Volume 2 — Chapter 23
The Return of the Void King
The divine pillars continued falling.
Massive beams of golden light tore through the sky like spears meant to erase the battlefield itself. The barrier surrounding the war zone trembled violently under the sheer pressure of the descending execution spell.
Every warrior on the battlefield felt it.
Gods.
Devils.
Soldiers.
Even Seraphine.
The spell was not meant to simply kill.
It was meant to erase everything within the barrier.
The leader of the gods watched calmly from the sky.
"It ends here."
But then—
The ground below began to change.
The cracked earth around Icarus's body slowly turned black.
At first it looked like spreading shadows.
But it wasn't shadow.
It was Void.
Pure void energy began leaking outward like dark smoke rising from the deepest abyss. The shattered rocks near him started dissolving into particles as the Void touched them.
One of the devils looked down with narrowed eyes.
"…That energy."
Another god frowned.
"…No."
Seraphine stood frozen in the air.
Her silver eyes were locked onto the center of the battlefield.
The place where Icarus had fallen.
Her heart pounded violently.
"…Icarus…"
The divine pillars continued descending.
They were only seconds away from striking the battlefield.
But the Void energy spreading across the ground suddenly intensified.
The black mist erupted upward like a storm.
BOOOOM!
The ground exploded.
A massive wave of Void energy surged outward, pushing away debris and bodies across the battlefield.
The gods in the sky reacted instantly.
"Defensive barriers!"
Golden shields appeared around them.
The devils summoned walls of dark flames.
The Void wave slammed into them like a tsunami.
Even the divine pillars trembled as the energy surged upward.
Then—
Silence fell.
The black mist slowly cleared.
And in the center of the battlefield—
A figure stood.
Icarus Grimm had risen.
His body was surrounded by slowly rotating fragments of darkness.
The wound through his chest had disappeared.
In its place was a faint glowing mark shaped like a spiral of void energy.
His long black coat fluttered slightly in the wind.
His wings of Reality slowly unfolded behind him.
But they looked different now.
The wings had grown larger.
More jagged.
Each feather looked like a crack in reality itself.
And his eyes—
They had changed.
The eyes granted to him through his contract with Nihyron had fully awakened.
Deep void energy flowed through them like swirling galaxies.
The battlefield trembled.
High above the sky, the leader of the gods stared in disbelief.
"…Impossible."
Another god whispered.
"He died."
A devil beside them looked uneasy.
"…That thing doesn't look dead."
Seraphine stared silently.
For a moment she couldn't speak.
Then—
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"…Took you long enough."
Icarus slowly looked around the battlefield.
His gaze moved across the shattered land.
Across the corpses.
Across the army surrounding him.
Finally—
His eyes stopped on Seraphine.
She hovered in the air not far away.
Covered in wounds.
Still holding the Abyssal Devourer.
Icarus tilted his head slightly.
"…You look terrible."
Seraphine stared at him for a moment.
Then she laughed weakly.
"You died."
Icarus shrugged slightly.
"…Temporary inconvenience."
Seraphine sighed.
"…Idiot."
Her body suddenly lost strength.
She started falling from the sky.
Before she could hit the ground—
Icarus disappeared.
And reappeared beneath her instantly.
He caught her easily in his arms.
Seraphine blinked slowly.
"…You're late."
Icarus glanced at the battlefield around them.
"…You handled things."
Her wings slowly faded as exhaustion overtook her.
But she still held the weapon tightly.
Icarus noticed.
His eyes shifted toward the Abyssal Devourer.
The weapon reacted instantly.
The blade pulsed violently as if recognizing its true master.
Seraphine slowly handed it to him.
"…Your weapon."
Icarus took it.
The moment his hand touched the blade—
BOOM!
A massive surge of Void energy erupted from the weapon.
The dark patterns along the blade spread outward like living veins.
Nexus's voice suddenly returned much clearer than before.
[Host revival confirmed.]
[Combat synchronization restored.]
[Abyssal Devourer returning to primary wielder.]
The weapon settled in Icarus's hand perfectly.
As if it had always belonged there.
Icarus gently placed Seraphine on the ground behind him.
"…Stay there."
She raised an eyebrow.
"…What?"
Icarus looked toward the sky.
Where the gods and devils were still staring down in shock.
"…My turn."
Seraphine smirked faintly.
"…Try not to die again."
Icarus didn't respond.
He simply stepped forward.
His wings of reality slowly unfolded fully behind him.
The air around him began distorting violently.
Void energy gathered across the battlefield like a forming storm.
Above him—
The divine execution pillars were still descending.
The leader of the gods finally recovered from the shock.
"…Destroy him."
All remaining gods and devils attacked at once.
Lightning.
Divine beams.
Demonic flames.
All crashing toward Icarus at the same time.
Icarus lifted the Abyssal Devourer slowly.
His eyes glowed with deep void energy.
"…You really shouldn't have done that."
The blade moved.
One single swing.
And the sky split apart.
A massive arc of Void energy erupted upward like a black sun exploding.
BOOOOOOM!
The divine pillars shattered instantly.
The incoming attacks were devoured by the expanding darkness.
Even the barrier surrounding the battlefield cracked under the pressure.
The gods stared in disbelief.
The devil commanders stepped back instinctively.
Icarus stood calmly in the center of the battlefield.
Void energy spiraled around him like a living storm.
His eyes lifted slowly toward the sky.
"…Now."
His voice echoed across the battlefield like a cold whisper.
"…Let's continue."