Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 148: Seraphine and Lilith

He sat down and tied himself to the ruby wall.

Then he closed his eyes.

At first, all that echoed around him was calm and relative quietness, faint tremors reaching from far in the distance.

It was peaceful, almost deceptively so, and he nearly seemed asleep. The long hours of travel had clearly worn him down; his body bruised, bloodied, and battered, his feet a sight horrible enough to disgust any man.

To others, he might have even seemed dead.

"..."

And then, the first wave came.

In front of the ruby monument, the wave seemed like nothing more than child’s play, an insignificant grain gently brushing against a mountain, irrelevant and unworthy of notice.

But in front of Uriel, it was the world itself.

Darkness swallowed his figure, the wave consuming everything and—

BANG!

—slamming down against the statue with relentless might, a thunderous crack echoing like the rupture of the skies and the cries of the void.

Flames ignited alongside chaotic currents of aether, the shock rippling for kilometres on end.

Sand rose into the air in buffeting waves of compressed wind, and the light of the skies waned and flickered as though even it were unable to withstand the chaos.

And then, another wave came down.

It struck with just as much ferocity.

And then another.

...

[Elsewhere]

The skies were a dark blue, melting into the rich golden orange of the sun’s rays as it set far in the distance, the day steadily coming to an end.

Soft and refreshing winds swept through the heavens, carrying thick white clouds that soaked in the fading light and the first radiant stars slowly filling the darkening expanse.

It was quiet. Very much so.

Across the horizon, what lay below could not be seen. The lands were covered in thick black fog that none could enter or escape, where all one would meet was death.

And death. And even more death.

The Jiran Grand Coral Maze was one of the deadliest zones of the dungeon for a reason.

"..."

Far above the fog that obscured the maze, above even the clouds lazily drifting over it, a floating landmass could be seen, entirely out of place in the stretching expanse.

Across the bed of clouds beneath it, it was the only structure of its kind.

It was small, yet large enough to host a modest camp. A fire burned at its center upon the lush green grass, with a cooking station set nearby and two makeshift beds resting not far from the flames.

Torn armour, chipped blades, broken potion vials, and many other essentials of an ascendant’s daily carry were strewn carelessly all around.

And around the fire, two young women could be seen seated across from one another, the flickering flames separating them.

The soft breeze of the skies swept past them, filling the silence and carrying with it the unspoken weight of everything they had endured.

"We made it."

The one who spoke was tall and slender, her hair long and scintillating platinum silver, her eyes a deep gold that radiated quiet calm.

Her lips were full and a deep cherry hue, matching the rosiness of her complexion and the natural elegance she carried even now.

With her knees pressed to her chest and her chin resting atop them, one could see the dozens of bloody bandages wrapped around her body, visible through her torn battle tunic that slowly mended itself as the seconds passed.

She stared into the fire and did not utter another word after she spoke. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"I told you we would, huhu!" the woman across from her replied, her voice bright and brimming with energy, a stark contrast to the subdued stillness of the other.

Her voice was not the only thing that stood out amidst the bleak reality they faced.

She had long dark hair that fell to the end of her back, so dark it resembled a flickering mane of shadowed flames, framing her jade-white skin and deep, almost hypnotising crimson pupils.

Her features were soft, delicate, almost angelic, yet her gaze was vivid and fierce, like that of a berserker ready to plunge into chaos at any moment.

But what was most strange was her attire.

She wore layered white robes embroidered with depictions of dragons and phoenixes, and her body was entirely free of injury.

The two of them were... odd.

One seemed out of place in the brutal reality of the dungeon. The other seemed far too regal and calm despite the impossible odds that had been stacked against them.

They opposed one another so completely that they felt like the perfect match.

Seraphine, the silver-haired woman, looked up from the flames and laid her eyes upon Lilith.

She studied her deeply, tracing every contour of her face before letting her gaze settle into her eyes, into her very soul.

Eventually, her stare softened. She exhaled and rested her head further against her knees.

"Ah... I don’t know how you do it."

Lilith, who sat cross-legged with a detached spear blade resting across her lap, tilted her head in confusion.

"Hm?"

"How I do it? How I do what?"

Seraphine remained quiet for a moment, her eyes drifting beyond their floating camp, past the edge of the grass and toward the clouds beneath them, then deeper still, toward the suffocating fog far below.

"You’re always so bubbly and positive, despite all the horror," she said at last. "You always keep a smile on your face. You always know exactly when to make my soul ease up."

She turned back to her, a soft smile gracing her features.

"If... if not for you, I’m not sure I would’ve made it."

"Thank you."

Lilith froze.

Her entire body stilled for a brief moment.

Then her cheeks flushed red. She looked away, pursing her lips as she struggled to form words, or perhaps simply to steady herself.

Seeing this, Seraphine let out a quiet chuckle, her smile softening even further.

As she looked at Lilith, her thoughts stirred, and a memory she had long since buried began to resurface.

A memory of two little boys.

"I-I told you to stop with that already!" Lilith finally blurted, regaining a semblance of composure, though her beet-coloured face betrayed her entirely.

"Without you, I wouldn’t have survived this long without constantly risking my life," she continued, her gaze burning with intensity. "Those scars... you got them because of me."

"The least I can do to repay you is make sure I’m not a burden on your soul!"

Her words fell just as the memory in Seraphine’s mind came to an end.

Seraphine inhaled slowly and released a deep breath. She let go of her knees, leaning back until she lay flat against the grass, its cool blades framing her face as she stared up into the vast sky above.

For a moment, she simply watched the stars continue to emerge, one by one, piercing through the fading light.

Then—

"Can I ask you a question?"