Ashford Estate. Morning.
Sera sat up slowly, processing everything Cael had just told her.
Divine Marrow.
Frostborn Divine Marrow.
Overlord potential.
"That's... that can't be right." She shook her head, though her voice lacked conviction. "Divine Marrow is legendary. People who possess it are fought over by the great powers—even the Divine Court would move heaven and earth to recruit them. How could I possibly..."
She trailed off.
Because even as she denied it, pieces were clicking into place.
The Genesis Restoration Pills that shouldn't exist. The impossible recovery that Pill Masters had declared beyond hope. The energy now flowing through her body—familiar yet somehow more than what she remembered.
If Cael could produce medicine that defied everything she knew about alchemy, why couldn't he also know things about her own body that she didn't?
"You healed me," she said quietly. "Something that should have been impossible. So when you tell me I have Divine Marrow instead of a Spirit Core..."
"You believe me."
"I believe you."
She met his eyes.
"I don't know how you know these things. I don't know where those pills came from, or why a young master from a border family possesses knowledge that surpasses the Pill Masters my family consulted. And I'm not going to ask."
Cael raised an eyebrow. "You're not curious?"
"I'm incredibly curious." A small smile crossed her lips. "But you saved me. You gave me back everything I'd lost. If you wanted me to know your secrets, you'd tell me. Until then, I'll trust that you have your reasons."
Something warm flickered in Cael's chest.
He'd expected questions. Demands for explanation. Perhaps even suspicion—after all, his abilities were suspicious. A seventeen-year-old with no formal training producing Fourth-rank pills? Knowing details about her physique that even her own family had missed?
Anyone with sense would be wary.
But Sera simply... trusted him.
She's been betrayed by everyone who should have protected her, he realized. Her family. Her clan. The world itself. And now she's choosing to put her faith in me.
It was humbling. And it made him more determined than ever to be worthy of that faith.
"There's something I want to say."
Sera shifted, her expression growing serious.
"Whatever I become—Sovereign, Paragon, Overlord—it doesn't change anything. Everything I have now exists because of you. My cultivation. My future. My life."
She reached out and took his hand.
"From this day forward, I am yours, Cael Ashford. Your wife. Your partner. Your sword." Her grip tightened. "Point me at your enemies, and I will cut them down. No hesitation. No questions. Whatever you need, whenever you need it."
The words hung in the air between them.
Cael had read countless cultivation novels in his previous life. He'd seen this trope before—the devoted wife who pledged eternal loyalty to the protagonist.
It had always seemed... transactional. Convenient. A fantasy wish-fulfillment rather than genuine emotion.
But looking into Sera's eyes now, seeing the absolute sincerity there, he understood that this was different.
This wasn't a woman surrendering her agency. This was a warrior choosing her commander. A decision made from strength, not weakness.
She was giving him her loyalty because she wanted to. Because he'd earned it.
"I'll try to be worthy of that trust," he said quietly.
"You already are."
The morning passed in comfortable silence.
They ate breakfast together—a simple meal, by noble standards, but neither complained. Sera was still marveling at basic activities like feeding herself without assistance. After two years of being dependent on servants for everything, the ability to hold her own chopsticks felt like a miracle.
Eventually, Cael set down his tea.
"I have a proposal."
"Oh?"
"I want to spar."
Sera blinked. "Spar? You and me?"
"Unless you had someone else in mind."
She studied him, clearly trying to determine if he was joking. When his expression remained neutral, her brow furrowed.
"Cael... I don't want to insult you, but there's a significant gap between us. I'm first-stage Calamity. You're fourth-stage Resonance. That's an entire realm of difference."
"I'm aware."
"Even with my cultivation just restored, I could defeat most opponents several stages above me. Before my injury, I beat the Saintess of the Azure Sanctum—a woman backed by Overlord-level resources and training—in five moves."
"I remember you mentioning that."
"So you understand why I'm confused." She leaned forward. "I could suppress my realm to match yours, if you want a fair—"
"No suppression."
Sera's eyebrows rose.
"Come at me with everything you have," Cael continued calmly. "Full power. No holding back."
"You're serious."
"Completely."
She searched his face for any sign of false bravado. Any hint that he was overestimating himself or underestimating her.
She found nothing but quiet confidence.
"...Alright." She rose from her seat, a competitive glint entering her eyes. "Don't blame me when you end up flat on your back, husband."
"Wouldn't dream of it, wife."
Ashford Estate. Training Courtyard.
They faced each other across the sparring ring.
Sera had changed into combat attire—fitted robes that allowed free movement, her hair pulled back in a practical tail. A practice sword rested in her grip, its edge dulled for training but still capable of delivering painful strikes.
She looked every inch the prodigy she'd once been. Perhaps more so, now that her eyes held fire instead of emptiness.
Cael stood opposite her, outwardly relaxed. His own practice blade hung loosely at his side.
"Last chance to reconsider," Sera offered. "I won't think less of you for being practical."
"Your concern is touching."
"Your funeral."
She settled into a combat stance—weight balanced, sword angled, energy coiling through her restored meridians.
Cael smiled.
Then he moved his hand in a subtle gesture, and the world shifted.
Four swords erupted from concealment around the courtyard's perimeter.
They weren't impressive weapons—one Veteran-grade, three Militia-grade—but as they rose into the air and began orbiting Cael in a complex pattern, something fundamental changed.
The sky above the courtyard vanished, replaced by an endless white expanse. The walls disappeared. The ground remained, but everything else faded into featureless void.
And the pressure...
Sera's breath caught.
