Chapter 53
Lugh stood unmoving beneath the ruined sky, one arm raised as if the weight he bore were nothing at all.
The frost cocoon hovered above his palm—silent, perfect, untouched annihilation contained. Within, the woman slept in flawless stillness, grass-green hair drifting as though underwater, white gown unmarred by flame or force.
Crimson eyes traced her form with quiet intensity.
Not hunger.
Not desire.
Assessment.
Admiration in the way a master studies a masterpiece—an artifact so precise it bordered on the divine.
Only a few words escaped him, spoken softly, almost reverently.
"Alex… you weren't kidding," Lugh said. "She has the beauty of a Goddess."
Alexi's breath hitched.
His legs finally gave out, and he collapsed to one knee, hands clawing at broken stone as tears streamed unchecked down his face. He couldn't look away. Couldn't blink. The sight of her—alive, whole—hurt more than all his shattered bones combined.
Denovan moved.
The Pope stepped forward, dominion pressure snapping outward like a drawn blade. His gaze cut from the frost cocoon to the man beneath it, disbelief sharpening into fury.
"I watched you die," Denovan said coldly. "I crushed your heart with my own hand. Tell me—" His voice hardened. "How are you still standing?"
Lugh didn't look at him.
Instead, he slowly withdrew his hand from beneath the cocoon.
The frost prison did not fall.
It remained suspended, unmoving, as if gravity itself had forgotten it existed.
A ripple of disturbance ran through the dominion.
Denovan's eyes narrowed.
Lugh turned away from the cocoon and walked past it, boots crunching softly against fractured stone and concept-scarred air. He stopped in front of Alexi.
Without ceremony, he rested a palm on the Hero's shoulder.
The effect was immediate.
Frost-light spread—not cold, not painful. It seeped inward, threading through shattered bone and torn muscle with impossible precision. Cracked ribs knit together. Collapsed lungs reinflated with a sharp gasp. Blood reversed its flow, crawling back into sealed veins. The ruined arm straightened with a sickening pop that ended in wholeness.
Alexi cried out once—then froze.
He stared at his hands.
Whole.
Alive.
"I—" His voice broke. "I can breathe…"
Lugh finally spoke again, his tone almost bored.
"What a fool," he said.
Denovan stiffened.
"If I could stop time," Lugh continued calmly, "what made you think I couldn't just rewind it?"
The words struck the dominion like a hammer.
Denovan's composure cracked.
"That's impossible," the Pope snapped. "You had no heart. No source. No casting vector. You were dead the instant I closed my hand."
Lugh straightened.
Crimson eyes finally met Denovan's.
And for the first time, the Pope felt it.
Not pressure.
Not divinity.
Certainty.
"You're wrong," Lugh said. "I was dead."
"I cast the spell," Lugh went on, "the moment you grabbed my heart."
Denovan's eyes widened.
"A delayed construct," Lugh said. "Anchored outside linear time. It didn't need a heart to finish—only intent."
Alcium, still sprawled nearby, way below the isle they stood on. He sucked in a sharp breath.
Denovan's lips thinned.
"You expect me to believe you planned for that?"
Lugh tilted his head.
"No," he said simply. "I planned for you."
The frost cocoon pulsed faintly behind them, responding to his presence. Threads of blue light tightened, reinforcing its hold on reality.
"I froze the moment before annihilation," Lugh continued. "Rewound Alexi's timeline just enough to keep him alive. And pulled her out between instants—before your flame could decide her fate ."
Denovan stared past him at the cocoon.
"She exist for my son," the Pope said quietly. "Nothing survives the Transcendent Flame."
Lugh's mouth curved—not a smile, but something sharper.
"She didn't survive it," he said. "She was never touched by it."
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Crushing.
Alexi slowly pushed himself to his feet, steadied by Lugh's hand. His eyes never left the frost prison.
"She's… alive?" he whispered.
Lugh nodded once.
"Preserved," he corrected. "Not awakened. Not yet."
Denovan exhaled through his nose.
