NOVPUBRavenna wasn't expecting him to rely on her like this.
She thought that she could watch from the sidelines and help the small mistakes Lucivar made along the way, but this… this is a lot of responsibility. Mirel said that his life and death were now in her hands, and that's nerve-wrecking.
And to top it off, she didn't know who Lucivar was talking about.
'Who is it? Who is the woman who radiates light?' She thought urgently.
Just then, she remembered noticing Leandra and Nerissa stealing glances at a woman sitting on the very corner of the section. Ravenna found this odd, but now, she realized that Leandra and Nerissa were the ones who were able to piece together Lucivar's plan.
Other than that woman, nobody else came to mind, so Ravenna decided to fixate on her.
"Come on, we need to leave and find that woman."
Ravenna turned around and ascended the staircase in a hurry.
But Mirel didn't follow her instantly, pausing to look back at Lucivar and Caldaros.
'Just what is his deal…? I don't understand what made the two of them so adamant in killing each other, as if they had a history, as if they were blood nemesis.' He thought inside, this is all confusing to him to digest. 'Should I really leave them like that?'
"Mirel! Come!"
Mirel snapped out of his daze and realized that Bakar was calling him from atop the staircase.
"If you meddle, you'll only get in the way!"
"Right…"
Recalling how Lucivar almost easily pushed him back, he realized that he couldn't do anything to stop the fight even if he wanted to. Both Lucivar and Caldaros were on a whole different level, and exactly as Bakar said, he would only get in the way.
It was a tough pill to swallow, but Mirel turned and ascended the stairs to leave the stadium.
Meanwhile, the heat of the battle was only intensifying.
Crash!
Lucivar was thrown back to the ground, creating a big crater behind him.
He blinked and gazed ahead and saw Caldaros diving with full force, pointing his sword forward.
Boom!
Upon impact, Caldaros frowned when his sword stabbed into the ground, with Lucivar nowhere to be seen. He gritted his teeth and glanced above, only to see Lucivar diving straight at him. Unlike earlier, the attack landed, expanding the crater further.
Lucivar placed his elbow against Caldaros' neck, pinning him against the ground.
"Where are you going? Did you see me agreeing to postpone our battle?"
"Grghh! Are you stupid?! Look behind you!"
Nonchalantly, Lucivar turned his head and realized that the purple dungeon had emerged.
It was so massive that the entire sky was blotted by it, and though he couldn't see the full size of it, he was quite sure that the portal stretched the entire Sunhold City. A purple dungeon being called the very harbinger of war and catastrophe wasn't only for show.
But the sight only made Lucivar crack a grin.
"Ah… Isn't this good for us? With everyone evacuated, we have the entire city to ourselves!"
"You damn lunatic! Get off me!!"
Out of nowhere, Caldaros' eyes flashed with a brilliant sunlight, momentarily blinding Lucivar.
Using this window of weakness, he curled both his legs—and kicked Lucivar's stomach hard, sending him hurtling away. Caldaros climbed back to his feet and rubbed his neck. 'He's only Loki's avatar. How is he this physically strong?'
Even though he didn't want to admit it, he almost couldn't push Lucivar back earlier.
Not to mention, everywhere he touched felt like touching a rock—Lucivar's body was eerily robust.
It was unlike the normal Loki avatar that his predecessors fought.
"But no matter, I expected this much! I'm prepared for this!" Caldaros laughed excitedly.
He opened his mouth, exposing his canines that were perfectly sharp, and channeled his blood attribute.
Rapidly, the tip of his fangs glowed with a crimson light, as the blood that he had devoured from the tentacles earlier seeped out. It created two small lumps at first—but rapidly, those two lumps emerged and pooled into a larger one.
In a few seconds, the lump of blood had already reached the size of a basketball.
Lucivar watched this before he glanced at the VIP section, finding that the others had already left.
'I'm going to buy a little bit more time for them to reach Ciri,' He thought determinedly.
Noticing the amount of blood ether stored inside the lump of blood was reaching a ridiculous degree, Lucivar used his Greedy Grasp ability, trying to sneakily take some of it. Initially, it was working, but Caldaros soon noticed and swatted his link away.
"Let me show you the power of a superior God!" Caldaros roared before devouring the lump of blood.
Once he did, Lucivar frowned as Caldaros' aura climbed higher and higher by the second.
So much so that he was nearing the power of a three-star Chrysalis rank Hybrid, and still rising!
'I'm superior to him earlier, but this… This is troublesome.' Lucivar thought worriedly.
Swoosh!
Caldaros' aura expanded violently, pulsing with raw power.
Blood ether flooded his limbs, thick and potent, coiling around him like a brewing storm. His fangs that were already sharp and long grew, glinting with menace, and his eyes shimmered with a predatory gleam of crimson.
