Chapter 423: The Beginning Of The End [LXXXV]

Seraphel stared at Aestrea for several seconds.

“You truly don’t understand,” Seraphel said at last.

“Balance is not cruelty. Balance is mercy refined.”

Aestrea didn’t move.

Seraphel continued, taking a slow step forward, golden light flowing softly from his halo and wings, bathing the ruined land in a sense of righteousness.

“The universe is built on scales,” he said. “Life and death. Order and chaos. Creation and destruction. When one side grows too heavy, everything collapses.”

His gaze hardened slightly.

“You,” he said, pointing at Aestrea, “are probably the fastest god to ascend through the ranks. A corrective force born outside the system. Useful, yes, but ultimately destabilizing.”

Aestrea chuckled at his words

“So this is how the Primordial Court talks now?” he muttered.

“Pretty words. Clean logic… but no sense of responsibility.”

Seraphel’s brow furrowed.

“You confuse responsibility with sentiment,” he replied.

“I have overseen the fall of stars. The culling of corrupted realms. The erasure of gods whose existence tilted reality toward ruin. Every action is weighed. Every consequence measured.”

Golden light gathered behind him.

“And yet,” he added calmly, “here you stand, threatening war because one lower world happens to matter to you.”

Aestrea finally lifted his gaze fully.

“The problem is that you think balance is something you get to decide,” he stated coldly, causing Seraphel’s eyes to sharpen.

“And you think you do?”

Aestrea didn’t reply to his stupid words and simply raised Midnight slightly.

That was enough.

Seraphel exhaled.

“Then this is unavoidable.”

The golden halo above his head flared violently.

“By the authority granted to me by the Primordial Court,” Seraphel declared, his voice echoing as if reality itself were listening.

“I deem you a disruptive element.”

Golden light erupted behind him.

“Rebalancing will commence.”

The air screamed.

FWOOOOM!

A circle of radiant sigils exploded outward behind Seraphel as hundreds of golden spears manifested out of pure authority.

Each one gleamed like condensed sunlight, perfectly symmetrical, their tips sharp enough to pierce concepts, not just flesh.

They hovered around him in a massive rotating formation.

Aestrea’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“…Spears? Classic…”

Seraphel lifted his hand.

The spears responded instantly.

“Balance does not require excess,” Seraphel said calmly.

“One strike is sufficient.”

The formation condensed almost immediately.

FWOOOOOM!

The first volley was launched.

Each spear adjusted mid-flight, correcting its trajectory constantly, aligning itself to the most optimal path toward Aestrea.

Distance shortened unnaturally, space bending subtly so the spears would always arrive at the exact moment and angle required.

FWIP!

Aestrea stepped forward and swung Midnight.

The first spear shattered on impact, exploding into golden fragments that evaporated instantly.

Fwip, fwip!

Two more followed, cleaved apart with clean, precise strikes, but Seraphel’s eyes didn’t change, as he adjusted the remaining spears.

In an instant, the angles shifted, the timing got a little faster, and the spear’s attacks started overlapping.

Aestrea twisted his body sideways as three spears grazed past his shoulders, tearing open shallow cuts that immediately began to close.

Splat!

Aestrea clicked his tongue.

“Tsk.”

He disappeared.

FWIP!

He reappeared above Seraphel, both swords crossing in a downward strike.

Seraphel reacted instantly.

CLANG!!!

A golden spear formed horizontally in front of him, blocking both blades at once. The impact sent a shockwave ripping through the sky, clouds parting violently.

Seraphel’s feet sank several centimeters into the ground.

“…Impressive,” he admitted quietly.

Then his hand flicked upward.

CRASH!

A spear erupted from beneath Aestrea’s feet.

Aestrea twisted midair, barely avoiding being impaled, but another spear appeared immediately to his left, followed by another to his right, then above…

They weren’t summoned.

They were balanced into existence.

Aestrea spun, deflecting two, shattering one, letting the fourth graze his side as he forced himself through the opening.

He landed hard, sliding backward across the ruined ground.

Seraphel descended slowly, wings folding partially as his feet touched down.

“You see? No matter how strong you are, excess will always be corrected.”

Golden light pulsed again, causing the shattered spears to reform instantly.

Aestrea simply shook his dominant hand slighly, straightening himself up as blood dripped from his side, evaporating before it could touch the ground.

“…You talk too much,” he muttered.

He rolled his shoulders once.

Then vanished.

FWIP!

Seraphel’s pupils shrank.

Aestrea appeared directly in front of him, fist already mid-swing.

Seraphel raised his forearm.

THUD!!!

The punch landed anyway.

The force bypassed the spear-formed defense and slammed directly into Seraphel’s torso, sending him skidding backward dozens of meters, carving a trench through the ground.

His wings flared wide to stabilize himself.

