Luminaria wanted to deliver the final blow.
Divine light began to gather in her hand.
But then… she stopped.
Something had changed.
Artereus was no longer there.
And for the first time since her descent into the mortal world…
Luminaria felt alone.
A cold fear pierced her chest.
She did not understand that sensation.
Gods do not flee.
Gods do not fear.
They only…
retreat when existence itself is no longer safe.
Kara was observing Lusian from a distance.
Her gaze locked onto him.
Covered in blood.Destroyed.Barely able to stand.
And yet… Artereus had fallen.
The silence that followed was absolute, so heavy it seemed to fill the entire air.
Then Lusian stopped feeling danger.
And his body finally gave in.
His legs failed him.
The darkness around him slowly faded as he fell forward, as if even that power had stopped holding him up.
But Kara arrived first.
She held him in her arms before he hit the ground.
—"Lusian…"
Her voice broke.
Adela appeared with Tigre.
She approached quickly, took over without effort, and helped stabilize him.
—"We're leaving," she finally said, dryly.
Tigre nodded, scanning the surroundings on instinct, still tense, as if expecting something else to move again among the remains of the battle.
Together, the three of them carried the wounded.
Heading back toward the Citadel.
In a nearby crater, Elizabeth was wrapped in demonic mana, but it was not hers. It was dense, ancient, as if something far greater was holding her up for the last time.
—"Father…"
Astarot did not respond immediately.
—"This is my farewell, Elizabeth," he finally said.
She lowered her gaze.
—"Thank you," she whispered.
Astarot, the Demon King, watched his daughter in silence. For the first time in a long time, there was no strategy in his voice, no calculation in his gaze.
Only something simpler.
Decision.
—"I wanted to give you something a demon has never had," he continued—"freedom."
The mana surrounding Elizabeth fluctuated gently, as if responding to his words.
—"Your life will be limited. Without the divine power of the gods, we are condemned to disappear. When you choose this, you must understand the consequences."
He paused briefly.
—"Disappear. You may live a hundred years… and then disappear."
Elizabeth took a deep breath.
She did not hesitate.
—"Yes, father… I know."
She lifted her gaze.
—"But I… want this."
A silence followed.
Astarot closed his eyes for a moment.
A heavy, ancient sigh escaped him.
—"Then it's fine."
The demonic mana slowly dissipated.
And Astarot disappeared.
Peace, so strange after everything that had happened, settled once again over the mountain.
Lusian rested in a makeshift bed, wrapped in blankets, his body still marked by battle.
Emily was by his side, taking care of him.
She said nothing.
There was no need.
Lusian simply took her hand.
The contact was brief… but definitive.
The mark of the Goddess of Light—that persistent, subtle, humiliating presence—dissolved without resistance, like ash washed away by water. No ritual. No glow.
Only disappearance.
Emily blinked. Then she breathed, as if something that had kept her body tense for too long had finally released.
And for the first time in a long time, her back was no longer rigid.
—"Thank you," she whispered, with a faint smile, the kind that needs no explanation.
Kara stood a few steps away.
She watched him with a mixture difficult to hide: pride, awe… and a faint shadow of fear. The man she followed had grown beyond the edge of the world, and yet he still looked at her the same way.
Isabella, however, knew no restraint.
—"So…" she crossed her arms, tilting her head—"are you leaving now that you're officially untouchable? A god?"
Lusian raised an eyebrow.
—"Are you kicking me out?"
She blinked.
—"No, I mean… just in case."
He fell silent for a second.
—"Because I think by law," he added, serious for exactly half a second—"I'm entitled to fifty percent of the house."
Isabella stared at him for a moment… then punched him in the arm, laughing.
—"Idiot."
Dayan said nothing.
He didn't need to.
His eyes lingered on him with an open intensity, unhidden. His breathing slowed, heavy, as if making sure what he saw was real. He moistened his lips without looking away.
Selvryn arrived immediately, professional until the end. He took Lusian's face, shoulders, chest, examining him with firm, precise hands.
—"You're alive," he stated—"the rest we'll check later."
Adela didn't wait for a diagnosis.
She threw herself at him immediately, hugging him with a bold, almost violent force. Her Ice Tiger surrounded them both, huge, solid, purring as if the world hadn't just broken apart.
—"Don't you ever do that again," she growled, burying her face in his chest.
Lusian closed his eyes for a second.
He breathed.
And then he saw her.
Elizabeth was a little further back.
She had not moved.
Not because she couldn't…
but because she didn't know how.
When Lusian approached, she tried to speak. She couldn't.
Tears were already falling without control.
—"Eli…" he said.
She shook her head, voice broken.
—"I didn't want to lie to you. I really didn't." She swallowed—"I was just… scared.Scared you would hate me.That you would reject me."
She lifted her gaze, completely exposed.
—"I am like this. I've always been like this. Even if I don't want to be."
Lusian did not respond immediately.
Not because he doubted.
But because he was choosing.
Then he embraced her.
Without strength.Without power.Just arms.
—"It's okay," he said, resting his forehead against her hair—"as long as you're still the Eli I love…nothing else matters."
Elizabeth broke down in silence.
In the distance, Kara watched them.
And understood something that struck her harder than any dead god:
Lusian hadn't changed because he had become more powerful.
He had changed because he had survived.
And yet he still chose them.
The sky could tremble.
But the city… was still his home.
When the murmur began to fade and the city recovered its pulse, Lusian felt a familiar presence among the crowd.
He did not need to see her immediately.
Berenia stepped forward with an unsteady gait, still pale, still trembling from what had been and what she had almost ceased to be. The silver fabrics of her armor no longer shone as before. Now they absorbed the night with a different calm, deeper, as if the world itself had changed how it looked at them.
She did not kneel.
She stopped in front of him.
—"My lord," she said softly—"I…"
Lusian raised a hand.
—"No," he replied gently—"you don't need to justify anything anymore."
He looked at her properly.
Not as a god.Not as a weapon.
As a Duke.
As someone who had known her before the sky broke.
—"You endured something that would have broken anyone," he continued—"you didn't just survive… you protected. From within."
Berenia swallowed.
—"I was afraid I would no longer be myself," she admitted—"afraid that when it all ended… there would be nothing left."
Lusian extended his hand.
The Darkness responded without violence, without hunger. It gathered in his palm like a gentle, ancient, aware night.
When it touched Berenia's forehead, it did not mark her.
It affirmed her.
The shadow did not enter her.
It aligned with her.
The Heroine of Darkness breathed again… and this time the power did not possess her.
It accompanied her.
—"You will remain the Heroine of Darkness," Lusian said—"not by divine command. Not by fear.By choice."
Berenia felt the weight settle… without crushing her.
—"In my absence," he continued—"the Duchy is in your care."
She looked up, surprised.
—"My lord, I cannot…"
—"I trust you," he interrupted—"and so will the Duchy."
The night seemed to tilt slightly, as if accepting the appointment.
—"Take care of our people," he added—"keep Darkness away from the innocent…and close to those who need it."
Berenia clenched her fists.
Not in fear.
In responsibility.
—"I swear it," she said—"for the Duchy. For you. For myself."
Lusian nodded.
—"I won't take long," he added, with a certainty that needed no promise—"when I can… I will return to you."
Berenia stepped back.
And for the first time since the Tournament, since possession, since fear… she smiled like the woman she had always been.
Darkness had not lost its throne.
It had gained a guardian.