His entire demeanor changed, twisting from stoic to savage hunger.
As if that wasn't enough, the sunlight seeping through from the ceiling reacted to his blood ether.
It boiled the blood ether, adding scorching heat that licked Lucivar's skin even from a distance.
Upon settling on his new, empowered form, Caldaros' gaze fixated on Lucivar—and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from his spot. Seeing that, Lucivar's breath hitched as out of nowhere—a big hand grasped his face.
"Shit…"
Before Lucivar could react, Caldaros flapped his wings and carried him upward by his face.
On the other hand, Ravenna and the others were sprinting.
And in a minute, they finally neared the main entrance of the stadium.
As soon as they stepped outside and reached the parking lot, all of them tilted their heads skyward, only to find the sky was falling. What was supposed to be a day with the rays of sunlight basking the world with warmth was now shaded in a purple hue.
Just as the announcement stated, there was a purple dungeon forming.
It appeared right above the city, spanning miles in length, and shaped like a swirl of energy.
Unlike lower-grade dungeons, which had to slowly grind through the fabric of the dimension until the first tear appeared, which only then would allow Crossers to cross over—the purple dungeon ignored that rule entirely.
Neither the purple nor the red dungeons are normal dungeons.
Sure, they were also powered by a Teal Coin and had proselytes that would connect them to this world, but their instantaneous ability to tear into this world allowed it to become a tool of war for the Primordial race on the other world.
And from the size of this purple dungeon, it was clear that an army was about to cross over.
One that would almost certainly destroy Sunhold City.
"Where are we even going? Let's follow the crowd!" Bakar said nervously.
Such a big dungeon was enough to scare any Hybrids, especially those who wouldn't be able to put up a fight against whatever would come out from the other side. Fear could be seen on their faces—the situation was too extreme.
"Didn't you hear what Lucivar said earlier? We need to find the woman." Mirel argued.
Regardless of the purple dungeon, they needed to do what Lucivar asked.
"Are you serious?! Do you want to die?"
"Yes, I'm serious! Are you really fine evacuating while Lucivar stayed behind?!"
"Then he should've come with us, not fight whoever that was!"
Ravenna, who heard them arguing, has no words to say.
'On one side, I want to help Lucivar. But if we really stay behind and get hit by the Crossers, we wouldn't survive,' She thought with a troubled look, hesitating whether they should help Lucivar or evacuate to preserve their lives. 'I want to trust Lucivar, but he might not think this far. This is a variable he couldn't take into account in his plan.'
Just as Ravenna was about to make a decision, she saw Nerissa stepping forward.
"Family sticks together," She said with conviction. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I survived at Lucivar's expense. If he's staying here, even when the purple dungeon was about to appear, then I'm also staying. I trust him."
Upon hearing this, Ravenna's eyes widened.
Then, she smiled a little, shaking her head—as she couldn't believe her trust in Lucivar was beaten by Nerissa—out of all people, "We're going to say," She murmured before turning to Bakar. "Bakar, we're going to stay."
Bakar was at a loss for words.
He couldn't believe that none of them was at least on board with him.
"Where… Where can we even find that woman?" He uttered weakly.
Ravenna frowned; she also didn't know how.
But somebody knew.
"Leandra," Nerissa said firmly. "Leandra followed that woman. As long as we found her…"
Almost instantly, the veins around Ravenna's eyes darkened as she used one of her abilities.
She already marked all of them with her Predator Oculus ability, so finding Leandra should be easy.
Just then, her pupils dilated, "Found her. She's seven miles that way."
Upon finding her, Ravenna turned to the others.
"If I want to do this, I'm going to need some help," She added meaningfully.
Crash!
Out of nowhere, the stadium's glass ceiling exploded, drawing their gaze upward.
There, soaring into the sky like a celestial being of red light was Caldaros—his hand clamped around Lucivar's face as he ascended. At the peak of his rise, he yanked Lucivar forward and drove a vicious punch straight into his gut.
Even from afar, the raw impact could be heard cracking through the air.
Its echo is sharp and bone-deep.
Lucivar's body folded for a split second—then he was launched downward like a meteor, crashing hard through the roof of a nearby supermarket in a storm of dust and debris. From the sound of it, Lucivar must've broken through multiple walls inside the supermarket.
"No time!" Ravenna exclaimed. "We have to act now!"
Almost instantly, with her command, the entire group sprinted against the current of people.
Seven miles was not that far for Hybrids as strong as them, but with the situation at hand, it's too far.
Regardless, the group was willing to try.
One felt like this was an obligation, another was reluctant—their motivations differ, but even then, they kept on sprinting. Now that they were already on the move, there would be no turning back. In order to survive this, they have to stick together.
And more importantly, they have to trust Lucivar with all their hearts.
