NOVPUBBoth Lucivar and Caldaros could feel rage climbing their faces.
Considering that both of them were issued directly by their Gods through Aurel and Sha, getting beaten up after that was extremely humiliating. So much so that even Lucivar lost his composure, his face red from anger.
For a moment, both of them forgot about the blood problem between them.
Fixated only on repaying Seth what he was due.
But, at a thought away from going all out on Seth, their bodies eased when a drone hovered above them.
"Attention! Attention!"
A voice echoed from all the drones, echoing in unison, pulling everyone's attention.
"A purple dungeon has been detected by the Hybrid Association."
"Please quickly reach the goal and return to the stadium to evacuate."
"Participants who are too far away would be picked up, but keep going. Don't stop moving forward!"
Hearing the announcement, Lucivar's brows furrowed together.
"A purple dungeon…?" He gasped in shock.
Even Caldaros, who was mostly stoic across the entire second stage, was shocked by this announcement.
In the Light World, only a couple of purple dungeons appeared, and each time, a worldwide catastrophe ensued, which forced the people to evacuate underground until the situation was handled. A dungeon of this caliber is too much for the Light World.
Although the Hybrid Association has been focusing on strengthening its forces, it's still too hard.
Not that they don't have the resources for it, but there are only a few talented Hybrids who could reach the Savant rank and beyond. At this moment, there are only about a hundred Paragon-rank Hybrids across the entire world, and one Grand Paragon-rank Hybrid.
And within a purple dungeon, there has always been at least one Grand Paragon-rank Crosser.
It wasn't a monster either, but a Primordial.
A powerful being, the equivalent of humans in the other world—and is a master of primordial elements.
Going against such a powerful and intelligent being is always a problem.
For decades, there have been no sightings of a purple dungeon, but that streak of safety was broken today.
"You knew about this…?" Caldaros looked at Seth's back and asked.
Seth glanced at him and nodded.
He already knew about the purple dungeon before the announcement was made.
"The governor told me about half an hour ago," He replied truthfully. "I knew the tournament would be postponed, but I couldn't help to get one flick at both of you, so I waited. Fortunately, both of you came at the right time."
Upon hearing this, Caldaros gritted his teeth in anger.
But then, he paused and turned to Lucivar, realizing that the situation had shifted.
Since the tournament was postponed, their battle would also be reluctantly postponed.
Both of them stared at each other, their eyes conveying unspeakable words.
Neither of them knew how to feel or react right now.
"Come, let's evacuate and help in the war," Seth said and turned away, facing the portal ahead. "We're quite capable enough to help. Meet me at the Hybrid Association, I'll be waiting for both of you there. I'm certain that you would want to be near me."
Once he said that, he dashed away, leaving the two Avatars behind.
Lucivar and Caldaros understood what Seth was trying to say.
He was the governor's grandson, so he would be a part of the main assault team, which would mean he would be surrounded by powerful Hybrids—safer. Being near him would certainly be advantageous, but at this moment, their minds were somewhere else.
Not even saying a single word, Caldaros summoned his wings of light and flew ahead.
His speed increased dramatically with the wings out.
"Mirel," Lucivar suddenly spoke when Caldaros neared the portal. "I understand your frustration, but I need you to do something for me right now. It's important. Above all, we came from the same place, and in a way, a family…"
Mirel, who was now standing behind Lucivar, paused, not knowing where Lucivar was going with this.
But he was serious, very serious.
Decisively, Lucivar took off the Gleipnir's Echo, Loki's ring, from his finger.
Channeling a few God strands into the ring, he made it visible to Mirel's eyes.
Pausing for a second, hesitating, Lucivar reached for Mirel's hand and placed the ring on his hand, "I want you to give this ring to Ravenna. Tell her to make the woman who radiates sunlight wear this, no matter the cost. She must succeed."
Seeing the ring that was extremely intricate and seemed to be ancient, Mirel frowned.
He has questions, but he knows Lucivar wouldn't give him the answers.
"It's a matter of life and death," Lucivar added with a firm tone. "My life and death. Will you do it?"
Mirel was silent, not knowing what to say at this moment.
Earlier, he was fighting Lucivar about Orivelle, and now, Lucivar has decided to trust him with such a big responsibility despite being angry at him. He did not know what to think—or feel right now, it was too overwhelming. But even so, recalling how Lucivar cried at Delilah's corpse, he clenched his jaw.
If Delilah were here, she would ask him to try and help Lucivar, not abandon him.
So, for her, he decided to help.
"I'll do it…" He finally answered.
Offering a light smile, Lucivar nodded before he turned around to face the portal again.
Swoosh!
Slowly, his aura began to rise at a steady stream, a combination of black and white.
Lucivar stood still, the air thick with stillness.
