Chapter 135: ¹³⁵Split Skies

?Ethan Valen stood at the edge of the ruined tower.

?Positioned between the corpses of two rulers, he stared down the apocalypse that had just been born.

?"I know," Ethan whispered curtly.

?His voice was drowned out by the roaring tempest ripping away the remnants of the tower roof. The wings of Azhyrael on his back quivered faintly—his Sin Mana instincts reacting to the absolute pressure radiating from the rift in the sky.

?Meanwhile, deep within the belly of Veylor Tower...

?Clack! Clack! Clack!

?The leather boots of Duke Reinhard von Ashford tapped rapidly up the stone spiral staircase.

?His dark silk robe with gold accents flapped wildly. His dark copper hair, usually slicked neat, was now slightly disheveled. The composure typical of the Southern Faction politician had completely shattered.

?The air inside this tower felt wrong. Terribly wrong.

?The temperature had plummeted drastically. Plumes of white vapor rose from Reinhard’s mouth with every breath.

?As a Sage-level Fire Mage, his magical senses caught an exceptionally dense, ancient mana fluctuation emanating from the summit. Pure, thick, and reeking of blood.

?"Tch, what on earth is happening?" Reinhard muttered, suppressing the burning pain in his chest.

?He pushed open the heavy oak door ahead with the last of his strength.

?BAM!

?The Duke’s footsteps ground to a sudden halt.

?The summit of Veylor Tower had turned into a slaughterhouse.

?The marble floor was pulverized, and the stained glass had evaporated into fine dust. The corpse of Alaric von Rosenberg lay frozen in his bear-pelt cloak. On the other side, the head of King Evander—or the entity lurking behind him—lay gruesomely severed from its neck.

?And at the gaping edge of the tower stood Ethan Valen.

?A pair of demonic wings—pitch-black at the base and blazing crimson at the tips—spanned wide from the young man’s back.

?Reinhard froze. His political mind locked up as he tried to piece together this insane puzzle.

?"Valen... what in the world are you—"

?Before he could finish his sentence, the atmospheric pressure suddenly multiplied.

?CRACK!

?Reinhard’s knees nearly buckled to the floor. He looked up, following the direction of Ethan’s gaze.

?The sky above Astrea had torn open.

?A colossal vertical rift ripped through the heavens, radiating a blinding red glare that devoured the moonlight. From the center of the blood-mist vortex, something was descending.

?Reinhard’s Sage instincts screamed in hysteria: DANGER!

?His blood ran ice-cold. Whatever was descending from that rift possessed power beyond human logic and magic.

?Wasting no time, Reinhard’s golden-yellow eyes blazed brightly. He raised his right hand high into the air.

?FWOOSH!

?Orange-white flames erupted, condensing into a massive orb of hyper-scorching energy.

?The Sage-grade fireball soared through the night air, targeting the bloody rift in the sky.

?However...

?The extreme-heat spell capable of incinerating Prince Edward in a heartbeat didn’t even get the chance to explode.

?Right before touching its target, the orange fire was sucked in and swallowed whole by the red darkness. Like a tiny candle snuffed out by the wind.

?Reinhard’s eyes widened to the extreme. "Huh...? I-impossible..."

?Within a fraction of a millisecond...

?SWOOSH!

?The figure cloaked in blood mist vanished from the sky and was already standing right before Reinhard. Less than half a meter separated them.

?Reinhard didn’t even have time to catch his breath, let alone cast a defensive barrier.

?A bone-pale hand tipped with sharp black nails shot straight through his chest.

?CRACK!

?The Sage’s magical armor and flesh tore like wet paper.

?Reinhard’s heart pulverized instantly. The pale hand thrust straight through his back, clutching a mass of fresh flesh.

?"Gah...!"

?Reinhard froze. Black blood spurted from his mouth. The light of life in his golden pupils slowly faded as the hand was yanked out violently.

?THUD!

