CHAPTER 243: CELESTIAL

Even as the Mountain God emerged from the mist, his true form remained hidden...shrouded in divine fog and a blinding luminescence that warped space itself. Only a vague silhouette could be seen: a towering being whose very presence made the air heavy, freezing everything it touched. The light around him shimmered like living frost, radiating waves of Divine Ice Qi that made even breathing painful.

Lucas felt it first...the oppressive, suffocating aura that threatened to crush his lungs. His spatial Qi flickered erratically, reacting to the sheer might of the entity before them. Every living thing in the vicinity...beast or human...instinctively bowed or trembled.

Lira and the other girls fell to their knees, unable to remain standing under such pressure. The Divine Beast’s voice echoed through the fog, not spoken but resonating directly into their minds...a voice ancient, resonant, and filled with both fury and sorrow.

"You dare step into the sacred grounds of the First Mountain... and slaughter my children?"

The ground trembled violently, shards of ice erupting from beneath their feet. Lucas barely maintained his balance, blood still dripping from his lips. The empress, however, stood calmly, her veil fluttering slightly in the storm of divine energy.

Her tone was soft yet unwavering.

"So... the guardian finally chooses to show himself."

Lucas turned to her, his gaze narrowing. She knew this would happen.

The Mountain God’s aura intensified, and the surrounding mist began to form an enormous crystalline outline...a glimpse of a face older than mountains themselves, with eyes that glowed like twin frozen suns.

"You... mortal queen... brought this chaos here. Do you seek death?"

The temperature plummeted again, frost creeping up Lucas’s boots as his Qi fought to resist the chill. He gritted his teeth, trying to focus his senses.

Even without seeing its full form, Lucas could feel the truth...this was not a mere guardian beast. This was a fragment of a divine being, an echo of a god that once ruled over ice and mountain itself.

The Empress raised her head slowly, her veil fluttering in the bitter, howling wind. Her calm composure contrasted the divine froststorm that surrounded them. When she spoke, her voice was clear and melodic...yet carried a weight that silenced even the cracking of ice.

"I do not seek death, Guardian. I seek the thing you protect

..the divine egg."

Her words struck the air like a thunderclap.

Lucas’s eyes widened. The egg? He glanced at Lira, Nyx, and the others, who looked just as bewildered. Even through the dense fog of divine Qi, Lucas could feel it...the shift in the guardian’s presence, a ripple of wrath and fear mingled together.

The fog churned violently as the Mountain God’s voice rumbled through the mountains like an earthquake.

"You dare speak of it? The Egg of Eternity is not meant for beings of flesh and bone. Even I... am not worthy to behold its full light."

The ground beneath them fractured, a spiderweb of glowing frost stretching for miles. The divine energy was so dense it began to distort reality around them.

Lucas could barely remain standing; his Qi shield cracked under the pressure. Even the guardian fears this egg... what kind of existence could it belong to?

The Empress’s tone sharpened, and for the first time, her own divine aura began to seep through her veil...soft, golden flames dancing against the icy void.

"I am not here to destroy your faith, Guardian. I only seek what lies beyond it. That egg will soon awaken, and when it does, I must be the one to claim it."

The Mountain God’s roar shattered the very sky. A massive wave of divine frost exploded outward, freezing everything it touched.

"You are not worthy! Begone, or be buried here for eternity!"

The Empress didn’t move an inch. Her tone was almost playful now.

"Then it seems... I have no choice but to take it by force."

The divine froststorm intensified...a blizzard of energy so fierce that space itself began to crack. Lucas and the others felt their hearts seize in terror; even the air refused to flow between them.

"Everyone, back away!" Lucas shouted, spreading his arms wide and using his Spatial Qi to form a protective barrier that encased the others. The barrier trembled violently under the sheer power radiating between the two beings.

As the others retreated into the distance, Lira’s voice broke through the storm.

"Xavier... what is she doing?!"

Lucas’s gaze remained fixed on the Empress. His voice was grim.

