After Lucifer disappeared, Rei remained kneeling, frozen in place. He could feel Lucifer's power coursing through his body, far stronger than anything he had felt before. Previously, he had only sensed the dark power of Lucillus and a few primal beasts, but now Lucifer's energy overwhelmed all of them.
"Stupid Lucifer... Destiny, my ass. I'll destroy that stupid destiny," Rei muttered under his breath as he finally stood up, glancing over his shoulder at his wings.
His wings had transformed—now six pure white wings stretched out from his back, replacing the dark wings of Lucillus he had been using. But this time, he felt his power is not decreasing at all as he usually feel when he's using these wings. In fact, these wings felt even stronger than the others.
Suddenly, the entire island began to tremble violently, making it hard for Rei to keep his balance.
"What's happening?"
Immediately, Rei sensed an overwhelmingly powerful dark energy radiating from deep within the island, a force unlike anything he had ever encountered.
"Don't tell me… Is this Avatar?"
Without wasting another moment, Rei shot into the air to avoid the tremors. As he flew, the shrine beneath him started to crumble, the earth splitting apart as if something massive was trying to break free from within the island.
He moved quickly, slicing through falling debris with his sword, dodging collapsing structures as he rushed to escape. Frustration simmered within him; he hadn't finished reading all of Lucillus's archives in the hidden chambers. But that didn't matter now.
After a tense flight through the crumbling shrine, Rei finally emerged into the open sky, flying higher and farther away as he glanced back at the island.
Outside, Canaan was unrecognizable. A massive, monstrous creature towered over the landscape. It tore at the clouds with its enormous wings and clawed at the very cliffs, as though bent on destroying everything in sight. Its terrifying roar echoed through the skies, shaking the heavens themselves.
"RRRAAAAAH!"
[IMAGE]
Rei hovered in the air, watching the really big Avatar unfold before him, knowing that this was the awakening of Avatar—the primal beast with the power to bring end to the world.
"This is really bad! If I remember correctly, Avatar has incredible regeneration and is basically indestructible," Rei muttered, staring at the roaring Avatar before him.
Without hesitation, he summoned six more wings, making it twelve pure white wings unfurling behind him.
"Sword of Renunciation," he called out. Two bright red lights appeared on either side of him, forming into crimson swords.
He wasn't sure if his swords could bypass Avatar's insane regeneration abilities, but he had no other choice. Gran and the others weren't there yet, and without anyone to distract Avatar, it would inevitably try to head for the nearby islands.
He had to fight alone, holding Avatar back while waiting for the others to arrive.
"Evangelist Sword." His swords began to glow with a purple aura, their power surging dramatically.
As soon as Rei powered up, Avatar's gaze locked onto him, recognizing the threat.
"Rooaaarrrr!" Avatar's two massive tails whipped toward Rei with incredible speed.
Without flinching, Rei slashed through both tails in a single motion. But in an instant, the tails regenerated and grew back, just as strong as before.
"Oh wow…" Rei murmured, watching in disbelief at how fast Avatar could regenerate.
While Rei was locked in battle with Avatar, Gran and the others were enjoying the lively festival in Port Breeze Archipelago.
Joyous smiles filled the festival grounds as the Reconstruction Anniversary was in full swing. The event was held to remember the lives lost during the Lesser Archangel attack a year ago, but today, the atmosphere was cheerful, filled with hope and celebration. The crew, guided by Sierokarte, was having a great time with the many fun activities and performances.
"Ahaha, that was a riot! I didn't think there were so many kinds of street performances across all the skies!" Vyrn exclaimed, clearly enjoying the festival.
Gran, Lyria, and Vyrn were sticking together, following Sierokarte as they moved through the bustling streets lined with stalls and shows.
The rest of the crew had also separate across the festival grounds, each enjoying the festivities in their own way.
Suddenly, the blue sky above Port Breeze Archipelago vanished, replaced by a pitch-black void that swallowed everything in its wake.
"Eeep!" Lyria gasped, startled as darkness suddenly enveloped the entire island.
"Why is the sky pitch-black?" Gran shouted, his voice tense with panic as he scanned the sky.
Everyone at the festival began looking up in fear, their hearts gripped with the terror that something like last year's disaster might be happening again.
Then, multiple shadows began to shimmer into view overhead. Enormous figures materialized from the dark sky—Primal Beasts locked in fierce battle.
"GRAA-OOOH!"
"AAAAGH!"
A cacophony of roars and screams filled the air as the Primal Beasts clashed, their violent confrontation shaking the very foundations of Port Breeze. The once peaceful and festive island was thrown into chaos.
People began to panic, running in all directions to escape the destruction. What had been a joyous celebration moments ago was now filled with cries of terror, as the festival turned into a nightmare.
"Hold it! Moving anywhere right now is dangerous! We've been getting reports of abnormalities in other places too!" the captain of the festival's guard shouted, trying to calm the panicked crowd.
But the panic-stricken townspeople paid no heed to his warning. After all, who could remain calm while witnessing Primal Beasts clashing in the sky?
"Lyria! Do you know what's going on?" Sierokarte asked, taking cover along the edge of a nearby building as chaos ensued.
"It's not just a normal frenzy. It feels like they've become more savage and vicious, almost like they're consumed by fear and confusion. And it's not just happening here... I think this could be affecting the entire island—or worse, the entire sky realm!" Lyria said, her voice shaking with urgency.