?The body of the Southern Duke collapsed lifeless onto the marble floor. Dead in a single instant.

?From the edge of the tower, Ethan witnessed the death of one of the kingdom’s strongest men without so much as a blink.

?The Vampire Queen stepped forward through the remnants of blood mist.

?Her form was that of a tall, remarkably slender humanoid. Her skin was as pale as bone. Blood-red hair fell past her waist, moving slowly as though possessed of its own life. A crown of black blood crystals rested elegantly atop her head.

?Yet most horrifying were her eyes—devoid of pupils, the entirety of her sockets glowed blazing red, etched with thick, bulging black veins.

?Peak SS-Rank aura.

?That blazing red gaze locked straight onto Ethan’s crimson eyes.

?For the first time since inheriting the Asmodeus System, Ethan felt something unfamiliar creeping up his chest.

?Pure fear.

?Not a child’s terror of death, but the rational realization that his existence was nothing before this ancient entity.

?"Hmm... A human child with such pitch-black wings," the Vampire Queen called out.

?Her voice flowed melodiously, yet so laced with venom that it made one’s eardrums feel like bleeding.

?"There is the scent of primordial sin within your blood. And... a glimmer of light buried alive."

?Ethan remained silent. The Sin Mana in his body surged wildly. The Horned Crown tattoo on his chest seared his skin.

?Inside his head, Asmodeus shrieked hysterically.

?"Run, you foolish brat! Run right now!" the Demon of Sin screamed. "She is the Queen of the Night! The physical manifestation of death itself! You haven’t even reached halfway through S-Rank! Don’t you dare try to face her!"

?"There’s no room to run," Ethan replied cold-bloodedly in his mind. The monster’s speed surpassed his wings’ maneuvering capabilities.

?The Vampire Queen carved a chilling smile. Her right hand, dripping with Reinhard’s blood, rose slowly.

?Her black nails pointed directly at Ethan’s left chest.

?Ethan stood motionless, preparing to force Abyssal Stride even though he knew his speed might not be enough.

?Yet...

?FLASH!

?A blast of pure white light erupted from the direction of the ruined tower door.

?The blood miasma incinerated instantly. The Vampire Queen hissed in fury, forced to pull back her hand and shield her eyes from the holy radiance.

?From behind the burst of light, an old man stepped forward.

?His stooped posture now stood ramrod straight. The drab servant robes he wore had burned away completely, replaced by shining white vestments radiating holy luminescence.

?Across his back, a pair of angelic wings woven from raw light spanned wide.

?It was Barn. The old servant who used to serve tea in the king’s banquet hall.

?"Huh...? Barn?" Ethan gasped involuntarily.

?The old man turned. His eyes no longer belonged to a timid servant, but shone with the unwavering resolve of a holy warrior.

?"My name is Raniel, Young Master," he declared with clear authority.

?A pure S-Rank aura surged powerfully from his body.

?"I once swore an oath to serve your father."

?Raniel turned, placing himself directly in front of Ethan. The old man offered a faint, warm smile.

?"Go. Run as far as you can. It is this old man’s duty to ensure the lineage of the Valen family survives."

?Ethan stared at that radiant back. The same back that used to bend low while sweeping the floors of his home now stood tall against the world’s apocalypse.

?The Vampire Queen growled savagely. "A holy bird whose wings were broken long ago... You dare stand in my way?!"

?Raniel lunged forward. A sword forged of holy light manifested in his grip.

?SWOOSH!

?A high-tier battle shook the tower’s summit.

?The Vampire Queen moved with lethal grace. Her black nails tore through space while Raniel parried with cleaves of radiant light.

?Yet the gap in sheer power between SS-Rank and S-Rank was far too vast. Within seconds, Raniel’s holy light began to dim.

?BAM!

?A single backhand strike from the Vampire Queen slammed Raniel into a stone pillar.

?"Cough!" Fresh blood spilled, staining the angel’s white vestments.

