The room went silent as the implications settled over them.
"Jaegar's mother," Jennifer breathed.
"Augusta. She was in one of those pods?"
"For several months, apparently," Veronica confirmed.
"The forensic mages are still analyzing the evidence, but preliminary findings suggest she was held in that structure for at least a decade, possibly longer. The extraction process was gradual, designed to harvest chaos magic without killing the source."
Arthur's hands clenched into fists.
"That bastard. His own wife—"
"And five others," Veronica interrupted.
"They haven't identified all the victims yet, but the genetic traces suggest a mix of human and non-human subjects. All of them possessed some form of chaos magic or related abilities."
"Is Augusta all right?" Pierre asked.
"I know she was rescued during the battle, but I haven't heard anything about her condition since."
"She's with Jaegar and Lady Angelina, wherever they are," Veronica said.