"What? How could this be happening? Is this Belial's doing?" Gran asked, gripping his sword tightly.
"We gotta do something about those two Primal Beasts up there, but first, we need to regroup with the others and come up with a pla—" Vyrn began, but his words were cut short as a smaller Primal Beast descended from the sky and started attacking the town.
"Oh no..." Sierokarte whispered, eyes wide as the Primal Beast prepared to unleash its fury on the defenseless city.
"Round two of the cataclysms? Is it happening again?" Vyrn shouted, looking up in panic as the Primal Beast gathered energy in its mouth, preparing to fire on the town below.
Lyria desperately tried to summon a Primal Beast to protect the city, but there was no time—everything was happening too fast.
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the chaos. "Colossus: Dimensional Cutter!" In an instant, the attacking Primal Beast was sliced cleanly in half by a massive red sword that seemed to come from nowhere.
"Everyone, we're here to help!" A familiar voice rang out, and suddenly, Sandalphon appeared, carrying Orchid.
Orchid quickly jump from Sandalphon arms while looking up at the chaotic sky. "Lyria, let me handle the other Primal Beast. You focus on the light one."
Soon after, Halluel and Malluel landed beside them with Lyria, her crystal glowing bright red, signifying the power of Colossus active within her.
"Sure, I'll leave the other one to you. Let's go, Malluel!" Without hesitation, Malluel scooped up Lyria, and Halluel grabbed Orchid, and the two pairs took to the sky, rushing to stop the rampaging Primal Beasts.
"Hey, Sandalphon! You're finally here! What the heck is going on this time?" Vyrn immediately asked, flying beside her.
"We're not sure. We suddenly felt a disturbance in the balance between light and dark cycle" Sandalphon replied.
"That's when we realized something must have happened to the Supreme Primarch," said another voice, accompanied by a flash of bright red light—Michael appeared, her wings glowing with power.
"Everyone, let's head to the center of the town. We'll talk later, after we've evacuated the townsfolk inside my barrier," Michael urged, her voice calm but commanding.
They all nodded in agreement, quickly moving to help evacuate the panicked townsfolk toward the center of the city, where a bright barrier of light surrounded them in safety.
As they ran, they reunited with Rackam, Eugen, Io, Rosetta, and Katalina, who were also aiding in the evacuation, guiding the frightened citizens through the chaos.
Meanwhile, high above, Lyria and Orchid were battling the enraged Primal Beasts, determined to put an end to their rampage.
"Celeste: Wave of Despair!" Orchid called out as her hair darkened to black. Behind her, the massive form of Celeste in her humanoid shape materialized, raising her arms toward the Primal Beast.
Thick, purple fog spread rapidly from Celeste, enveloping the Primal Beast, which immediately became disoriented, stumbling in confusion.
"Now, Leviathan: Devoratio Omnia!" Orchid's hair shifted to a bright blue as Leviathan emerged, letting out a powerful roar.
Dozens of sharp water pillars materialize around Orchid, and in one swift motion, they shot toward it. The primal beast unable to comprehend what was happening due to the fog's effects, was struck by the piercing water, the pillars stabbing into its massive form from every direction.
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Meanwhile, Gran and the others, along with Michael and Sandalphon, were helping evacuate the rest of the townspeople. After a long while, they finally finished and gathered in a safe spot to regroup.
"So Lucifer is in trouble right now? But if I remember correctly, he's with Rei, right? In Canaan or something?" Rackam asked Michael.
"Yes, this only happens if no one is maintaining the balance between dark and light, so something definitely happened to the Supreme Primarch. But we also don't know what happened to Rei either," Michael explained, her concern evident.
"Lyria said she suddenly lost her bond connection with Rei when this cataclysm started," Sandalphon added, her voice filled with tension.
"So something happened to Rei too?" Eugen muttered, furrowing his brow.
"Canaan, huh? So where can we find that place?" Io asked, looking between Michael and Sandalphon for answers.
"If I remember correctly, you need to pass through a place called the Celestial Strait to get there, but we've never really gone through it, so I'm not sure," Michael responded before looking at Sandalphon. "Do you remember, Sandalphon?"
"Yes, that's the name—Celestial Strait. If we want to go to Canaan, we need to pass through that. Usually, I don't need to travel that way because I'd just teleport with Lucifer," Sandalphon replied.
"Wait, you don't mean *that* Celestial Strait, right!?" Rackam exclaimed, visibly shocked.
"With the way our Grandcypher is right now, there's no way we'd make it through the Celestial Strait,"
"What!? Is there something you can do about that?" Gran asked in a panic, clearly worried about Rei and the situation in Canaan.
Rackam scratched his head, deep in thought, but after a few moments, he sighed. "Let me think of something. Give me until tomorrow. I'll tell you if I come up with a solution."
Though they knew time was against them, the group agreed to let Rackam work on a plan to get the Grandcypher through the Celestial Strait.
After seeing Orchid and Lyria successfully defeated the primal beasts, Michael took her leave, explaining that she had other tasks to attend to in trying to repair the situation. Despite many injuries among the townspeople, none were fatal, and Lyria and Orchid worked together to heal the wounded.
And then days passed after the second cataclysm started.