CHAPTER 293: CHAPTER 292 - DESTRUCTION OF THE UNDEAD.

A while later.

The ground shuddered with the weight of two hundred undead thrashing against their bindings.

Rusted blades screeched, skeletal arms clawed, and hollow eyes burned with hunger as they writhed in one heaving, monstrous pile.

Clara’s soft hum shook as she pressed her palms forward, her vibration barriers trembling like glass under strain.

"Hh—hold steady... just—don’t let them scatter." Her voice was calm, but her knuckles were white, her forehead shining with sweat.

Jessy gritted her teeth, metal bands straining as the undead pressed against them. "Two hundred plate sevens... and we’re just holding them? This is insane."

Sparks flew from her barriers as one corpse slammed its head repeatedly against the metal wall, denting it with every blow.

Beside them, Lia’s vines writhed and thickened, each thorn straining as the undead tore chunks of greenery apart.

The princess’s lips quivered, but she didn’t let go.

"If we had to kill them, this would be easy... but keeping them all trapped—!" She winced as the vines snapped, immediately summoning more with a pained exhale. "It’s like holding back a river with bare hands."

For all their power, the three were being pushed to their limits. Not by strength, but by endurance. By sheer relentlessness.

Still, the horde pressed on.

They were all at a strength equal to a plate seven, and although they couldn’t use any special skill, they were still strong.

Lia, Jessy, and Clara, despite being two circle eights and one plate eight, couldn’t keep them bound.

There was a limit to what they could do.

Right now, they needed to keep those undead in place while also ensuring they didn’t die.

It was hard, especially when they had to make sure that the undead didn’t die getting crushed.

But then, all of the undead paused.

Their hollow faces turned as one, as if sensing something—or someone.

"I guess this is all of them," Raven muttered, walking toward them as he scanned the battlefield that was now devoid of undead, as all of them were heaped up before him.

Nodding to himself, he glanced at the undead.

They hissed and snapped at him like a cornered beast, but he didn’t flinch.

Through his red eyes, a black flash passed.

The air shifted, heavy with anticipation. His friends tensed, but none of them moved to stop him.

Then, Raven raised his hand. Then, he grinned and said, "Let there be light."

From his palm, a flame stirred.

Not a blaze. Not a torrent. Just a flicker—black and hungry, no larger than a torch flame.

Up on the rooftop, a few Vaise siblings scoffed loudly.

"That? That’s it?"

"Parlor tricks."

But Zephyr’s eyes narrowed.

His gut twisted. That tiny flame... felt wrong. It was quiet, but it radiated an emptiness that prickled against his skin.

Raven, on the other hand, flicked his wrist.

The flame fell.

The moment it touched the heap, the pile erupted—black fire spreading like ink in water, leaping without air, swallowing steel, flesh, and bone in an instant.

The undead howled in a soundless chorus as their bodies collapsed inward, consumed not by heat but by absence.

"That’s not light, man," Alex muttered from the side as the black flames surged.

"Yeah," Rufus nodded. "It would’ve been better if he had said, ’Let there be darkness.’"

Even Jake bobbed his head.

It was then that Clara’s hum faltered, Jessy’s walls screeched, and Lia’s vines snapped.

All three immediately retreated, snapping their spells back before the flames could crawl up their mana like a parasite.

They didn’t doubt Raven, but even trust had instincts.

After all, those flames... had no warmth.

They only knew destruction.

The girls regrouped, breathing hard, staring at the writhing black pyre. Clara whispered first, eyes wide despite her calm demeanor.

"Even now... it chills me."

"Yeah," Jessy muttered, wiping sweat from her brow. "It’s fire that doesn’t burn. It... erases."

Lia’s hands were clenched against her chest, eyes soft but worried. "It’s the nature of his flames. Until he’s stronger, he can’t change it."

It wasn’t just her who knew that—everyone did.

Raven had told them that once, when they were training in Arietta’s domain.

That time, he had lit up a huge fire with his destruction element, and if not for Arietta, his destruction element could’ve eaten everything.

However, that was the first and the last time it happened.

Since then, Raven had always used a bit of voidfire along with destruction, merely to keep it in check.

Even now, they could tell that Raven’s dragon scales were covering him under his clothes, as the only way he could use voidfire was when he was in his dragonic form.

Still, staring at the black flames, all of them couldn’t help but flinch.

But none of them flinched from Raven. Not once.

He stood among them, and that was enough. They trusted him completely—even if his power looked like it could erase the world.

Soon, in less than ten seconds, the heap was gone.

More than two hundred plate sevens were snuffed out as if they had never existed.

Silence followed—heavy and unnatural.

