Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2845: Good and Evil

High above the ravaged expanse of Eclipse Island, the sky was still choked with smoke, poison haze, and the fading echoes of battle. Yet at the center of it all, suspended in midair like a condemned soul awaiting judgment, Emery held in a prison of holy light.

Golden chains bound his spirit. Rings of sanctified script revolved around him in slow, deliberate orbits. Each rotation tightened the pressure on his consciousness, grinding against his will.

Before him floated the Papal Cardinal, chalice raised in both hands, face stern and illuminated by divine radiance.

His voice rang out, amplified by faith and artifact alike.

"In the name of Aureon the First Light,

In the name of Seraphael the Shield,

In the name of Thamiel Who Judges,

Spirit of corruption, hear the law:

By the First Flame and the Last Dawn,

I break your claws from this mortal soul!"

The proclamation rolled outward in visible waves. Holy resonance struck Emery’s true soul like a hammer blow, seeking to tear something fundamental away from him.

Around them, the surviving grand magus watched in tense silence. Some floated in the air, wounded and bloodied, others stood upon shattered terraces below. For many, the battle had turned into spectacle—holy ritual replacing open slaughter. Whispers spread. Eyes gleamed with morbid curiosity.

Inside Emery’s spiritual sea, the effect was far from ceremonial.

The shattered remains of his five-tier rainbow pagoda trembled under the impact of divine law.

At the same time, the Cardinal’s chant did more than restrain. Through the Chalice of Faith, its power bled into Emery’s inner domain itself.

Golden rays pierced the sky of his domain.

Blessings descended.

And those blessings did not favor him.

On the jagged plateau before the dark mountain, the three Seraphs shone brighter, halos blazing, wings expanding into vast mantles of radiance. Their power surged like a tide rising under a full moon.

But the same light pressed down upon the Khaos guardians like a divine curse.

Chutulu’s writhing limbs slowed, its abyssal mass hissing where holy brilliance touched it. Killgragah’s dark flames guttered, turning unstable and thin. Dargatoth’s deathly aura flickered, suppressed by rings of descending scripture.

The elder Seraph, with a gesture like a judge passing sentence, he cast a binding prayer. Massive golden rings materialized in midair, slamming down around the three guardians. Seals snapped shut with thunderous force, shackling them in place as holy sigils burned into their forms.

Elsewhere, the other two Seraphs engaged the Avatars.

The Dark Avatar fought like a storm of blades and shadow, void energy roaring from his weapon as he deflected spears of light.

"Dammit! Will that old man stop blubbering?!" he snarled, head throbbing.

"Surrender! Submit to the word of God!" the female Seraph commanded, hurling a golden javelin that split the air with a scream.

The Dark Avatar twisted, void blade flashing, shattering it into sparks.

High above, the Light Avatar clashed with the younger male Seraph. Wings of pure radiance spread behind both of them, two luminous figures weaving through the sky in blinding arcs.

But, the tide was turning.

Each time an Avatar landed a heavy blow, divine light surged back into the Seraph, wounds knitting, strength replenished. The Cardinal’s chant fed them endlessly, like a jug that never emptied.

The Avatars, meanwhile, were steadily worn down.

Chime.

The sound rolled through Emery’s spiritual sea again.

"By the Three Seals and the Seven Names,

I close the path you crawled through.

Your name is Ash.

Your will is broken.

Your hold is ended.

"Evil!! Begone"

Bound in chains, Emery’s true soul trembled under the words. Irritation burned through the pain.

"You’re wrong..." Emery’s thought echoed, strained and flickering. "Good and evil... they coexist.."

"Blasphemy," the Cardinal answered aloud. "Good does not share space with corruption. It cleanses it."

"You cling to purity... and ignore reality" Emery pushed back, will trembling but unbroken. "Without darkness... light has no meaning..."

"Darkness is a flaw to be purged, not a force to be embraced."

"...Even if you believe that... what makes me evil?" His consciousness burned as he resisted. "You don’t have the right... to judge me."

"I am chosen by God," the Cardinal said, voice calm and absolute. "Judgment is not yours to question."

The chant resumed, louder, heavier, pressing down on Emery’s soul like a descending sky.

Inside the domain, the effect was immediate.

The Khaos guardians howled as the elder Seraph intensified his suppression. One by one, under crushing holy force, they were driven backward—forced through their respective gates as the seals snapped shut behind them.

Exhaustion lined the elder Seraph’s face, but his resolve did not waver.

He turned toward the largest gate, the ancient one pulsing with deep, primordial darkness. Cracks already spidered across its surface.

"Definitely a source of primordial corruption..." he murmured, raising his hand to begin another sealing prayer.

Then—

To his shock,

His halo flickered.

The golden light behind him broke apart into drifting motes.

"What—?"

The same thing happened to the other two Seraphs mid-battle. Their wings thinned, radiance fading as if a curtain had been drawn across the sun.

Outside, the Cardinal’s voice faltered for the first time.

He looked up.

The sky above Eclipse Island was no longer lit by heavenly glow.

Clouds swallowed the firmament. Darkness rolled in from the horizon, slow and absolute. A deep hush fell over the battlefield as everyone felt it.

The-awaited celestial event.

Aerterna Gratia.

With it,

The blessings from above were gone.

Inside the domain, the divine pressure weakened. The golden chains binding Emery’s true soul trembled as fresh power began to rise from within him.

Then it began

Across the blackened sky, something stirred.

One.

Two.

Three Moons appeared

Their pale light aligned, overlapping until their shadows merged into a single, perfect eclipse.

For a heartbeat, the world seemed to hold its breath.

Then the moonlight changed.

It did not fall evenly across Eclipse Island. It gathered—drawn, as if by instinct—toward one figure bound in fading chains of gold.

Emery.

Silver radiance poured over him like a silent tide, and something deep within his soul answered.

Within his spiritual sea, above his shattered pagoda,

It came..

Two yellow eyes blazed like twin suns in the night.

The Godly Wolf.

Its presence was not merely a beast’s. It was ancient will. Bloodline memory.

Under the eclipse, that will awakened completely.

His spiritual domain convulsed.

Mountains trembled. Seas of consciousness rippled outward in violent rings.

Then—

ROAAARRRRR—!

A thunderous howl erupted from the northern wilderness of his inner world, so primal it made even the Seraphs recoil.

The shattered remnants of the five-tier pagoda pulsed as though struck by a hidden heartbeat.

fragments began to rise.

Emperor Focus—Emery’s innate will became the foundation. Primal aura, savage and untamed, poured in like molten metal filling a mold.

Layer by layer, the structure rebuilt itself.

First tier.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth—

And then something new formed atop them.

A sixth floor

It did not shine with orderly color. It burned with raw, predatory sovereignty.

The moment it settled into place—

CRACK.

Every golden chain binding Emery’s true soul snapped at once.

Outside, in the physical world, the rings of holy script around his body burst apart into fading sparks.

His form began to change.

Dark veins of primal energy spread across his spiritual body. His silhouette broadened, edges sharpening. Behind him, the vast shadow of the Godly Wolf loomed.

The Papal Cardinal staggered, he stare upward at the eclipsed moons.

His voice, so certain moments ago, now filled with doubts.

"...Is this fate?" he whispered.

"...Is this God’s wil?"