?Yet Raniel merely chuckled softly. He forced himself back up.

?The Vampire Queen lunged in a blur, driving her black nails toward Raniel’s heart.

?Raniel did not dodge—instead, he intentionally shifted his body a fraction.

?CRUNCH!

?The lethal claws pierced straight through Raniel’s left shoulder, bursting out his back.

?The Vampire Queen sneered. Yet her smile dissolved when she saw Raniel smiling back. That impalement locked the Queen firmly within his absolute range!

?With the last of his strength, Raniel drove his blade of light straight forward.

?ZRAAAASH!

?Holy light detonated inside the Vampire Queen’s chest cavity.

?"GRAAAARGH!"

?The Vampire Queen howled in agony as her flesh scorched to ash. She violently yanked her hand free and leaped backward.

?Raniel collapsed to the floor. A gaping hole marred his shoulder, blood pooling across the marble.

?The old man glanced back at Ethan one last time.

?"Your father and mother... they are still alive, Young Master," Raniel rasped with his dying breath.

?"Huh...?" Ethan froze.

?Before his brain could process that insane revelation...

?CRACK!

?A brutal claw slash from the Vampire Queen cleaved through the air.

?Raniel’s head was severed from his neck.

?The holy radiance around him faded in an instant, his white wings wilting into ash that swept away into the night wind.

?Ethan’s eyes widened in shock.

?For the first time since embracing Asmodeus’ darkness, an alien, suffocating emotion squeezed tightly around his chest.

?Not anger. Not vengeance.

?This was pure emptiness and loss.

?"TELEPORT, YOU IDIOT! NOW!" Asmodeus barked in Ethan’s mind.

?Ethan clenched his jaw so hard it nearly fractured. He raised both hands.

?BOOM!

?Reddish-black Sin Mana detonated beneath his feet, forming a massive magic circle on the floor.

?Through the network of Lust Brands, he forcibly pulled all of his properties directly toward the safe coordinates of his domain.

?"[Abyssal Stride — Maximum]!"

?The world spun violently. Dimensions were forcibly torn open.

?Just before the darkness swallowed him whole, Ethan caught sight of the Vampire Queen glaring at him with pure wrath. Yet the burns from Raniel’s light prevented the monster from pursuing.

?"We will meet again, Human..." the Vampire Queen hissed.

?Seconds earlier, at the Rosenberg Estate...

?Kaelia von Ashford, Valera Voss, Laras, and Isolde von Rosenberg sat anxiously in the study.

?Suddenly...

?BURN!

?The Lust Brand tattoos on their bodies suddenly seared like white-hot iron pressed against their skin!

?"Agh!" Kaelia gasped in pain, falling to her knees.

?RIIIP!

?The air in the center of the room ruptured. A pitch-black rift split open and mercilessly swallowed all four of them.

?THUD! THUD!

?The four women tumbled onto the cold, hard wooden floor.

?"Cough! Cough!"

?Kaelia coughed, overcome with nausea. Raising her head, she recognized where they were.

?The main hall of the Valen Manor in the Far East.

?POP!

?The dimensional rift popped softly before snapping shut.

?A young man was thrown from the rift, crashing face-down onto the floor.

?His trench coat was shredded. His body was soaked in blood and cold sweat. The wings of Azhyrael on his back were utterly destroyed.

?His crimson eyes slowly faded back to dark brown—looking hollow and dim.

?"E-Ethan!" Kaelia screamed in panic, crawling toward him.

?Valera and Isolde stood frozen in shock at the sight of the man who had always seemed untouchable.

?Yet before Kaelia’s hand could touch his shoulder...

?THUD.

?Ethan’s head slouched sideways. He passed out completely, his breath ragged and shallow.

?Out there, far above the sky of the Astrean Capital, the red rift still gaped wide open.

?Three of the kingdom’s most powerful figures were dead. And the young Demon Lord now lay broken and helpless on the floor of his own home.