Ascension of the Dark Seraph-Chapter 308: Sunfall (1)

"Loki…"

As soon as that name left Lucivar's mouth, Leandra immediately averted her gaze.

Her entire being shuddered, as if her strength was draining away, and she might melt into the ground.

Even earlier, seconds earlier, her gaze only brushed the outline of his face and recoiled.

An invisible weight pressed her soul down. Not physical. Deeper. And her mind refused to process what it saw, retreating like a flame touched by the wind. It was an instinctual response—that to truly see this old man would mean unravelling something vital inside herself.

It was the universe's way of reminding her of not meeting his gaze.

Because lesser things were never meant to meet the gaze of something so absolute.

He is a God!

Lucivar, on the other hand, wasn't deterred.

He might not be in the realm of absolute like Loki, but he was able to peek inside without repercussion.

Loki approached.

His cane made a subtle, dull sound against the pavement, but echoed loudly in their minds.

Even though this was the third time he really saw Loki, Lucivar had already developed a sense of what he should be expecting. He pulled Leandra to stand behind him, and then narrowed his eyes, "You didn't come here to congratulate me. Your face said nothing, but the form you took… If you came for me, you would be in that disgustingly seductive form of yours."

"Did I see you through?" He asked, smiling.

Clang!

Loki stopped right in front of Lucivar, his body towering, at least seven feet tall.

"If you see through it, Blessed Oracle, then I want you to know,"

"Ah, I suppose… But frankly, I can also tell with my success, your plan is also going smoothly."

A chuckle escaped Loki's lips.

"Naturally."

"Are you going to humour me with the details?"

"Please… the details would be too much for you, even at your current state."

Shaking his head, Loki turned around and gazed at the sky.

He placed his hand behind him with grace and studied the heavens, seeing something Lucivar couldn't.

"Know this, Blessed Oracle, Gods and Goddesses, we aren't exactly the same—and frankly, our power can't be measured. But power can come in many shapes of forms, and those powers… and well, unlike our absolute power, we can measure."

Loki glanced over his shoulder—a smile crept to his face.

"Read between the lines, Blessed Oracle—and you might understand your role in this. Until then, and until you awakened all of us, you're unworthy of the details…"

Clang!

As Loki slammed his cane for the second time, a pulse of emerald divine energy expanded outward.

One brush from it, Leandra's eyes rolled back as she fell to the ground unconscious.

Lucivar fared no better.

He crumbled to his knees, resisting the power, but eventually, the world around him went dark.

Once he was alone, Loki parted his lips.

"Gandr…"

From outside the park, Gandr slithered inside, carrying a bird of sunlight with him, Aurel.

Gandr reached Loki and placed Aurel right in front of him.

"I've done what you asked. Sha helped me, so erasing her memory went smoothly."

"Good—the Architects sent three more avatars in this world, so we can't afford this to come out. Not right now. And, from the looks of it, the barrier is holding up well. The avatar's death requiem blasted to the sky, but it didn't go anywhere."

"Do you mean…"

"Yes, it's a bravado of my power that closed the purple dungeon. Of course, those Karma bastards were going to side with the Blessed Oracle anyway, even without my power, and closed the dungeon—but I can't have that, can I? So, yes, Sunna still didn't know yet…"

Hearing this, Gandr looked skyward with a mischievous grin.

He couldn't see exactly what Loki was seeing, but he could see the traces of the barrier.

A bubble could be seen covering the entire area.

Not big, about a few hundred meters in radius, which encompassed the park and a bit beyond.

It was following the Blessed Oracle, siphoned from something inside him.

Right above their heads, there was this gathering of sunlight that cracked the bubble a little, which was the real death requiem from Caldaros' death. As Loki said, it didn't go anywhere—it was caught by the barrier, leaking no information about Caldaros' death outside.

"Choosing Seraphiel was the right thing, her scent is quite strong."

"Indeed."

"Should we let Sunna know now? Sha informed me Seth is ready."

"Yes, but first…"

Loki turned to look at Gandr, his emerald eyes glowing with intent.

"Return to your original form, my son. Let's see the limit of Seraphiel's scent."

"As you wish, Father."

Gandr closed his eyes for a second, channeling something deep inside of him.

Then, once his eyes were opened again, a flash of power surged through.

Swoosh!

At first, his form loomed silently, coiled within itself like a slumbering God.

But then, he stirred.

A thunderous crack happened in the air, as if the air exploded from his presence.

His body began to swell, slow and steady, yet impossible to ignore. Each breath he drew roared like the sound of distant thunder. Divine energy surged through his scales, green-black and gleaming like forged emerald, sending ripples through the ground as though the very earth recoiled from his transformation.

From a small serpent, he reached the size of a human, growing in mere seconds.

A glow pulsed beneath his skin, veins of celestial light traced ancient patterns across his titanic form.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the frozen ground, and then ruptured, splintering stone and soil.

Loki watched the bubble closely as Gandr's neck arched high, crowned by a horned head with flaming eyes like twin suns of emerald flame. His entire body now already takes up the entire space of the park, and is still growing.

