Lucifer: Godless Reawakening-Chapter 273: Breached and ascended
Panic was written across William's face as he left the island with his father in his arms.
His mind was almost blank.
He propelled himself through the air, his body floating under the influence of telekinesis. Under normal circumstances, such delicate control required absolute focus. Yet even in his frantic state, the force held steady, carrying them swiftly toward the mainland.
The reason for his fear was obvious.
His father.
The man's breathing had grown shallow. His aether presence had nearly vanished. His complexion had turned ghostly pale, a sight that only deepened William's dread.
The moment his feet touched the mainland, he spotted the person he had been searching for.
"Emma!" he shouted urgently.
Emma's eyes widened the instant she saw the man William carried.
The sickly figure lying in his arms was none other than the same proud and formidable Count she had met not long ago.
William lowered him carefully onto the ground.
"Emma… please…"
She did not need further explanation.
Her hands extended forward, aether swirling around her body before flowing into the Count in a swift stream.
Her brows knit together as she examined him.
His condition was far worse than the other victims.
Not only had his aether been completely drained, but several of his aether nodes were damaged. His body could no longer sustain the natural circulation of the aether.
And without aether…
His life was fading far too quickly.
Truthfully, Emma felt her heart sink when she saw the state William had brought him in.
For a brief moment… a cruel, helpless moment… she felt the familiar chill of certainty crawl up her spine.
This man was dying.
But then she looked at William.
His hands were trembling. His face had turned ashen. And his eyes… those eyes were clinging to her as if she were the last fragile thread holding his world together.
Hope.
Desperate, fragile, terrifying hope.
Emma swallowed and forced her emotions down. Slowly, she closed her eyes.
Then she began to chant.
The first spell she invoked was Mark of God.
A divine healing art that accelerated recovery the closer the target was to death. The more severe the injuries, the stronger the spell responded. It was the same spell she had used on Kaizek during his brutal clash with William.
Soft golden light bloomed across the Count's chest.
For a moment—just a single, faint moment—William thought he saw it.
His father's chest rising a little deeper.
His breathing… returning.
Hope surged through him like a wildfire.
But the next moment—
Something changed.
Emma's brows tightened.
"The Mark…" she whispered under her breath. "It cannot endure the strain of his injuries."
The glowing divine mark on his chest flickered violently.
Then it began to crack.
Not slowly but shattered.
Fragments of divine light broke apart like glass and scattered into the air before fading away completely.
William's heartbeat stumbled.
His voice came out strained, desperate.
"W-What does that mean… Emma?"
His fingers tightened around his father's arm.
"He can still be saved… right?"
Emma did not answer.
She could not.
Instead, she pressed her palm firmly against the earth.
A vast spell circle erupted outward beneath them. Intricate runes spread across the ground like blooming frost, forming a wide ring with the Count lying at its center.
Aether surged through the lines.
The air itself trembled.
William did not move.
He simply knelt beside his father, clutching his uninjured arm as if letting go—even for a moment—might allow death to take him.
His heart refused to calm.
Because somewhere deep inside him, a terrible thought kept whispering the same words over and over.
Emma pushed herself harder.
Her fingers trembled. Sweat gathered across her forehead and slid slowly down her temples as she poured more and more aether into the dying man before her.
All she wanted… was to stop that flame.
That cruel, invisible flame devouring his life.
She fed more power into the spell circle, forcing her aether deeper into his damaged nodes, trying desperately to repair what had been broken.
Everything she had.
Every drop she could spare.
She gave it all.
Because she knew.
She knew how much this man meant to William.
And for that reason alone…
She could not fail.
She simply could not allow herself to fail-
"Haaah—!"
A sharp breath tore from Emma's lips as her strength finally faltered. She dropped back onto her heels, the spell circle flickering violently beneath them.
William immediately leaned forward.
"Emma?"
The silver-haired woman lifted her head.
For a moment she remained silent, as if weighing a decision that could not be taken back.
Then her eyes hardened.
"Move away. Now, William."
There was no hesitation in his response.
He rose instantly and stepped back.
