81 Chapter 81
Serenia stood frozen beneath his gaze, her body trembling though she couldn't move. Ko and Yoru had already stepped between her and the figure in the sky, weapons drawn, eyes narrowed, instincts screaming that whatever he was, he wasn't mortal.
Rin steadied her breath and raised her gun, aura pulsing faintly. "Who the hell are you?"
The bullet left the chamber, a clean shot aimed straight at his chest.
It never reached him.
The moment it entered the sphere of light around him, it disintegrated, melting into motes of gold that fluttered uselessly to the ground. Caelith didn't even glance toward it. He simply raised his head slightly, golden eyes cutting through the smoke and silence.
"Your defiance is predictable."
His tone was calm, but it carried the weight of a sermon, timeless, patient, cruel.
"I am Caelith," he said, his voice rolling through the still air. "The Sealed King of Light. Once ruler of what lay beyond the sun."
Ko's blood went cold. The name hit him like a blade to the chest. "No way…"
Yoru's scythe manifested in her hand, the air warping around its edge. "It's really him."
Caelith's gaze drifted downward, finding Serenia again.
"You have your mother's eyes," he said quietly. "And your father's defiance."
Serenia's breath caught, confusion flashing through her. "My parents?"
He tilted his head, studying her as if she were some relic that shouldn't exist. "You are the remainder of Ryū's defiance. A spark that should have faded long ago."
Ko's hands tightened on his blades, fury rising. "Watch your mouth."
But Caelith ignored him. His gaze remained locked on Serenia.
"And your brother," he continued. "The one who bears the scent of shadow. The fractured being who walks between life and what rejects it." His tone sharpened, quiet, almost cold. "He has abandoned you."
Serenia's eyes widened, breath shattering. "No."
"Even now, he hides. Running from what he once was, pretending at humanity."
"Shut the hell up!" Yoru snapped, aura bursting outward in a violet arc. Her scythe's edge glowed with heat. "You don't know a damn thing about him."
Caelith's gaze flicked toward her, almost lazily.
"I know the blood that stains him. I know what sleeps beneath his restraint. The Ghost cannot be unmade by will alone."
The pressure doubled, forcing them all to their knees. The air trembled under his power.
Then, in a single motion, Caelith extended one hand toward Rin.
There was no sound, just impact.
A wave of pure golden force ripped through the air, striking her square in the chest. The ground shattered beneath her as she was launched across the street, her body slamming through a concrete wall before vanishing into dust and rubble.
"Rin!" Yoru shouted, eyes wide.
Ko's aura burst, heat radiating off his skin as he drew his blades. "That's it."
Serenia could barely think, her body refused to move. Every breath felt like glass.
Caelith lowered his hand slowly, the light folding around his fingers like obedient flame. "You stand in the way of inevitability," he said simply. "Your deaths will not be punishment, they will be correction."
Yoru slid her foot forward, scythe poised to strike. Ko's blades flared red with burning energy.
Serenia forced herself to her feet, trembling, eyes still locked on Caelith. "If what you say is true and, you killed Hikari…"
Her voice wavered but didn't break.
"…then I'll make sure you never touch my brother."
The golden light around Caelith pulsed once more, bright enough to erase every shadow in the street.
And then he smiled.
A slow, knowing, perfect smile.
"Then come and try, daughter of drac."
Yoru crouched beside Rin's unconscious body, teeth clenched. She picked up the gun Rin had dropped, twirling it once in her hand before hurling it through the air toward Serenia. Serenia barely caught it, gripping the weapon tightly, her hands trembling.
"Stay behind us," Yoru ordered, her scythe materializing in her grasp with a sharp flash of dark energy.
Serenia nodded silently, her breathing uneven. The city around them was still frozen in an unnatural silence, the air warped with divine pressure.
Above, Caelith remained suspended in the air, his gold and white aura cascading down like rays of molten sunlight. He didn't move an inch—didn't need to. His gaze alone was enough to press against their minds.
Ko's twin blades shimmered with red light as he stepped forward. His expression was calm but his eyes carried something else—a quiet, unshakable intent.
He thought of Aruno. Of the promise. Of the weight now sitting on his shoulders.