The aura emanating from Cael had transformed. Moments ago, he'd felt like what he was: a talented but unremarkable Resonance-realm cultivator. Now?
Now he felt like a predator.
The killing intent radiating from those four spinning blades was sharper than anything she'd experienced outside of fighting genuine Monarch-level threats.
"What... is this?" she breathed.
"My trump card." Cael raised his practice sword, and even that mundane weapon seemed to hum with borrowed lethality. "The Godslayer Array. A formation that amplifies combat power based on the quality of its component swords."
"Godslayer..."
"The swords I'm using are garbage, honestly. But even garbage becomes dangerous when filtered through the right technique." He shifted into a ready stance. "Now then, wife. Shall we begin?"
Sera's competitive instincts roared to life.
She'd underestimated him. Badly. This wasn't going to be a casual spar where she gently demonstrated the gap between realms.
This was going to be a real fight.
Good.
"Don't blame me for what happens next," she said, settling deeper into her stance.
"I was about to say the same thing."
Cael moved first.
His blade came down in a diagonal slash—a technique called Cloudbreaker, one of the Ashford family's foundational sword arts. Technically classified as low Heaven-grade. Nothing special by any objective measure.
But filtered through the Godslayer Array, "nothing special" became something else entirely.
The air screamed as his sword descended.
Sera's eyes widened.
Fast—!
She brought her own blade up to intercept, channeling energy through her restored Divine Marrow.
Steel met steel.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the white void. Sera's arms trembled from the force—force that should not have come from a fourth-stage Resonance cultivator.
This pressure... it's comparable to a mid-stage Calamity expert!
She disengaged, leaping backward to create distance.
Cael didn't let her.
He pressed forward, blade weaving through a series of strikes that built on each other—each one faster than the last, each one carrying that impossible weight.
Sera found herself on the defensive.
Blocking. Parrying. Dodging.
For the first time since her recovery, she was being pushed.
By a man an entire realm below her.
A wild grin spread across her face.
"Interesting!" she laughed, finally finding her rhythm. "Very interesting, husband!"
Her counterattack came like winter itself.
Cold energy exploded from her core—the first manifestation of her Frostborn Divine Marrow's innate ability. The temperature in the void plummeted. Frost crept across the ground. Her sword became sheathed in pale blue ice.
Cael felt the chill bite into his skin.
There it is. The Divine Marrow's power.
Even at first-stage Calamity, even with her abilities just restored, Sera's attacks carried a quality that transcended her technical realm. The ice wasn't just cold—it was hungry, seeking to freeze spiritual energy itself.
If he let it touch him directly, his cultivation would stall. Maybe permanently.
Good thing I have no intention of letting it touch me.
The Godslayer Array pulsed.
Cael's next strike met Sera's frost-coated blade head-on. The collision produced a sound like shattering glass. Ice exploded outward, and for a moment, they were perfectly matched.
Then Cael twisted.
His blade slid along hers, redirecting her force, and suddenly his sword tip was at her throat.
Silence.
Sera stood frozen, eyes wide, the point of Cael's practice blade resting gently against her pulse.
"...I yield," she whispered.
The Godslayer Array deactivated. The white void vanished, replaced by the normal courtyard. The four swords drifted back to their resting positions.
Cael lowered his weapon.
"You were holding back," he said.
"So were you."
They stared at each other for a long moment.
Then Sera started laughing.
"A Resonance cultivator just beat me in single combat." She shook her head, disbelief and admiration warring in her expression. "I've been restored for less than two days, and my husband has already shown me that everything I thought I knew about power is wrong."
"The formation did most of the work."
"Don't be modest. The formation amplified your attacks, but you were the one controlling it. Your timing, your technique, your ability to read my movements—those were all yours." She stepped closer, looking up at him with something like wonder. "What are you, Cael Ashford?"
"Just a man with a few tricks."
"No." She placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. "You're more than that. I don't know what yet. But you're definitely more."
Later That Evening.
Sera's maid had been given the night off.
They sat together on the bed, not quite ready to sleep, processing the day's events.
"That formation," Sera said eventually. "The Godslayer Array. Where did you learn it?"
Cael considered his answer carefully.
"An inheritance," he said. "Something I acquired recently. The details are... complicated."
"Complicated meaning you don't want to explain?"
"Complicated meaning I can't fully explain. Not yet." He met her eyes. "But I will. Eventually. When the time is right."
Sera nodded slowly.
"Then I'll wait." She leaned against his shoulder. "In the meantime, I'll focus on getting stronger. If you can fight above your realm with that formation, imagine what we could do together once I've fully mastered my Divine Marrow."
"That's the plan."
"Good." She closed her eyes. "Because I have people to kill, and I'd rather not make you do all the work."
Cael smiled, wrapping an arm around her.
"Speaking of plans," he said, "we should probably discuss children at some point."
Sera's cheeks flushed. "Already? We've been married three days."
"Just thinking ahead. With your Divine Marrow and my... resources... any children we have could be exceptional."
"Exceptional." She laughed softly. "Is that your way of saying you want to start a dynasty?"
"Something like that."
Sera was quiet for a moment.
"I'm not opposed," she finally said. "To children, I mean. But let me stabilize my cultivation first. A few months, at least. I want to be at my best when..."
"Of course. There's no rush."
She relaxed against him, tension draining from her shoulders.
"You really are strange, Cael. Most men would be pushing for heirs immediately, especially given your family's situation."
"I'm not most men."
"No." She tilted her head up to kiss his jaw. "You're definitely not."