Chapter 129: The Divine Emperor Light
Seraphel
I let out a harsh, ragged gasp as the suffocating stench of pulverized stone, smoke, and fresh copper filled my lungs.
My vision swam in blurred, disorienting waves, but the icy calm of my sea of consciousness had vanished completely.
Reality returned with the merciless force of a crashing tide.
As my sight slowly came into focus, the muted silence was instantly replaced by the deafening roar of absolute chaos.
Clang!
The sharp, metallic ring of blades striking against each other echoed violently through my ears, accompanied by low grunts and the blinding flashes of elemental magic tearing through the dark night.
I blinked hard, raising a trembling, dust-covered hand to brush the debris from my face.
My breath caught in my throat when I saw my fingers—they were drenched in crimson, slick with fresh blood.
Panic flared instantly inside me.
My hand flew down to my stomach, clutching the tear in my silk robes where Zephyrus’s weapon had pierced me only moments ago.
I pressed down, bracing myself for the unbearable, tearing agony of the wound, but there was nothing.
No torn flesh, no gushing blood, no pain at all.
Only smooth skin beneath the ruined fabric.
A sharp, furious roar cut through the sound of falling rubble.
"Why?!" Sariel’s voice vibrated with raw, murderous fury, echoing across the ruined courtyard. "Why did you strike him?! He was completely defenseless, you bastard!"
I forced my head up, my eyes locking onto the scene unfolding only a few paces away.
Zephyrus stood amidst the wreckage, his sweeping celestial robes singed by stray flames, a cold, arrogant sneer twisting his features.
Standing directly between him and my collapsed form was Sariel.
The Sin of Envy held a long, gleaming sword, his knuckles white around the hilt, while shimmering waves of emerald-green spiritual energy radiated from his body, clashing violently against the harsh, radiant white light pulsating from Zephyrus’s divine blade.
"Defenseless?" Zephyrus scoffed, his eyes burning with venomous hatred. "He is a plague upon this world! A mortal insect who DARED to murder a Goddess!"
With a deafening crack of thunder, Zephyrus lunged forward, bringing his sword down in a brutal, arcing overhead strike.
White celestial light flared as the two blades met.
Sariel did not back down.
Bringing his blade up diagonally, he parried the divine strike with a harsh CRACK.
Sparks of green and white spiritual energy exploded outward, shattering the surrounding stone columns into fine powder.
The force of the collision pushed Sariel back half a step, his boots carving tracks into the earth, but he instantly twisted his hips, using the momentum to drive a hard, brutal kick straight into Zephyrus’s groin.
The blow landed with a heavy, solid thud.
Zephyrus let out a harsh gasp as the wind was forcefully knocked from his lungs, his body skidding backward across the gravel before he collapsed onto one knee, thrusting his sword deep into the earth to steady himself.
I let out a low groan, rubbing a hand against my throbbing temple before pushing myself up from the cold ground.
Standing on shaking legs, I stared at the back of the dark-haired sin.
"Sariel..." I called out, my voice raspy and choked with smoke.
Sariel immediately dropped into a low, fluid slide beneath a stray blast of celestial light, spinning around to face the voice.
The moment his eyes landed on me, he froze.
His eyes widened in complete shock, his sword arm lowering slightly as he stared at me as though he were looking at a ghost.
"Seraphel..." he breathed, his tone stripped of its usual condescension and mocking sneers.
A faint, tired laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. I shook my head softly, looking back at him.
"That’s... the first time you’ve ever called me by my actual name," I murmured. "Not ’human.’ Not mortal.’"
Sariel said nothing, though his jaw tightened slightly. His gaze immediately darted down to my midsection, locking onto the torn, blood-soaked robes covering my stomach.
Real, undisguised concern flickered within his amber eyes different from how he usually stared at me with envy.
"I’m fine," I assured him quickly, placing my hand gently over my womb.
A faint, gentle warmth throbbed against my palm—the tiny, resilient soul resting within me remained untouched.
"I’m really okay. And the baby is fine... I can still feel his heartbeat."
"How... how are you still standing?!" Zephyrus’s voice echoed across the courtyard sounding sharp and hysterical.
He pushed himself up from his kneeling position, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his sword. He stared at me with pure disbelief, his face twisted in rage.
"That was a Celestial Spear! Forged with the pure divine light of Elysium! You are a fragile, useless mortal—you should be a corpse upon the floor!"
I slowly turned my eyes toward him.