From deep within his core, his Supernatural Ego stirred—then surged.
Light and dark ether, twin attributes of his essence, began to pulse outward violently.
Black and white streams flowed through his limbs like molten veins, reaching his wings. One feathered wing turned deep emerald, the other dark copper, each unfurling with quiet majesty. The ground beneath him fractured with the weight of power barely restrained.
Dust lifted in a halo around his feet.
His eyes narrowed with fierce resolve, knowing precisely what he needed to do.
"What-What are you doing?"
Mirel, seeing Lucivar preparing to fight, frowned.
Ignoring his question, Lucivar lowered his stance as his muscles across his body began to activate.
Then, with a violent thrust that was enhanced with God strands, he blasted forward.
Boom!
Lucivar turned into a bullet, eating up space as if it were nothing.
On the other hand, Caldaros, who was about to enter the portal, frowned when he noticed the air was suddenly crackling with charged ether. His instincts flared, urging him to look back. But before he could even fully turn his head, Lucivar slammed into him from behind, tackling him in a blur of force.
Both of them disappeared into the portal.
Meanwhile, in the stadium, the same announcement echoed in repeat, urging the people to evacuate.
Realizing that a catastrophe was upon them, the people scrambled out of the stadium, shoving others in a frantic manner, surrendering to their primal urge to survive. Even when some of them fell and were stomped to death, none of them batted an eye.
Only survival in their minds.
Bakar, Nerissa, and Ravenna were still waiting in the VIP section.
Leandra had already gone on ahead, saying that she would secure their path to the evacuation place.
"Come on…" Bakar tapped his foot impatiently. "Lucivar and Mirel were near the portal already!"
"Just wait. I'm sure both of them would come out soon." Ravenna said calmly.
Unlike Bakar, she trusted that Mirel and Lucivar would be fine, especially Lucivar.
As the three were waiting, Ravenna noticed that Nerissa was stealing glances at the exit.
In hindsight, one would think that she was also impatient like Bakar, but Ravenna knew her—and she would never leave behind the others even if it would cost her life. So, there must be something else that was bothering her.
"Nerissa, what's wrong?"
"Eh? Nothing. I'm nervous, that's all. It's a purple dungeon, after all."
"Don't lie to me. I know you're not nervous because of that."
Nerissa bit her lower lip, unsure whether she should tell Ravenna about Ciri or not.
Now that she and Leandra knew that Ciri was related to Caldaros, Lucivar was certainly going to go to her at some point. She also knew that Leandra wasn't securing anything; she was following Ciri, who abruptly stepped out before the announcement was even made.
Sticking close to Ciri is a surefire way to find Lucivar.
Regardless, under Ravenna's probing eyes, Nerissa couldn't bear to lie or avert from the truth.
But as she parted her lips to answer, a loud crash startled her.
Crash!
Two figures emerged from one of the three portals on the arena and crashed into the walls hard.
It happened so suddenly, and none of them could tell who these figures were.
However, as the dust cleared, their eyes widened with recognition—Lucivar and Caldaros had been the ones who crashed into the wall. Without a missing beat, the two immediately began to fight. Each struck with killing intent.
Even the sound from each hit resounded across the entire stadium.
It showed how much power they put in them.
Not only confined to the arena, their battle went outside too, crashing onto the ceiling and seats.
Both of them had wings, and that made the fight messier.
From a distance, the others could see them arguing angrily, though their words were lost to the wind.
"Should we help?" Bakar was the first one to snap out of his trance.
Upon hearing this, Ravenna shook her head.
"I don't think so. If he wanted us to intervene, he'd bring the fight to us. Since he doesn't, then he didn't want us to help him."
"But still… They are actually fighting for real."
As the others were watching the fight, Nerissa noticed Mirel emerging from the same portal.
He paused only for a heartbeat to scan his surroundings, noticing the clash first, before his gaze locked onto them. Without a moment's hesitation, he sprinted forward and launched himself into the air, landing squarely in the VIP section with a thud of purpose.
Startled by this, Ravenna and Bakar turned and were surprised to see him.
Mirel, with an urgent face, quickly approached Ravenna and took out an emerald ring from his pocket.
"Ravenna," He called, placing the ring in her hand. "Lucivar wanted me to give this to you. He wanted me to tell you to make the woman who radiates light put on this ring, no matter the cost. He said that it's a matter of life and death."
Hearing this, Ravenna was stunned—her eyes locked onto the ring.
Naturally, the others' eyes were fixed on Ravenna.
"A woman who radiates light…?" She murmured in confusion. "Are you sure he said that?"
"Yes." Mirel nodded firmly.
Ravenna's heart pounded inside her chest—as she contemplated hard, 'Who's the woman who radiates light…? Did he expect me to understand? Since he did, I must know who this woman was. Think, think!'
