Chapter 218: See the light, Push to Dark

Noticing the shift in the tempo of the clashes with Long Ra, Ulric and Bartholomew promptly tracked him, following his movements across the battlefield.

Their eyes narrowed at the same moment.

There were very few people on this battlefield capable of drawing the Celestial Dragons’ attention, and the three of them were right here.

The air between them crackled with every exchange, each clash sending shockwaves rolling across the sky.

Bartholomew’s gaze stayed locked on the distant blur of motion.

He said nothing.

He didn’t need to.

"This movement pattern...."

Ulric frowned as he watched Long Ra move.

Something about it seemed familiar. It nagged at the back of his mind like a splinter he couldn’t reach.

He knew how Ethen’s World Traversing worked. The straight lines, the sudden changes in location, and the way Ethen could disappear before an opponent had time to react were all things Ulric had observed before.

He had seen them up close.

And now, here they were again, on the body of someone else.

’Straight lines.’

’Sudden shifts.’

’Vanishing without warning.’

’There’s no mistaking it.’

He had also noticed Long Ra leaving the battlefield several times. Vanishing for a few seconds, then returning as if nothing had happened.

At first, he had dismissed it.

Now, he couldn’t.

The pieces slid together one by one, and then the realization struck him.

"Fuck!"

Ulric cursed through gritted teeth and immediately pushed himself into the fray.

—boom

The air tore apart behind him as he shot forward.

Not everyone knew, but he did. Ethen was extremely important to the Bastion and the Dawn faction as a whole. Whatever happened during this war, they could not afford to lose him.

Not him.

Not like this.

His fists clenched at his sides as he closed the distance.

And he certainly couldn’t let him die at the hands of the son of Long.

?

Taking another gut-wrenching punch to the stomach, Ethen coughed up several mouthfuls of blood before being thrown to the ground.

—crack

His body crashed down with tremendous force, the impact cratering the ground around him.

For a moment, everything spun. The sky, the light, the sound of the battle above, all of it blurred together into a dull roar.

He struggled to regain his bearings.

Blood pooled in his mouth, hot and metallic.

He spat it out and tried to push himself up.

His arms refused to listen.

His fingers dug into the broken ground, shaking.

A trace of genuine dread appeared in his eyes as he felt his body slowly collapsing.

It wasn’t pain anymore.

It was something worse.

Celestial Light was the most defining feature of the Celestial Dragons. It granted them the ability to eradicate beings on a molecular level, stripping them of their very existence and the functions that sustained them.

It didn’t just wound.

It erased.

Every second it touched him, a little more of him simply stopped being there.

No ash. No smoke. Nothing left behind.

It was virtually unstoppable.

Even with Ethen’s Undying ability, he was barely staying alive.

His body continued to deteriorate, and the damage was becoming increasingly difficult to withstand. Skin, muscle, and bone were peeling away faster than he could rebuild them.

No matter how much he relied on his ability to survive, the Celestial Light kept destroying him.

He could feel it gnawing at him from the inside.

Relentless.

Patient.

"Kid!"

The voice cut through the haze.

It sounded far away.

But it was familiar.

Before Ethen could blink away, Ulric appeared in front of him.

—woosh

The First Warrior of the Dawn faction took an attack from Long Ra head-on, his body absorbing the force as he bought Ethen a moment to escape.

"Boom!!"

The shockwave rippled outward, tearing at the air and scattering the clouds overhead.

Ulric didn’t budge.

Long Ra’s expression didn’t change.

The pressure behind the attack didn’t either.

His jaw tightened as the blow sank into him, but his feet stayed planted.

Cracks spread across the air around his body.

He held.

Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t flinch.

At the same time, he sent Ethen a message.

Celestial Light is impossible to get rid of. Just like the Divine Might used on Adam, you need to be an Angel to do anything about it.

The words arrived first, followed by their meaning.

Ethen’s eyes widened slightly as it sank in.

His breath caught.

