle's blood-filled, blinded eyes opened wide as he screamed, clutching a nearby pole. Sweat poured down his body as blood streamed from his orifices.
Yet, in his shock, he didn't notice any of it.
He kept mumbling,
"Save me… save me…"
---
Sasha hurriedly ran to him, holding his shoulders and shaking him.
"What happened? Is there any threat to my sister? Tell me!"
The Oracle's pitiful state shocked her. Seeing him unresponsive made her want to slap him right there — but she held back.
She needed answers.
After shaking him and calling out two or three times, the Oracle finally came out of his stupor.
"Madam Sasha… you have to save me… please, save me…"
Sasha's patience snapped.
"Shut up, Oracle, or I will have your head for disobeying me!"
Her sharp voice dragged him back from the brink a little. Still dazed, he didn't realize the state of his bleeding body.
"Sorry, Madam… I just… never felt like this before — looking into someone's future…"
Sasha narrowed her fierce eyes.
"Tell me — is there any threat to my sister?"
The Oracle hurriedly shook his head.
"I saw the Matriarch regaining her strength and reaching new heights. She will be fine… it's the child… it's the child…"
He almost broke down, trembling with fear, keeping his eyes tightly shut — afraid that the Being might still be watching him.
---
Sasha exhaled a bit, relieved that her sister would survive, but her worry shifted to the unborn child.
"What did you see, Oracle? Tell me."
Still weeping, he replied,
"I didn't see anything… I just felt an abyss watching me. A being in that abyss told me I am going to die… please, save me…"
Sasha tensed again. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
"Open your eyes, Oracle! Tell me everything you saw or felt. I am here, and you are in the Ro'nark Family Mansion — no one on this planet dares to harm you here!"
Her firm tone steadied his ragged breathing. Slowly, the Oracle began to open his eyes.
But all he could see was darkness — an endless, suffocating abyss.
He blinked again and again. Rubbed his eyes. Nothing.
Sasha frowned at his strange behavior. She was about to dismiss him and stand guard outside her sister's room when suddenly —
A scream tore through the air.
The Oracle stumbled to his feet, grabbing at the empty air, shouting,
"I can't see! I can't see… I'm blind!"