Chapter 425: The Beginning Of The End [LXXXVII]

The air inside the underground sanctuary trembled with distant explosions.

Not loud enough to collapse the place, but close enough to feel them clearly.

Swish…

Ancient runes glowed along the circular chamber, pulsing softly as a forced ascension array stabilized itself, layers of protection folding into place one after another.

Zeva stood near the edge of the formation, her fists clenched, grinding her teeth so hard that her jaw ached.

Violet was gently being held by her mother, as she gently patted her head.

Yara leaned against a wall, her sharp eyes extremely tired. Alaine murmured under her breath, trying to optimize the array one last time.

Mia and Maria stood shoulder to shoulder, both of them were extremely pale, and their mana reserves were almost at their limit.

Lilith had gone strangely quiet, her eyes flicking toward the ceiling every few seconds.

Derek and James stood closer to the center, their backs straight, trying to be calm even though they were practically trembling in fear and desperation.

Ruli clutched Leaf’s sleeve tightly, causing Leaf to try to smile for her, but she failed.

Lumi hovered anxiously near Chaerin’s shoulder, glowing faintly in her green color, chiming in short, worried pulses that only the girl seemed to understand.

Chaerin herself stared at the glowing runes beneath her feet in curiosity, feeling that there was something wrong in them.

And behind all of them stood more than a lot of people, the biggest number that could fit in that chamber.

And in front of them all, leading the group was none other than Vivian.

“We don’t have much time,” Zeva said, breaking the suffocating silence. “The outer layers are already falling. Once they breach the inner barrier, this place won’t hold.”

“They’re already fighting gods above our level,” Yara added quietly. “Staying longer only means we all die here.”

“That doesn’t mean abandoning the kingdom!” Lilith turned sharply.

“Nobody’s abandoning anything.” Vivian snorted softly.

All eyes turned to her.

She stepped forward, crimson flames faintly flickering along her arms, then died down again as she deliberately suppressed them.

“The forced ascension will take less than a minute once it starts,” Vivian said calmly. “You’ll be ripped out of this realm and thrown upward whether you like it or not. That’s the plan.”

Violet took her head off her mother’s chest.

“And you?”

“I’ll activate it.” Vivian met her gaze without blinking.

“That wasn’t the question,” Violet snapped.

Vivian smiled faintly.

“Vivian… your presence isn’t required for activation. Once the array stabilizes, you should step inside as well.” Alaine frowned.

“Yes,” Mia said quickly.

“Please. We all go together.”

“Aestrea would—” Maria nodded, her eyes shining with hope.

“—hate this plan,” Vivian finished flatly.

“Which is exactly why it’s happening.”

“…”

The chambers went completely silent.

“What do you mean?” Derek narrowed his eyes.

Vivian turned, walking slowly around the circle, her long claws clicking softly against the stone floor.

As she passed each of them, her gaze lingered on them for a few moments.

Zeva, Violet, and her Mother, Yara, Alaine, Mia, Maria, Lilith, Derek, James, Ruli, Leaf, Lumi, and Chaerin.

“Every single one of you is more important to Aestrea than this world, ” Vivian stated calmly, even though Violet’s mother wasn’t included.

“That’s not!” Chaerin’s head snapped up.

“It is,” Vivian cut in.

“And you know it.”

She stopped behind the control pillar.

“Vivian. Don’t.” James’s expression darkened.

Her hand settled on the pillar, and suddenly…

Swish…!

The runes started glowing slighly.

“Vivian,” Zeva warned sharply.

“Step away.”

The moment stretched.

CLACK.

Vivian slammed her palm down, causing the array to ignite instantly.

“What?!” Violet shouted.

Light surged upward, forming a dome of interlocking sigils that snapped shut around the entire group, except Vivian.

“VIVIAN?!” Ruli screamed.

“STOP! LET US OUT!” Leaf rushed forward, slamming her hands against the barrier.

It was already too late as the sigil had already locked in place.

A forced teleportation matrix overlaid the ascension array, sealing all exit points from the inside.

“You layered the arrays…!” Alaine’s eyes widened in horror.

“Yes,” Vivian said calmly, already stepping back.

“I made it irreversible.”

Zeva drew her weapon, slamming it against the barrier with all her strength.

It didn’t even ripple.

“You traitor!” Lilith snarled, rage and panic colliding in her voice.

Vivian flinched, but only for half a second.

“I prefer ’last line of defense.’”

“Vivian… please…” Mia’s voice cracked.

“We can fight together!” Maria pressed her hand against the barrier, tears streaming down her face.

Vivian turned her back to them.

“If any of you…stay, you’ll die. And if you die… Aestrea breaks.”

She inhaled slowly.

“I won’t let that happen.”

Chaerin screamed her name.

Lumi flared brightly, slamming herself against the barrier again and again, her chimes shrill with distress.

Vivian clenched her fists.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, too softly for them to hear.

The array began to rise.

Energy spiraled upward, space twisting violently as the ascension sequence took hold.

“VIVIAN!” Zeva roared.

