-----
Cecil's power was strange and perhaps too dangerous for her; she was also a slightly strange girl and rather a hateful one. I am not a bad person, though, so I would never hate a child for being unruly; I simply blame the parents for not raising her well. Therefore, for now, as part of her punishment for what she did to Jackes, she will have her powers temporarily sealed for the moment.
How? Well, I took some time to analyze her aura, her body, and the origins of her power. To say it quite simply, this power seems to be an "entity of its own" that is still somehow part of her soul and her own innate abilities. Once I tapped into her power using my own Heavenly Aura, I quickly manifested several chains by amassing Divine Photon Essence.
Cecil tried to escape or fight back, but her parents quickly stopped her from even escaping as I wrapped her body around with my chains while she screamed and complained, even though this caused no pain to her.
"S-Stop! Don't do this! Why do I deserve this?!" Cecil kept screaming until she started crying a bit.
"Why? You tried to kill Jackes, an innocent man that had only come to help out, dear," her mother said. "You made a terrible mistake, and the attitude you've shown to him and everyone else is very bad, so we need to correct that."
"With the power you possess, it would be too dangerous to let you go without a leash. Please, believe us when we say this: we love you. We only want the best for you, Cecil. Once you prove your worth, you will get your ability unsealed, we'll train together, you will learn to be a better person and also a better princess, understood?"
"Uuuggh! But daaaad! I'll be gooood! I promiseeeee!"
Cecil continued weeping, and as the chains began digging deeper and deeper into her soul, she suddenly glared at me with horror, realizing that I grasped something.
"There you are."
I smiled as I quickly wrapped the thing within her with chains, a large sphere of darkness with a red eye and several spikes, resembling a black star or sun.
The entity tried to fight back, shooting darkness through Cecil's mouth and eyes, but it was easily suppressed by my Aura.
Her strength has yet to mature fully; she does have the potential to become incredible with it, but it hasn't reached my level yet, and I doubt it will be able to do so in many years, if anything.
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, from Cecil, a giant made of darkness emerged, resembling a specter with countless arms and red eyes, covered with sharp black horns.
"Aaaggh…! Uuuggh…! Aarrgh!"
Cecil started spasming as her black star was trying to unleash its full power despite her not being capable of holding it within her body.
"GRUOOHHHH!"
The monstrous specter attacked me, unleashing a level of darkness and cosmic power that might have rivaled the Black Storm Dragon in sheer power and malice.
And yet…
"Get down."
TRUUUM!
With a mere order, the giant entity suddenly shrank in size and fell to the ground, impacting the floor and shattering it into pieces.
At the same time, it glared at me with its giant red eyes, filled with utter disbelief at what just happened.
Yes, the seal should be done by now.
"{Divinity Tree Formation Of Heavenly Lotus And Demonic Hell}: {Heavenly Seal Of Ten Thousand Holy Nails}"
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Suddenly, ten thousand nails made of light pierced the entire specter, making it submit to me completely. Its presence rapidly disappeared, sealed completely within Cecil's soul.
The power of my Second Root Divine Ability was really powerful, allowing me to conjure immensely strong Formations, Seals, and Barriers through a combination of all my Divinities concentrated into a single power.
What's more, I didn't even need to set a proper formation or even put much effort into it, as it was manifested instantly as I thought about it and designed it inside my head.
Truly, a Divine Ability befitting someone of my caliber, a very useful tool to facilitate these complicated processes.
"Ugh?! M-My power is gone?!" Cecil cried. "It's gone! Black Star?! Black Star!"
As she kept crying and asking for her power to go back, it didn't; Cecil looked rather sad and slightly pathetic, to be honest. This child has a long way to go. She has to learn a lot of things to improve as a person.
"Cecil!"
Her father called for her, as he looked her in the eyes, suddenly grabbing his sword and then pointing it at her.
"If you're angry and frustrated, then let that frustration and anger out through your sword. Show me your fury right now, with your own sword! If I deem you worthy after our battle, then I will request Bing Xue to unseal your power."
"W-What? But…"
"I promise, so come at me, and don't worry about anything else, my daughter."
"Damn it!"
