Seth narrowed his eyes behind the darkness of his hood as he watched the white robed man scuttle between his bowing army and the stun figures. To him, the man was being incredibly obviously, practically running through the battlefield and thinking that he was being stealthy just because he was crouching.

But it seemed to be working for him regardless, as none noticed him even when he nearly bumped into a few of them. He had no idea what the man was doing, nor did he have the capacity to care right now.

Seeing the state Astra was left in nearly drove him over the edge once more, but he quickly reigned in that bubbling anger. The fact that his feral side was not a cause of some curse of his blood, and was in fact just his own anger, made it even more obvious he had to control his rage.

But it was easier said than done, especially when you were seeing your girlfriend bleeding out in front of him.

Thankfully, there was something to distract his mind from her state, even if his eyes stayed locked onto her slightly rising chest.

He had no idea how exactly the dragon had done it, nor was he anywhere close to being able to replicate his teleportation act. But what he did know was that it was supposed to drain him of all of his Divine Energy that he had unknowingly been storing, the energy that Seth referred to as Worship.

The key word was should as he currently was brimming with Worship. Sort of...

There had been a strange sensation going on in his body ever since the moment of his arrival. The Worship in the air swirled around him like he was in the midst of a storm. The levels of which was only growing exponentially the more they displayed their awe inspiring abilities, even if they were only transcendent level beings that could hardly compare to the likes of the Dragon woman.

However that Worship was wild. It was inspired by both of their presences, belonging to neither of them, and instead just filled the air like a fog. A fog that was currently swirling around Seth and flooding into him, without him doing anything at all.

His body was rushing with power, practically overflowing with it. Yet the next second all of that energy was completely absent, rushing out of his body and flooding back into the swirling storm, which immediately flooded back into him the next moment.

It was oddly cleansing, as his muscles felt refreshed with every bathing of the energy, and with every new flood he managed to take in just a little more before it evacuated his body faster than last nights kebab.

This didn't seem like it was the Dragon's doing however, nor was it the only strange thing happening.

He could feel a sort of... connection to the shadows that were dancing in the frozen battleground. It was a connection that was eerily similar to his innate connection to his puppets, although not exactly.

While his connection to his puppets was warm and delved deep into his soul, where his threads stemmed from. The connection to the shadows was cold and tickled at his skin, seeping into his bones like an ice cold bath.

It also lasted for only a few seconds before disappearing, then reappearing mere moments later. It was just like his shifting levels of Worship.

The same was happening with a connection to blood. At least he thought it was blood. For the few moments he had the connection, before it disappeared for a few more seconds, he could feel the heart beat of all of those around him.

It was like an orchestra of percussion, beating to the rhythm of life. He could either zone out and listen to the rhythm of hundreds of racing hearts, or he could focus in on a specific instrument and feel its rhythm.

It was almost like his own heart synced up, beating in rhythm to their own. He could feel their blood coursing through their veins, carrying a cocktail of oxygen and adrenaline, like it was his own blood.

A truly strange sensation, that never lasted more than a few seconds at a time.

To Seth, it almost felt like his body was trying to develop new abilities. One to do with shadows, and the other to do with blood. But it couldn't decide which one it wanted, or if it even wanted one in the first place.

Or... perhaps it was more accurate to say that it was as if the thing trying to give him the powers couldn't decide.

Seth had theorised on the Lightbringers abilities for a while, ever since he started to consider that a fight between them was inevitable.

For one, he wasn't a god. If he was Seth would be dead already, plain and simple. The same could be said if he could properly wield Worship, or Divine Energy as the dragon called it. In his mind, the ability to wield it put someone on her level and the Lightbringer was no where close to that.

But he still actively created it in its followers, he still had some semblance of ability with it, just like Seth did. Just crude and uncontrolled, like the dragon had said.

It was the battle with Omelette and the Lightbringers followers, however, that truly confirmed Seth's theory.

The power of Worship, or Divine Energy, was the ability to simply will something into existence. It was the literal worship and unyielding belief in a being was enough to give it the power they expected from them.

So what if someone had the ability to create a watered down version of that? Not worship, but simply belief. Wild and uncontrolled, simply bringing things into being because you believed it to be true.

It was like the concept of a placebo. A doctor giving someone a mint, and telling them it was a drug that would cure their illness, and the strongly held belief in that drug would cure them, or make them worse depending on what they were told by the doctor.

The evolution had turned the Lightbringer into a living placebo, and not just for himself. All those around him were affected by his 'Placebo Aura' too. He just made sure to keep it focused on himself.

When Omelette had attacked, what they believed to be a demon, he had taken on slightly more demonic features, and during that battle Seth had felt the Lightbringers presence through their medallions. Whether the slight change was because of distance or lack of belief, or simply numbers. He had no idea.

But it was perfect for someone like Lucifer, and which had helped turn him into the Lightbringer. Who had more belief than a cult, after all?

Clearly it had some downsides though. Much like an actual placebo, knowledge of it or doubt would ruin the effect. So he couldn't give himself the powers he had now, he had to rely on others.

That must have been why Seth's feelings and powers were fluctuating. The Lightbringer was doubting, he couldn't decide what was true.

So, the only logical step was to reinforce the belief. To feed him the Placebo.

The [Midnight Mantle], the armour of darkness he wore now, was something he acquired from one of his hunting trips, before he got overwhelmed with his own experiments and running the city. He had gained it from a Shadow Puma, and was - in Seth's mind - why he was feeling a connection to the shadows.

It allowed him to use the Shadow Puma's ability to teleport through shadows, with much more restrictions. He had to see the exit from where he entered, both shadows had to be big enough for him to fit inside and he could only do it twice per day.

It wasn't very good armour, but he mostly wore it on Corvus because it matched his shadowy black theme. He had never really considered using its abilities until now.

Spreading his hands out wide, Seth performed some dramatic gestures as he delved within, bringing out his inner villain. Which wasn't all that difficult, in all honesty. He did enjoy playing the villain whenever he played games, especially online games. So he had plenty of practice.

His feet touched down onto the ground, and started to descend even further as he sank gently into the wide shadow cast by his flowing cloak. As he carried out his performance, he spoke softly and yet his voice carried across the deathly silent battlefield with ease.

"Lightbringer... What a ridiculous name. Perhaps then I should be called Death-bringer, or perhaps Night-bringer...

For I am more than Lord of the Dead. I am Lord of the Dark and all that lurks within it! And where there is Light, there will always be..."

His voice cut off as his disappeared into the shadow. His body was completely swallowed up by the darkness.

The Lightbringers eyes widened in horror as he frantically began to look around, desperately searching for where the 'Death-bringer' had disappeared to. Only for a voice, a soft and chilling whisper, to brush against his ear from behind.

"...Shadows."