Chapter 465: A City About to Burn
The air around them was still, heavy with the scent of blood and scorched earth. Isolde shifted her weight, one hand pressed against the wound on her side, her fingers slick with dark crimson. Her voice cut through the silence, cold but edged with urgency.
"Adam... we need to return to Myrta."
Before Adam could answer, a faint, broken laugh drifted from Celine’s shattered form. She lay half-buried in the rubble, her severed wrist still leaking blood into the dirt. Her chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven jerks. She tried to lift her head, the muscles in her neck trembling, but only managed a few inches before it fell back against the stones. Yet her eyes still gleamed.
"It’s too late for that," she rasped. Blood bubbled at the corner of her lips. "You won’t make it in time."
Isolde froze. Her hand tightened against her wound, knuckles whitening. She turned slowly, pale blue eyes narrowing.
"What do you mean by that?"
Celine’s lips curled, smearing red across her teeth. She coughed, a wet sound that shook her whole body, then forced the words out.
"We’ve already sent the seed there. Both sides are probably tearing each other apart right now."
Isolde’s fingers dug into her side. A thin line of blood slipped between them and dripped to the earth. Her voice came slower, more deliberate.
"The nobles... and Selena..." Her eyes widened. "Don’t tell me... did you deliberately make them fight each other?"
Celine’s smile stretched wider. She laughed again, a ragged, gurgling sound, and her body convulsed with the effort. A fresh wave of blood spilled from her mouth.
"Finally catching on, vampire?"
She shifted, trying to push herself up with her remaining arm. Her elbow slipped on the blood-slicked ground, and she collapsed again with a sharp hiss. Still, she kept talking.
"The Thanatos Faction doesn’t need to conquer a city. We just need to make it destroy itself."
Adam didn’t move. He stood a few paces away, arms relaxed at his sides. His eyes watched Celine without blinking. When he finally spoke, his voice was flat.
"You’re lying."
Celine’s breath hitched. She turned her head, cheek scraping against the stones, and forced another weak laugh.
"Lying? And which part of what I said is a lie?"
Adam took one slow step forward. The ground crunched beneath his boot. Then another. He stopped just close enough to loom over her, his shadow falling across her broken body.
"How would you even know if your plan is working perfectly?"
Celine blinked. Her smile wavered. Her fingers twitched in the dirt, scraping weakly against the ground.
Adam crouched down. He rested his forearms on his knees and tilted his head, studying her like a wounded animal that still bared its teeth.
"And if you really knew everything... if you were so prepared, so in control..." His gaze drifted over her shattered form—the torn armor, the severed wrist, the pool of blood spreading beneath her. "Then you wouldn’t be lying here like this."
He reached out and pressed one finger against her shoulder. Just a touch. But Celine flinched, her whole body jerking away, a sharp gasp escaping her lips.
Adam pulled his hand back, his expression unchanged.
"You’re not a mastermind. You’re just someone who loves the sound of her own voice, throwing out guesses and calling them plans."
Celine’s jaw tightened. Her lips parted, but only a wet, choking sound came out. Her remaining hand clenched, nails scraping against the stone.
Isolde stared at Celine, her expression still tense. Her voice dropped, barely above a whisper.
"Then... when she mentioned Myrta earlier..."
She didn’t finish the sentence, but the doubt in her voice was obvious.
Adam caught that hesitation. He turned his head slightly toward her, his tone calm but firm.
"Don’t tell me you’re actually buying what she said." He looked back at Celine, eyes cold and unwavering. "She’s bluffing. Someone like her couldn’t possibly plan something that far ahead."
Celine stared back at him. Her breathing was shallow and wet, but her eyes still burned. A bitter smile twisted her cracked lips.
"You think I’m lying?" She coughed, her whole body shaking. "I already lit the fire in that city... and now it’s about to face destruction again."
Before Adam could respond, a sudden light shot into the sky above Myrta. It climbed high, a single streak of red and gold, before exploding with a deafening crack that split the air like thunder. The ground seemed to tremble.