Cecil unsheathed her sword, pointing it at her father, as her pure aura, without her Black Star's powers, emerged from her body.
It was red and green in color, combining the Aura of her father's family and the spiritual Aura of her mother's family.
See? She already had great latent potential within her; overly relying on that Black Star will only make her grow weaker instead.
"Hyaaaah!"
She charged forward, attacking her father with her sword and unleashing a barrage of swordsmanship techniques. Her foothold and stance were correct and rapid, her attacks were precise and dexterous, and she seemed to still hold a lot of what she had learned.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
And yet, there was something "missing," a little bump to her power, something she began to realize wasn't there anymore to make things easier for her, to help her catch up with others with an explosive growth of power.
Her so-called "cheat skill" was gone.
CLAAANK!
Her father's sword struck her hand strongly, making her yelp in pain as her blade was sent flying, falling into the ground with a loud metallic sound.
"O-Ouch…"
Cecil rubbed her hand, looking at her father's bright red eyes and his waving black hair, which was quite long.
"You showed incredible potential, something that would've been much harder to see without that Black Star in the middle of everything… But you're not worthy of it yet."
"W-What? But I showed you a lot of cool techniques, Dad!" Cecil said.
"You might have had, but each of such techniques was too amateurish in execution. It seems you specialized in a flurry of blows rather than a planned attacking pattern followed by improvisations to adapt to your foes." Her father said. "It seems you don't even pay attention to how I fight and go all out, hoping something hurts me. That is the technique of someone conceited who has never faced a challenge before."
"Indeed, he's not wrong," said her mother. "Also, you possess great Spiritual Power too! And yet you don't even use it! I've been teaching you Spirit Magic since you were a toddler, dear; have you forgotten all of it already?"
"I-I…" Cecil became rather embarrassed as her parents finally realized her negligence in her training and even her magic lessons. "I-I hadn't had the time to study… or practice that magic. It was… kind of weak, so I put it aside."
"Weak?! Spirit Magic is the pride of our Elven Race, dear! How could you say it is weak? It is the power you were born with; it is within your very bloodline!" Her mother said. "I am… very disappointed with you!"
"M-Mom…" Cecil felt completely devastated; even her nice mother, who never said anything against her and often protected her from everything, was now reprimanding her. "I'm sorry, okay? I-I'll work hard; don't get mad at me!"
"Hmph!" Her mother didn't even look at her eyes, crossing her arms. "If you're really sorry, then you will have to show it with efforts and actions, not with just empty words, my daughter."
"Indeed, from now on, we shall intensify your training with us," said the King. "You have shown clear hostility towards Bing Xue, so we will not let her train you. However, we will apply a lot of what we learned from her with you and help you cultivate too."
"Yes, so be prepared; your new training regime begins now, Cecil," her mother said. "We will make of you a proper princess."
"Uggh…" Cecil groaned, looking at me with slight annoyance.
Even though she hates me, I cannot really call her out for that; I understand she does because I killed her father and made her mother cry.
Even though I revived him and everything, she is justified in not wanting to forgive me or being wary about me or my people.
Nonetheless, she'll have to learn I mean no harm, one way or another.
"Cecil, obey your parents and be a good girl. Eventually, once your powers finally return, you'll be so much stronger you won't even believe it. Trust me."
"Fine… Whatever! I'll show you I don't need any of your teachings to get stronger!" Cecil said angrily. "I'm going back home!"
She slowly walked away as a dozen soldiers accompanied the princess to the castle.
"Alright, I'll get going for now," I said. "I'll come visit with my family in a couple of days from now, you two. So take care."
"Thank you for everything!"
"Have a nice trip!"
As I flew back home, the king and the queen waved their hands at me.
Well, that's done.
Now, time to have lunch with my family and then check what I can do with Galaxy Man's DNA, his power to absorb Solar Radiation to augment his physique to the point he can take blows from me without having ever cultivated is enough to be praiseworthy.
Indeed, I shall begin delving into genetic alteration technology, among many other things. All these powers that come from other worlds, I shall harness them for myself to grow even stronger.
The threats that might come in the future will only continue to worsen; I must prepare.
-----