Chapter 251: Aiden Vs The Archon, Orion

A silver crown of sorts floated above his head, and remained that way.

Gaia’s voice broke the silence gently. “You haven’t left this place in over a hundred years,” she said. “Don’t you want to interact with the others?”

The white-haired god turned his head toward her briefly, then turned back to face the cosmos without saying anything further.

They stood in silence for another moment before he spoke again.

“Is there anything more you came for, or did you reach all the way out to this place just to question my interaction frequency with the other gods?”

Gaia sighed and shook her head.

Without another word, he turned away and walked back through the corridor, leaving her standing alone on the veranda.

Gaia watched him go, then shook her head once more before departing herself.

He continued walking until he reached a more secluded chamber. Once inside, he paused and spoke quietly into the empty room.

“She’s gone, Mother.”

In that moment, a red magic circle appeared on the floor before him. Lilith rematerialized from within it, with a devious grin spreading across her face.

She had been concealing herself the entire time.

“Good,” Lilith said.

“Let’s continue” The white-haired god gestured toward two seats positioned across from each other in the chamber.

They both sat down, and as they did, a faint shimmer rippled through the air around them. This was Lilith’s concealment magic wrapping over them both like a veil.

Lilith leaned back in her seat, crossing one leg over the other as she studied her son.

“Today is the day we act,” she said.

She paused for effect before adding:

“And once this is done, then we reunite with your father.”

The white-haired god’s expression didn’t change.

Lilith stood slowly from her seat and walked toward him until she stood directly before him.

She reached out and gently held his jaw. She looked down at him then, with a different type of intensity.

“You’ve lived without a name long enough,” Lilith said softly. “Adam denied you that right… but I will not.”

She paused for a long moment before

speaking again:

“From this day forward… you are Asahel.”

Asahel looked up at his mother without speaking for several seconds. Then finally… he nodded once.

Lilith smiled and pulled her hand away from his jaw.

——

Aiden, Thera, and Orion stood in an open field within the Higher levels of the city.

Aiden stood opposite Orion, who had an excited expression on his face as he twisted his arms back and forth, loosening his shoulders like a fighter preparing for a match.

Aiden shook his head. “Is this really necessary?”

Thera, standing off to the side with her arms crossed, smiled.

“The only person to have escaped Orion’s bad habits is the All-Father, who always turns his challenges down,” she said. “But aside from him? Orion has fought everyone.”

Orion grinned widely and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry about my obsession,” he said with a laugh.

Then his expression shifted.

The grin disappeared, and was replaced by this serious look as he turned toward Aiden.

“Dragon Vessel,” Orion said, with his golden eyes locking onto Aiden’s red ones. “Kindly take this really seriously.”

Aiden looked at him strangely for a moment, caught off guard by the sudden change in tone.

And before he could say anything else, Orion moved.

The ground beneath Orion’s feet exploded as he launched himself forward with blinding speed, closing the distance between them in less than a second.

Aiden’s Future Sight activated instantly, showing him the trajectory of Orion’s incoming punch aimed directly at his face.

He sidestepped just in time, and Orion’s fist sailed past his cheek with such force that the air itself cracked behind it.

The shockwave from the missed punch tore through the ground behind Aiden, carving a deep trench into the earth that stretched for dozens of meters.

Aiden went in for another attack immediately, making an attempt at driving his clawed fist toward Orion’s ribs.

Orion chose to meet the strike head-on. His fist slammed into the incoming blow, and the collision erupted in a thunderous boom that echoed across the field.

The ground beneath them split apart, fractures spreading outward from the point of impact.

They both leaped backwards, spacing out between themselves.

Orion grinned as yellow lightning began crackling around his body. “Good!” he shouted in excitement.

“Show me more Dragon Vessel!”

Aiden sighed, still not seeing how necessary this was.

Orion dashed in again with streaks of yellow lightning following his motion, and in proximity he swung his other fist upward in an uppercut aimed at Aiden’s chin.

