Chapter 310: An Absurd Hypothesis

The four figures – Kane, Riven, Drace, Vale – disintegrated into black smoke, which cradled the embers of four colorful flames at the verge of dying.

These four were the Advanced Aura flames of the nebulae and were still existing because of the undead effect of the shadows.

The black smoke drifted toward Shadow, and within the blink of an eye, they entered its dark angelic body.

Rion didn't move from his spot. Not because he was stupid enough to let the Shadow do whatever it wanted, but because if it was right, the God of Shadows, who would presumably come for him afterwards, could do the same. Then he needed to understand how it worked and what its weakness was.

Black smoke seeped out of its obsidian body, surrounding it like a veil of dark mist. Its featureless face parted at four points, and four eyes with flames burning in them appeared.

Rion instantly felt goosebumps rising across his body and mumbled, "You used their flames to reach the stage of Enlightened Aura."

A wide, eerie grin appeared across Shadow's face, and it spoke in its usual monotonous voice.

"Indeed, I have. But it is not perfect. Even if I am to reach it, I cannot. After all, the Enlightenment does not exist in this realm any longer."

Rion frowned. 'What does it mean by Enlightenment does not exist?'

As Rion fell into his thoughts, Shadow moved.

The dark world shifted with it; tall spires that seemed to pierce the dome rose from the ground and flew toward the Nexus.

Rion responded instantly.

Golden flames blazed across his body. These flames, however, were different than any aura flame. They held a power and purity no aura flame could, and it had a sense of holiness in them... they were almost divine, but Rion knew he wasn't yet at that stage.

He was lacking something, some kind of fundamental energy that could be the carrier of all of them.

The spires collided with the sphere of light surrounding the Nexus and fell apart like twigs.

The next instant, Shadow appeared before Rion. Its sword-like hands buzzed with power, and it slashed forward.

Pitch-black arcs of pure destruction shot at him. The space, the ground, and the sky parted with their charge, and Rion punched in response.

A fist of golden flames shot from his punch and clashed with the pitch-black arcs.

Cracks appeared across the two, and with a deafening roar that shook the ground, they exploded.

The ground moved like waves in a sea, and Shadow rose above it.

Flaps filled the area as its six wings of countless hands moved and kept it suspended in the air.

Rion glanced at it and thought, 'Wings would be a fun idea...'

As that thought brushed his mind, the mark of wings on his back began to glow brightly.

It was so bright, in fact, that the dark world behind him began to recede.

Gradually, the mark unfurled its wings, and two ethereal wings made of pure golden light appeared on its back.

Rion instantly understood how to use them, and without ceremony, he called out to the Lunging Serpent Spear.

The draconic magic which had once covered it had already been removed by Malikeya, but till now Rion had been reluctant to use it.

However, in this temporary stage of enlightenment, he was able to think much more clearly and make decisions based on reason instead of emotion.

"Let's do this," Rion said, and with a flap of his ethereal wings, he streaked towards Shadow.

Shadow responded, it raised its hand and brought it down, countless pitch-black spikes shot out of it and zipped towards Rion.

Rion flew past each one of them. They cut past his body, and he pivoted between them with grace and experience, which he shouldn't have, yet he did.

The rings surrounding the Nexus buzzed overhead, and suddenly, the dark world, which had kept it from exerting its full influence, fell apart.

Flakes of solid shadows rained down like a dark snowfall, and Rion thrust his spear.

Golden flames rushed at the tip of the spear.

AZURE ASCENDING SPEAR — SERPENT'S BITE!

The flames around him twisted and took the form of a serpent's maw.

A pitch-black black barrier surrounded Shadow, and the serpent clenched its jaw at it.

Cracks spread across its surface, and within mere moments, it fell apart. Shadow moved back to save itself, but even though it was augmented by four Advanced Aura flames, without its territory, it was still much weaker and slower than Rion, who was standing at the edge of divinity.

The serpent took one of its arms.

Usually, Shadow could just make more of them, but before it could. Its second arm exploded.

Dark bits of solid shadows flew, and it looked at it with four burning eyes.

Its eyes trembled, and it spoke in a voice that sounded frightened.

"Y-You devoured the concept of my arms."

The serpent hadn't just torn off its arm; it had consumed its very existence like a glutton, and Rion was just as surprised because he didn't know how he had done so.

"No wonder the Great One had told us to be wary, to think you can control the Abysmal Flame so well even without the protection and resources of back then."

'Great One...' Rion had heard or seen that name before. It was when he was sent into the Abyss by The Remnant. There, he had seen a giant skeleton shackled and nailed to an enormous obelisk.

According to the system, that place was the Prison of the Great One.

If every conclusion Rion had made so far was correct, then the Great One had prophesied and caused a war between the gods and the Monarch.

And for that crime, the Judge punished him.

Although it made sense, it was just an absurd hypothesis that only held significance if all of his prior conclusions were correct.

He shook his head and pointed his spear at Shadow.

"You feel it, don't you?"

Shadow looked behind Rion at the Nexus glowing with a light so bright that it made the sun seem like a star to a moon.

"I do."

Rion flapped his wings and disappeared.

The next moment, a gigantic ray of golden light descended upon Shadow, and within an instant, its body disintegrated into nothing.

The battlefield fell silent, or it should've been, but Shadow's last words remained.

"Enjoy your victory as much as you can because once they come, you won't have much to live, p..."