Chapter 620: Contact

Hours before Liyana contacted her sisters.

In a place both filled and devoid of light, darkness crept.

Thick, suffocating, alive.

Shadowy smoke twisted and coiled like a living serpent, extending endlessly down a narrow path that seemed to exist outside of time.

There was no ground, no ceiling — only the pulse of an eternal void that breathed and whispered with the sound of distant screams.

Yet within that endless black, a single figure walked.

Step.

Each tap of her heel echoed like thunder.

And with every step she took, the darkness shuddered.

Sparks of chaotic crimson light burst from beneath her feet — arcs of energy that devoured the gloom itself, scorching the void into trembling ripples.

The surrounding shadows recoiled, the air thick with the scent of raw, destructive divinity.

Finally, she stopped.

Before her loomed a colossal wall of condensed shadow — dense, oily, almost liquid in its texture, shifting with the faces of the damned trapped within.

Their faint moans and whispers seeped through like leaking memories.

The young woman tilted her head slightly, her crimson eyes narrowing.

Within those eyes, her pupils thinned into vertical slits — the unmistakable mark of something ancient, predatory, divine.

“…Found you.”

Raising her right hand, power flared — red lightning crackled violently around her arm, swallowing the darkness around it.

The next instant, the entire space howled as the energy erupted outward, tearing through the wall in a single catastrophic blast.

BOOM!

The abyss screamed. A hole gaped open, bleeding shadows like liquid night.

The young woman’s lips curved into a faint, satisfied smile.

Then, without hesitation, she stepped through.

The moment her foot crossed the threshold, countless presences stirred.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of unseen entities turned their attention toward her.

The pressure was suffocating, their whispers overlapping like the cries of tortured souls.

Some shrieked, some laughed, others mumbled in incomprehensible tongues — the discordant sound of madness given voice.

But none of them dared to approach.

None of them feared her either.

They simply watched.

Beings of shadow and nightmare, formless abominations given shape by thought and hatred, moved in the corners of perception.

Their outlines shifted like mirages.

And among them — three masked figures stood at the forefront, motionless yet radiating immense power.

Their attention locked with hers.

It amused her.

The young woman’s smirk widened, revealing sharp, razor-like teeth that glimmered with chaotic energy.

The air itself distorted around her mouth — reality bending, time flickering — as though existence itself trembled under her presence.

The oppressive pressure made two of the masked ones unconsciously step back, faint cracks of distortion appearing beneath their feet.

Then, from beyond the sea of shadows, a deeper voice reverberated through the realm — low, cold, ancient.

[…There are limits to how much I can tolerate you, Chaos Dragon.]

The shadows gathered.

They twisted into a humanoid silhouette, sculpted from pure negativity, despair, and dark power.

The very essence of the abyss condensed into a single form — a figure whose mere existence distorted everything around it.

The ruler of this realm.

The embodiment of the end and absolute darkness.

Erebil.

Her dark, abyssal eyes met the dragon’s crimson gaze — one filled with passive threat, the other with unrestrained disdain.

Liyana Heavens — the Chaos Dragon — tilted her head, a faint smile curling her lips as she looked at Erebil’s shameless composure.

Her crimson eyes glimmered with that playful cruelty only a being who had seen eons of destruction could muster.

“I believe it is I who cannot tolerate your thick skin, Erebil…”

Her voice was soft — almost gentle — yet each syllable vibrated with such power that the air itself warped around her.

The sound carried like a whisper through eternity, cracking space like glass.

“There are rules… and boundaries… that must not be crossed,” she continued, taking a step forward. “We who share the same fate… agreed never to interfere with one another.”

The moment the words left her lips, her body flickered.

Her outline distorted between that of a woman and something incomprehensibly vast — scales of molten red light shimmering through her skin, horns momentarily piercing from her skull before vanishing again.

Crimson lightning licked her arms, coiling around her like serpents made of chaos.

The air twisted and tore, unable to decide whether it wanted to exist or dissolve under her aura.

Erebil, unamused, finally spoke — her voice reverberating through every direction at once, deep and cold as the void itself.

[I believe I have never interfered with you, Chaos Dragon…]

Her words echoed with divine weight.

[And calm yourself, if you will. You’ll ruin a part of my beautiful realm.]

SHHHHHHHHH!

Dark energy flooded the abyss. Erebil’s divine pressure surged — a crushing force of pure annihilation that could snuff out gods and tear apart lesser dimensions.

The walls of shadow trembled, the cries of broken souls echoing in the background as the realm itself bent to her will.

