CHAPTER 12— THE GOD-EATER'S HUNT
Silence came first.
Not the peaceful kind, but a hollow stillness that felt carved into the world itself. The wind died. The distant calls of spirit-beasts vanished. Even the ambient hum of mana that normally flowed through the Spirit Realm went quiet—as if reality were holding its breath.
Ushinai felt it before anyone spoke.
A pressure behind his eyes.
A wrongness crawling along his Fracture Mark.
They were traveling west, toward the summit of the Western Nations—an attempt to unite what remained of the mortal governments before the Celestials struck again. The land around them was gray and withered, grass reduced to brittle husks beneath their boots.
Then Tempest stopped walking.
His feathers bristled sharply. Lightning flickered weakly along his arms before sputtering out.
"…Something is watching us," he said.
Aria immediately grabbed Ushinai's sleeve. "We need to move. Now."
But before anyone could take another step, the Dragon King moved forward, his expression changing from alert to horrified.
"…No," he whispered. "Do not move."
Everyone froze.
"If you move," he said slowly, "she will strike."
The sky above them shifted.
Not to night.
Not to day.
Color itself seemed to drain, replaced by a warped gradient that made the eyes ache to follow. The air grew thin, empty—like something had eaten the space between breaths.
Then they felt it.
Not pressure.
Not killing intent.
Absence.
As if a hole had opened in existence.
A soft voice drifted down from nowhere.
"Ushinai."
The sound was gentle. Almost playful.
"You survived God's judgment. That's cute."
A figure stepped out of the broken sky.
Bare feet touched the air as though it were solid ground. White hair flowed freely behind her. Her halo was cracked, dripping liquid light that evaporated before touching the earth.
Her eyes were terrifying.
Not glowing.
Not dark.
Empty—like galaxies stripped of stars.
Seraphine.
The God-Eater.
The moment her presence fully descended, everyone except Ushinai collapsed.
Aria gasped, clutching her chest as her lungs refused to draw breath. Sylpha dropped to her knees, blood spilling from her mouth as her mana core destabilized. Garo's bones cracked audibly as his body tried—and failed—to enter beast form. Tempest's lightning dimmed to nothing.
Only Ushinai remained standing.
Barely.
Seraphine smiled.
"I devour gods," she said lightly. "So imagine what I'll do to a half-made thing like you."
Ushinai forced himself upright, legs shaking violently.
"…If you want me," he said hoarsely, "come take me."
She did.
There was no flash.
No motion.
No sound.
One moment she hovered above—
The next, her hand was already around his throat.
The impact didn't throw him backward.
It erased the ground beneath him.
He was slammed across the landscape, tearing through a mountain that collapsed into dust behind him.
Before he could even scream, she flicked her fingers.
His ribs shattered.
He hit the ground, bounced, and skidded for miles.
Aria tried to crawl toward him. Her muscles refused to obey.
Sylpha attempted a spell—her arm snapped from backlash.
The Dragon King roared and lunged in his true form.
Seraphine caught the massive dragon with two fingers.
"Dragon," she said thoughtfully. "Return to myth."
She snapped.
Reality bent.
The Dragon King collapsed into his humanoid avatar, blood pouring from his mouth as he slammed into the earth.
Garo forced himself upright and tore fully into Savage Beast Mode, ripping muscle and bone apart just to move.
Seraphine pointed.
The beast collapsed instantly.
Unconscious.
Only Ushinai still tried to stand.
He dragged himself up, coughing blood, vision blurred.
Seraphine tilted her head.
"You're fun," she said. "Let's play longer."
Then she showed him how she truly hunted.
When Ushinai unleashed Soulflame, she inhaled it like steam.
When he summoned shadow, she licked it from her fingers.
When he bent aether, she smiled and absorbed it into her skin.
She wasn't countering his attacks.
She was eating them.
"More," she whispered. "Feed me."
Ushinai staggered back, shaking violently. Every technique he used strengthened her.
"USHINAI!" Aria screamed. "STOP—SHE'S ABSORBING YOU!"
"Yes," Seraphine agreed cheerfully. "He's delicious."
Eventually, his legs gave out.
He fell to one knee.
Memories crashed into him.
His village.
His father.
The ones he couldn't save.
The ones who believed in him.
Helplessness crushed him harder than any divine pressure ever had.
Seraphine stepped on his back.
"You are not a god," she said calmly.
"You are a mistake."
His chest pressed into the dirt. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Couldn't lift his head.
Aria crawled to him despite the crushing force, fingers barely reaching his hand.
"Don't give up," she sobbed. "You promised… you promised us…"
Seraphine knelt beside him and whispered into his ear.
"Sleep, little Vessel. I'll deliver your corpse to Heaven."
Her hand rose.
Not to kill him.
To erase him.
And something inside Ushinai broke.
Not in rage.
Not in fear.
In refusal.
A whisper echoed deep within him.
Stand.
His blood ignited—black and white.
His shadow rose like smoke.
Stars burned behind his eyes.
A shockwave detonated outward, tearing the clouds apart and forcing Seraphine to take a step back.
She froze.
Then laughed.
"There it is," she breathed. "The power that ended the Old Gods."
Her voice trembled with excitement.
"Voidlight."
Ushinai rose slowly, body screaming, soul burning.
His aura was no longer elemental.
No longer divine.
No longer mortal.
Void and radiance fused into something nameless—something lost to history.
Voidlight Ascension.
The Nameless Radiance.
This time, his strike landed.
Her arm burned.
She bled.
Her wing split under spatial fracture.
For the first time in eons—
Seraphine was wounded.
She licked the blood from her finger and shivered.
"Beautiful," she whispered. "You might actually kill me."
Then Ushinai collapsed.
The power vanished instantly.
His body could not contain it.
Seraphine stepped toward him… then stopped.
She smiled softly.
"Sleep, little star-eater," she said. "Next time, we finish our dance."
And she vanished.
Aria screamed his name.
Sylpha poured every drop of mana she had into stabilizing him.
Garo dragged himself beside him.
Tempest wept silently.
The Dragon King looked at Ushinai with horror and awe.
"He awakened Voidlight," he whispered. "The power we were taught was only myth."
Ushinai's heartbeat stuttered.
His aura flickered violently.
His body was tearing itself apart trying to survive what he had become.
Aria held his head to her chest.
"Don't die," she whispered. "Please… don't die…"
He breathed.
Barely.
High above, far beyond the clouds—
Seraphine smiled.
Hungry.