His maw opened, not in a roar, but in a soundless exhale.

Despite his massive stature, he was… silent. Silently growing.

As an aurora formed in the sky, a welcoming phenomenon to his power, the bubble cracked further.

"Stop!"

Loki instructed.

Almost instantly, the swelling stopped, and in the next instant, Gandr returned back to his small size.

"How is it, Father?" ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

"It can still withstand one more. She can be awakened. But it seemed we had to pick up our pace—He… the Blessed Oracle is more effective than we anticipated. He was chosen for a reason, I see. With the avatar's death requiem, we could make the bubble stronger, but it'll take time."

"Time we do not have. The Blessed Oracle, he's ravenous about power."

"Oh… We'll have plenty of time once she's awakened. Now, let's invite our sun friend."

Pivoting around, Loki went over to the unconscious Lucivar.

With a flick of his wrist, he flipped Lucivar over with ease.

Then, he extended his arm—his open hand aimed downward directly at Lucivar's chest.

Not even needing a single chant, a faint golden glow ignited at Lucivar's chest, intensifying with each passing second. His Supernatural Ego had been forcefully triggered, unbidden, beyond his control. With a strained grunt, a searing golden beam burst forth.

It crashed against the invisible barrier only Loki could see.

Bam!

Upon impact, the barrier dissipated a little, opening up enough to allow the sunlight energy to exit.

Not all of it, but enough to alert the Goddess of the Sun.

Swoosh!

Loki watched as a flicker of the death requiem went through the clouds and into the heavens, and before he could even blink, the sun suddenly churned. A darker glow shaded its surface, and from it, a celestial beam descended downward.

In the sky, a figure of sunlight appeared with all her glory.

Behind her head was the sun itself, burning everything that met its gaze.

A Goddess of the divine sunlight.

Seeing this figure, Loki spread his arms to the side.

"My old friend, history has been made today."

"Loki, you've… won?"

"Don't be so bitter, it would ruin your image. It's not a big deal, there's a first time for everything."

Upon hearing this, Sunna narrowed her eyes.

She knew that Loki was the reason behind the chaos in this world, but she didn't expect this.

Expect Loki to actually win.

It was unsettling that this happened, especially when the odds are stacked against him.

"Aren't you going to grace me with your real self? You did promise me something, remember?"

"Another trick?"

"Oh…? Since when is the great Sunna afraid of me?"

"You've beaten my avatar for the first time, I'm sure this is a trick. And yet, I'll bite."

Proudly, Sunna's figure shimmered brilliantly.

Her incorporeal silhouette gave way to form.

It was refined, limbs sculpted in flawless symmetry, skin like polished ivory kissed by dawn. Flowing hair cascaded in molten gold, and when her eyes opened again, twin suns that shimmered with all the fury and love of a day appeared.

A celestial crown, wrought from majesty, unfurled above her brow.

Its sharp spires humming with ancient power.

Soon, it was complete—she was no longer an ethereal vision, but Sunna's incarnation.

The Sun Goddess in her true and sacred form.

Her golden armor shone with holy radiance, etched with sunbursts and divine runes older than time.

Even her mere presence banished the shadows around her.

Once she was in her full form, she descended from the sky gracefully.

She didn't land on the ground, no, she floated, keeping a higher view than Loki.

"It's an honor to meet with the real you once again,"

Loki said, making a royal bow as if he were to meet the queen of the entire existence.

No amusement reached Sunna's face, only a faint sneer.

"It's good that you know how to respect me now."

"Pride and arrogance are sometimes intertwined, Sunna."

"Either way, it's the source of my strength, Loki. Unlike your lowly act of trickery."

"Of course, but it can also be a weakness."

Upon hearing the dangerous threat in Loki's tone, Sunna laughed incredulously.

She couldn't believe that he had the guts to act mighty when he had only won once against her.

"Leave this world, Loki. This is Seraphiel's world. If you obey me, if you submit to me, you will save face. If not me, then it'll be the others. The Architects sent three more, and one of them is the person you hated, who would gladly humiliate you."

Loki tilted his head and gave Sunna a meaningful side look.

"Please, I'm older than you, but not senile."

"I don't want to fight you, Loki. At this point, both of us knew how it would end."

A lethal light glistened across Sunna's eyes as the world around them quaked.

Loki retained his smile and waved his hand dismissively in front of his nose.

He was confident, one that Sunna wasn't accustomed to.

Something was wrong.

Sunna turned to the unconscious Lucivar and frowned when she smelled a familiar scent.

It was this sweet fragrance with a spicy tang to the nose—the scent of an Archangel.

"Seraphiel…?" She frowned before her eyes widened. "Seraphiel?!"

"I am not going to leave this world, Sunna," Loki intervened, his voice booming with authority. "And neither will you."

"Do you think you alone can stop me?!"

CRASH!

Almost instantly, rays of sunlight exploded from the ground, surrounding the entire park.

Loki looked her in the eyes and then smirked.

"But I'm not alone…"

—

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