Never
Scintilla observed her daughter with a radiant smile, one that seemed to brim with the certainty of the inevitable.
She had gone to unimaginable lengths, even taking her daughter's life with her own hands, all in the name of honing Serenelle's extraordinary Talent.
Yet, that confident smile wavered as her gaze fell upon the unexpected, her daughter's severed head tumbling through the air.
What she had foreseen as inevitable, Anthony's death, Serenelle's triumph, was unraveling before her very eyes.
She knew that even with her daughter's ability to return from death, Serenelle's chances of victory were slim.
Scintilla had witnessed Anthony crush Vahalin without breaking a sweat.
She wasn't naive enough to believe Serenelle could prevail in a direct confrontation.
But Serenelle's victory didn't rely on brute force; it hinged on the base action granted by her Talent.
It had worked, once.