Azazeal watched the chaos for a long time, quietly observing how even the distant light, swallowed by the dark, faded into oblivion.
Sensing the ominous, dark power, even the corrupted beasts—formless creatures born from impure natural energy, dwelling only in the remote reaches of the Celestial Realm’s skies, where the concentration of energies was highest—swooped down, drawn to the impure power that amplified their strength.
They entered the darkness, hunting down and tearing through the flesh of Celestials.
As the turmoil dragged on, the land of the Celestial Realm became a crimson sea of blood, flowing from the struggling bodies pulled into the shadows by dark tendrils.
The metallic tang of blood filled the air as countless Celestials ran in desperate flight.
Only then did Azazeal look content.
Humming to himself, he stepped forward and grabbed another Celestial trapped by the dark tendrils nearby, gripping them by the neck and pulling their struggling body upward. He leaned in, his voice a whisper.
"Why... didn’t... you run? Hehe..."
"Run to another, higher realm? Hmm?"
"Just like after you dug out my power?"
In the darkness, where those around could barely see beyond a few feet, the cracks in his skin looked particularly menacing and eerie. He didn’t care who he was killing. In his eyes, any being harboring even a trace of malice was unforgivable, disgusting.
They were all just another Nathaniel.
With every life he took, his bloodlust and hunger for destruction only intensified. But this time, before he could kill the Celestial whose desperate eyes pleaded for mercy, a dark-robed figure slammed into him from the side, hurling him across the distance, accompanied by an indifferent voice.
"You actually have the nerve to face me without unleashing your whole power!"
Kyle was seething—truly furious.
Even Nathaniel, that bastard, had forced Azazeal to unleash more power than now!
It was as if Kyle were nothing more than a nuisance, a bothersome bug unworthy of bearing the full force of Azazeal’s power!
The person, who had fallen after Azazeal was hurled away along with the body that slammed into him, gasped violently, tears and snot streaking his face. He scrambled to flee, heedless of anyone else, only to be ensnared once more by the black tendrils.
He shouted for help, finally fainting from sheer terror. Next to him, Yizhe, who had even withdrawn the power sustaining the Bridge of Divinity to escape, trembled, his face contorting in disbelief as the distant streak of cold blue light paused opposite him, only to reveal Kyle’s familiar face.
’I’m... I’m hallucinating, right?’
’How can Kyle be here?!’
He muttered to himself, unable to believe his eyes as they fixed on the figure bathed in an ethereal light. The longer he stared, the more his expression twisted with fear.
Eventually, all his hair stood on end as a sudden realization struck him—the more he stared at the cold, Celestial aura enveloping the man, the stronger his urge grew to bow before Kyle, to give his life for him. And this was when Kyle wasn’t even looking at him—let alone directing his power toward him!
’Fuck! I should have truly run away! Now, even if I escaped that dark-robed man, how am I supposed to survive Kyle—someone who has grown strong enough to battle what even so many of us could not?!’
Yizhe wanted to cry—and he did. His tears flowed even more freely when he saw what those streaks of red—chasing the cold light—truly were. As they paused around Kyle’s figure, suspended in the air, every Celestial in the area clearly saw their identical faces.
In the distance, Azazeal’s body, which had been hurled away along with another of his body that had slammed into him, let out a cold laugh, sending chills down everyone’s spine. The purple slits in his eyes darkened, and the cracks in his skin spread further.
His voice screeched as he swiftly leapt to his feet, staring at Kyle with a crazy look.
"Ahhhh! Die! Die!"
His eyes flickered with an unfamiliar light, as if he no longer recognized the tall man, bathed in a cold light, floating before him.
Then, they collided again.
This time, the obsidian eyes fixed on Kyle burned with so much anger and rage that they seemed to bleed. Although there was no trace of darkness in Kyle’s silver soul, Kyle had repeatedly stopped him, time and again, like a fly buzzing in his path. So, the urge to shred and let the darkness devour Kyle’s soul surged so violently in his mind that Azazeal couldn’t hold back a roar.
The air shattered with a deafening force.
Seven against one.
Yet, to the disbelief of the spectators still clinging to consciousness, the lone figure at the center of the assault held his ground against all seven identical figures! Not even all of them together could do it—heck, they couldn’t even handle one of those seven!
Many, like Yizhe, recognized Kyle. Some knew him from the whispers circulating in the Celestial realm. Others were those who had been looking for him along Yizhe to kill him and claim a piece of his cold power.
Those green eyes gleaming like blades in the darkness. The luminous silver hair. The tall, commanding figure radiating a power far beyond anything they had imagined.
How could this Celestial, whom they were hunting alongside Yizhe, have become so formidable in such a short time...? And the shocking part was that they could tell from his physique that he was still very young!
Was it the treasure Yizhe had told them he had stolen after destroying the old temple?
The treasure that belonged to Yizhe?
No—how could a treasure make someone so powerful so quickly?! If Yizhe had such an otherworldly, mighty treasure, why hadn’t he himself become so strong?! It was clear Yizhe had lied to them! Questions churned through their minds, but no answers came.
They could only watch, praying Kyle would win against the seven figures, while trying to survive the darkness eating their power. It had even started gnawing at their flesh!
Blood pooled around them, painting the land a deep, violent shade of crimson.