"So," the Pope said, voice tight with restrained wrath, "you defy dominion law, invalidate divine authority, and undo a sanctioned execution."
His gaze burned.
"You understand what that makes you."
Lugh turned fully toward him now.
Frost crawled across the ground at his feet, spreading outward like a claim.
"Yes," he said. "An inconvenience."
For a moment, everything went quiet.
Then Denovan snapped.
"ALCIUM!"
His voice roared across the broken sky like thunder.
Far below their floating island, Alcium jerked in shock. He had been lying on a lower piece of land after the earlier chaos. Dust fell from his suit as he quickly looked up.
"Y–Yes, Pope…?"
Denovan's eyes stayed locked on Lugh, but his voice carried downward like a command.
"No… you are not enough, Alcium."
The words were sharp.
Cold.
Alcium froze.
He tried to keep his face calm, trying to look loyal and composed like always. But inside, fear twisted in his chest.
Because he understood what that sentence meant.
Denovan slowly raised his hand toward the ruined sky.
"VoidRaker Commanders," the Pope called out.
"Answer me."
The air above them changed.
Space itself began to twist.
Two large spirals appeared in the sky, spinning slowly. They looked strange—like the sky had turned into liquid and was being stirred. The edges of the spirals rippled like water.
The flat sides of the spirals pointed toward the ground.
Something moved inside them.
Then—
From the first spiral, something fell.
A giant rectangular stone beam dropped out of the portal and slammed into the ground beside Denovan with a deafening crash.
The impact shook the island.
Cracks spread through the broken floor.
The stone beam was huge and ancient. Its surface was covered in ruined ice, with deep blue lines running across it like frozen lightning. Parts of the stone were broken and chipped, as if time itself had damaged it.
Cold mist slowly spread from it.
The air around Denovan grew colder.
A second later—
From the other spiral—
Another beam fell.
This one crashed down near Alcium on the lower island.
But this beam looked completely different.
Its stone was burned and blackened, like it had been inside a massive fire. Deep cracks glowed faintly red, and thin smoke rose from its surface.
When it hit the ground, the impact nearly knocked Alcium over.
Dust burst into the air.
Alcium stumbled back quickly, his heart pounding.
For a brief second, fear flashed clearly across his face
"T-the Commanders…" Alcium whispered nervously.
Above them, the spiral portals kept turning slowly.
As if those beams were only the start.
frost continued to spread under Lugh's feet.
His crimson eyes lifted toward the twisting portals in the sky.
Alexi swallowed nervously.
"What… are those?" he asked quietly.
Lugh watched the spirals for a moment before answering.
"Anchors."
His voice was calm.
"They aren't coming here normally," he explained. "They're bringing parts of their own worlds with them."
The frost around his feet spread farther across the broken ground.
And for the first time in a while.
Lugh looked slightly interested.
The spirals in the sky kept turning slowly.
The strange liquid-like space inside them moved again.
Then something stepped out.
From the icy spiral above Denovan, a massive figure dropped down and landed beside the frozen pillar with a heavy boom. The ground shook from the impact.
It was huge.
At least thirty feet tall.
The creature looked like a giant troll. Its body was made of rough ice and cracked stone. Sharp frost covered its shoulders and arms, and cold mist leaked from the gaps in its body.
A single massive horn curved out from the center of its head.
Its eyes glowed pale blue.
A second later, the other spiral released another giant.
This one landed beside the burning pillar near Alcium.
This creature was the same size—also about thirty feet tall. But its body looked different. Its stone skin was dark red and black, and cracks across its body glowed with deep fire. Small flames flickered from those cracks like the creature had molten lava inside it.
A thick horn rose from its head just like the ice giant.
Its eyes burned like coals.
The fire giant straightened slowly, smoke rising from its body.
For a moment, both giants simply stood there.
Silent.
Watching.
Then, almost casually, they bent down.
Each giant grabbed the massive stone pillar beside them.
What looked like an ancient ruin to everyone else felt light in their hands.
With almost no effort, they lifted the giant beams and rested them across their shoulders like simple pieces of wood.
