Chapter 21: The Awakening of Death

The final layer of the seal began to crack.

CRACK...

Yuuiki stared at it from the underground chamber.

He had been stalking the strange person from beneath Eryndor long before everything had reached this point. He had followed them through the underground passages, trying to understand what they were planning.

And now...

He finally understood what they had been searching for.

The seal.

The strange person had been trying to break the seal containing the God of Death.

“...No.”

Yuuiki pulled against the glowing golden chains restraining him.

“Don't you dare.”

The cracks spread across the enormous seal.

CRACK!

A dark, enormous aura began glowing from behind it.

The entire chamber trembled.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Yuuiki's eyes widened.

It's happening.

He couldn't let himself remain restrained.

Yuuiki closed his eyes.

Then his body suddenly released a thick white mist.

FWOOSH!

Mist surrounded his entire body.

The golden chains struggled to hold him.

Yuuiki twisted his body through the mist.

“Come on...!”

The chains slipped through the mist.

Yuuiki finally escaped.

He immediately charged toward the strange person.

“You're not releasing that thing!”

The stranger turned.

A flash of golden light appeared.

SHING!

A golden projectile shot forward.

Yuuiki couldn't dodge in time.

It pierced through his left leg.

“AGH!”

He collapsed onto the ground.

His hand slammed against the stone floor as he struggled through the pain.

The stranger calmly walked toward him.

Yuuiki looked up.

“What... are you planning...?”

The stranger stopped.

“I am going to fight the God of Death.”

Yuuiki froze.

“You're going to fight him?”

He looked toward the broken seal.

“If that thing awakens, countless people in Eryndor will be in danger!”

The stranger didn't respond.

Yuuiki gritted his teeth.

“People are still above us! Civilians! Adventurers!”

His eyes narrowed.

“You're willing to release a God capable of destroying all of them just to fight him?”

The stranger finally looked at him.

Yuuiki stared back.

“Who are you?”

The stranger answered calmly.

“My name is Aurelion.”

Golden light surrounded him.

“I am the God of Gold.”

Yuuiki's eyes widened.

“A... God?”

Aurelion continued.

“I am the 47th God of Eternia.”

Before Yuuiki could respond—

Aurelion raised his hand.

BOOOOOOM!

A golden strike blasted Yuuiki away.

“GAH!”

Yuuiki was sent across the chamber.

He hit the ground and rolled to a stop.

But he barely had time to recover.

Because behind Aurelion...

The seal finally broke.

CRAAAAAAAAACK!

The enormous seal shattered.

Darkness erupted from inside.

The God of Death Awakens

Silence filled the chamber.

Then footsteps echoed.

Step.

Step.

Step.

A figure emerged from the darkness.

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The atmosphere immediately became suffocating.

Yuuiki slowly raised his head.

His eyes widened.

That aura...

The figure stood before the broken seal.

The God of Death had awakened.

Aurelion looked toward him.

“Welcome back.”

The God of Death slowly raised his head.

His voice was calm.

“I haven't eaten for a whole millennium...”

Yuuiki's expression turned pale.

Millennium...?

He looked toward the tunnel leading back toward Eryndor.

Everyone above is in danger.

The God of Death suddenly disappeared.

BOOM!

He charged toward Aurelion.

Aurelion smiled.

“Mortivar.”

The God of Death stopped his attack for an instant.

Aurelion continued.

“You haven't changed a little.”

Mortivar's eyes narrowed.

“You're still here.”

The two Gods collided.

BOOOOOOM!

Golden energy and dark energy exploded throughout the chamber.

Yuuiki shielded his face.

Aurelion struck.

Mortivar countered.

Neither gave ground.

Then Mortivar raised his hand.

Dark energy gathered around his arm.

The entire chamber became cold.

“Death Slash: Grave Requiem.”

SHRAAAAAA!

A gigantic black slash tore through the underground chamber.

It ripped through the walls and continued upward.

Above Eryndor — Nyxhen

Several streets away, Nyxhen suddenly stopped.

His eyes shifted toward the ground.

A massive disturbance was coming from underneath the city.

“...That attack.”

The ground trembled.

Nyxhen tightened his grip on Noctesgrave.

