[Sirella’s POV—Thorenvald Estate—Wedding Garden—After the Chaos]

SLAP—!!!

My head snapped violently to the side. Not because I resisted—but because I didn’t. My skin burned, my ears rang... But I didn’t lift a hand to defend myself.

Because the one who struck me... was Caelum.

My brother.

The angel.

The gentle one.

The one who never raised his voice.

And now—he looked at me like I was something worth killing.

"How—" his voice cracked into a snarl, "HOW COULD YOU?"

Tears burned in his eyes, not mine.

His hand shook.

His lips trembled.

But his rage? Absolutely.

"You... poisoned him," he whispered harshly. "You hurt my king." His voice rose, raw with betrayal—"My seraph king—and you harmed him!"

I forced myself to meet his gaze.

"I... had no choice," my whisper came out small. Broken. Ugly.

"No choice?" Caelum lunged at me—fists gripping my arms, yanking me closer until our foreheads nearly touched.

"No choice?!" he roared, spit and grief mixing in the air. "What in this world could possibly make you obey a DEVIL?"

His voice cracked again—this time with something worse than anger.

Heartbreak.

"I thought—" he choked on the words, "—I thought you were the only sane one left in that poisoned, rotten imperial palace. I thought... you were still human. "

His grip tightened around my neck—not enough to choke me, but enough to promise it. "If you had ANY morality—any heart—you would have died before touching him."

I didn’t move.

I didn’t protest.

I didn’t raise a hand.

I only stared at him hollowly.

"Then kill me," I whispered. "I won’t resist."

His hand trembled harder, nails piercing my skin.

"I SHOULD kill you," he hissed—and I could feel the flicker of angelic wrath in his veins. "I should rip your throat out for what you did to him."

He tightened his fingers around my neck.

I didn’t gasp.

I didn’t fight.

I didn’t beg.

I only spoke—flat, empty. "If I hadn’t done it... Father would have died too."

Caelum froze. The wrath in his eyes cracked. Confusion replaced fury.

"What... did you say?"

I swallowed—not from fear, but from shame.

"Father," I whispered. "He... knelt to the devil. Begged. Because he had already lost one son and one abandoned him."

Caelum’s voice shook. "What do you mean?"

I nodded slowly. "Caelum... Arden is dead."

Silence.

A silence so dense the world seemed to collapse under it. Then his eyes widened—horrified realization spreading slowly, painfully.

"No..." he breathed, stepping back. "No... don’t tell me—" His voice broke into a whisper that scraped like glass, "Don’t tell me that creature—"

I nodded once.

"Arden’s body," I whispered, tears finally rising without falling, "belongs to the devil completely."

Caelum’s knees buckled. His breath shattered. His halo—invisible to others—flickered weakly behind him like a dying star.

The garden around us erupted in cries, arguments, prayers, panic... But we stood there in stillness.

Two siblings. Drowning in a horror no one else could understand.

"You betrayed Leif..." he whispered, barely a breath. "But you were forced. And our brother, the eldest one, Arden... and he’s already gone."

His voice collapsed under its own grief.

I closed my eyes.

"If I hadn’t harmed the seraph king..." My voice trembled for the first time—not from guilt, but from regret. "Father would have died. Then all of us. Then the whole world."

My fingers tightened around my skirt—to ground myself, to keep from screaming.

"He will kill everyone, Caelum," I whispered. "But before that... he enjoys taking everything we love."

Caelum sank slowly to the ground—hands in his hair—eyes spilling silent tears. All his strength, all his divinity... helpless. Because the devil didn’t just attack a kingdom.

He attacked the heart of the people who could save it. And we—the ones who still lived—were already broken.

I swallowed... forcing the words out like knives.

"I warned him," he whispered, voice shaking. "I told Arden summoning the devil would kill him first. That the moment the pact was complete, he would die."

Caelum didn’t look up.

"But instead..." his voice thinned, "...he locked me away."

His fingers stilled.

His shoulders trembled.

That’s right. Caelum did warn him, but instead he locked him away and started spreading rumors about him. He told the entire palace he was insane. Dangerous. A threat to the Crown.

I sighed heavily.

And when he learned he were a descendant of angels... I closed my eyes—remembering the chains, the cell, the whip marks on Caelum’s back —

He bound him. Collared him. Chained him like an animal.

Caelum’s breath fractured—half sob, half rage—but he didn’t say anything.

I was the one who freed him in disguise. I made him run to Frojnholm because it was the only place that could hide him from the devil."

And yet...here we were.

No one was safe.

Not even here.

Not anymore.

The devil was not content to rule.

He wanted to consume .

"He grows stronger every day," I whispered. "His power is feeding on souls—devouring them one by one—until there will be nothing in this world left to stop him."

Caelum slowly lifted his head—and though his cheeks were wet with grief, his eyes were no longer broken.

