Chapter 356: _The Moon Blessed Is Gone

Lucian’s POV

*****

“You’re getting sloppy, Garrick.” Lucian dodged a slash aimed at his head, immediately sending a slash of his own at his attacker’s chest. “Maybe it’s all that—”

He paused mid-insult.

For the faintest second, he felt a weird ache in his chest.

Unfortunately, that brief moment of distraction was enough to let an umbra beast punch him in the chest. He skidded backwards, stabbing his twin blades into the ground to stabilise himself.

Ahead of him the hallway was wrecked.

Most of the ceiling had collapsed. The crystal lights flickered wildly, some even tripping off. The walls and the floor itself had collapsed.

Yet somehow Garrick was still standing through the chaos, his black sword gleaming with a cold, bloodthirsty light as he pointed it at Lucian.

“Cat got your tongue?” The ex-beta grinned slowly as the shadows thickened around him. His umbra beasts stood at his side, towering like mountains made of living darkness. “Or—wait.”

His head tilted knowingly as Lucian blinked at him with confusion. “It’s already happened. Hasn’t it?”

The Alpha King’s brows furrowed. “What are you talking—”

He didn’t get the chance to finish as something snapped violently in his chest. A pain so explosive that it felt like his ribs were caving in and his heart squeezing beneath them.

Lucian rasped for breath, his vision hazy. He tried focusing on Garrick. The bastard’s grin was almost manic.

Usually he’d brush it off. But this pain… wait.

“E–Elian?” He called out, head swerving back at the private ascension platform leading to the sacred pool.

There was supposed to be a feeling. A warmth in his very soul that he could hold onto and sense his mate’s emotions.

But now… he felt nothing.

“… No,” Time seemed to slow gradually around him. Suddenly the world was grey. “No. This… he can’t be—”

Garrick was upon him before he could finish that sentence. He managed to block his overhead slash by crossing his blades above his head.

“You better believe it, Alpha King!” Garrick spat, those golden eyes blazing with pure malice. “That pathetic Omega is gone. All that remains is a vessel of pure divinity, ripe for my beloved’s use.”

Lucian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It had to be a lie. A sick trick to get him distracted.

Still, anytime he looked within—there was no sign of a spark of Elian.

The Alpha King’s chest burned with something primal. All-consuming.

His eyes sparked with silver light as his teeth ground so hard they cracked at the roots. Garrick’s expression shifted, genuine fear flashing across it.

“HOW DARE YOU?!” When Lucian roared the sound made the entire palace tremble. His voice carried the power of a Celestial sovereign, sending chaotic waves of silver light that instantly obliterated the umbra beasts nearby.

The silver light didn’t stop, enveloping the entire hallway until there was no sign of either him or Garrick.

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Aurora’s POV

*****

“We’re almost there!” Aurora huffed as she, Seraphyne, her mother and Sylas rushed to the nearest ascension platform.

They’d barely gotten within a few meters away from it when a catastrophic tremor rocked the entire palace. Aurora nearly fell—but was fortunately held back by Seraphyne and Elowen.

Sylas looked around as the lights in the hallway blinked erratically. “What’s happening?!”

The princess raised her head—

—And almost immediately regretted it.

A piercing pain assaulted her skull, making her double over while Seraphyne still held her close.

“Argh.” Aurora gasped as the people around her disappeared from her vision for a beat.

In their place were flashes of her latest vision. The crumbling palace. The blotted night sky. The silver light exploding out of the palace.

All of it rushed through her head in quick succession, overloading her before she could even place focus on one.

“No!” Her scream ripped her out of the vision.

Seraphyne’s grip around her tightened. “Aurora? Aurora, what is it?!”

The latter shook her head weakly, a single tear beading down her right eye. Her gaze moved from her mate to the others as the words struggled to come out.

“T–The vision,” she whispered. “It’s upon us…”

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Kyren’s POV

*****

A crimson portal with molten obsidian edges ripped open right ahead of the huge gates of the Lunarian palace compound. Guards nearby were alarmed at first.

Until the lord of the Dark Lands emerged, radiating pure magic energy as his crimson eyes scoured the perimeter.

Suddenly a sharp pain hit his chest hard enough to make his expression twist. He’s experienced pain all his life. Torture that would make most men go mad.

But this… this was unlike anything he’s ever felt. It felt like something vital was ripped out of his very soul.

“What’s this?” His eyes fluttered shut as he tried reaching out to Elian. “Elian, are you there? Is something wrong?”

“Lord Kyren.” A high-ranking guard walked up to him just then, his face ridden with hesitation. “The palace is under attack. I don’t think it’s advisable to—”

BOOM!

Everyone outside fixed their gazes on the palace in time to witness something absolutely terrifying.

A massive pillar of silver light exploded out of the very top, going higher and higher—then ripped past the clouds and connected with the very heavens.

The force the blast released was so powerful it sent wind gales that uprooted shrubs in the courtyard and even forced Kyren to squint.

“By the gods!” The high-ranking guard shouted. “T–That energy…”

The Rogue king couldn’t care less about anything he was saying. He swiped a hand forward, cutting through space to create a Rift leading straight into the palace.

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While all this went on around the palace—the cave housing the sacred pool underneath it had turned to a literal hell hole.

The explosion of silver energy from earlier had evaporated the pool completely, leaving behind nothing but fading specks of divine light. And a thick fog that covered most of the cave.

The energy pillar all of Moon Haven could see from outside was coming directly from this cave, shooting out of the spot the pool waters were once at.

Out of the rubble and destruction, two cloaked figures rose. The witches who had battled Elian.

“It’s happening.” One of them muttered, head angling to the other one.

The other witch rubbed her shoulder, her blood-stained lips stretching in a hideous smile. “The moon blessed is gone. All that shall remain will be a vessel—wait…”

In a few seconds, the silver pillar began receding. Once it was gone—the fog also gradually followed, giving them a clearer picture of the pool.

A beat passed.

Then another.

Both witches exchanged weary glances as they dragged themselves toward the pool.

“… Something isn’t right.”

A spell from one of them cleared the fog instantly.

However, her breath hitched when they saw what was left hidden from them all this while.

A monstrous, colossal figure—neither moon blessed nor divine vessel—towered ahead with a form so large its shadow consumed them.

Its head was lowered at first.

But then it lifted it, sending dread rippling through their souls.

The creature opened its eyes.

One silver.

One violet.