“It's coming from underground.”

He looked toward the direction of the disturbance.

“What the hell is happening down there...?”

Nyxhen and Zerav

Meanwhile, the battle with the Gravemaw Behemoth had reached its turning point.

Zerav was still recovering from the Behemoth's roar.

His body refused to cooperate.

Nyxhen stood alone before the enormous creature.

The Behemoth continued rebuilding its stone armor from the surrounding buildings.

Nyxhen stared at it.

“You're just a Behemoth.”

Darkness gathered around Noctesgrave.

“And I am a Shadow Wraithblade.”

Chains began moving around him.

Shadow energy surged outward.

The darkness twisted into the shape of an enormous dragon.

Nyxhen threw Noctesgrave.

“Shadow Dragon.”

The dragon launched forward.

BOOM!

It spun endlessly through the Behemoth.

Stone armor shattered piece by piece.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The dragon continued tearing through the monster's defenses.

Nyxhen started laughing.

“Heh...”

Another piece of armor shattered.

“HAHAHAHA!”

The Behemoth roared.

But Nyxhen didn't stop.

The shadow dragon continued spinning around it, slicing apart its stone armor.

Finally, Zerav managed to stand.

He stared at Nyxhen.

“...You're the real monster here.”

Nyxhen stopped laughing.

The shadow dragon disappeared.

He slowly lowered Noctesgrave.

“It was once in my life that I felt this way.”

Zerav looked at him.

He understood what Nyxhen meant.

“...I see.”

Mina and Iris

Not far away, Mina was still fighting Iris.

CLANG!

Mina's Crimson Blood Blade collided with Iris's blood dagger.

Mina jumped away.

She had already discovered Iris's terrifying trick.

The blood droplets Iris created weren't ordinary attacks.

They could explode whenever Iris wanted.

A tiny droplet landed beside Mina.

Mina immediately jumped away.

BOOM!

“Seriously?!”

Iris launched another barrage.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Mina dodged through the explosions.

Iris rushed after her with her blood dagger.

Mina blocked.

CLANG!

Iris pushed her backward.

“You're running out of options.”

Mina gritted her teeth.

Her Blood Shot was gone.

Kusuri had stolen it.

She could harden her blood into weapons, but she had no proper projectile attack anymore.

I need something.

Iris swung again.

Mina ducked.

Another blood grenade exploded behind her.

Then Mina suddenly stopped.

Her eyes widened.

“I have an idea.”

Blood gathered along her arm.

It stretched forward.

Long.

Thin.

Sharp.

Mina thrust her hand forward.

“Blood Lance!”

SHOOOM!

A straight spear of blood launched toward Iris.

Iris quickly dodged.

The Blood Lance passed her.

Mina thought she had missed.

But then—

THUD!

The spear struck the ground.

Its tip suddenly expanded.

Blood spikes erupted from the impact point.

SHRAK!

Iris jumped backward.

“What...?”

Mina stared.

The Blood Lance had released Bloodthorn directly from where it landed.

Mina's eyes sparkled.

“It works!”

Iris smiled.

“So you created another ability.”

Mina raised her Crimson Blood Blade.

“Yeah!”

Iris lifted her blood dagger.

“Then let's see what else you can do.”

Mina grinned.

“Bring it on!”

The two charged toward each other again.

Yumiko's Battle

Yumiko remained surrounded by the armored knight and the gunslinger.

Her left arm still hurt from the earlier bullet.

Fortunately, the bullet hadn't been poisoned.

Yumiko took a breath.

“Okay... let's make this confusing.”

Dream energy surrounded her.

One Yumiko became two.

Then three.

Then four.

Then five.

Five identical reflections stood around the battlefield.

The gunslinger froze.

“Which one is real?!”

Yumiko smiled.

“Dreamweaver: Fivefold Reverie!”

The five Yumiko's charged toward the knight.

The gunslinger fired.

But he couldn't tell which one was real.

The knight raised his gigantic hammer.

WHOOOOM!

The hammer spun.

One of the Yumiko's was struck.

BOOM!

She flew away.

She landed and smiled.

“Checkmate.”

POOF!

She disappeared.

The knight froze.

“...A dream?”

The real Yumiko was already above him.