Everyone waited. Even Zephyr, his breath caught in his throat, violet eyes locked on the smoking ground.

One second. Two. Three minutes passed.

Nothing stirred.

No clattering bones. No regenerating limbs. Just nothing.

The rooftop shifted with unease, followers whispering nervously.

They didn’t know what or who the undead were, but they could tell that Raven was dangerous—especially his black flames.

Because Raven had done something even a Plate-Ten like Argon, the strongest man, failed to accomplish.

The only sound that could be heard for a while was the murmur of the people behind Zephyr.

That was until Raven broke the silence first.

He tilted his head back, red eyes locking onto Zephyr. His voice was cool, almost bored.

"Are you coming down... or should I come up?"

For a heartbeat, the tension was absolute. Every ally, every enemy, every breath on the battlefield hung on those words.

But then—

"Ohhh damn." Alex nearly jumped out of his skin, fists clenching with excitement. "That was so cool. I’m stealing that line. I swear, next fight, I’m saying it."

The silence was shattered.

Every single person turned toward Alex, their deadpan stares locked on him in unison. Even Tinny and Binny squeaked facepalms on his shoulders.

"...What?" Alex muttered, shrinking back. "I’m just appreciating good material!"

Blargh snickered inside his chest. "Bro, you just killed the whole vibe. My man Raven dropped the coldest line of the century and you—"

"Silence," Omni cut in smoothly, voice rolling like a lazy drawl. "Lemme enjoy the drama, will ya?"

Raven pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly.

Clara giggled despite herself, Lia sighed softly, and even Siris leaned on her bloodied daggers with a grin.

"See? This is why I say that stabbing group members shouldn’t be banned."

Above, Zephyr’s frown deepened, his unease growing sharper. He ignored the comedy below. His focus never wavered from Raven.

’What did you just do, little brother?’

But then, he shook his head, his violet eyes hardening as soon as that poisonous thought crossed his mind.

He would not allow doubt to root itself in him.

Uneasiness washed away like mist burned by the sun.

It was true Raven was strong—stronger than all of his siblings, perhaps even close to his own level.

In a fair fight, there was a chance the outcome could tip either way. But this was no fair fight.

Because he bore the blood of a royal—the blood that had been a bane for the Vaise.

Because of the royal blood in his veins, no Vaise could harm him. Not his brothers, not his sisters, and certainly not Raven.

The smirk returned to his lips, sharp and confident.

Then, with a flex of his legs, Zephyr leapt from the rooftop.

The air split with a thunderclap as he descended, cloak snapping like wings behind him.

When his boots struck the ground, the courtyard shuddered, stone splitting in spiderweb cracks beneath the force of his landing.

The rooftop followed in silence at first... then movement.

One by one, the elders dropped after him, shadows flowing in his wake. Then the siblings followed—hesitant, but reminded of who walked before them.

Their leader, their bloodline, the one even Argon himself could not defeat.

If Argon could not stop Zephyr... what hope did Raven have?

"Why was I even feeling uneasy?" One of the elders breathed with reverence.

"Yeah," another whispered. "Even the patriarch couldn’t touch him."

Raven only stood still, red eyes unblinking, as if the quake beneath his feet meant nothing.

Zephyr straightened, adjusting the clasp at his shoulder. His smile widened, a monarch’s smile—confident, certain, inevitable.

"Well then, Raven," he said, his voice carrying over the silent battlefield, "I am here. So tell me... what now? Did you really believe you could defeat me?"

A low murmur spread through the ranks. Clara’s fingers twitched toward her sword, Siris tilted her head like a predator hearing prey, and Alex mouthed ’damn’ under his breath before Blargh snorted loudly.

Raven did not move. His lips parted—whether to answer or mock, no one would know—

Because a voice cut through the air.

"RAVEN! DON’T!"

Everyone’s head turned at once.

From the shadow of the right wing, Valeria burst forth, her boots skidding across the fractured stone. Her red hair whipped like a banner, her eyes blazing with urgency.

"Don’t fight him!" She shouted, her voice raw, echoing across the courtyard. She pointed at Zephyr, her hand trembling. "He’s royal! You can’t hurt him!"

The words hit like a thrown blade, slicing the tension into something heavier.

Clara gasped softly, Lia tilted her head in confusion, and Jessy’s brow furrowed. Siris blinked, then muttered, "Well, that’s unfair."

Alex’s jaw dropped. "Wait, wait, what do you mean can’t? Like... physically? Or, like, legally?"

Omni chuckled darkly from Raven’s side. "Guess we’re about to find out, eh, boss?"

Raven’s expression didn’t change—but his crimson eyes flickered, the flame within them burning colder.

Zephyr’s smirk only widened.