Chapter 21: Ashes of Divinity
"We were never meant to fight the gods. But someone had to."
The sigil burned bright red across my palm.
Time seemed to stall as the rune charges beneath the battlefield ignited.
One by one.
Then all at once.
BOOM
The ground split like a fault line screaming in rage. Obsidian exploded into the air. The black castle behind us cracked, its walls imploding under the pressure.
Flames. Ether. Magic surges. Screams.
Vermund's entire army was consumed.
The Ashbound evaporated in streaks of violet fire.
The Obsidian Guard shattered like ceramic statues struck by divine thunder.
I covered Eve with my body as the wind of pure chaos howled through the remains of the throne room.
Then—
Silence.
A silence so deep, even thought dared not move.
Smoke choked the ruins.
I pushed myself up, coughing, spitting blood, my jacket in tatters. My twin blades cracked from overuse.
Eve groaned beside me, her side bleeding again.
Others lay scattered across the debris. The Resistance was wounded. But alive.
Barely.
We had leveled half the divine sanctum.
And yet—
He stood.
Vermund.
In front of the throne's ashes.
His regal coat was half-burnt. Blood spilled freely from his arms, ribs, and lips. But he was alive. Barely.
And laughing.
I staggered toward him, broken blade in hand. He didn't move.
He was on one knee, leaning against the remnants of his throne.
"You blew up my kingdom," he said hoarsely, a laugh bubbling through cracked lips.
"You tried to burn the world," I answered.
He looked up. His eyes had dimmed. But the fire—the belief—remained.
"You really thought mortals could win…"
"We didn't win," I said. "We survived."
He coughed again—blood this time. "And that's your victory?"
"No," I said quietly, kneeling in front of him. "This is."
I thrust the broken tip of Kagetsura through his chest.
Right where his divine heart pulsed.
He didn't scream. Just… smiled. Sadly.
"You'll be hunted for this," he whispered. "By all of heaven."
"Let them come."
He collapsed against the ruins of his throne.
Then faded.
Not in light. Not in glory.
But in silence.
Like a memory being erased.
Ash scattered where he once sat.
The sky—long void of sun—began to shift.
Crimson light bled into golden hues.
Above us, clouds of ash parted just enough to let the light of day filter in. No divine chorus. No thunder. Just… wind.
Soft.
Carrying the scent of blood and freedom.
The Resistance gathered. Quiet. Exhausted.
Some wept.
Others stood, barely.
We had destroyed a tyrant.
But at a cost.
In the center of the ruins, as the final embers dimmed, I saw her.
Lysaria.
She stood weakly, hand gripping her side, supported by one of the demigods.
Her eyes met mine.
I dropped my weapons and walked.
Each step a scream in my bones.
She reached me just as I collapsed into her arms.
"You're insane," she whispered.
"Still want to marry me?" I mumbled into her shoulder.
She didn't reply.
But I felt her heart beat against mine.
Later, as we tended the wounded in the crater where Vermund's castle had once stood, Eve stood over the ashes.
She planted her blade into the ground.
"Never again," she said, softly. "Not for gods. Not for pride."
I stood beside her, shoulder bruised and bandaged.
"We'll rest," I said. "For now."
We didn't save the world.
We just kept it spinning for another day.
But that was enough.
For now.
I don't know what comes next.
But I know this—
I was just a NEET. A nobody. A shadow. And now I'm the man who made the gods bleed.
They'll write about Vermund's fall.
They'll sing about the Gate of Screams.
They'll curse the name "Kaito."
And I'll ride into whatever's next—with scars, steel, and maybe… her smile beside me.
Let the heavens prepare.
I'm not done yet.