She descended.

SLASH!

Her blade struck the knight's hammer arm.

The knight cried out and collapsed.

His gigantic hammer fell beside him.

Yumiko landed.

She looked toward the gunslinger.

“You're next.”

The gunslinger immediately ran.

Yumiko spread her wings.

She jumped into the air.

Then—

WHOOSH!

She flew forward.

Her eyes widened.

“I can fly!”

She accelerated.

“I'M ACTUALLY FLYING!”

She chased the gunslinger.

He suddenly turned and fired a barrage.

Bullets flew in different directions.

Yumiko's eyes widened when she noticed several were heading toward civilians.

“Not them!”

She stopped chasing.

“Dream Wave!”

A wave of dream energy spread outward.

The bullets were caught.

Yumiko spun.

The bullets followed the motion, forming a tornado-like spiral around her.

Then they disappeared.

The civilians were safe.

But the gunslinger had already escaped.

Yumiko slowly lowered her arms.

“...He got away.”

Her strength finally disappeared.

“Ah...”

She collapsed.

Several citizens caught her.

“Catch her!”

“Get a healer!”

A healer rushed toward Yumiko.

“She needs treatment!”

Yumiko was unconscious and exhausted as the healer began treating her wounded arm.

Nemi and the Ice Mage

Elsewhere, Nemi continued her battle.

The ice mage launched another barrage of icicles.

Nemi immediately responded.

“Thread Charge!”

Her threads shot forward.

She countered the incoming ice one after another.

Then she noticed something above.

An enormous ice star was descending.

Nemi looked up.

“That's... really big.”

She quickly spun her threads around herself.

WHIRRRR!

The threads formed a defensive barrier.

The ice star crashed into it.

BOOOOM!

Nemi was pushed backward.

Then she fired several threads toward a nearby building.

They wrapped around the wall.

Nemi pulled herself forward.

She began running along the side of the building.

Using her threads as support, she moved almost like she was walking on the wall.

“Hehehe!”

She reached the windows.

One by one—

CRACK!

Nemi pulled the windows out.

She broke the glass into pieces.

Then she threw them toward the ice mage.

“Take this!”

The pieces scattered through the air.

The ice mage avoided most of them.

But several struck around his feet.

He stumbled.

Nemi smiled.

“Gotcha.”

The Storm Above

Back underground, Mortivar and Aurelion continued fighting.

Above them, Eryndor's sky suddenly darkened.

Clouds gathered.

The weather changed unnaturally fast.

Thunder rolled across the city.

Citizens looked upward.

“What is happening...?”

The ground suddenly began glowing.

A black aura emerged from beneath the streets.

It slowly spread across the ground.

An adventurer stepped backward.

“Something's coming from below.”

Another adventurer looked around.

“Everyone, move!”

More adventurers arrived to help evacuate civilians.

A blonde-haired adventurer with an eyepatch stood among them.

A gigantic scythe rested across her back.

“Everyone, follow me!”

She helped guide civilians away from the dangerous streets.

A warrior protected the evacuation route.

Other adventurers joined them.

The healer treating Yumiko looked toward the growing black aura.

“...This isn't normal.”

The storm clouds grew darker.

A deep rumble echoed beneath the city.

Someone whispered—

“Danger is coming.”

The Pendant

Mina continued fighting Iris.

CLANG!

Blood dagger and Crimson Blood Blade collided again.

Neither of them noticed what was happening beneath Eryndor.

Mina didn't notice the storm.

She didn't notice the black aura.

And she didn't notice the pendant around her neck.

The black pendant she had bought back in Shadowveil suddenly began glowing.

A faint black light pulsed from it.

Pulse.

Mina kept fighting.

She never looked down.

Pulse.

Iris noticed.

Her eyes briefly moved toward Mina's chest.

She saw the pendant glowing.

Her expression changed.

“...That.”

Mina raised her blade.

“Huh?”

Iris looked back at her.

“Nothing.”

The pendant pulsed again.

Pulse.

Deep beneath Eryndor, the God of Death had awakened.

Above the city, the storm continued gathering.

And somewhere beneath Mina's feet...

Something had begun responding to her pendant.

Mina still didn't know.

But Iris did.