Luna almost cheered at the fact that she was right about the corrupted deity only being able to cancel out one threat at a time. Also, seeing that Mira was still standing after that wave confirmed that the creature was incapable of erasing humans at least.

  She shot a nod at Valentine as a signal and the pair ran into the white fog that now covered the grand floor. Even with her armor on, Luna could not help but feel the intense coldness that had invaded the space. Her fog would've been unnecessary outside but since they were in a contained space, the white fog gave everyone the advantage of surprise attacks because it hid everyone's presence within a single person.

  A few large pieces of debris flew over them as Darkness attacked the dark figure ahead. Every time they hit true, the tower would tremble in response to the force behind her gravity attacks.

  ‘Len has gone all out on this one.’ Luna thought to herself as she followed Valentine through the very thick fog. To think that even her high-tech suit was finding it hard to peer through the white fog. At this point, Ghost of Winter was eating her reserves just to maintain this more powerful version of the fog.

  But that was understandable, this was both their first time facing a corrupted being of this caliber. It was important not to underestimate corrupted deities from the start because of how out of the box their powers usually were. It was safe to remember that Humans were humans and Devils were once Deities from a realm that was out of reach until fifty years ago.

  Although being the weakest, the Devils ranked as Masters were deadly because of their intense madness and the powers they obtained after being corrupted. But for Oblivion's case, he appeared to have retained some version of the abilities he had before the corruption ate his soul away. Luna wasn't sure why were called Masters but she was sure it had something to do with First Generation and their first battle against these nasty beings.

  They knew they were close to the Devil when they saw a large hand engulfed in black flames cut through the fog in an attempt to catch the flying ascender.

  Gail was still shooting his golden arrows with a tired expression on his face. The flames ate away the arrows like a cancer and Luna immediately received a bad feeling about them. Quickly, she peered into its very being and located the single glowing sphere of golden light in the center of the deity’s soul.

  Strangely, Its life core was located in the head and protected from a growing sinister darkness by weaved transparent membrane. This darkness was the corruption that was trying to eat away what was left of the deity’s life essence.

  Wait. What does it mean if the corruption fully takes over? Would it evolve into something else?

  Luna questioned herself as she got a clear look at the core and the darkness.

  “Can you see it? Its life core?” Valentine’s tone was alarming as he asked.

  Luna nodded. The look painted on her face was that of resolve and pure determination as she answered. “Yes. But there is something odd about its life core. It's not corrupted…I thought black ether eats away life essence.”

  “Of course it does! What the hell are you talking about?”

  Luna shook her head. “Never mind. Its core is in the head. All of its powers are focused there,” she responded while trying to navigate the fog without getting hit by loose debris or the divine being’s hand. “But there is also a great concentration of black ether inside.”

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  “Alright. So we break it and make a run for it. Got it!” Valentine giggled from underneath his helmet as they approached the enemy.

  When their eyes landed on the godlike being, Luna’s falchion was the first to react as harmless silver flames exploded from the edge and swallowed the entire blade.

  Now that they were close, they caught sight of the ongoing carnage in the fog. Rita’s rapier was burning with blue flames as she fought alongside Snow with fierce agility and coordination. The two avoided the spontaneous dark energy attacks with ease as if they knew when they were going to happen.

  At the same time, a large ice spear shot out of the fog and landed right in Oblivion’s right thigh. There was no blood, only an acidic black substance that melted the floor.

  Before Luna and Valentine could do anything, the unseen runes on its body ignited and an invisible wave of dark energy escaped its head and turned the room into a vacuum of dark energy.

  Luna and Valentine turned cold when they saw the fog shape itself back into a silver-haired woman with tired grey eyes. Darkness, who was at a distance, also fell out of the air along with the debris she was controlling. And all of Gail’s arrows shattered out of existence. But unlike the rest who used their auras to fly, he stayed suspended in the air.

  ‘That’s our cue.’

  With that thought, Luna channeled all her strength to her legs and leaped off the ground. She left a crack in the floor as she brandished her sword in a deadly diagonal slash and silver flames erupted from the Falchion. Even though she wasn’t an ascender, the flames responded to her command and turned into an extension of her will that reached the corrupted deity.

  And for the first time…

  It let out a stifled growl after the flames made it to its chest. The smell of burned flesh permeated the air as the flames continued to burn till they disappeared.

  Valentine attacked and cut its hough, forcing it to fall on its knee. His blades had zenshi in them and carried an enchantment that slowed down healing. And with the suits and full functionality, he was able to cut through both tough skin and bone.

  When she landed, Luna moved as fast she could and slashed the other hough with ease.

  The devil fell on both knees. It fought to stay up with its one arm.

  But that’s where they wanted it to be…

  Just then, Rita appeared above it, falling from the ceiling with her rapier burning with silver flames. The enchantress was screaming when she thrust her rapier into the devil’s body and whispered some words:

  “Divine Euphonium.”

  On saying that, all the flames on her weapon were sucked into the corrupted deity’s body. While still holding onto her weapon, she quickly slammed her bloody hand on its surface and roared out a command that could be heard across the floor.

  “Oblivion, Servant of Fate. I command you not to move!”

  ‘You made a mistake in thinking that zenshi wasn’t a big threat. To underestimate us…’

  Following her command, the corrupted being stopped moving for a brief moment. Though its bloodlust only intensified, trapping everyone else in a cage of fear.

  “Snow!” Luna yelped at her cousin.

  He summoned his war scythe and Snow moved like the wind. His body vanished entirely before he appeared again above the frozen devil. Twisting his entire body, the war scythe waved and severed the creature’s head clean from the neck.

  When that happened, its head hit the ground with a thud that echoed throughout the floor. It then rolled to Luna whose expression turned to disdain once she saw it. Slowly, she moved away from the head after remembering that that’s where the most corruption was.

  …though, she hadn’t taken her eyes off the creature, yet.

  A still silence hung in the air for a moment before Rita freed the rest of the body and it also fell on the floor with a great thud that shook the tower. She also lost consciousness and Snow ran to her rescue before she could plummet to the ground. She had used up all her zenshi in that final attempt to freeze her opponent.

  “Did we win?”

  Mira’s voice cut through the silence, her footsteps echoing before she stopped and caught sight of the scene.

  Darkness emerged from the rubble she was under. She coughed and replied hoarsely:

  “I guess. But where is the magic circle that takes us to the next floor?”

  “We’re standing on it,” Len answered as she stood up, her gaze scanning the room they were standing in. “This entire floor is covered in runes.”

  “Gail and Darkness, please get Shin and Rita to the others and make sure they get treatment. Both of them will also lead a small team to go and inform the second army that this floor has been cleared.”

  Gail and Darkness nodded and immediately did as they were told. Shin was unconscious after using his Aura to assist Rita and Shin in delivering the final blows. This fight could’ve gone differently but he managed to tip the odds to favor them.

  Meanwhile, as all that happened in the background, Luna hadn’t said a word since the fight ended or heard anything for the fact. Her body was frozen, staring at the celestial’s head intently. Her dark eyes were darker as they reflected the black head of the celestial.

  As if snapping back to her senses, Luna flinched when a pair of jade green appeared on the black head and returned her gaze.

  In reaction, Luna let out a short scream and found herself falling on her bottom.

  But…

  She was surprised to discover that the sight of the head and tower were gone and a dark space surrounded her…