The sight of his arrogant face—the god who had ordered the destruction of Katula, the god who had helped orchestrate the trap that had torn Azriel away from me—ignited a dark, dangerous spark deep within my chest.
Castiel’s lingering words echoed through the dark corners of my mind. The power he had left behind suddenly stirred, awakening like a dormant volcano beneath my ribs.
"You struck me down without a shred of mercy," I said, my voice dropping into a dangerous, terrifyingly calm murmur that somehow carried across the roaring battlefield.
I took a step toward him, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.
"You brought an army to burn this kingdom to ashes. You let your snakes creep into this palace, and you stole Azriel away from me."
Zephyrus bared his teeth, raising his sword.
"I did what was necessary to avenge my mother!"
"I killed your mother once," I growled, a fierce, suffocating pressure suddenly flooding the air around us, causing the falling ash to freeze in mid-air.
"And if you stand in my way, I will kill you the exact same way!"
I threw my right hand forward, my palm facing Zephyrus.
BOOM!
A blinding torrent of dual-colored light erupted instantly from my hand.
It was not ordinary spiritual energy—it was a magnificent, swirling pillar of deep, oceanic blue intertwined seamlessly with brilliant, radiant gold.
The overwhelming force of the blast tore through the ground, sending a shockwave rippling across the entire courtyard as it surged straight toward Zephyrus’s chest.
Zephyrus’s eyes dilated in sheer terror.
Instinct took over; he threw himself sideways, rolling violently across the stone a mere fraction of a second before the light could strike him.
The attack slammed into a towering stone archway behind him, reducing the massive structure to dust in an instant.
"What do you want with us?!" I shouted, extending my left hand as well, the intense heat of the blue and golden light illuminating my face.
"Why are you relentlessly pursuing an unborn child?! Just tell me what the hell you want with my baby!"
I thrust both palms forward again, releasing a barrage of condensed light spears that pierced through the air with deafening sonic booms.
"The Celestial Light!" Zephyrus screamed, his voice cracking with rage as he frantically swung his sword back and forth, slashing through the air to form a barrier of white light that deflected my oncoming attacks.
The collisions created violent bursts of energy between us, painting the sky in fierce shades of gold, blue, and white.
"That divine light... that is the exact same cursed power you used to murder Goddess Mirevale!"
"I do not care about your goddess!" I roared back, stepping firmly into the barrage.
I knew not where this knowledge came from—my body was moving purely on instinct, guided by the power Castiel had fused into my soul.
Every time Zephyrus slashed a blade of light toward me, I countered it seamlessly, shooting beams of blue and gold from my palms to shatter his attacks in mid-air.
"You are nothing but a useless mortal!" Zephyrus yelled desperately, dodging another golden ray that singed the edge of his celestial robes.
"You have no spiritual roots! You possess no cultivation foundation! How can you possibly wield the pure light of the former—"
He cut himself off, rolling backward as another blast detonated at his feet, spraying him with sharp fragments of stone.
I did not stop.
I could not stop.
A massive rush of overwhelming energy suddenly surged through my body, like a raging river breaking through a fragile dam.
The two distinct energies within my chest—the deep, mystical blue and the searing, divine gold—began to swirl violently around one another, spinning faster and faster until the boundary between them completely dissolved.
Beside me, Sariel gasped aloud, taking an involuntary step backward as the suffocating pressure radiating from me nearly forced him onto his knees.
Zephyrus, still struggling to regain his footing, raised his arm to shield his face from the sudden, blinding radiance.
His breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening with utter horror as he stared at the transformation unfolding before him.
The blue and golden light merged completely, transforming into a magnificent, iridescent crimson-gold aura that expanded outward in a majestic, shockwave-like halo.
Zephyrus dropped his sword, his face draining of all color as he stammered in complete terror.
"The... The Divine Emperor Light..." he whispered, his voice trembling violently. "The supreme authority of Emperor Castiel...!"
A cold, bitter smirk touched my lips as I felt the boundless power humming beneath my skin.
I raised my hands slowly, the crimson-gold light gathering into a massive, concentrated sphere above my head, pulsating with enough destructive force to level the entire peak of the mountain.
"Good," I said, frowning at him. "Now that you recognize it... I shall use it to send you straight into the Netherworld."
I locked my eyes on Zephyrus and brought my hands down, preparing to unleash the divine light and destroy him where he knelt.
Suddenly Sariel rushed forward yelling at me as he stood between us with a golden barrier formed around his body
"Seraphel, stop!"