"She’s about to fight the guardian."

The divine frost and the Empress’s golden flame collided, creating a blinding storm of opposing forces. Ice and fire fused into spiraling chaos, ripping apart the very mountainside. Each clash between them sent waves of destruction that tore through the land, forcing Lucas to continuously teleport the group farther and farther away.

The group had retreated far...at least three football fields away...but even that distance felt meaningless before the storm that now raged on the mountain’s frozen peak. The air itself trembled with divine pressure, making it almost impossible to breathe. Each shockwave from the battlefield rippled through the snow like a tidal wave, shaking the world beneath their feet.

Lucas and the others stood on a jagged ridge, watching in silence as the Empress and the Mountain Guardian clashed in a realm of light and destruction. Lightning streaked across the sky; the heavens split apart with every blow exchanged between them. The clouds above had twisted into a vortex, swallowing the moon and stars whole.

Selene was the first to speak, her voice trembling. "That... that’s not human power."

Nyx’s eyes were wide, her usual composure shattered. "No cultivator should be able to summon light like that... what is she?"

Lucas didn’t answer immediately. His gaze was locked on the Empress, on the aura that now surrounded her...an aura not of Qi or mortal essence, but of something far higher. The air around her shimmered gold, each breath she took warping the very space around her. And behind her... faint, radiant wings of light had formed.

Lira’s voice broke the silence. "Master... are those... wings?"

He nodded slowly, disbelief washing over him. "Celestial energy... she’s not just a powerful cultivator... she’s a Celestial being."

The others froze, only Seraphine wasn’t surprised.

Lucas clenched his fists, watching the blinding exchange of power ahead. "And yet one stands before us."

The Empress of Shadows moved with divine grace, her veil torn and her silver hair flowing freely in the golden storm around her. The ground melted beneath her steps, then refroze instantly as the Guardian’s aura clashed against hers. The entire mountain seemed to tremble in reverence and fear.

The Guardian’s voice rolled through the air like thunder.

"So... you finally reveal your true nature, Celestial being. Even your kind should know better than to tread upon sacred ground."

The Empress’s lips curved into a faint smile, her eyes glowing with radiant fury.

"And yet, here I stand, Guardian. I do not seek your destruction...only what lies beneath your mountain."

The Guardian’s tone turned harsh, almost offended.

"You dare seek the Egg of Eternity? The unborn heir of the Primordial Sky Serpent? You are not worthy to even speak of it."

Lucas’s mind raced. The Empress had known. She hadn’t brought them here for exploration or testing...it had all been for this. But he was sure she had used him to lure out the guardian.

The Guardian’s massive, ethereal form stepped forward, its light swelling with anger. "Leave this place, Celestial. Your kind has no dominion here."

The Empress tilted her head slightly, her golden eyes burning brighter than the sun.

"I did not come for dominion," she said softly. "I came for destiny."

Her words were calm, but her aura exploded with celestial radiance, and the mountain itself began to quake violently.

Lucas shouted over the roaring wind, "Everyone! Get back! As far as you can!"

They ran..Lira, Selene, Nyx, Mirielle, and Seraphine all under the protection of Lucas’s and Seraphine’s expanding Qibarrier. Even from afar, the light was too blinding to look at directly.

Then it happened...a surge of golden and silver energy collided, tearing through the air and reshaping the clouds above. The Empress and the Guardian vanished in the light, their forms lost to the brilliance of a power that no mortal should ever witness.

The mountain howled as if alive, ancient runes awakening beneath the snow. The air grew impossibly dense, the temperature dropping and rising at once.

Lucas shielded his eyes, feeling his body vibrate from the divine clash. He could barely stand the pressure. "She’s not fighting as a human anymore..." he muttered hoarsely. "She’s fighting as a god."

The scene was both terrifying and stunning.

The mountain itself seemed to bow before her awakening...the battle between a Celestial and a divine Guardian shaking the heavens above and the world below.