Isolde’s head snapped toward the horizon. Her face went pale.
"That direction... it’s Myrta."
Celine let out a weak, wet laugh. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction.
"Looks like the party’s already started."
Adam’s jaw tightened. He rose slowly to his feet, his crimson eyes fixed on the distant glow. The dried blood on his knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists.
"You really did it." His voice was low, cold. "So you weren’t just talking nonsense after all."
Celine smiled through the blood. "I told you. We demons will win in the end. Once Kaelthar falls, this will be our era."
Adam didn’t look at her. His gaze stayed on the horizon, where the red light still pulsed like an open wound in the sky.
"I still don’t understand why that city is always the target. I feel sorry for the people living there."
Isolde stepped forward, still pressing hard against the wound on her side. Her voice was tight.
"This isn’t the time to say that, Adam. We have to go back. Now."
Adam shook his head slowly, his voice calm but firm.
"Relax. The city will be fine. The others are there."
Celine let out another rasping laugh, her body trembling with the effort.
"Are you sure about that? There’s a man named Wincent there. A God Hand. He’ll become the new ruler of that city. But it won’t last long. Once he’s weak, the demons will attack immediately."
Adam let out a short breath, his gaze still fixed on the distant glow.
"If that’s all, then I already know. A man with a name like that will die sooner or later."
Isolde shook her head, her voice tight with something deeper than pain.
"I’m not worried about the others. I’m afraid the city will be destroyed worse than before. Especially Ignis... she’ll wipe everything out. She’ll erase that city from the map."
Adam’s eyes widened. The calm on his face cracked, replaced by sharp realization.
"Shit. I forgot about that."
He turned toward Myrta, his wings already beginning to manifest behind him.
"We can’t let that happen—"
Before he could finish, another explosion tore through the air above Myrta. A massive pillar of fire erupted into the sky, swirling upward like a living storm. The clouds themselves seemed to catch flame, painted in shades of orange and crimson. Even from this distance, the heat brushed against their skin like a warning.
Isolde stood frozen, her pale blue eyes reflecting the inferno.
"We’re too late..."
--------×--------
Several hours earlier, on the other side of Myrta...
The first strike came without warning.
From the rooftops and alleyways surrounding Selena’s residence, the mages of Duke Giorno and Wincent’s forces raised their staves in unison. Their chants rose as one, and the night sky above Myrta shimmered with heat. A volley of high-tier fireballs screamed through the air, each one blazing like a small sun, aimed directly at the heart of Selena’s headquarters.
The people barely had time to scream.
But before the flames could reach their target, a figure stood calmly on the rooftop above the residence.
Alice raised one hand, her expression cold and unimpressed. From her palm, a barrier of pure void energy unfolded, taking the shape of a massive black kitten’s head—cute from a distance, terrifying up close. The fireballs slammed into it and detonated in blinding bursts of orange and red.
The shockwave shattered windows and cracked walls for blocks around. Smoke and embers rained down like falling stars. But behind the barrier, Selena’s residence stood untouched.
Alice lowered her hand slowly, the void barrier dissolving into wisps of shadow. Her violet eyes narrowed toward the direction of the attack.
"Hey! How dare you try to burn someone’s house down."
Ignis, standing beside her, grinned widely. Flames already flickered between her teeth as she cracked her knuckles.
"Right! Right! We should strike back and burn them one by one!"
Azrynn, perched near the edge of the roof, nocked an arrow and glanced at Alice with a raised brow.
"This isn’t your house, Alice..."
Alice crossed her arms, her tail flicking behind her.
"I already marked this house. So now it’s mine." Her voice dropped, cold and commanding. "Now, counterattack. Ignis, destroy them without leaving a trace."
Ignis’s grin widened into something wild. Flames erupted along her arms and shoulders, blazing white-hot. Her eyes glowed like embers.
"I’ll show you the true power of fire."