Chapter 326: Karma (XLIV)

A second had barely passed when Eric vanished.

A gust of divine wind tore across the field, grass flattened, the air shimmered, and before anyone could even blink, the ball was gone.

“…What?” Kael muttered, eyes wide.

Eric now stood right in front of the goal, golden energy crackling around his boots.

But instead of shooting, he didn’t even glance at the net.

Slowly… deliberately… he turned his head toward Aestrea.

Their eyes locked across the field.

The crowd fell silent again, as if the world itself refused to breathe.

Eric began to walk forward; each step was heavy and full of authority, causing the space to crack.

The golden radiance from his twelve wings illuminated everything around him, painting the broken divine net behind him in holy light.

When he stopped a few meters away from Aestrea, his tone was calm, but it carried the weight of thunder.

“I’ve fought saints, champions, divine heirs… even kings,” he began, his eyes narrowing slightly.

“But never… never… have I met someone who could stand toe to toe with me like you did.”

Aestrea said nothing, just watched him with those cold, half-lidded crimson eyes. The faint glow of his vertical slits started glowing again.

Eric continued, his voice rising as golden flames burst faintly from his back.

“You humiliated me in front of everyone. You stole every pass. You broke through my light. You… ruined my pride as a Seraph!”

He clenched his fists, his divine aura flaring like a miniature sun. The field trembled; the lines of mana across the ground rippled as his voice echoed across the arena.

“But that’s exactly why…” he raised his head, grinning fiercely.

“I’ve decided!”

He pointed at Aestrea, eyes blazing with divine fire.

“You, Aestrea, are my rival from this day forward!”

The crowd erupted in gasps, whispers flooding the stadium.

“Rival?”

“He said, Rival, did you guys hear that?!”

“Eric never acknowledged anyone before!”

Aestrea just tilted his head slightly, watching the Seraph’s fiery declaration without a word. His lips curved faintly upward.

Eric spread his twelve wings wide, the wind howling behind him as the golden light swirled higher and higher.

“And right now,” he roared, his mana condensing into pure power, “I’ll prove which one of us stands on top! Just you and me—one on one!”

The referee started shouting something about rules, but his voice was lost beneath the crowd’s roar as the tension exploded.

And then… the field trembled the moment both of them vanished.

BOOM!

Two streaks, one golden, one crimson, collided at the center of the field with a sound like a thunderclap.

The shockwave blew dust and grass into the air, making the entire stadium shake.

The crowd screamed in awe, divine voices echoing from every corner of the coliseum.

“Look at them!”

“They’re moving too fast!”

Eric’s twelve wings beat violently, pushing the air back as he charged again, golden trails slicing through the field.

Aestrea met him head-on, his eyes glowing with that faint red-black light as he slid the ball to the side with precise control.

CLACK!

Their feet collided against the same ball, sparks of mana exploding outward. Neither yielded.

Eric gritted his teeth.

“You’re really keeping up with me, huh?”

“You talk too much.”

“Then stop me if you can!” Eric growled, kicking the ball upward before spinning in mid-air, wings flaring.

He struck down with divine power, but Aestrea twisted his body, his foot intercepting the strike midair.

BANG!

Their collision sent both of them sliding backward, cutting long lines into the turf.

“They’re insane!” Tyrian whistled from the sideline.

Next to him, Kael’s eyes widened in surprise as he muttered:

“No… they’re even.”

Back on the field, Eric pushed forward again, his expression fierce, golden eyes blazing. He darted right, then left, his wings blurring into afterimages.

But Aestrea matched him perfectly; his mana-coated foot tapped the ball just enough to redirect it, never losing control for even a breath.

Every time Eric tried to overpower him, Aestrea’s balance, fluid and unbreakable, neutralized it.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Every clash sent waves of energy across the field, divine gold colliding against dark crimson, creating streaks of light that burned through the air.

The crowd couldn’t even follow anymore; they could only see flashes, Aestrea’s black and red blur weaving between Eric’s golden storm.

THUD!

Their feet met the ball again at the same instant, stopping it perfectly in the center of the field.

Both of them froze, breath steady, sweat dripping from their temples.

The ball didn’t even roll; it trembled between their locked shoes, a faint vibration pulsing through it from the sheer tension.

