Chapter 490: Sibling Rivalry

Chapter 490: Chapter 490: Sibling Rivalry

[Third Person Pov]

Explosions of darkness and magic tore through the forest as Nico and Bianca clashed with Nox and Nebula.

The battle had already raged for what felt like an eternity. Trees lay toppled in every direction, their bark shattered into jagged splinters, trunks cracked open like broken ribs. Craters pocked the ground in reckless patterns where concentrated bursts of power had struck. Darkness clung to everything it touched, infecting and corroding the space around them, draining the vitality from soil, leaves, and air until the clearing felt half-dead—cold, muted, and hungry.

None of them stood still for even a heartbeat. Constant motion was survival; hesitation was defeat. That lesson had been instilled in all of them by Lucian, the same man who had shaped their skills, their instincts, and the very techniques they now turned against one another.

A thick, obscuring mist poured from Nebula, blending with the pale white fog that spilled from Bianca until the forest floor vanished beneath a shifting, ghostly sea. Visibility dropped to almost nothing. Fast projectiles—nearly invisible to the naked eye—streaked back and forth through the haze, each impact detonating with concussive force that sent shockwaves rippling outward.

Bianca glided through the air with predatory grace, releasing one, two, sometimes three arrows in rapid succession. The shafts left trails of frost and shadow in their wake. Nico moved in tandem, handgun raised, firing piercing bullets of pure darkness that stretched and elongated mid-flight into lance-like spears capable of punching through almost anything.

Nebula answered by weaving a shimmering protective barrier around herself, the surface rippling like oil on water. Nox, never far from her side, tore open swirling gates of darkness—close-range portals that swallowed incoming attacks and spat them back toward their origins with equal or greater force.

"Stop being so stubborn!" Nebula shouted, voice tight with exasperation and something closer to pleading. "Why won’t you just listen?!"

"Would you if it was Annabeth in Lucian’s position?!" Nico fired back. Around him the mist twisted and solidified. Perfect copies of Nebula stepped out of the fog—aggressive, snarling, already moving to strike. Nico didn’t hesitate. He executed them without mercy, each false form collapsing into smoke and shadow the moment his darkness touched them.

Years of practice let him turn his own shadows into solid constructs with practiced ease. Six swords of pure darkness formed in the air around him, controlled by the [Spirit Hands] his potion progression had expanded to six. The blades spun in a tight, lethal halo, rotating with him as he advanced. His own weapon—already coated and dyed in living darkness—hummed with restrained power.

At the same time, thick tendrils of shadow erupted from the ground beneath Bianca. They wrapped her limbs, constricting, lifting her off the ground and into the air like a spider claiming its catch.

"I’m sorry," Nox said, the apology genuine even as the tendrils tightened. "I don’t want to hurt you. But you’re not giving me a lot of options. I’m sure our father has his reasons. You would be wise to heed his words."

Bianca’s gaze remained cold, almost indifferent. "You don’t have to worry about hurting me. You won’t get the chance."

Her power flared. Instant freezing overtook the tendrils, rime racing along their length until they became brittle statues of black ice. With one sharp, violent yank she shattered the restraints completely. Shards of frozen shadow rained down as she dropped, then used the residual ribbons as a slide, circling wide in a graceful arc while already drawing her bowstring back.

An elaborate arrow of densest darkness formed between her fingers—so concentrated it began devouring the scant remaining light in the clearing, turning the space around its tip into a small, hungry void. Bianca settled into a perfect drawing stance, posture so precise and balanced that even Artemis herself might have paused to admire it.

"As for Lucian’s reasoning," she said, voice steady, "I’ll ask him myself when I rescue him."

She shifted her aim and loosed.

The arrow streaked toward Nebula. Her shield activated almost on reflex. The moment the dense darkness connected, a blinding eruption of light and force exploded outward—white-hot and sudden.

"Ahhhh!" Nebula cried out, stumbling, vision drowned in afterimages.

"Nico! Now!" Bianca commanded.

Nox’s head snapped toward Nebula, body already coiling to leap to her defense. That was the real trap. The six blades under Nico’s control swept through the remaining mist-forms in one wide, ruthless arc, dispersing them like smoke. Then the Spirit Hands raised the swords high above Nox, hovering for a fraction of a second like executioner’s blades.

