Ancestral Lineage-Chapter 227: End of the War. The Start of a New One.

"Dragon Ruler of Flames, do you really want to do this?" The figure's eerie silver eyes glowed dangerously, twin orbs of cold, unfeeling power that seemed to pierce through reality itself.

Barki stood rooted in place, her draconic instincts screaming at her to retreat. Her orange eyes wavered, a storm of emotions flashing through them. This wasn't just any foe—this was him.

"I... I..." She faltered, unable to reply.

Luciel von Blade. The Primogenitor of Wind. A being who had existed since the dawn of the Smiths, a force of nature given sentience, a calamity in human form.

"Better," Luciel said, his voice carrying the weight of an ancient predator addressing mere prey. "Stay out of my way, or you will lose your soul."

"You can't do this, Luciel von Blade," Barki managed to say, her voice firm despite the unease crawling up her spine.

Luciel tilted his head slightly, his silver eyes narrowing. "You dare talk back to me? Do you wish for death?"

"I'm not your enemy, Primogenitor of Wind, but what you are doing is unreasonable."

Luciel sighed as if dealing with a particularly stubborn child. "Just stay out of my way. I don't care for your soulmates or whatever nonsense you dragons believe in. Anbord is mine, and I will take it. Stay out! I won't repeat myself."

"You..."

The moment Barki opened her mouth to protest, a sharp gust of wind blasted forward.

BOOM!

The impact struck Barki with such overwhelming force that her massive draconic body was sent hurtling four kilometers away, her body carving a fiery trench through the land.

The sheer shockwave of the attack vaporized everything within a three-kilometer radius. The earth groaned, cracked, and caved in under the force, forming a massive crater large enough to serve as the foundation for a six-story building. Trees were uprooted, structures reduced to debris, and the air itself trembled from the sheer dominance of Luciel's power.

The war council barely had time to react.

Luciel stepped forward, unfazed by the destruction. His clothes shredded away in the aftermath, revealing an intricate suit of dark armor, its surface marked with strange runic symbols glowing with an eerie silver and azure light.

His long blonde hair, tinged with white at the tips, flowed like liquid metal. His silver eyes burned ominously, and the suffocating aura of absolute authority exploded from his form.

"Now... let's get to the crux of the matter."

His voice was calm—too calm.

The air itself refused to move as if all wind had submitted to his will.

A cold sweat ran down the backs of those present.

Lord Tennyson gritted his teeth. "This... this power..."

Lisa clenched her fists, her blood boiling with rage, but even she hesitated. This was not something they had prepared for.

"He's not just strong," Trevor muttered, his crimson eyes darkening with unrestrained killing intent. "He's absolute."

Before anyone could act, Luciel raised a single hand.

FWOOOOOOSH!

A blade of wind—so sharp that it split the very air itself—shot forward.

BOOM!

Trevor barely had time to react before he was blasted backward, his body crashing through three walls before slamming into the ground in a heap.

"Trevor!" Emily shouted, her voice filled with panic.

But there was no time to tend to him.

Seraphina stepped forward, white light crackling around her as her celestial energy surged. She launched herself at Luciel in a blur of divine might, her hands forming a sacred sigil meant to suppress even the most ancient of beings.

Luciel merely flicked his fingers.

CRACK!

Seraphina's entire body was slammed into the ground with such force that the marble shattered beneath her, forming a crater upon impact.

She coughed violently, her vision blurring.

"He played with her," Reginald whispered in horror.

Pisces, Carmen, and Andriel followed, activating their strongest affinities in unison, magical circles forming beneath them as they prepared a combined attack.

"Idiots," Luciel murmured.

He extended his hand.

WHOOSH!

A storm erupted from his body, so vast and powerful that it turned the very sky dark.

Lisa, Pisces, Carmen, and Andriel were blown away like leaves in a hurricane, their attacks never even reaching him. Their bodies smashed into the surrounding ruins, debris collapsing around them.

Lord Barnes and Lord Noir attempted to summon their family's strongest artifacts, only for Luciel to gesture in their direction.

SLASH!

A near-invisible wind blade cleaved through the air—

—and their weapons shattered into dust.

Silence.

Dust settled as the strongest individuals in the room lay broken, gasping for air.

Luciel von Blade hadn't even moved from his spot.

His silver eyes swept across the battlefield, indifferent.

"And here I thought this would be interesting," he mused, his voice filled with disappointment. "Are you telling me this is the best you can do?"

He raised his hand once more, the air distorting as a pressure unlike anything before began to descend.

A pressure that crushed the very concept of resistance.

This was no longer a battle.

This was an execution.

Luciel von Blade exhaled softly, his silver eyes scanning the battlefield with cold amusement.

He had expected something from them. Resistance, perhaps. A moment of struggle. Anything to make this interesting.

Instead, they were breaking far too easily.

A pity.

He lowered his raised hand slightly as if giving them mercy. But then—

He snapped his fingers.

CRACK!