Alexi's eyes widened.
"How… are they carrying that so easily?"
The pillars were bigger than houses.
Yet the giants carried them as if they weighed nothing.
Below them, something else began to move.
The ground near the burning pillar cracked slightly.
Then small shapes began crawling out from the shadows.
One.
Then five.
Then dozens.
They were small creatures, only about the height of a child. Their bodies were thin and hunched, with long arms and crooked backs. Their faces looked sharp and animal-like, almost like ugly little lizards.
They moved quickly, skittering across the broken stone with clawed hands and feet.
More and more of them appeared.
Soon the ground below was filled with them.
Hundreds.
Their yellow eyes all looked upward toward the Pope.
Denovan glanced down at them calmly.
"The thralls of the Legion," he said.
His voice was steady again, as if his earlier anger had already cooled.
"These creatures are the lowest servants of the VoidRakers."
The kobold-like creatures hissed softly, their bodies twitching with restless energy.
Some carried small blades made of black metal.
Others simply flexed their claws.
They gathered around the feet of the giants like obedient animals waiting for orders.
Alexi felt his stomach tighten.
"There are so many…"
But Lugh didn't react.
He simply watched the scene quietly.
The frost around his feet continued spreading across the broken ground.
Denovan slowly lowered his raised hand.
Now the battlefield looked very different.
Two giant commanders.
Hundreds of thralls.
And the one chosen by the Transcendent
And the Pope standing above them all.
Denovan looked back at Lugh.
"You called yourself an inconvenience," the Pope said calmly.
His eyes were cold again.
"Let us see how inconvenient you truly are."
The Pope's sharp eyes moved slowly over Lugh's body, watching the frost spreading under his feet, watching the faint tremble in the air around him.
Then Denovan spoke again.
"I see it now."
His voice was calm again. Cold. Certain.
"Your magic source is damaged."
Alexi's head snapped toward the Pope.
Denovan continued slowly, almost like a teacher explaining a lesson.
"You forced too many time spells in a row. Stopping time. Rewinding it. Pulling someone between instants."
His eyes narrowed.
"That kind of power consumes enormous mana."
The Pope looked directly into Lugh's crimson eyes.
"You have very little left."
The thralls below hissed quietly.
The giants stood like statues, massive pillars resting on their shoulders.
Denovan's lips curved slightly.
"Your will to protect others has done this to you… Lugh Redhart."
For a moment, Lugh said nothing.
Silence answered the Pope.
The wind moved across the broken battlefield.
Behind him, the frost cocoon glowed softly again.
Alexi felt tension tighten in his chest.
Was Denovan right?
Had Lugh really exhausted his power?
Then Lugh finally spoke.
At first, it was only a small sound.
A quiet chuckle.
Then he lifted his head slightly.
A faint mocking smile appeared on his face.
"True," Lugh said calmly.
"Right now, I may not have mana."
His eyes glowed faintly crimson.
"Not even enough to cast a simple spell."
Alexi looked at him in shock.
But Lugh's smile widened slightly.
"But don't worry," he continued softly.
"Your doom is already at my fingertips."
Denovan's eyes sharpened.
At that moment—
Something appeared in Lugh's palm.
Flames ignited.
But they were not normal flames.
They burned green, like bright emerald fire.
The flames twisted together, shaping themselves into metal.
A blade slowly formed in his hand.
It was elegant and sharp, its surface shining through the strange green fire that wrapped around it like living energy.
The air around the weapon warped slightly.
Alexi felt a strange pressure just from looking at it.
Lugh lifted the blade casually.
The emerald flames flickered along its edge.
"Venidia," Lugh said quietly.
His crimson eyes shone brighter now.
"The Sin of Envy."
The green flames danced more wildly as if the weapon itself was alive.
Below, the thralls suddenly became restless.
The giants shifted slightly.
Even Denovan's expression changed—just a little.
Lugh rested the burning blade loosely in his hand.
The mocking smile never left his face.
"No mana needed," he said softly.