He looked down.

A dent had formed in his chest armor of light.

“…So you can overwhelm balance with raw dominance,” Seraphel said, sounding genuinely interested in Aestrea now.

Aestrea didn’t let him finish as he rushed forward again. But strangely… he decided to use a quite… unsuited fighting style.

Pure Swordsmanship.

Fwip, fwip!

He actually attacked with pure swordsmanship, slashes aimed at joints, thrusts at the throat, and feints designed to force Seraphel to overcorrect.

Seraphel responded with perfect economy.

Every block generated exactly one spear.

Every counter came with minimal movement.

Neither overextended.

Neither yielded ground for long.

Steel clashed with golden light again and again, shockwaves tearing through the battlefield as space warped under the pressure of two opposing absolutes.

Aestrea stepped inside Seraphel’s guard and drove his knee upward, just to be blocked by a spear forming mid-motion.

Seraphel countered with a backhand, but Aestrea ducked, the strike passing millimeters above his head, and slashed upward.

Swoosh!

“Ugh!” Seraphel twisted, the blade slicing through one wing feather instead of his neck, causing golden feathers to disintegrate midair.

“…That is not supposed to happen.” Seraphel frowned slightly, swinging both of his wings at Aestrea in a piercing manner.

BOOOOM!

Aestrea was sent skidding backward, boots carving two long trenches through the fractured ground before he managed to stop himself.

His heels dug in, body leaning forward slightly as the momentum finally died out.

Drip….

A thin line of blood ran down from the corner of his lips. He raised the back of his hand and wiped it away casually, crimson smearing across his skin.

And then… his lips suddenly curled up into a faint yet extremely cold smile.

“…I’ve seen enough,” Aestrea said quietly.

Seraphel hovered in place, golden spears rotating slowly around him, his expression tightening just a fraction.

“You’ve measured me already?” Seraphel asked cautiously, wondering if it was some mind game from Aestrea.

“Arrogance does not suit—”

“I don’t have time for you,” Aestrea interrupted flatly.

He straightened his posture, rolling his neck once as if loosening up.

“There are things I need to protect. Things I need to handle.” His eyes lifted, locking directly onto Seraphel.

“So I’m ending this fast.”

The air suddenly… changed.

Aestrea raised his hand and pressed two fingers together.

『 ✯ Moon Mark ✯ 』

A crescent-shaped sigil ignited in both of his eyes, oneglowing with a pale silver light and the other with an ominous black one, as his aura surged violently outward.

Power flooded his limbs, his presence sharpening instantly, as if something otherworldly had awakened beneath his skin.

Seraphel felt it immediately.

“…So you finally stop holding back,” Seraphel muttered, his golden halo flaring brighter as he instinctively began channeling his Authority.

But then…

“Domain of Silence.”

The world simply… ceased, as the existence of sound vanished entirely.

Even the hum of divinity disappeared, as if reality itself had been muted.

Space became unnaturally clear, unnaturally calm, an oppressive stillness spreading outward in a perfectly smooth sphere.

The battlefield faded from perception.

Seraphel’s eyes widened slightly.

He raised his hand, golden light surging as he tried to unfold his own domain.

Nothing happened.

“…What?” he whispered.

His halo flickered as he tried again… but still nothing. For the first time since arriving, unease crept into his expression.

“My domain… Why can’t I…?”

“Because this one doesn’t allow noise,” Aestrea replied.

Fwip!

In the next instant, he was already there.

Seraphel’s pupils shrank.

Aestrea stood before him, close enough that the golden light reflecting off his skin cast sharp contrasts across his face.

Midnight rested loosely in his right hand.

Only one sword.

No Heaven Swallowing Sword.

Just Midnight.

“…Only one sword?” Seraphel asked cautiously.

Aestrea didn’t answer, and instead… he closed his eyes and muttered lightly.

“Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art…”

The temperature collapsed entirely.

Chill…

A suffocating, soul-deep cold erupted from Aestrea’s body, frost spreading instantly across the ground, climbing up shattered stone, freezing drifting debris midair.

Seraphel’s wings stiffened as ice crept along their edges.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Aestrea’s aura surged violently.

Just then, a massive blue moon manifested behind him.

It was enormous.

Beautiful…

Terrifying…

The moonlight washed over the Domain of Silence, bathing Aestrea’s form in an ethereal glow, silver-blue radiance outlining his features with unreal sharpness.

His hair moved slighly despite the absence of wind, his eyes opening slighly, reflecting the moonlight like frozen stars.

The frost intensified as reality itself seemed to slow.

Seraphel’s breath caught.

“…This pressure..!!!”

Aestrea raised Midnight slowly, and then, two small tears of blood dripped down both sides of his cheeks.

『 Seventh Move! (✹ Absolute Zero Eclipse ✹) 』

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