"Gahh!" The man recoiled, clutching his stinging hands after slamming himself against the barrier. As expected—nothing. Not even a hairline crack.

Domella's brows tightened. "Try again."

The Council officers exchanged uneasy glances but rose once more. Aether gathered around them in turbulent waves as they unleashed a unified strike, all power funneled into a single point, hoping—desperately—to carve out enough space for even one person to slip through.

But the barrier didn't so much as quiver. The unflinching dome remained pristine, untouched, almost mocking.

"Tch…" the brunette woman clicked her tongue. "How is this possible…? That Devil shouldn't have appeared now," she whispered.

That cursed child had been contracted by a General-ranked demon. Whatever purpose the Devil had, it certainly wasn't trivial. Yet it surfaced here, of all times—during an assessment? Cornering two students, knocking out guards… what could it possibly be aiming for?

Could it have felt threatened by Raito? No—impossible. Raito never even touched the child; he'd been focused on William and then Emma before he met that gruesome end.

Then… what triggered it?

'I hope… I'm wrong about this…' Domella thought, a chilled knot forming in her stomach.

She suspected the Devil had surfaced because of a student—but she suspected the wrong one. William's overwhelming performance was an easy guess, yet still far from the peak of sorcery. But what if the Devil had sensed his potential? Anything was possible.

Regardless, she needed the dome down. She needed those students retrieved—

…assuming they were still alive.

…

Domella wasn't wrong about why the Devil appeared… only who it was for.

It hadn't appeared because of William at all. It was Emma—her inadvertent temptation through her blood stirred the Devil awake far earlier than intended.

And now… the Devil regretted it. Deeply.

For standing before the supposed Devil was something far worse. A being wrapped in the shape of a young human, yet unmistakably foreign. Two wings sprouted from his back—one unnervingly silver, one ominously dark. And those eyes… wide, unblinking, empty.

"You're a Fallen Angel, aren't you?" the Devil asked, tone twisting. "One of those degraded ones, stripped of position and thrown into Hell."

William—or the thing piloting him—tilted his head. "It breaks my heart to be lumped in with those traitors," he replied softly. "But I suppose it's fortunate you didn't recognize me."

A gentle smile curved his lips… only to stretch into something sharp, something gleefully cruel. "Though I suppose ignorance is to be expected from a grunt of the Devils."

The Devil General stiffened. Then the sky dimmed. Air thickened into suffocating miasma. Negative energy poured from its form, rotting the earth in its wake. The stench of old blood soaked the space.

"Grunt…? Grunt, you say?"

William sighed lightly. "You're polluting the air with all that unnecessary hostility."

A single flap of his right platinum wing erupted into a shockwave of pure Aether—so concentrated, so immaculate—that the Nyx in the air evaporated instantly. The sky cleared. The Devil's body petrified at the limbs, as though frozen mid-breath.

If the Devil's malice was a bucket… what it just felt was a tidal wave.

A tsunami of Aether—so pure even its soul quivered.

Its grin vanished. "W-What are you…? Why can you still use that energy?"

William didn't answer. He simply stepped forward.

Instinctively, the Devil stepped back—yet some unseen force yanked it forward, dragging it right up to the abomination wearing William's face.

William tilted his head again, his red eyes glowing with an ominous stillness. "Your true body isn't here, is it? The contract hasn't matured enough for you to manifest."

The Devil snarled. "Do you take me for a fool? Think I'd bring my real body just because I got tempted by some damned pigeon blood?"

"Cautious Devil," William murmured. "How rare."

The Devil squinted. "Why the hell do you talk like you know everything? Aren't you just one of those white pigeons' pets?"

William smiled softly. "You're not wrong. But you're mistaken to believe my strength fits inside your little rules."

Its confident smirk faltered.

William lifted his left hand. Thick coils of Nyx swirled around his palm—like chained beasts straining to break free.

With a serene smile, he said, "I'm curious to see your real body. Would you be so kind as to lend me your hand?"

"No! I—" the Devil roared, lunging with claws aimed straight for William's throat—

*SLASH*

But the claws never landed.

*DHAK*

Its severed arm hit the ground a heartbeat before William's hand clamped onto the base of its neck.

A violent burst of Nyx exploded into the Devil, its body engulfed in a surge of energy far greater than anything it had wielded before.

Slowly—agonizingly—its form began to morph. The gaping maw in its chest stretched wide, a head forcing itself out. Muscles twisted along its once-skeletal frame, swelling with terrible vitality.

The Devil was being dragged toward its true self—and there was nothing it could do to stop it.

The Devil was at its full strength and yet it couldn't muster the strength or courage to defy the being who has bent the laws of the world without a flicker of struggle.

It was as if the worldly rules didn't apply on him.

"What …are you?"

The being hidden by that human skin kindly spoke, "An obstacle."

An intense amount of aether exploded from William's body, completely engulfing the island in a blindling brilliance.

Emma had to cover her eyes as the illumination spread all around them, making the island like a bright star.

*Shatter*

Domella flinched as the barrier suddenly shattered and the white light engulfed them as well.

The measuring tools they brought instantly broke, unable to measure the scale of Aether.

Far away, Arthur—who was en route to the island—paused in his track to marvel the rising sun in the distance.

A sensation too divine to ignore.

Everyone near Island Beta felt as if they were in the presence of the Benevolent One and kneeling before that presence was the only right thing they could do.

That day marked the arrival of something ancient…something unwelcoming to the mortal plane.

Both Heaven and Hell stirred with this presence.

Angels and Devils felt their heart trembling.

The one thing both side loathed and feared at the same time had awakened.

The fate of the world has changed.

And the one girl who brought this change was currently sitting on the ground while hugging her beloved closely in her arms.

°°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. I was really conflicted about the story but then, we have already crossed the 100 chapters mark. So yeah, a little disclosure.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.