My Soul card is a Reaper-Chapter 940: The Emergence of Azazel (Part-5)

It traveled hundreds of meters in all directions to destroy almost every infrastructure at the same time. Dozens of civilians died from the building collapses, and several awakeners and hunters were also injured. The tidal burst of divine and demonic energy vaporized the air around and increased the humidity to alarming levels.

Orion wasn’t spared from that either. He was still fleeing when the blast of a shockwave struck him square in the back. As he was sent hurtling downward, he tightened his grip over Kate and tightly hugged her before twisting mid-air, flipping so that Kate remained above him, as they crashed through a roof and hit the street below with a deafening impact.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Then Kate stirred, coughing softly, realizing she was completely unharmed — her head resting against Orion’s chest as she lay on top of him. He, however, was bleeding from his lips, feeling intense pain in his back that was scorched and torn from the shockwave.

"Orion...!" Kate gasped, pressing her hand against his cheek as they slowly got up. Her other hand trembled as she touched the blood on his lips. "You’re hurt..."

Orion forced a faint smile. "I’ve had worse. This wound is just superficial."

To that, Kate turned his body and looked at his scorched back, "No, you are not." Tears almost filled her eyes. She grabbed his arm and said. "It’s my fault... why did you do that... I..."

Right then, three shadows appeared through the haze — Selene, Luna, and Elise, rushing toward them.

"Orion!" Luna called out, her eyes widened in panic.

"He’s down there!" Selene shouted, leaping off the broken pavement.

They reached him just as he and Kate seemed to be gazing at one another. Orion seemed calm, while Kate seemed fully emotional.

Luna’s gaze froze on the sight before her — Kate’s hand still cupping Orion’s cheek, with her thumb brushing the blood on his lips. Something in Luna snapped. She was already stressed with the whole Orion staying in the same hotel as another woman and then flying off with her, now she was touching his face like that with such emotion and all... Luna couldn’t bear any more.

Without thinking, she jumped down from the wolf and stormed forward with her boots crunching against the broken glass and rubble. "Don’t touch someone else’s boyfriend like that!"

Her voice came out sharper than she intended, but she didn’t care. In one swift motion, she grabbed Kate’s wrist and shoved her lightly to the side, then wiped the blood from Orion’s lips with her own trembling hand. "You alright, darling?"

Everyone froze.

Selene blinked, utterly taken aback. Even Kate stared with wide eyes, her lips parting slightly in confusion. Orion, caught completely off-guard, looked at Luna with an awkward, helpless expression. "Umm..."

"Luna..." Selene finally managed, crossing her arms and fixing her with a questioning look. "What exactly did you just say?"

Luna shut her eyes tight for a moment, realizing her outburst, then turned toward her friend. Sis... I..." she began, her voice faltering as she was about to explain.

Before she could even start, Orion suddenly spoke, trying to defuse the storm before it broke. "It’s not her fault. She wanted to tell you first, but I stopped her. You know, I was just worried how Master would react when he learns that I was in a relationship with his daughter, you know... if he is against it, it could’ve been awkward."

Luna’s eyes widened slightly, caught completely off guard by his sudden cover-up. After all, she was the one who wanted to keep it a secret.

For a few seconds, no one said a word.

Selene then exhaled slowly, rubbing her temples. "You two..." she muttered under her breath, half in disbelief, half in resignation.

Before the conversation could go any further, Elise’s voice cut through sharply. "Enough, all of you!" she snapped. "This isn’t the time for silly relationship talk!"

Everyone turned toward her, who narrowed her eyes. "We might be far from the main battle," she said, scanning the surroundings, "but that doesn’t mean we’re safe. That thing’s summoning lesser demons even as we speak."

She looked directly at Orion.

"We need to move... now..." Her voice trailed off as the ground beneath them trembled again, a low growl echoing through the ruined streets.

The Sky over Peking City;

As if fate wanted to prove Elise’s words, the pressure intensified in the surroundings. Meanwhile, far above the Four Seasons Hotel, black clouds twisted unnaturally, forming concentric circles that pulsed with scarlet light.

Then came the voice: deep, resonant, and commanding.

"Come forth... my servants."

From that moment, the sky was devoured by darkness before being filled by a hundred-layered seal, covering almost half of the city’s skies.

Out of them descended a winged demon, which was wreathed in flame and shadow.

Another followed. Then another. And then one more...

In no time, thousands of demons filled the sky, making the city and the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people still stuck in the city freeze for a moment.

A towering figure hovered in the center, clad in blackened armor that shimmered with ancient sigils, flapped his wings, and flew toward the Azazel.

"Welcome back, Brother." He stretched his arms widely with a smile 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Amon..." Azazel blinked in surprise, "What are you doing here? How did you..."

Amon grinned in happiness. "Brother, I had to come to your arrival. In the absence of Brother Lucifer, you took the reins to keep the stability in Ars Goetia. After your death, it has descended into civil war. The remaining four Demon Kings have torn the empire apart. Beelzebub and Mammon joined hands to command one faction... while Asmodeus, Belphgor led another with Lilith’s help. I remained neutral.

"These damn idiot..." Azazel hissed at once, letting out a thunderous roar. The clouds churned, responding to Azazel’s fury. "I’ll drag them back in chains if I must. Once I return, I will..."

"You’ll have to return to do that, won’t you, Azazel?" A calm voice interrupted him, earning both Amon and Azazel’s attention.

The Azazel’s eyes snapped toward the divine avatar, and then the divine throne inside that avatar, where Alexander was seated.

Alexander let out a chuckle before placing both hands on the armrests of the divine throne, "Release." He spoke aloud.

At once, the thirty-two statues, one on each step of the staircase that is attached to the throne, began to glow. Light bled through stone.

One by one, the statues released ethereal silhouettes, thirty-two celestial nymphs, each as strong as a Rank-9.

The divine spirits flew toward Alex and circled around the throne before merging with the divine avatar, which grew 32 new arms, each arm carrying a weapon.

Down in the streets, Kate stood frozen for a moment, her gaze locked on the figure, just like thousands of spectators. Her lips parted in awe.

"That throne... it holds such power? I knew it," she whispered. "That man—he came to the auction for the throne indeed... Damn... if I knew it was such a high-quality artifact, I could have bid more."

Beside her, Elise then grabbed Orion’s shoulder, breaking his trance, too. "We need to move—now! The battle will only get more intense."

Orion tore his eyes away from the divine throne’s blazing light, "No, I’m afraid, not."

"Hmm?"