Protect Serenia. No matter what.
Each step brought him closer to Caelith's radiance. The air burned against his skin, the ground beneath him cracking from the pressure.
"Ko, please" Yoru muttered, voice low, "don't do anything stupid."
He didn't answer. He just kept walking—closing the distance inch by inch—eyes locked on the god in the sky.
Yoru had never seen Ko like this before. Not once.
He always carried that lazy grin, that calm defiance that made him seem untouchable no matter who stood against him. But now—there was nothing casual about him. His shoulders were tense, his jaw locked, his eyes sharpened with something heavier than anger.
Determination.
Resolve.
Something unbreakable.
Aruno… he must mean a lot to him, she thought, her grip tightening around the scythe's handle. Shit—he means a lot to me too.
Ko moved closer, step after step, the light of Caelith's divine aura cutting into his skin like a thousand invisible blades. His sleeves began to char, his arms scarred with thin streaks of burning gold.
Still, he didn't stop.
Each movement was deliberate. Controlled. Every step forward was a message—he wasn't backing down, no matter how impossible the pressure felt.
"Ko!" Yoru shouted, but he ignored her, his gaze locked on Caelith's blinding form.
Serenia could barely breathe as she watched him advance. The gun trembled in her hands. Even through the overwhelming heat, Ko's voice reached them, low and steady—
"…I don't care who you are. You don't touch her."
"Hold onto the gun and breathe," Yoru said, her voice steady even as the air trembled with divine heat. She placed a hand on Serenia's shoulder, meeting her frightened eyes with a rare calm. "Don't move from this spot. No matter what happens."
Serenia hesitated, gripping the gun tighter. Yoru gave her a small nod before turning back toward the sky. "I got him. He's my man, after all."
Then she sprinted forward.
Her scythe carved through the burning air, sparks scattering as she joined Ko. The two of them moved together—silent, practiced, like they'd fought side by side for lifetimes. Ko's blades gleamed, each strike cutting closer and closer to Caelith's unmoving form.
For the first time, the light above shifted.
Caelith tilted his head slightly, golden eyes narrowing behind the helmet. He raised one hand. The air folded in on itself, and then—
A flare of light erupted.
The explosion wasn't sound, it was pressure. A divine wave radiated outward, blinding white, consuming everything in its path.
Yoru and Ko were thrown down hard, crashing through the cracked stone streets. The ground smoked beneath them, armor cracked, breath ripped from their lungs.
Serenia stood frozen as the sky above rippled with that golden inferno—Caelith still floating, untouched, his aura now burning brighter than before.
Caelith slowly descended through the air, light folding around him like falling glass. The street beneath him scorched as his boots touched down. His gaze fixed on Serenia—unblinking, unreadable.
She trembled, the gun heavy in her shaking hands.
"First born of Ryū," he said, his voice carrying the weight of an entire age. "You were never meant to exist in this era. Your flame is a remnant of a god long extinguished."
He raised his hand toward her, golden light coalescing around his palm like a miniature sun. The heat pressed against her skin, suffocating. Serenia couldn't move. Could barely breathe.
"Your purpose ended with your bloodline," Caelith continued. "Now, return to the light."
"SERENIA!"
Ko's voice ripped through the smoke. His silhouette stumbled upright, bleeding from the forehead, one arm limp at his side. He took one look at the scene—Caelith's glowing hand inches from her chest—and roared, "SHOOT HIS ASS!"
The words snapped through her paralysis.
Serenia's finger tightened on the trigger, and the gun discharged with a thunderous crack. The bullet tore through the haze, glowing faintly from the magic left clinging to her.
Caelith turned his head slightly, the bullet grazing his cheekplate before bursting into light behind him. The smallest mark scorched across his armor—faint, but visible.
He looked back at her, slowly lowering his arm. "Interesting," he murmured, golden eyes narrowing. "You carry more of him than I expected."
Ko gritted his teeth, forcing his broken body forward. "You're not laying a damn finger on her!" he shouted, dragging both blades up into a ready stance even as blood dripped down his knuckles.
Caelith's aura flared again, brilliant and merciless. "Then show me," he said, "why he entrusted you with her life."