Aiden leaned back sharply, avoiding the strike by inches, then planted one foot on the ground and kicked upward toward Orion’s jaw.

Orion tilted his head to the side just enough for Aiden’s foot to miss him by a hair’s breadth.

Then he grabbed Aiden’s leg mid-kick and swung him around like a hammer before hurling him across the field with tremendous force.

Aiden’s body shot through the air like a projectile.

However he repositioned himself mid-flight to regain control before landing on the ground with his feet, hard enough to carve another massive crater into the earth.

Dust and debris exploded outward from where he landed.

Thera watched from a distance mid air, unfazed by the destruction unfolding before her. She’d seen this plenty of times before.

Aiden brushed off dust off his trousers.

“Alright,” he muttered under his breath. “Guess we’re doing this.”

He used the hundred fold boost technique of the strength magic he had once copied from Katherine, and this technique was stacked up the lightning body enhancement spell

In an instant, Aiden vanished from where he stood and reappeared directly in front of Orion with his fist already cocked back.

Orion’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, before grinning even wider than before. He raised both arms to block as Aiden’s punch connected with explosive force against his guard.

The shockwave erupted outward in all directions.

Orion skidded backward several meters but held his ground despite the overwhelming force behind Aiden’s strike.

“Yes!” Orion shouted excitedly as lightning surged around him even brighter now. “That’s more like it!”

He pushed forward immediately and threw a rapid series of punches toward Aiden.

Each one was really fast, but Aiden dodged them all with Future Sight guiding every movement.

Left. Right. Duck. Sidestep.

Then Orion feinted left before spinning around suddenly and driving his elbow toward Aiden’s midsection with devastating speed.

Aiden caught the incoming elbow with both hands just before impact.

But even with the block, the sheer force behind Orion’s strike pushed Aiden backward.

His feet dragged across the ground, carving deep trenches into the earth.

Aiden gritted his teeth and dug both feet into the solid earth, forcing himself into a halt.

Orion’s strength was truly phenomenal.

Without hesitation, he shifted his stance and redirected Orion’s momentum, using the force of the charge to throw the god over his shoulder.

Orion was launched through the air and slammed into solid rock formations a few meters away. The stone burst apart on impact, with debris scattering across the battlefield.

For just a moment there was silence.

Then Orion burst out laughing loudly from within the cloud of debris rising up around him.

“This is great!” he shouted gleefully as he emerged unscathed.

Aiden adjusted himself once more, ready for another go.

“But this isn’t all you can offer Dragon Vessel. Is this all to the strength of a dragon?” Orion said in an almost taunting tone.

Aiden grinned, “I could say the same for you. Do you fear I cannot handle your strength in full”

Orion laughed heartily with a hand on his belly. “Ah I see you caught me there”

Although admittedly Aiden questioned himself if he could really handle Orion should he actually take this seriously.

But in that moment, Aiden stopped abruptly, and he stared into the blank with widened eyes.

Something was wrong.

Thera tilted her head slightly seeing that something weird was going on with Aiden, and even Orion narrowed his eyes as well.

“Hey! Are you alright Dragon Vessel?!”

Aiden’s face twisted into a devious grin as his magical power began to surge outward. Black scales starts to cluster around his body and it looked like he was slowly turning taking a full dragon’s transformation.

“Oh ho ho ho! Now he’s getting serious,” Orion said, excitement clear in his voice.

“For attempting to kill my wife,” Aiden growled, “I will kill every single god in this place!”

Thera’s eyes widened, and Orion’s smile faltered into a frown.

What in the hell had just gone wrong with the Dragon Vessel?

—-

Meanwhile in Myria’s Temple…

The Archon Goddess Myria and Jorus watched Aiden through one of her many mirrors.

“What you wanted is done, Jorus,” she said.

He nodded. “Now all that’s left is to wait for him to act out. Then we’ll have more than enough justification to kill the dragon here.”

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