“THIS ISN’T YOUR DECISION!”

Vivian looked back one last time.

Her smile was crooked.

“Tell him that I didn’t hesitate, and I will always love him.”

The light intensified.

One by one, their figures blurred, pulled upward beyond the limits of the realm. Ruli’s scream echoed longest, stretching painfully before snapping into silence.

They were finally gone.

The chamber fell quiet.

Vivian stood alone.

The tremors grew stronger now.

She rolled her shoulders once, then once again, feeling bones shift, power stirring deep within her core.

Crimson flames crawled along her skin.

“Alright,” she muttered, wings unfolding fully, casting long shadows across the empty chamber.

“Guess it’s just me.”

She turned toward the exit.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Fwooosh!

Vivian raised one clawed hand, crimson flames spiraling tightly around her arm until they condensed into something almost solid.

Then she swung.

A crescent of red fire tore across the sky, ripping straight through three winged gods.

Their bodies didn’t even have time to scream before they were consumed, reduced to ash drifting uselessly in the wind.

But the sky didn’t clear.

If anything, it thickened.

“Pfffttt!!”

Laughter echoed from above, causing her eyes to instantly narrow, filled with killing intent.

“Oh?” one of the outer gods chuckled, hovering just out of her reach.

“A half-devil?”

Another sneered, his golden eyes scanning how strong her aura was.

“Barely equivalent to a one-star god. How adorable.”

“You’re brave,” a third added mockingly. “Or just suicidal.”

Vivian snarled at them, baring sharp teeth.

“I don’t give a shit what you think.”

Swish!

Crimson flames exploded from her body, her presence spiking violently as she launched herself upward.

She moved like a predator unleashed, claws tearing, wings snapping as she crashed into the enemy line.

A spear formed from golden light stabbed toward her heart.

She twisted midair, letting it graze her side instead. Flesh burned. Blood sprayed.

Fwip!

She didn’t care about the pain and whipped her tail around, smashing into the spear-wielder’s head with bone-shattering force.

The god was sent flying, crashing into another before both vanished into the city below in a cloud of debris.

“WEAK,” one of them roared, slamming a hammer of divine light down on her shoulder.

CRACK.

Her bones screamed.

Vivian was driven downward, smashing through a tower and skidding across the stone streets, tearing a trench through the capital.

“Kurgh… cough!”

She coughed up blood, but even as she did, she then laughed madly.

Blood dripped from her mouth as she pushed herself up, flames crawling over her wounds, forcibly sealing them shut.

“Weak?” she growled, her wings flaring up again.

“If I’m weak…”

She launched back into the sky, faster than before, dragging a storm of crimson fire behind her.

“…then why are you all taking turns hitting me?”

She plunged straight into them.

The sky became chaotic.

Crimson flames clashed against divine radiance, explosions tearing holes through the clouds.

Vivian fought like a beast cornered, every movement fueled by rage and stubborn defiance.

She didn’t dodge cleanly and instead started trading blows.

She… took blows just to land her own.

Splursh!”

A blade cut through her wing.

“ARGGGGHHHH!” She screamed, not in pain, but in anger, grabbing the blade with her bare hand and detonating her flames point-blank.

The god shrieked as his arm disintegrated.

Another god slammed her from behind, crushing her spine midair.

She spat blood into his face and ignited it.

Below, the people of the kingdom watched in horror and awe as the red comet continued to rise, fall, and rise again, each time more broken, yet still moving relentlessly.

“She’s going to die…” Iris whispered, tears streaming down her face.

“STOP! LET ME GO HELP HER!” Lucas slammed his fist against the window as Maya held him back, along with Isabella.

Lucas was already their last hope… and if the strongest between them also died…

Then, they truly wouldn’t have any more chances against them.

“Fuck… agh… huu!”

Her breathing grew ragged.

One wing was barely held together. Her tail twitched erratically, muscles tearing under strain.

Her flames flickered but were unstable, burning her from the inside out.

Still, she smiled.

“So this is it,” she muttered, hovering shakily as more gods circled her like vultures.

“Heh… figures.”

One of them stepped forward, aura crushing. Far stronger than the rest.

“A nuisance,” he said calmly.

“You’ve delayed us enough.”

Divine pressure descended.

Vivian felt her body scream in protest.

Her vision blurred as her flames surged wildly, eating into her own flesh now, desperate and uncontrolled.

She clenched her fists anyway.

“Aestrea,” she whispered under her breath. “Guess I couldn’t see you one more time…”

“Don’t worry though… I’ve made sure to keep the others in a safe place where they can ascend to meet you.”

She raised her head, looking at the sky with an incredibly bitter smile.

“As your first love… that’s the only thing I can do for you, no?”

She closed his eyes tightly, and then…

Fwisp!

A rage burned deeply in them.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Her crimson flames erupted violently, her very life force pouring into them as she charged one last time, not to win, but to burn, to scar, to prove that this world would not fall quietly.

The outer gods simply scoffed at her actions.

In their eyes… that was a foolish and pointless action.

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