Chapter 532: Naberius, Sapphire and Sepphirothy
The silence that fell for a moment was almost more frightening than the previous noise.
The entire forest seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the next step.
Sepphirothy stood between the two, her wings spread in full splendor, a wall of pure authority. Her cold gaze alternated between Sapphire and Naberius, and the pressure emanating from her alone was enough to crush any ordinary demon.
But Naberius only laughed.
"Oh, how I missed this..." she gasped, her eyes glowing. "Finally, it’s not just silence and darkness."
Sapphire spat on the ground, her fist still flaming, her crimson aura rising like an erupting volcano.
"Get out of the way, Seph!" she snarled. "That bitch is mine!"
Sepphirothy narrowed her eyes.
"None of you have the right to destroy this place." Her voice sounded like cracking ice. "If you won’t stop... then I’ll make you stop by force."
Naberius raised his sword and laughed, almost humming.
"Now that’s music to my ears! Let’s see if you’re still that arrogant ’White’ girl I remember!"
And before anyone could react, the three collided.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The initial explosion was so brutal that cracks ran miles across the ground, and the surrounding forest simply crumbled, ancient trees reduced to dust. The shock opened an even wider chasm in the ground, spewing magma and smoke into the sky.
Vergil was thrown against a rock, his katana flying away. Still, he laughed, spitting blood.
"Hahaha! This... THIS is the hell I want to see!"
Roxanne grabbed Katharina, both of them nearly being swept away by the shockwave. Stella erected walls of ice, trying to shield her daughters from the suffocating heat. Titania fell to her knees, completely paralyzed.
In the center of the destruction, three auras collided in perfect disharmony.
Sapphire, shrouded in a blazing sun, advanced with punches and kicks capable of pulverizing mountains. Each impact released columns of fire that streaked across the sky.
Naberius responded with his flaming blade, which now burned black and red, each cut ripping scars of energy through the air, as if tearing reality itself. She laughed madly, spinning amidst the flames, absorbing them and spitting out even more destructive blasts.
And Sepphirothy...
Her aura didn’t burn. Didn’t crackle. Didn’t roar.
It was silent, cold, crushing.
Each beat of her wings released waves of energy that froze the magma in midair. Her fists, encased in crystalline ice, intercepted Sapphire’s punches and Naberius’s slashes, cracking space with each impact.
It was as if three worlds were trying to coexist at the same point, and reality itself screamed in protest.
"YOU’RE GOING TO KILL US!" Roxanne shouted, her voice swallowed by the gale of energy.
Vergil, laughing madly, raised his arms.
"Then die with me! Hahaha!"
The three collided relentlessly.
Sapphire spun in the air, unleashing a fire-wrecked kick that would have reduced an entire city to ashes. Sepphirothy blocked with her arm, but the impact unleashed a fiery gale that leveled miles of forest.
Naberius seized the opening, teleporting behind Sapphire, his sword arcing downward. The slash split the ground in two, creating a ravine of black fire.
But Sepphirothy was already there, intercepting the blade with a frozen fist. The collision caused the air to explode into ice crystals and embers.
The three of them drifted apart, hovering in the air like chaotic stars about to collide again.
The entire sky had become a whirlwind: clouds shattered, flames and ice mingling, sunlight fading under the absurd pressure of the three.
Rize, trembling, held the unconscious Vanny.
"This isn’t... a battle..." she murmured, tears streaming. "This is the end of the world..."
Sapphire roared and lunged forward again, this time unleashing everything at once. The fire enveloped her in a colossal titan, a silhouette of pure magma that roared in its voice. The heat was so absurd it caused lakes to evaporate for miles around.
"DIE, NABERIUS!"
The redhead punched with the force of a cataclysm.
Naberius laughed, his sword expanding to titanic proportions, made of pure demonic energy.
"BRING MORE! I WANT MORE!"
She slashed her flaming fist, unleashing a black wave that split hell in half.
And Sepphirothy appeared between them, her wings expanding to cover the horizon. The impact of her intervention was so colossal that a white flash exploded, blinding everyone for a few seconds.
When vision returned, half the forest simply vanished.
In the center of the crater, three demonic goddesses fought as if they were the very embodiment of chaos.
Vergil fell to his knees, laughing breathlessly.
"I... I can’t believe I’m seeing this..." he gasped. "This is too beautiful..."
Stella glared at him, maintaining her ice barriers.
"If you keep laughing, boy, you’ll die first."
But even she couldn’t hide her shock.
Sapphire, Naberius, and Sepphirothy collided relentlessly, each blow creating catastrophes. The sky bled, the ground wept, and even time seemed to tremble.
Sepphirothy punched Sapphire hard enough to send her crashing into distant mountains, pulverizing them. Naberius took advantage and tried to slash Sepphirothy in the back, but was met with a counterblow so cold it froze half the sword.
"Hahaha!" Naberius laughed, shattering the ice with sheer force. "THAT’S WHAT I WANTED!"
Sapphire was back in the blink of an eye, her body still encased in living magma. She spun and struck them both simultaneously, opening a crater that stretched to the horizon.
The impact echoed for miles, the sound piercing through heaven and hell.
Roxanne held Katharina, both barely able to breathe under the pressure.
"Mother..." Katharina whispered, her eyes wide. "Do you think... that they can destroy everything?"
Roxanne didn’t answer. Her silence was the answer.
Titania wept silently, her wings drooping, while Zuri simply watched, eyes narrowed, as if waiting to see who would survive.
And amidst the chaos, the three of them didn’t stop.
Sepphirothy froze seas of fire. Sapphire burned walls of ice. Naberius tore through them both in a fury fueled by destruction.
Until, in a moment of pure insanity, the three of them retreated simultaneously.
Their auras exploded together, expanding to heaven and hell. Three legendary forces. Three living catastrophes.
And then they advanced.
"DIE!" roared Sapphire.
"MORE!" screamed Naberius.
"ENOUGH!" roared Sepphirothy.