The fall of mortal

Sheng Cheon. That's the name you used…

The realization struck like a thunderclap.

Raven's body tensed, but her godly pride refused to acknowledge it. She was above such things. Above mortals. Above fear.

But Alex was already moving. His fingers closed around the hilt of his katana.

One instant.

A single, precise slash.

And Raven was in half.

Her body split—one half fell to the south, the other to the north.

Yet, she was still alive.

"Aha…" Raven rasped.

Both halves of her body twitched, mouths still moving—both voices speaking at once.

"You are truly entertaining, Alex Agniverta, but you underestimate me. I will just regenerate."

Her voice was inhuman, distorted—two overlapping tones of twisted amusement.

She attempted to regenerate, forcing her body to move.

I can't… What? What is happening?! she thought. It must be because my fragment is exhausted… Yes… a petty human can't defeat—

She tried again.

Nothing.

A creeping sense of horror slithered through her mind.

Alex laughed, his breath ragged. "You can't regenerate." Cough, cough…

Raven's voice cracked. "What have you done? Who are you?"

Alex wiped the blood from his lips and smirked.

"Ask your tentacle creature. What was his name again? Ah—Kirokas. Ask him when you meet him."

Then, without another glance at her, he turned toward the artifact, his steps shaky but firm.

Why couldn't Raven regenerate?

The answer was simple.

The Blood Arts that Alex used were never designed for combat in the traditional sense. They were not a technique of attack, but a weapon of absolute destruction. Unlike standard blood-based abilities that manipulate others' blood, this art was fundamentally different.

It had only one purpose: to kill without the need for battle.

The first phase of the Blood Arts was about control—not over others, but over oneself. The user could manipulate their own blood freely, directing it at will. Unlike Raven, who wielded authority over the blood of all living beings, Alex's ability was far more self-contained. But that limitation was precisely what made it terrifying.

The second phase? Infection.

Whenever a host's blood—Alex's blood—entered or even made contact with another being, their body began to collapse from within. The cause was neither poison nor physical damage. It was something deeper, more intrinsic.

Qi annihilation.

Qi was the foundation of life. Whether human, beast, demon, or god—Qi existed in all things. Even those who did not cultivate had Qi within them, woven into their very existence.

And the Blood Arts of the Second Heavenly Demon were crafted for one purpose: to destroy that Qi.

The process was cruelly simple.

Once Alex's blood infiltrated a body, it triggered a reaction with the opponent's Qi energy. Normally, Qi was an endless, ever-replenishing force. But the moment it came into contact with the taint of the Blood Arts, the Qi itself began to disintegrate.

Without Qi, the body lost all ability to sustain itself.

Cells degenerated. Flesh collapsed. Regeneration became impossible.

That was why Raven couldn't heal.

Even though she was only a fragment of her true self, even though her power far surpassed Alex's current level—the Blood Arts had bypassed all of that. It didn't matter how powerful she was. It didn't matter if she was divine.

The moment Alex's blood touched her, her Qi began to die.

And so did she.

Aha…"

Alex exhaled sharply, his thoughts swirling.

I've finally dealt with her.

It was a shame, really. She wouldn't die entirely. But perhaps that was a stroke of luck—this was merely a fragment of her true self.

"This is her… incomplete?"

His fingers trembled.

If she had fully descended… I wouldn't even be standing.

He clenched his jaw. I'm too weak right now. Too damn weak. He couldn't bring to light how much power she would wield at her full strength.

But there was one last thing to take care of—

That agony.

The sphere surrounding the artifact was gone.

And there it was—

The source of all this chaos, gleaming with a golden glow.

A triangular shape. An eye engraved upon its center.

It pulsed with an eerie brilliance.

"So this is it…" Alex muttered.

He didn't know how it worked.

But he didn't care.

He would take it regardless.

Alex reached out—

But A broken laugh echoed behind him.

Raven's shattered lips curled into a smile.

"Look to the sky, Alex Agniverta."

Alex hesitated.

But He lifted his gaze.

The sky—once a sea of bleeding crimson—had shifted.

The kingdom of dragons which itself stood two-fold more vast than the globe, And there— An abyssal violet stretched throughout, furthermore 

Golden chains.

They pulsed with divine power, forming an intricate, suffocating prison.

A scene unfolded—

As if an immense dragon itself had been shackled in the void.

A symbol of absolute control.

A symbol of fate, that was waiting to ultimately descend for his freedom.

In the dorm chamber

The very Golden chains manifested out of nowhere.

They slithered like serpents, gleaming with ethereal light—

Then they struck.

One by one, they coiled around every student, binding them in an unbreakable grip.

Screams filled the halls.

Even the Principal—a being of immense power—was dragged into submission.

In the House of Fafner—

The same golden chains descended.

Fafner struggled. Ember roared.

But resistance was meaningless.

They were shackled.

Only a few remained untouched.

But the kingdom itself was ensnared.

Everywhere—

Across every corner of the realm.

Across every stronghold, every battlefield.

Every dragon was bound.

The golden chains did not discriminate.

They did not falter.

They simply obeyed.

The will of the divine.

Raven's laughter echoed through the sky.

"Now, Alex Agniverta… tell me—who has truly failed?"

Alex grinned.

A sharp, fearless grin.

"I don't care what you've done."

His fingers closed around the artifact.

A golden crystal, brimming with the affinity of Uxil.

"I am taking this."

But just as he moved—

Thunder fell.

A colossal bolt of divine wrath tore through the sky.

And struck him down.

Alex's body crashed onto the ground.

A violent surge of agony erupted through his flesh.

His veins ignited.

His knees buckled.

His breath—ragged.

And then—

A Being Descended

The sky trembled as violet particles scattered, shimmering as they gathered—then, they took form."

A divine being stood before him.

Its presence—overwhelming.

Its aura—suffocating.

Beyond anything he had ever faced in this world.

Its eyes pierced through him.

An ancient, boundless voice resonated through the air.

"Kneel."