Ascension of the Dark Seraph-Chapter 304: Declaration of War

His stamina was exhausted.

His ether reserve, down to its last drop.

No more support from his power source, and his bloodline was also neutralized.

At this moment, Caldaros knew that he was on the brink of being defeated.

But he still has one more trick up his sleeve.

The Sun Mark of Sunna, an ability he obtained from achieving the First Divine Elevation.

Requiring neither ether nor stamina.

It's an ability that used his vitality as fuel to create one last powerful attack—that would vaporize anyone who got in the way as long as the gap in power wasn't overwhelming. Against Lucivar—Loki's avatar, this ability's power was amplified due to its purification property.

Even if Lucivar has reached the Second Divine Elevation, he wouldn't be able to block this beam.

Loki wasn't known for his resilience, so this would decimate him.

But reality slapped him across his face.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm a lot more than that."

"What…?"

Caldaros's eyes bulged in horror when his trump card was swatted away easily as if it were nothing.

As the beam made impact with the building to their side and shattered into pieces, Caldaros' eyes were fixated on Lucivar as if he were looking at an unknown entity. It should be impossible—but the devilish smirk that crossed Lucivar's face showed that it really happened.

His last attack did get deflected.

'It's Sunna's pure energy…'

Caldaros' heart pounded inside his chest like a war drum.

'Something wicked like him should be purified and killed on the spot…'

A bead of cold sweat ran down the side of his face.

'Not a single one of Loki's previous avatars could withstand this attack, so how…?'

Recalling what Lucivar said earlier, his heart sank to his stomach.

But even then, he refused to be defeated.

"Raarggh!!"

Unleashing a primal cry, Caldaros used what little stamina he had and attacked Lucivar.

He swung his fists wildly, desperately, but Lucivar was able to dodge them all easily.

For some reason, Lucivar's ether was charged, and he was now able to move better than Caldaros.

"This is not fair! Not fair!"

"You must've cheated! I refuse to believe you are prepared to counter everything I have!"

"I refuse! I refuseaah!!"

Lucivar took in Caldaros' pathetic appearance as he swung his fists, which were raw without any kind of enhancement, in desperation. His tears, the drool that escaped his mouth, and even the terror that was shown clearly in his eyes, all of them combined, created this wonderful sight.

An avatar broken thoroughly to his core.

A shiver ran down Lucivar's spine as his imagination of wholeheartedly shattering Caldaros came true.

And for what it was worth, the reality was even sweeter than his imagination.

"You tricked yourself into believing that you won, which made you bolder. You showed Ciri exactly what I needed you to show her," Lucivar said, amidst parrying and blocking the flurries of punches. "Your… evil. And now, you have no access to your power. Ciri turned on you, and now, the sun is no longer shining on you."

"And without the sun,"

"Huaakh!"

Lucivar weaved to the side and landed a punch into his gut, curving his body backward.

"You're… beatable," He whispered devilishly.

Inside Caldaros' Inner Chamber, Aurel watched his descent to defeat.

She was stunned.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

For the longest time, their avatars have always won against Loki's avatars—but that streak that spanned for eons was broken today. Lucivar managed to defeat Caldaros despite his disadvantages, and the worst part, Aurel couldn't refute this triumph.

No matter how much hatred she has, she couldn't say that Lucivar got lucky.

He didn't.

He won this battle fair and square.

"But the Sun Mark of Sunna should've vaporized him," Aurel frowned as she understood every step that Lucivar took, but this part. "Loki didn't help him since I'd sense him if he tried, and being in the Second Divine Elevation would not give enough power to block that attack, so how? Is it his bloodline? But what could it be?"

Deciding that she needed to find out, Aurel expanded her divine senses.

A small orb of sunlight appeared on her forehead before its light expanded outwards.

It seeped out of the Inner Chamber and brushed against Lucivar's body.

Immediately upon touching, something stung her divine senses hard, and sent it hurtling back toward Aurel hard. She was thrown backward inside the Inner Chamber—stumbling across the floor. Once she came to a halt, she sat up in shock.

"What was that…?" She mumbled in confusion.

Glancing down at her wing, a small cut marred the surface.

From it, fine grains of sand trickled like bleeding dust.

Frowning for a second, scrutinizing what it was, Aurel's eyes widened when she recognized it.

"Chaos… The source of Chaos is inside him!"

Realizing that something incredible was going on with Lucivar, Aurel quickly abandoned Caldaros' body, flying out to report this to Sunna. Emerging outside, her gaze met with Lucivar—but she did not care and channeled her power.

It was then she found her power was not working, she couldn't return back to Sunna's realm.

Blinking to see what normal eyes couldn't see, Aurel saw a bubble.

A bubble that surrounded Lucivar's body, which only she could see.

It was thick with pure intent and was blocking any connection she had with her home realm.

