Chapter 428 The Boy Who Came Home
Recovering Soraya's spirit taught Zara something important.
A life created through forbidden methods was not necessarily beyond saving.
That realization led her to Enoch.
He had disappeared after Lucian was taken to the Divine World. Spencer had hidden him in an isolated house surrounded by barriers that blocked sound, energy, and electronic signals.
Zara found the place within minutes.
She pushed open the door without knocking.
Spencer turned sharply.
His expression changed when he saw her.
Enoch sat in a chair across from him.
Black markings covered his face and neck. They moved beneath his skin like living veins, twisting the once clear features of the young man into something frightening.
When Enoch recognized Zara, he immediately covered his face.
"Zara..."
His voice was hoarse.
Zara walked past Spencer. "What happened?"
"The sacrificial structure inside him is collapsing," Spencer said. "He was never stable. The Upper Realm stopped maintaining the spell after Lucian replaced him."
Enoch had been created as a weapon.
Children's spirit bodies, human lives, and forbidden energy had been forced together to produce something that looked human but possessed enough power to destroy mystic beasts.
Unlike Soraya, he had never possessed a natural spirit body of his own.
He was an artificial life assembled from death.
Yet the boy in front of Zara was not a monster.
He was frightened, embarrassed, and trying desperately not to hurt anyone.
"You shouldn't look at me," Enoch whispered.
Zara pulled his hands away from his face.
"I've seen worse."
The black marks pulsed.
Hunger rose inside him, sharp and bloody.
Enoch recoiled from Zara, but she held him still.
"It's all right."
Using the knowledge restored with her memories, Zara examined the structure of his spirit.
The people who created him had expected obedience, not longevity. They had built him to function only while supplied with external power.
Now that the support was gone, the conflicting spirit fragments inside him were tearing his body apart.
Zara could not turn him into a naturally born human.
But she could give the fragments a stable center.
She pressed two fingers against his forehead.
Starlight entered his body.
The black markings resisted, spreading across his skin, but Zara's power isolated each fragment and bound them around Enoch's existing consciousness.
Not the weapon the Upper Realm intended.
The person Enoch had chosen to become.
The process lasted several minutes.
When the light faded, the markings were gone.
Enoch opened his eyes.
Spencer immediately brought him a mirror.
He stared at his reflection.
His face was clean again.
"Is it permanent?" he asked.
"The bloodlust won't control you anymore," Zara said. "You'll still need regular checks, but you can live normally."
Enoch looked at her as if he did not dare believe it.
Then he smiled.
It was the same gentle smile Zara remembered.
Spencer exhaled for the first time since she entered.
Zara turned toward him.
"Don't look so relieved. We still need to discuss what happens next."
His expression hardened. "What do you want?"
"Enoch goes home."
"To Vivian?"
"She raised him."
"She never wanted him."
"She was forced to accept a child created as part of an invasion plot. That doesn't mean she never cared."
Enoch lowered his gaze.
Spencer remained silent.
Zara continued, "You will also provide Earth with every record connected to his creation. The people responsible for the sacrifices will be named under the peace accord."
"You expect me to betray the Upper Realm."
"The Upper Realm already agreed to disclose those crimes."
Spencer looked away.
The world he served no longer existed in the same form.
Enoch spoke quietly.
"I want to go home."
Spencer's jaw tightened.
After everything he had done to protect Enoch, the boy still regarded Vivian's house as home.
But he nodded.
They drove there that evening.
Vivian's villa was brightly lit, but she was alone. The staff had gone home for the holiday, and the large house looked strangely empty.
She came outside when she heard the car.
The moment she saw Enoch, she stopped.
Spencer opened the door.
"I'm bringing him back."
Vivian looked from him to Zara.
"Is he... safe?"
"Yes," Zara said. "No one will use him again. He can live as an ordinary person."
Enoch stepped forward.
For a moment, neither he nor Vivian spoke.
Then he said, "Mom, Happy New Year."
Vivian's eyes filled with tears.
She had spent years fearing what he represented. She had also spent years preparing his meals, remembering his school schedule, and waiting for him to come home.
When Spencer took him away, she had believed she would never see him again.
She crossed the distance between them and pulled him into her arms.
"I'm glad you're home."
Enoch closed his eyes.
Spencer stood beside the car, his expression unreadable.
Zara looked at him. "You can visit."
He gave her a cold glance. "I wasn't asking permission."
"Good. Then remember to bring a gift."
Several weeks later, Enoch celebrated his eighteenth birthday.
He returned to school, resumed his philosophy studies, and began learning to drive.
Vivian offered to buy him a modest car.
Spencer offered him three luxury cars and a sports car.
Enoch chose Vivian's suggestion.
Spencer took the rejection personally.
Zara found it hilarious.
At the end of the birthday celebration, Enoch handed Zara a small music box.
"Lucian asked me to give you this."
Zara narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't he give it to me himself?"
"He said you'd understand when you opened it."
She pressed the button.
Music began to play.
Outside the windows, lights rose into the night sky.