Ulric was telling him that if he couldn’t dispel the Celestial Light, he would undoubtedly die.

And to do that, he needed to wield Angel-level energy.

There was no other way.

"I understand."

Ethen recognized the opening and nodded, forcing his trembling legs to hold him upright.

’An Angel....’

’Angel-level energy....’

The thought circled in his mind, heavy and cold.

He didn’t waste a single second.

There was nothing left to waste.

He promptly disappeared from view.

—woosh

A second later, his figure blurred as he appeared in the far reaches of the Great Sea below.

The moment he arrived, Ethen could feel his body rapidly losing its integrity. Every atom seemed to scream as his organs disintegrated under the effects of the Celestial Light.

His breath came in ragged pulls.

The cold sea wind brushed against what remained of his skin, and he barely felt it.

He was barely holding himself together with Undying.

Every second, something new fell apart.

Every second, he forced it back together.

His hands were the first to go. Fingertips dissolved, then knuckles, and he rebuilt them with a grimace.

Nevertheless, he forced himself to remain calm.

He closed his eyes for a single heartbeat.

’Don’t panic.’

’Not now.’

’Think.’

There was still something he could do.

He exhaled slowly, steadying what was left of his focus.

As the damage continued to spread through his body, the water behind him began to churn.

Then a gigantic serpentine monster appeared behind him.

—rumble

The sea trembled beneath its weight.

Waves rolled outward in widening rings, slapping against nothing, lost in the open water.

?

Celestial City

Many civilians had taken refuge underground, huddled together in the darkness, each of them scared out of their wits.

Nobody spoke above a whisper.

Even the smallest sound seemed too loud down here.

Then a muffled sob broke the quiet, then was swallowed again.

Children clung to their parents. Parents clung to each other. Somewhere in the dark, someone was quietly praying, the words barely audible over the sound of uneven breathing.

Above them, the ceiling trembled faintly, dust sifting down in thin streams.

The battle had been inevitable. They all knew it, and the city’s management had known it as well. That was why they had designed a way out for as many people as possible.

The underground bunker was built to withstand a great many things, including the destruction that could result from the battle above.

Reinforced walls. Thick layers of stone. Doors that were never meant to be opened until it was over.

Unfortunately, some things were simply worse than others.

High above the city, a dark shadow loomed over the skyline as a cold breeze swept through the streets.

The light dimmed.

The shadow kept growing.

It stretched across rooftops, across avenues, across the water beyond.

The scene was beautiful.

To many, it would have seemed like an ideal day. The breeze was cool, and the sky stretched endlessly above the sea, calm and blue, without a single warning in sight.

Unfortunately, this was no ordinary day.

This was a catastrophe.

—woosh

The first wave struck.

Those locked inside their homes felt the ground tremble beneath them, followed by the numbing sound of water smashing against concrete and stone.

Windows rattled in their frames.

Furniture slid across floors.

The roar grew louder with every passing second, a sound too vast to belong to the sea.

Then came the screams.

Raw. Desperate. Layered over one another until they became a single sound.

From the high-rise buildings, civilians watched in horror as a tsunami swept through the city, swallowing streets and covering buildings with enormous walls of water.

Carriages were lifted like toys.

Streets vanished beneath the surge.

Nobody could look away.

People pressed their hands against the glass, their breath fogging it, their eyes wide.

The wave continued forward, overwhelming everything in its natural path.

It didn’t slow.

It didn’t care.

Then the center of the city began to crack.

—crack

Buildings tilted as the ground beneath them fractured. Structures that had stood for generations began to collapse, their foundations giving way as the earth shook violently.

Dust and spray filled the air, mixing into a grey haze that swallowed the skyline.

The destruction spread faster than anyone could comprehend.

The ground groaned like something alive and dying.

Those who witnessed the scene understood what was happening.

Nobody said it out loud.

They didn’t need to.

Some covered their mouths. Some simply stared, unable to move.

The world they had known was coming to an end.

[7,000,000/20,000,000 enemies dead]