But Liyana only stood there.

Her smile widened — sharp, feral, full of amusement.

Then she laughed.

A soft chuckle at first… then a low, melodic Hahaha~ that rolled through the darkness like a song of madness.

The crimson light in her chest began to pulse violently — each throb of her heart releasing waves of unstable energy that disintegrated the surrounding darkness.

Tendrils of chaotic power unfurled like blooming petals of destruction, devouring the void around her.

The divine pressure pressing on her didn’t crush her — it only seemed to feed her.

The clash of their existences began to twist the entire realm.

The ground beneath them cracked into molten red veins; the void above screamed in silence.

Chaos and Despair — two primal forces that should never coexist — now collided, their mere presence tearing the rules of reality apart.

Erebil’s expression sharpened, her black sclera glowing faintly violet as she watched the red lightning arc wildly around Liyana.

And yet, the dragon only grinned wider, her teeth glinting like blades.

For just a brief second, her aura swelled — and the balance of power tilted.

The Chaos Dragon’s energy surged, slightly overwhelming even Erebil’s, enough to make cracks appear in the abyss itself.

This was Erebil’s realm — her domain of pure darkness and despair.

By all rights, she should’ve had the upper hand here.

Every shadow, every whisper, every breath of this place bent to her will.

And yet… watching the scene unfold before her eyes, even Erebil couldn’t help but feel a flicker of genuine surprise.

The last time she faced Liyana Heavens — the Chaos Dragon — the girl could barely stand against her presence.

But now?

She was standing in defiance, her crimson aura tearing holes through Erebil’s carefully woven void as if the realm itself refused to hold her down.

For the first time in a long while, the goddess of endings felt a faint, almost forgotten emotion.

Caution.

’Just how many of her seals has she broken…?’ Erebil thought, eyes narrowing.

Granted, she was holding back a great deal — this wasn’t a fight she intended to start — but even then, Liyana’s pressure was unsettlingly overwhelming.

The very laws of her realm quivered under the dragon’s existence alone.

Then Liyana’s voice echoed through the darkness. It wasn’t a scream, nor a shout — but a calm, dangerous whisper that carried across eternity.

“This is a warning, Erebil…”

Her crimson eyes glowed brighter, slits tightening with pure, untamed fury.

“Touch my darling again… and I will devour your entire existence.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

Erebil didn’t flinch. Didn’t speak. She simply watched.

Her expression was unreadable — no fear, no anger, just cold curiosity.

Truthfully, she wasn’t afraid of Liyana.

Nor did she see her as a direct threat.

A primordial goddess such as herself stood above most life forms — even dragons of chaos. Her divinity was that of the end itself.

But still… she knew better than to dismiss the creature before her.

Liyana Heavens wasn’t a normal dragon — she was a primordial being born from the cracks of existence, from the entropy that existed before order and light.

There were no clear limits to her power.

Even Erebil, for all her arrogance, knew that.

That thing inside Liyana — that bottomless, ever-expanding pit of hunger — wasn’t metaphorical.

It was real.

A chaotic void that consumed everything: light, matter, divinity, even reality itself if left unchecked.

A world eater.

The kind of being that could unmake creation if she ever lost control.

Erebil exhaled softly, the faintest trace of amusement curling her lips.

’So, the dragon finally bares her fangs…’

Truthfully, she had been expecting some kind of reaction the moment she touched him — Riley.

She just didn’t think it would reach this level of open hostility.

Still, there was something satisfying about it.

Watching the Chaos Dragon’s fury… her protectiveness… it amused Erebil in ways she didn’t expect.

She quietly folded her hands behind her back, masking the faint smirk that tugged at her face.

[….. Chaos Dragon you mark on him… isn’t forever—]

Erebil’s voice echoed through the dark, layered with thousands of whispering tones.

It wasn’t just speech — it was an ancient vibration that made reality tremble.

But before she could finish, Liyana’s lips curved into a sharp, knowing smile.

“No. It is.”

Her crimson eyes gleamed like two burning suns in the dark.

“Darling has always been mine~” she said, her voice laced with that playful, dangerous tone that made even gods cautious.

“Now and forever more. None will take that away from me — not even you. So, consider this my final warning, Erebil.”

The way she said it… it wasn’t a boast.

It was a declaration.

A law.

Something that even the abyss seemed to recognize.

’So she noticed….’ Erebil thought looking at Liyana.

Then, without another word, Liyana turned her back on the goddess of endings.