'Pure intent…? Who? Is there a traitor from the light?' She thought in confusion.

Regardless, once Sunna got a whiff of this, she would tell the other Gods.

It wouldn't take long for this to be handled, including this traitor who dared work for Loki.

Fortunately, the bubble was not that big.

As long as she stepped out of it, she could instantly return back to Sunna's realm.

Just as she flapped her wings frantically, turning into a flash of sunlight in an attempt to get out of the range of the bubble, Aurel's senses reacted when she heard a violent hiss. Coming from the side, Gandr rushed at her with an open maw.

Aurel swirled and avoided the attack perfectly.

She was about to mock Gandr's pathetic attempt, but a shadow suddenly loomed over her.

Looking up, Aurel's expression turned pale when she saw that the figure above her was a black cat.

But what was more surprising was the sheer fact that the black cat was similar to her and Gandr.

It was also a Divine Beast!

Crash!

A paw strike slapped her head and sent her hurtling downward.

Aurel was slammed against the ground, back into the emerald haze from the Fool, groaning in pain as she didn't understand what was happening. Before she could recover, Gandr already reached her and wrapped her in a cobra choke, restraining her.

On the other hand, the black cat, Sha, landed right beside them, licking her paw nonchalantly.

Upon seeing Sha, Aurel's breath was caught in her throat.

"Sha…? No, this can't be real…"

Even though she expected Lucivar to be someone who was born with a unique condition, causing disturbances in the weave of fate and chaos, this was not normal. Hosting two Gods inside of him was something beyond Aurel's comprehension.

She never even knew that this was possible.

No avatar has ever possessed more than one God.

There are avatars who gained help from another God, but none could host more than one like this.

Recovering from her initial shock, Aurel's eyes glowed radiantly.

"How dare you do this! Once the Architects knew, you're done! All of them are going to crush you!"

"Silence."

Sha's voice boomed with authority.

Sha cast a sharp glare at Aurel, clearly displeased by her tone.

"Do not mistake me for Loki's, who has the heart to humor a jest."

"Hiss… Hiss… Isn't this a pleasant surprise? My first avatar's victory would also be accompanied by something more incredible."

Gandr chuckled, anticipating what was about to happen next.

Upon hearing this, Aurel blinked as she realized something that drained the color from her face.

She remembered the strange, almost holy bubble of energy that had surrounded them—a blessing that had felt out of place. But with the sudden appearance of Sha, Sutekh's divine beast emerging from deep within Lucivar, the pieces began to fall into place.

Aurel sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes wide with dawning horror as she looked at the two.

"You… You took one of us hostage," She whispered, voice trembling. "Someone strong enough to mask your wretched stench. No… No, it can't be," Her expression twisted with disbelief. "You took an Archangel?! Are you insane? That's a declaration of war!"

"I can't believe I always lost to someone this slow…" Gandr hissed, shaking his head.

He didn't care that Aurel knew about this.

It doesn't matter.

Even Sha was also relaxed, she didn't mind Aurel knowing about that.

Since she's not going to remember it, of course.

'I need to get out of here, but how?!'

Aurel thought inside, looking around in search of an escape route.

Then, her eyes landed on Lucivar.

'If I helped Caldaros kill him, both of them would be disoriented, and I could flee!'

Knowing what to do, Aurel suddenly turned into sunlight, freeing herself from Gandr's grasp.

She rushed straight at Caldaros, heading back into his body.

But unlike before, she now used her power to enhance him to deal the final blow.

Sha was about to block Aurel's charge, but Gandr stopped him.

"Don't,"

"Hmm? She's going to try and kill Lucivar, that's obvious, and we can't have that."

"Peek at his mind a bit."

Gandr nudged his chin towards Lucivar.

Upon hearing this, Sha turned toward Lucivar and peered into his mind.

It was only then did she realized what Gandr was talking about.

"Huh… I guess the third one is going to be awakened soon. The Blessed Oracle is really sharp.

Meanwhile, back to the battle.

Lucivar drilled his foot into Caldaros' stomach, sending him stumbling away.

"Eurgh… Ravenna helped me recover some God strands, but my ether and stamina are still low," Lucivar mumbled with a light groan. He looked ahead at Caldaros—and tilted his head, "Is that really it? I still have one more thing planned, but that's only possible if he still has one last move in him."

Lucivar turned to the side a little, sensing the person he had been waiting for.

It took her long enough to come, but she was here now.

All he needed to do now was another performance, which should be easy since he's really tired now.

Cough!

Lucivar covered his mouth and coughed a mouthful of blood.

He looked at the blood and frowned to realize that his body was more damaged than he thought.

As he turned to look at Caldaros again, his eyes widened when a blinding flash assaulted his eyes.

It forced him to close his eyes.

And when he opened his eyes again, Caldaros was already upon him with a brilliant sword in hand.

Splash!