The moment he did—
The entire mainland seemed to react.
A violent surge of aether erupted outward from Emma.
People across the shore instinctively turned their heads toward her as the pressure in the air became impossible to ignore.
The ground trembled.
Light poured from her body, brilliant and overwhelming. She crouched slightly, her arms tensing as if bracing against a force pressing outward from within her.
Then—
Something emerged.
Two radiant protrusions formed along her back.
They unfolded slowly, spreading wide into luminous, silvery wings.
Gasps spread across the shore.
Some people staggered back.
Others could only stare in stunned silence.
William's eyes widened.
He immediately understood what she had done.
Emma had abandoned restraint.
Her entire aura transformed.
It no longer felt like the presence of a healer.
It felt divine.
Inside William's body, Nyx reacted instantly. Dark energy surged through his veins, rising defensively to counter the overwhelming imbalance created by Emma's unleashed power.
Even standing several steps away, her aura burned against his skin.
If a devil had approached her at that moment—
It would have been erased.
Not defeated but erased.
Reduced to nothing simply by existing within the radiance of her presence.
William's eyes slowly widened.
The presence radiating from Emma had far surpassed anything he expected.
She was no longer merely a human wielding aether.
The energy pouring from her body began purifying the very atmosphere. The suffocating Nyx that had drowned the island recoiled as if burned away. The sky above them slowly cleared, the thick darkness thinning under the pressure of her existence.
Dark blue lines spread across the skin around her eyes, glowing faintly like ancient sigils. At the base of her neck, a deep engraving cracked open across her skin, as though something long sealed within her had finally broken free.
Her feet lifted from the ground.
She began to rise higher into the air.
Around them, people dropped to their knees one after another. Their bodies trembled, their hearts unable to comprehend what they were witnessing. Yet instinctively, they understood.
This was the closest state a mortal could reach to divinity.
But William did not share their awe.
A cold fear tightened around his chest.
Not for his father.
For Emma.
Her presence had changed too drastically. He couldn't even tell if this was his Emma.
It made his heart twist painfully.
He reached out with his mind, trying to touch her consciousness, trying to call her back.
Nothing answered.
It was like reaching into an empty sky.
He stepped closer despite the burning pressure surrounding her.
The closer he moved, the hotter the air became. His skin prickled, his breathing grew heavier, as if he were approaching a blazing furnace.
Still, he forced himself forward, raising his hands toward her.
But every step felt like walking through fire. Each breath scorched his lungs, each inch closer threatening to tear his body apart.
He gritted his teeth.
"Emma… no… not like this…"
She did not hear him.
She did not hear anyone.
Emma's consciousness was no longer bound to her body.
It had ascended beyond it.
Emma had transcended.
She had finally reached it.
Nephilim.
....
"Huh?"
Emma spun around, startled.
The world she expected was gone.
Instead, she stood within an endless white expanse.
There was no sky. No ground. No horizon.
Only silence.
For a moment, she simply stared around herself, confusion slowly settling into her chest.
Just moments ago she had been beside the Count, pouring every ounce of aether into his failing body. His life had been slipping away faster than she could repair it.
Her healing had not been enough.
So she had done the only thing she could think of.
She pushed past her limits.
Past every boundary her body had set.
She tried to reach the height she knew her future self would one day stand upon.
Because that was the only way she could save him.
From what she sensed, Carter had been on his final breaths. If she failed now, William would lose the only person he still called family.
No.
She could never allow that to happen.
That thought alone had driven her forward.
That desperation had shattered the ceiling of her power.
She had reached for something beyond herself.
A miracle.
But now…she was standing here. In a strange place, away from her beloved and the man she was about to heal.
Where was she? Carter would die like this!
She glanced around, trying to find someone who might tell her.
Has she died? Did the power she tried conjure consume her body? She hoped not…she couldn't die yet. She has promised him that they would leave the world together. She couldn't betray him.
Panic began to surge, her heart restless.
Just then, a voice came from behind,
"You have outdone yourself and disappointed me."
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A/N:- Thanks for reading. If you have been enjoying the story so far drop a comment.