The sharp, black claws on her delicate fingers traced through the empty air — and the space itself screamed.

FSSSHHHHHHHH!!!

Reality split apart like paper as she carved through the darkness, ripping open a massive hole that bled light.

But it wasn’t light from the divine — no, it was the color of existence. The mortal world shimmered through the tear, distant yet clear.

Erebil’s eyes narrowed.

That tear… that was her domain’s boundary.

And the fact that Liyana could cut through it so effortlessly — and leave a mark that resonated with chaotic energy — was nothing short of a direct insult.

A claim.

A blatant declaration that she could enter and leave as she pleased.

Erebil could have erased it.

She could have rebuilt the torn space with a single thought.

But she didn’t.

Instead, the dark goddess smiled.

Slowly.

Amused.

Her expression carried a mix of irritation and fascination as the Chaos Dragon stepped into the light, vanishing from her sight.

And only after Liyana was gone did Erebil finally notice the aftermath.

Half of her creations — the lesser shades, the whispering horrors, the unbirthed children of her darkness — were gone.

Not destroyed.

Not banished.

Devoured.

Consumed into pure nothingness.

Not even their concepts remained.

The goddess stared at the empty void where they once lingered, her lips curling upward in pure delight.

[Oh, Riley Hell…]

[My little light… my precious spark of ruin. You truly are the source of my amusement… ]

Her voice softened into a sultry hum as she leaned back on her throne made of shadows.

[—Please… give me more~]

…

As Liyana fell back into the mortal world, the weight of her power and exhaustion hit her all at once.

She landed on her bed with a heavy thud, the soft sheets sinking beneath her as she pressed a trembling hand against her chest.

“Ah… it hurts…”

Thump—!

Even without a living heart, she could feel it pulsing painfully inside her chest. A deep, suffocating ache that made her fingers twitch and her breath stutter.

Crimson energy flickered around her body, twisting and coiling until it formed visible chains that wrapped around her chest. Each link shimmered faintly — chaotic, unstable — sealing her power, restraining her soul.

Clink… clink…

Then came the pain.

The pressure inside her heart burst.

“—Kh…!”

Cough!

She spat blood across the pristine white sheets, staining them with dark red.

The sharp metallic scent filled the air, cutting through the floral fragrance that once lingered in her room.

“M-My lady!”

Her maid, Lily, rushed forward in panic.

The young maid’s hands trembled as she reached out, but she stopped midway, unsure if touching her mistress would help or only worsen her state.

“Lily,” Liyana murmured weakly, her voice still calm despite the blood dripping down her lips, “my gift should’ve arrived by now… correct?”

“B-But, young miss, you’re—!”

“Prepare my crystal.”

Her tone sharpened, and even though her expression didn’t change, the air around her turned suffocating. Red arcs of energy rippled faintly across the room, bending the light.

“I need to contact my sisters. Soon.”

Lily froze, her protest dying in her throat. She caught a glimpse of Liyana’s eyes — the calm, deadly crimson that could melt steel and freeze fear itself.

“I-I understand, my lady. I’ll prepare it immediately.”

Satisfied, Liyana relaxed slightly, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Haah~ how long has it been since I’ve had this much excitement…?”

Her voice carried a hint of amusement, but beneath it lay exhaustion and longing.

Months had passed since Riley and his supposed “lovers” — her sisters now — returned to the academy.

To them, it might’ve seemed like a long time.

But to Liyana, time was meaningless.

After all, she had been watching.

Though her strength was still sealed and the chains around her heart limited her sight, she could still sense him — faintly.

Every time his presence flared up, every time his soul wavered or grew stronger, she felt it.

Thump—

Her unbeating heart twitched again.

Even when it shouldn’t.

Even when it couldn’t.

“Darling…” she whispered, her crimson eyes softening as a gentle smile curved her lips, “I won’t let anyone take you away from me…”

The words came out as a vow, not to the air, not to herself — but to the very world that tried to separate them.

Her mind drifted back to her brief clash with Erebil.

That smug goddess and her suffocating darkness.

Liyana’s smile faded.

“You tried to erase my mark on him, didn’t you…?”

It wasn’t anger she felt — it was possession.

She could feel the faint pull, the way Erebil’s will tried to twist the bond between her and Riley. But it failed.

“Nice try, Goddess of the End,” she murmured, her voice trembling between laughter and wrath, “but my mark is not a spell… it’s a part of him now.”

Her fingers trailed over her chest again, over the faint pulse beneath the sealed chains.

“We belong to each other… even if the heavens reject it.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep