82 Chapter 82
Ko flicks his eyes toward Yoru sprawled on the ground, then back to Caelith, his daggers glinting under the fractured light. His voice comes out low but steady, the ghost of a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Man… Aruno always did find the worst people to piss off." He exhales through his nose, eyes narrowing. "Guess that makes me the cleanup crew."
The grin fades. His stance tightens — shoulders squared, blades angled forward. Every trace of playfulness is replaced by pure, silent focus. He takes a slow step closer, and the air around him starts to hum from the energy building in his arms.
Caelith laughs — smooth, cold, and radiant. He tilts his head, amused, and lifts his hands to his helmet. "Cleanup crew?" he repeats, his tone rich with mockery. "No… you are nothing more than a shadow beneath the light."
The helmet comes off. The rest of his golden hair spills out, catching the glow of his aura. His eyes — molten gold, divine and merciless — lock on Ko. "You cannot even comprehend what stands before you."
Ko's jaw clenches. He lifts his blades again, every muscle straining but steady. "Yeah, well," he mutters, breath short but eyes sharp, "you're standing in my way. That's all I need to know."
Then he moves — fast. A blur of twin blades and grit. Steel clashes against divine light, and for a heartbeat, it almost looks like the impossible might happen.
Ko roared as he lunged forward, tearing through the air. Every movement was pure desperation and precision, born of instinct and the memory of every battle he'd fought beside Aruno. Sparks and divine light exploded with each clash, every strike scraping against Caelith's radiant armoruntil one found its mark.
A deep gash tore across Caelith's side. The golden light flickered for just a second — just enough for Ko to see blood, not radiance, spill out.
He smirked, panting. "Guess light bleeds too."
Caelith's expression changed. The faint amusement in his face evaporated. What replaced it wasn't anger — it was fury, buried beneath divine restraint.
He raised a single hand. The sky itself seemed to answer, sunlight condensing into a blinding spear of pure light. It formed so quickly the air screamed from the pressure.
Ko's eyes widened. He barely had time to move — his body already battered and his legs half numb from the last blast. The spear aimed straight for his gut.
Caelith's voice was quiet, sharp. "You should have stayed in the shadows."
The spear drove forward — a flash so fast it split the air.
But before it could hit, a violent burst of red and black tore through the light. The world cracked with a sound like thunder and tearing glass.
A hand — familiar, bloodied, trembling, and unyielding — caught the divine weapon mid-strike. The light hissed and fractured around it.
Ko blinked, his breath catching. The familiar scent of iron, the pressure of something old and familiar.
Standing between him and Caelith — cloak shredded, eyes burning with dark crimson and faint violet threads — was Aruno. His fingers gripped the spear of light, the divine radiance bending under his touch, red cracks spreading across its surface.
For a heartbeat, everything froze.
Aruno's voice came low, cold, every word carrying the weight of the past and the promise of what was coming.
"Touch him," he said, crushing the spear in his hand until it shattered into a thousand embers, "and I'll make you regret ever leaving that throne."
The air shook. Caelith's golden aura flared in response, brighter, heavier divine rage meeting unholy defiance.
Ko fell to one knee, exhausted but smiling weakly. "Took you long enough, bro…"