The ground beneath them fractured instantly. A brutal shockwave erupted outward, forming jagged fissures in the earth that swallowed debris whole. The war council members barely had time to register the shift before their bodies were lifted into the air by an invisible force—

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—and then slammed back down with bone-shattering force.

Lisa was the first to scream.

Her body convulsed as arcs of her own lightning erupted from her, uncontrolled and wild. Luciel's wind had disrupted her affinity, turning it against her. The electricity surged through her muscles, frying nerves and rendering her limbs useless. She twitched violently on the cracked marble floor, unable to even form words as agony wracked her body.

"Lisa—!" Harley rushed forward, her golden eyes glowing as healing magic surrounded her hands, reaching to soothe her wounds—

Only for a gust of wind to carve straight through her leg.

SHRRK!

A flash of silver.

A scream tore from Harley's throat as she collapsed, clutching the gaping wound where her flesh had been sliced clean through. Blood pooled beneath her in thick, crimson waves. The healing glow in her hands flickered wildly, her body shaking from the pain.

"Oops," Luciel mused, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "Did I move too fast?"

Carmen, still reeling from the last attack, bared her fangs. Her black-and-white hair whipped around her face as her darkness and light affinities surged at once. Twin spheres—one of pure radiance, one of suffocating abyss—formed in her palms.

"Don't you dare touch them—"

Luciel yawned.

SLASH.

A blade of compressed wind pierced through her abdomen, sending her flying backward. She crashed into a ruined column, her body curling from the sheer force of impact.

"Too weak," Luciel said, shaking his head. "I expected more from the wives of the so-called King."

Carmen gasped for breath, blood bubbling up her throat.

Pisces gritted her teeth, her blue hair disheveled. Ice gathered at her fingertips, spiraling outward like a blizzard. With a single motion, she unleashed a storm of frozen spikes, each one sharp enough to pierce mountains.

Luciel let them reach him.

The moment they touched his body—

They shattered.

Pisces' breath hitched.

Luciel was in front of her before she could react.

His fingers dug into her skull, lifting her off the ground like she was nothing but a doll.

"Cold," he murmured, feeling the frost that had formed on her skin. "But not nearly cold enough."

CRUNCH.

He squeezed.

Pisces let out a choked sob as cracks spread along her skull, her vision blurring with pain. Her wings flailed helplessly, her ice affinity desperately trying to shield her—

Luciel slammed her into the ground.

Her body bounced from the force, the impact loud and sickening. A spiderweb of fractures spread from the spot where she landed, blood dripping from her lips.

"Pathetic," Luciel whispered.

Andriel, hovering in the air with lunar magic swirling around her, let out a shaky breath.

Luciel turned his silver eyes toward her.

"You're trembling," he noted.

Andriel glared at him, but her hands were shaking.

"Come then, elf," Luciel said mockingly, extending his arms as if welcoming an attack. "Show me what the moon is capable of."

Andriel gritted her teeth. Lunar energy exploded from her palms, forming a massive silver spear of condensed magic.

She hurled it with all her might.

Luciel didn't even move.

The moment the spear got close—

It stopped.

The wind around him stilled.

And then, in the next second—

The spear reversed.

SHUNK!

Andriel barely had time to widen her violet eyes before her own attack pierced through her stomach.

She stumbled, coughing up blood. Her silver hair, once immaculate, was now damp with sweat.

"How sad," Luciel said softly. "Did you think you could touch me?"

Andriel collapsed onto her knees, shaking.

Her body felt numb. Her power felt distant.

This was beyond anything she had ever faced.

She turned her head weakly.

The others—Carmen, Pisces, Lisa, Harley, Barki—were all writhing in agony, their bodies broken and burned, cut and crushed.

Seraphina, once proud and radiant, lay motionless, her breath ragged.

Even Christel, with her fire-resistant scales, lay sprawled on the battlefield, the flames in her green eyes dimming.

It was hopeless.

They had given everything.

And it hadn't even mattered.

Harley whimpered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"...please…"

Luciel's ears twitched.

He grinned.

"Praying already?"

Harley squeezed her eyes shut. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched her wound, trying to focus her remaining healing magic. But it was useless.

No matter how much she healed—

Luciel would just break them again.

And again.

And again.

Luciel stepped forward, the mere movement sending another ripple of pressure through the battlefield.

"Go on," he taunted. "Beg for help. Cry out for your husband."

He leaned closer, his silver eyes gleaming with cruel amusement.

"But Ethan isn't here."

The words stabbed deeper than any wound.

Their strongest pillar, their leader, the one who could stand against monsters like this—

He wasn't here.

And Luciel knew it.

He relished it.

A sob escaped Clara's lips. She clutched her trembling body, her four tails curled around her in desperation. Even she, with her powerful spirit beast, had no way of fighting back.

Lisa's teeth chattered as she forced herself to her knees, barely able to move. "You..." she whispered. "You're a monster..."

Luciel smiled.

"And yet, you are the ones who look like prey."

Silence.

Luciel took a slow step forward, his aura devouring every last shred of resistance left in them.

"Now…" he whispered, raising his hand one last time—

A final act of destruction.

The finishing blow.

—But then.

It came.