With a single downward sweep of Nico’s hand, the six swords plunged into the snowy ground in a precise ring around Nox, each blade embedding itself as a marker. The moment the last one locked into place, Nico drove his actual sword—still wreathed in living darkness—straight down into the frozen earth.

Nico holstered his gun in one smooth motion and immediately began a rapid sequence of five hand signs.

The first was deliberate and wide—both fists stretched outward as if capturing something in place. Black fire erupted from the sword still buried in the ground before him, coiling upward like a living serpent.

The flames raced along the path marked by the five embedded swords, tracing a perfect geometric trail. With every subsequent hand sign the fire thickened and branched, etching a massive pentagram of pure black flame into the snow and earth. The air itself seemed to tighten around the formation, pressure building with each completed line.

Nox tried to move. He tried to open a portal, to slip sideways through shadow the way he always had. Nothing answered. The sixth sword—driven into the ground as an anchor—held him rooted in place with absolute finality. Realization hit him a heartbeat too late.

Nico brought his two forefingers upright, pressed close to his face, eyes burning with hardened intensity.

"Apélason!!"

The word cracked through the clearing like a judgment. A pillar of black light erupted from the center of the pentagram, roaring upward in a column of pure, absolute darkness. It swallowed Nox whole. The force of the completed [Banishment Ritual] whipped Nico’s hair and coat into a violent storm; snow and ash spiraled outward in a wide ring. When the light finally collapsed, only a thin column of smoke remained, curling lazily into the mist.

"Nox!" Nebula’s cry was raw disbelief. Her head snapped toward the Di Angelo siblings, eyes sharp with sudden, furious clarity.

"Relax," Nico said, ripping his sword free from the frozen ground. The black flames guttered out at once. The six shadow blades dissolved into nothing. He rested the real sword across his shoulder as he and Bianca stood side by side, postures tight, ready for the next blow. "I obviously didn’t kill him. I only banished him from this realm."

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth—sharp, cocky, and eerily reminiscent of Lucian.

"One annoying spirit down. Another one left to go."

Nebula’s form rippled. In the span of a breath her appearance shifted into a perfect mirror of Lucian himself—same casual clothes, same posture, same face. Both siblings stiffened as if struck. Anger flashed hot and immediate; they glared at her, convinced she was mocking them with their brother’s likeness, even though that had never been her intent.

"Although it hurts to be called annoying by my aunt and uncle," Nebula said, voice carrying Lucian’s cadence with deliberate precision, "I’m sure Father would have been both proud and disappointed."

Nico couldn’t help the spark of curiosity. "Why proud and disappointed?"

"Proud," she answered, and for a moment the praise sounded genuine, "because the execution was honestly flawless. That ritual was splendid."

A sheepish laugh escaped Nico before he could stop it. He rubbed the back of his head, suddenly bashful under the unexpected compliment. "Hehehe... you think?"

"Nico." Bianca’s single word carried a warning. Her eyes cut sideways at him, sharp enough to draw blood.

He cleared his throat and forced his expression back into something closer to indifference. "Ahem. I mean—it was whatever. Nothing to really brag about, honestly."

Nebula’s voice dropped an octave, the borrowed face of their brother still smiling.

"And disappointed... because if you really wanted to win and cast us out, you should have started with me."

She extended one palm to the side. A glowing magic circle bloomed across her skin, and a second, far larger circle unfolded in the air beside her like an opening door. From within it, Nox himself descended at a casual pace, one hand massaging the back of his neck.

"Well," he said, landing lightly, "that was uncomfortable. It honestly hurt. And I’m not just talking about my feelings." He fought—and mostly failed—to keep the amusement off his face as he watched both Di Angelos’ mouths fall open.

"What the fuck is this?!" Nico exploded, the words tearing out of him before he could rein them in. "You’re cheating! You’re supposed to be out of the fight!"

Nox’s grin widened, proud to finally deliver one of his father’s favorite lines.

"As my father loves to say... Cope, it’s called a skill issue."

"Fuck you!" Nico snapped, thoroughly and completely offended.

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