Fwooop!

Eric pushed harder, their legs trembling under the pressure as mana crackled around them.

The ground beneath their feet split open with a deep crack, golden light swallowing the field for a brief instant.

Aestrea’s body was forced backward, his boots dragging twin lines into the dirt as Eric’s overwhelming divine force pressed against him.

BOOM!

Aestrea’s footing broke, and Eric shot past him like a flash of sunlight. He spun once, golden wings slicing the air, and let out a wild grin.

“I won!” he shouted, voice echoing across the field as he cocked his leg back, mana swirling around it.

The crowd roared, thousands of divine voices blending together in one deafening cheer.

But then….

Fwip!

Something soft yet sharp brushed past his ankle. His balance vanished in an instant, and the ball was gone.

Eric’s body tilted forward, his eyes widening as the sound of the ball sliding along the grass reached his ears.

He spun his head, just in time to see Aestrea standing there with the ball already under his control.

“…What—”

A cold pulse washed through his body.

His breath turned white.

The air around him began to hum, faint frost forming on the tips of his feathers. His wings stiffened slightly, trembling as his divine energy slowed.

That pressure…

“T-that…” Eric stammered, swallowing hard.

“You’re the God of Ice…?”

Aestrea didn’t answer.

His crimson-black slitted eyes gazed down at him, emotionless.

The faint mist around his feet shimmered like moonlight over a frozen lake, spreading outward.

The air itself seemed to freeze, as though time hesitated to move.

Eric swallowed hard as his heart thudded painfully. That gaze, cold and sharp like a blade at his throat, made his instincts scream danger.

This wasn’t a simple match anymore.

For the first time since he became a Seraphim, Eric realized something horrifying.

He wasn’t fighting a rival.

He was standing before a predator.

“Let’s finish this,” Aestrea’s cold voice reached out to his ears.

And for the briefest second… Eric felt like he might not leave the field alive

.

.

.

.

.

The next minutes were pure domination.

Aestrea controlled every inch of the field as if the entire arena bent to his will.

Every time Eric moved, Aestrea was already there, cutting him off, reading his every thought, stealing the ball as though it belonged to him alone.

The crowd had gone silent, awe replacing the earlier cheers. When the final whistle blew, the score wasn’t close.

Fallen Angels — 5.

Seraphim — 3.

Kael and Tyrian were laughing breathlessly, dragging Aestrea toward the center of the field.

“Come on, captain! You earned this one!” Kael grinned, shoving the golden trophy into his hands.

The gods around them clapped and cheered, but Aestrea only gave a small nod, holding the trophy high for a brief moment before lowering it again.

He greeted his teammates politely, smiled faintly at the noise, and then turned away.

The instant he stepped out of sight, his form flickered, and his presence vanished.

A second later, he was standing in the Seraphim’s locker room.

The air was thick with steam and silence. Eric sat on a bench, head lowered, his twelve wings dimmed to a dull white. His aura trembled, exhaustion, frustration, disbelief.

Aestrea walked closer.

His footsteps echoed softly against the floor, slow and deliberate.

Eric looked up, startled.

“You—”

Before he could finish, Aestrea’s hand shot forward, gripping him by the collar and slamming him against the locker wall.

Frost instantly spread beneath his fingers, cracking metal and glass alike.

“Y-you… y-you’re a Fallen G-!”

SPLURT!

Before Eric could finish his words, his head was pulled off before falling to the ground, rolling exactly three meters before stopping.

Aestrea merely glanced at his headless body, and with a faint wave of his hand, his body disappeared into wisps of energy.

[High-level divinity absorbed!]

[The Authority of Anger has been integrated!]

[God-killing Authority strengthened!]

[Authority: Karma—advanced to high-tier!]

[You have successfully reached the 1✯ True God realm!]

Instantly, Aestrea felt as if the world around him had changed.

It was as if… he had seen the truth about the world, and now… he felt infinitely more powerful than ever.

“Phew…”

His lips curled up lightly as he dissipated away.

“Now… one of my most difficult future enemies to kill has disappeared,” his eyes narrowed slighly.

“Only… twenty thousand are remaining now.”

It truly would take a long time until he could finally rest.

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