They were burning.

Golden—bright, electric—like a star igniting.

"I don’t care," he said, voice low and lethal. "I don’t care how strong he becomes. I don’t care how many souls he eats."

He wiped his tears with the back of his hand. "My king lives. And as long as he lives—I will rip fate open with my bare hands if I must."

The garden wind went still. Even the leaves seemed to listen.

Caelum stood.

Not gently.

Not gracefully.

He rose like a blade being drawn.

"Don’t speak his name again," he warned me—his voice so cold it sent a shiver through my bones."You lost the right to call him anything the moment you even thought to listen to the devil."

I didn’t argue.

His next words were not for me. They were for Destiny.

"Tell that devil this," he said, eyes glowing almost painfully bright, "I will take back my seraph king. No matter what price I have to pay."

He turned—steps sharp and sure—when something sudden shot toward him from the shadows.

A blur of blue fur.

A streak of magic.

ZEPHYY.

The little blue cat leaped onto his shoulder, whispering urgently in Caelum’s ear with rapid telepathic speech.

Caelum froze. Listened. Then nodded—once.

The air trembled.

And before I could blink—the small cat EXPANDED—fur turning to scales, paws to claws, tiny whiskers to massive horns.

A dragon , deep sapphire blue, stood where the kitten had been.

Caelum climbed onto the beast’s back—light pouring from his wings as they unfurled like a divine banner.

The ground vibrated.

The wind roared.

And without hesitation, he looked toward the horizon and declared, "I know where the Spirit Goddesses reside."

My breath hitched. Then—without another word—without goodbyes—without fear—Caelum and the dragon LAUNCHED into the sky, soaring across the clouds toward the unknown.

Toward danger.

Toward salvation.

Toward the only hope Leif had left.

And I... stood alone in the ruins of celebration.

Watching a brother fly to save a king...while a sister stayed behind with the weight of unforgivable sins.

***

[Caelum’s POV — Sky Above Frojnholm — Minutes After the Collapse]

The wind cut against my skin like knives.

Good.

Pain meant I was still alive. Pain meant I could still fight. Pain meant Leif still had a chance.

I gripped Zephyy’s scaled neck as he soared higher, higher, tearing through the clouds with wings of sapphire thunder. His voice echoed into my mind:

Are you certain, Angel? The Spirit Sanctuary is not merciful.

I clenched my jaw. "Mercy isn’t what I need."

Lightning cracked in the distance — not from the sky... from my wings. They had been hidden for so long. Chained for so long. Cut down, locked away, humiliated.

But now — the world could burn for all I cared.

I spread my wings wide — eight brilliant feathers of pure divinity unfurling behind me. The cold air trembled at their presence.

Blue light flooded the sky.

My king is dying.

That was the only truth that mattered.

Zephyy tilted his massive head, voice trembling through the telepathic connection, When we reach the Sanctuary, your wings alone will not be enough. Do you think it will open for you.

I didn’t hesitate. "Yes, because I am angel."

Zephyy’s wings folded — suddenly — sharply — diving downward.

"Hold tight!" he roared.

The world below shifted — trees became a blur — mountains raced past — and then finally, the air changed.

The land before us was wrong . The forest should have been small. A harmless, peaceful corner of Raventon. But from above... it stretched endlessly, swallowing half the continent. Branches twisted toward the sky, weaving light and shadow into a maze.

The Forest of Raventon — the door to the Spirit Sanctuary.

Zephyy hovered just above the treeline.

No sound.

No wind.

Not even birds.

Just silence — dense and ancient. He landed softly, and I stepped down from his back. Power pressed against my skin the moment my feet touched the ground.

A warning.

A threat.

A test.

The trees were enormous — roots like bones, branches like blades. The air shimmered with the weight of old magic — magic that hated mortals.

Zephyy remained transformed — a towering blue dragon crouched protectively behind me. If you cross this border without divine approval... you will die instantly.

I stepped forward.

The forest responded.

A pulse of energy — golden and heavy — slammed against my chest, trying to crush me backward. My wings flared in defiance — blue against gold.

I didn’t move.

I didn’t bow.

I didn’t yield.

Another force tried to bend my knees. My eyes burned.

"NO," I snarled — voice vibrating with divine resonance. "I do not kneel. Not to gods. Not to fate."

The border trembled.

Then —Something shot out of the darkness .

A spear of light.

It ripped across the air — aimed directly at my heart — fast enough to kill anything mortal.

Zephyy roared — "HEY ANGEL—!"

But the spear froze midair. Half an inch from my chest. Not because it missed me. Because something stopped it.

A voice — cool, ancient, and unbearably powerful — rippled through the trees:

’So the fallen angel returns.’

My breath caught.

The spear dissolved.

The air shifted because the goddess of spirit is here.