617 Dead weight.


    Attacked from two sides, Valerius remained calm as he moved to deal with the darkness tendrils first.


    Buzz.


    His body lit up as bright golden light surged from his body, solidifying to form a shell around him. Contrary to his expectations, all twelve darkness tendrils prated his defenses, riddling the light barrier with holes as they pierced Valerius''s body.


    Valerius''s gaze turned sour as he felt his vitality draining rmingly. The light barrier began to lose its lustre as Valerius struggled to maintain it in his current condition. Only then did the second ke wielding the Emberforge appear, mming the weapon into the fading barrier, which triggered a powerful explosion that shattered what was left of the dying barrier.


    Not daring to risk spending another second sandwiched between the two kes, Valerius''s body lit up once again as he transformed into a beam of light and vanished.


    Shooting out of the encirclement, Valerius returned to his tangible state only when he was some distance away from the chaos.


    Bam!


    Valerius felt a sharp pain in his heart while his body shivered involuntarily. Blood trickled down his lips as he looked down to see the de sticking out of his chest. Tilting his head slightly, he could see ke''s figure towering over him, but before he acted, ke had pulled out the de, causing Valerius to squint in pain.


    From the corner of his eyes, Valerius saw the de swinging down, but this time it was aiming for his neck. Immediately, Valerius scattered into numerous bodies of light, converging only a safe distance away. Valerius tried to move but felt an aching pain in his chest. He looked down and was stunned to see the gaping hole on his chest still there, only then did it dawn on him that the stab wound on his heart was not healing as fast. Moving his neck so much was met with aches, causing Valerius to feel it with his hand, only to notice shallow cuts and bruises there.


    "Fuck," he cursed as his gaze shifted to the weapon in ke''s hand, its de shrouded in primordial darkness. At this point, Valerius and Luciano realized they had been surrounded by the Night mist, helplessly watching it envelop the area. All their attempts to escape this have proven to be fruitless.


    "It is crazy you thought you could beat me by awakening an extra element." ke''s chuckle got the attention of the duo. "It seems you still see me as that na?ve major ke added as his tone now became serious.


    Valerius''s only saving grace was that his senses were notpletely blocked out by ke''s night mist. While his darkness element was inferior to that of ke, coupled with the fact that ke had the authority of the primordial darkness, he still had some level of resistance.


    His senses were dulled by the Night mist, making him unable to pinpoint ke''s location. He could only guess the general locations of the three kes.


    However, Unlike Valerius, Luciano was left blind and defenceless. He wasn''t like Valerius who had some resistance to darkness, leaving him frustrated. With no other choice left, Luciano attempted the incantation in hopes of chasing away the darkness and burning ke. "The lord of chaos, bestow upon this ground the light that destroys all iniquity."


    However, even after using his trusty artefact that assured him victory against every darkness user he had faced, nothing happened. "Do you think I have forgotten about that toy?" ke''s chuckles echoed with the darkness.


    The artefact made use of Synder''s authority of destruction to destroy the darkness and its source, however, ke had the protection of God of Darkness. Such artefacts didn''t pose a threat to him!


    ''This is bad'' Valerius muttered in his head after listening to ke''s words.


    The already bad situation had gotten worse with this revtion. Not only was the night mist constantly draining their vitality, but ke''s speed domain was also robbing them of their speed, making escaping even harder. To Valerius, this meant that as time went on, even his light speed would be getting only slower.


    The question guing his mind now was, ''What was he going to do?''


    Before Valerius could even think of what to do next, he heard ke''s voice.


    "Let me help you get rid of the dead weight," ke''s voice resounded in his ears, sending a shiver down his spine.


    He appeared near Luciano with the Emberforge in his hand. Without hesitation, he shed down at Luciano, aiming for his neck while sixteen spatial tears appeared around Luciano, cutting off all possible paths of retreat. Darkness tendrils shot out of the spatial tears, attacking Luciano from all directions.


    While all of this was taking ce, ke noticed Luciano was somehow able to sense things going on around him. It left ke wondering how this was possible, but he quickly brushed aside the thought since he believed it didn''t matter. ''Sensing danger and being able to evade are two different things.'' ke thought with an indifferent expression.


    However, just when the ck tendrils and the Emberforge de were about to reach Luciano, his earrings let out an unusual glow. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Boom.


    A force erupted from him the next instant, destroying the darkness tendrils, and forcing Emberforge to fly back. ke was momentarily stunned, but It was then that something unexpected urred.


    Buzz.


    A peak angel rank eagle appeared amid the chaos, its plumage a breathtaking disy of multicoloured hues that transition seamlessly between iridescent whites, silvers, and soft golds. Each feather caught and reflected light in a mesmerizing dance, creating an otherworldly glow around the majestic creature.


    A halo of soft, luminous energy enveloped the eagle, casting a gentle glow that entuates its heavenly presence. This aura seemed to extend to its talons, which were adorned with a shimmering, silver-like essence.


    Its appearance was something that caught ke off guard, causing a dy in his reaction as he watched the eagle p its wings, releasing fierce wind currents with each p, pushing ke''s clones back.


    ''Long time no see.'' ke was quick to remember that this was the same bird that transported them to Calton when they got to the infinite realm.


    Buzz.


    While still trying to make sense of this revtion, the golden mes and lightning erupted from the bird,pletely shrouding its body in it. The temperature of the battlefield skyrocketed in mere seconds, leaving ke with a slight frown etched on his face.