Chapter 180: Yes,I did

Azriel

It all unfolded with agonizing, terrifying speed. One second, a blinding burst of violent crimson light ripped through the heavens.

The next, an enormous meteor of dark black flame and crackling lightning came hurtling straight toward us like a dying star.

My instincts kicked in before my mind could even process the danger. I lunged across the stone floor, throwing my entire body over Seraphel to act as a physical shield, bracing for the catastrophic impact. But the crushing explosion never came.

A sudden, unnatural stillness swallowed the cavern whole.

I looked up from over Seraphel’s shoulder and gasped. Suspended just above our heads, the ball of fire and its wild arcs of lightning hung frozen in place, motionless in midair like a painted nightmare.

Standing directly beneath the suspended catastrophe was Luceriel. His hands were raised toward the fractured ceiling, his body trembling under the weight of maintaining a full stop of time itself.

Twin lines of pitch-black blood streamed continuously from his eyes, dripping down his pale jaw.

"It seems... they already know Seraphel is here," Luceriel strained out, his voice hoarse. "He is the target."

"Is Draca himself out there?" I demanded, my hands gripping Seraphel tight against my chest.

Luceriel gave a tight nod. "With this much demonic power flooding the sky, it can only be him." He suddenly doubled over, coughing up a thick, dark mouthful of blood before wiping his lips roughly with the back of his sleeve.

"Luceriel!" Seraphel gasped, lifting his head from my chest, eyes wide with terror. "Are you all right?"

Luceriel stared down at him for a long, agonizing second before clearing his throat. "I am fine. But right now," he looked back up at the frozen cataclysm hanging above us, "we have far more pressing matters to attend to."

He thrust his right hand forward, summoning a glowing, emerald-green portal that hummed with fractured spatial energy.

"With my power drained this badly by the curse, I can only force open a channel to summon one of our brothers," Luceriel informed us, his hands shaking so violently he could barely hold the seal steady. "Azriel, you must use your own strength to summon the rest of our brothers, and bring Malachi as well. If Draca has truly unsealed himself, this battle will not end well for us alone."

"Luceriel..." I muttered, my stomach churning as I watched more dark, venomous blood stream from his eyes like tragic tears.

"Do it, brother. Summon our brothers now," he roared, his voice echoing off the emerald walls like thunder.

I did not argue. I raised both arms, channeling a surge of my Sin power to tear open three separate, glowing portals at once.

From Luceriel’s emerald portal, a figure stepped out, grumbling and rubbing the back of his neck.

It was Sariel.

"What do you want from me now, Luceriel?" Sariel complained, yawning deeply as he stretched his arms overhead. "Is there a specific reason you decided to ruin my sleep tonight? I was—" He froze mid-sentence, his gaze shifting past us to the suspended fireball hanging in the sky, and then down to Luceriel’s bleeding face. "What is happening here? Why are you bleeding from your eyes, Luceriel? Is something wrong with your sight?"

Seraphel answered on Luceriel’s behalf, his voice tight. "Draca has been unsealed. Luceriel managed to freeze time right before his attack could wipe us out, but holding it is killing him."

Sariel looked back up at the suspended destruction, his playful annoyance vanishing instantly into sharp seriousness. "Then we need to act fast, because whatever is hanging up there will destroy this entire realm the moment time resumes."

Before Luceriel could respond, the three portals I had summoned widened, pulsing with radiant energy as the rest of our brothers began pouring through the thresholds.

First came Taizel, looking thoroughly disheveled, as though he had just been dragged straight out of bed. He was followed immediately by Uriel, who held Tobias securely by the hand as they stepped into the cave.

Next came Lumiel, looking as though he had been yanked directly from the heart of a bloody warzone, his tall frame clad in battle armor, gripping a jagged broadsword dripping with fresh, crimson blood.

"I truly despise it when you summon me in the middle of something important," Lumiel growled, wiping blood off his blade with a swipe of his hand. "Oh. It seems everyone is here, and..."

"What do you want from me, Azriel?" Raizel demanded dramatically as he strutted out of the second portal, smoothing down his immaculate robes. "I need my beauty sleep. I have a date with my mates in the morning, and if my face looks even slightly fatigued—" He stopped dead in his tracks, scanning the crowded, tense cave. "Wait. Why is everyone gathered here? What is going on?"

Nobody answered him, because the last of our brothers were still filing through. Anomas and Thamiel appeared right behind Raizel. Anomas did not even pause. He walked with quiet, heavy strides straight toward me.

"I take it that Luceriel saw the vision as well," Anomas said, his voice low and serious.

"I went straight to your palace to warn you," Anomas said, "but your summoning portal opened right beneath my feet."

I nodded firmly. "Luceriel told me to gather everyone."

"He looks terrible," Thamiel interjected, his sharp eyes fixed entirely on Luceriel. His expression turned grim as he took in the dark liquid streaming down Luceriel’s face. "That is not ordinary fatigue. His eyes are turning pitch-black. He is suffering a severe spiritual backlash. What happened to him?"

I gritted my teeth, keeping my mouth shut as the final figure emerged from the second portal.

It was Malachi.

The moment he stepped into the cavern, he lowered his head at once, dropping to one knee directly behind Seraphel. "I already felt the shift in the realm’s atmospheric pressure, Your Highness," Malachi reported seamlessly. "I shall guard the Consort with my life."

I offered no reply, my eyes fixed entirely on the third portal, which remained open and swirling with dark crimson energy.

"Why is the third portal still open?" Seraphel asked, looking up at me with confusion. "Are we expecting someone else?"

"I summoned someone specific," I replied, staring intently into the violet swirl. "I am holding out hope that he actually shows up."

Though I had always held deep skepticism toward the concept of fated mates, I knew that the one walking through that portal was the only being in existence capable of stabilizing Luceriel’s failing spiritual core, especially now that my brother was being eaten alive by this curse of sight.

"Now that we are all gathered, we need to find a way to neutralize that suspended strike," Lumiel pointed out, gesturing his bloody sword toward the sky. "What is the plan, Luceriel?"

Luceriel kept his bleeding eyes locked on me, silently reading my intentions before looking back up at the sky. "I will attempt to rewind time to a point before the attack was launched," he wheezed out. "You will all—"

"And you will end up killing yourself in the process, you arrogant fool," a dark, smooth voice echoed from the depths of the third portal.

An oppressive, suffocating aura of dark magic flooded the cavern, making the air feel unbearably heavy. Every head in the cave turned toward the portal as a commanding figure stepped through the swirling violet light.

Seraphel turned toward me, his blue eyes widening in horror. "You summoned Pazuzu?"

The shock and betrayal in Seraphel’s voice made my chest tighten. He stared at me as though I had committed something unforgivable, and I hated the cold distance suddenly sitting in his eyes, but I stood my ground.

"Yes,I did."