CHAPTER 233: CHAPTER 232 - EVERYONE HAS A LIMIT.

A while ago, in the divine domain of Arietta.

As the divine domain shimmered and Raven’s group vanished in a flash of golden light, silence returned like a curtain falling.

Arietta stood motionless at the center of the marble dais, her silver hair swaying slightly in the breeze. The ripples of magic faded. The divine seal closed.

Then—her knees buckled.

She stumbled back with a sharp gasp, golden eyes wide with fatigue. The pristine marble rushed toward her—

—But before she hit the ground, a soft, puffy cloud gently scooped her up, cradling her like a hammock.

"Thank you," she whispered breathlessly, reaching up to pat the cloud as if it were a loyal pet.

Above her, the divine realm stretched on endlessly—a sky of soft pastel violet and gold, glowing eternally with celestial light.

Faint echoes of singing stars drifted on the wind, and golden petals occasionally rained down from nowhere.

So peaceful. So calm.

But Arietta felt none of it. Her body trembled. Her fingers curled into the fluff of the cloud as her breathing steadied.

She stared blankly upward, eyes dulling slightly.

"Just one more time..." She muttered.

Her voice was soft, almost a whisper carried by the breeze.

"One more round of training... and then I can rest."

A tiny smile curled her lips, even as her vision blurred. The kind of smile only someone exhausted to the bone could wear. Not from pain—but from waiting. From watching. From loving too much.

The wind picked up ever so slightly, brushing her hair from her cheeks.

"Raven..." she whispered again, her eyes fluttering shut. "I will do the best I can, but even I have my limits..."

The petals drifted gently around her—golden, soft, and slow.

Despite being a god, she wasn’t omnipotent or omnipresent.

The level she was at wasn’t something no one could reach.

She was sure even Raven would reach her level—no, maybe he would cross her level and get higher.

"Maybe he would reach a point where he wouldn’t have limits like me," she mumbled, breathing slowly.

She would soon need to deactivate her domain, as this was the cause of her weakness.

She had been using it for far longer than it was made to last.

Other strong gods wouldn’t even be able to sustain the domain for a day, as it gave a lot of mental strain.

Some gods were known to have died under the strain long before they could cross the one-day limit.

Still, Arietta was keeping it active for more than a hundred days—all for Raven.

It didn’t take much at first, but she was starting to realize that it would be hard for her to maintain the divine realm for another hundred days.

But—

—She would try her best.

................................

Meanwhile, in the ashen expanse, unaware of Arietta’s situation, Raven was preparing for his date with Selena.

He was standing some distance from the cave with Selena as she tried to summon one of her flying devourer creatures from her shadow.

But Raven stopped her.

"Let me show you something new." He winked at her, making her raise a brow in curiosity.

Without even letting her say anything, he picked her up in a princess carry, making her giggle.

"Why do you seem more excited than I?"

Raven grinned. "Because this would be my first time flying with a beauty in my arms."

Selena giggled again, hugging Raven’s neck, pressing her body against him.

"Shall we?" He asked, but before Selena could reply, another voice came from behind.

"Are you planning to expose your faces to the others?"

It was Argon, sitting on a boulder right outside the cave.

The others were gone, unable to stay lying on the cave floor.

They had gone to kill some corrupt beasts, saying they needed to get some warm-up.

Raven didn’t stop them since they didn’t need to rest this time around, but Argon remained.

He said that he would stay here to guard the cave, lest some beast move in while they were gone and then attack them when they returned.

No one stopped him—not like they could.

So, he had been silently meditating since then, only to speak now when he saw Raven and Selena planning to go somewhere other than the Ashen Expanse.

"No," Raven replied to his question without turning back, his eyes locked with Selena. "We are going somewhere no one would be able to see us."

With that, his feet lit up, red and green energy of fire and wind glowing beneath his feet, before—

BOOM!

With a sound that broke the sound barrier, he was gone, already shooting through the sky, increasing his speed with more explosions.

All Argon could see from below were smoke rings forming in the sky every time he used that explosion.

By the time Raven had left the sky of the Ashen Expanse, there were circles of smoke floating in the sky.

It was as if God was vaping and making circles, as if showing mortals that he could also do smoke tricks.

Argon watched the last ripple of smoke fade into the sky, the echo of the sonic boom still humming faintly in the stones around him.

His expression didn’t shift. His eyes narrowed slightly, just once.

"...Wasting energy on theatrics," he muttered, voice low, almost inaudible. "If he keeps doing that, then people might file a complaint to the god."

He returned to meditating, muttering under his breath, "Back in my day, we walked to our dates. Uphill. In corrupted blizzards."

................................

The corrupted plains of the Ashen Expanse were... oddly quiet.

Well, they had been quiet—until a six-eyed, tusked boar the size of a wagon exploded in a fiery burst, courtesy of Graye’s overenthusiastic fire slash.

"Oops," she beamed, spinning her blade like it was a baton. "I was aiming to cut it in half, not into steam."

Then she rushed away, trying to find other beasts.

The others stared at her until she vanished.

They all shook their heads, wondering why she was going elsewhere when there were beasts everywhere.

Clara sliced the air with a flick of her hand, sending a wave of vibrating sound through a thick-skinned brute beast. It exploded in a puff of goo and regret.

"That’s number nine," she muttered, brushing back strands of hair behind her ear. "You’d think they’d learn to stop roaring like idiots before charging."

"No brain, only bite," Siris hummed, twirling one of her daggers, the blade wrapped in glittering Cryovoid frost. "I respect that. Simple. Stabbable."

Lia stood nearby, politely bowing to a cactus-looking plant with arms. "Thank you for the warning, Sir Gloomy Needles."

She turned back to the group. "If we kill the remaining beasts, this area’s clear! The plants say it stinks two ridges over, though."

Graye landed beside them, dragging a giant, flaming wolf-beast that was still slightly on fire and missing most of its face.

"I brought snacks!" She grinned brightly.

"That’s a corpse," Jessy deadpanned.

"Fire-cooked corpse," Graye corrected, proud.

Jake said nothing as usual. He melted into a shadow and reappeared on a rock, holding a severed beast’s tail like a trophy.

Everyone just gave him a respectful nod, as it was Jake’s way.

Alex, midair on a lava board shaped like a surfboard shaped like a banana, yelled, "I found a mildly injured tree and gave it a lava hug! I fixed deforestation!"

Blargh’s voice echoed in his head. "You literally made it worse."

"We’re balancing the ecosystem, Blargh! Fire is life!"

"Squeak." Nibbles floated alongside on a levitating stone, holding a sign: "I’m with Stupid →"

It pointed at Alex.

The group casually strolled through the Ashen Expanse as if they were out for an afternoon walk with the Grim Reaper.

Beast corpses littered the landscape behind them, some still twitching, some combusting in comedic ways.

Clara sighed, stretching her arms. "Honestly, this is relaxing. Like beast-hunting yoga."

Jessy nodded. "Until we meet something that actually fights back."

It was then that Rufus, who had been testing his new abilities, frowned.

He hovered overhead in his sleek, light-powered suit, scanning the area with glowing lenses.

"The beasts in the vicinity are decreasing on their own, guys," he announced. "I think we have a guest with unknown intentions in our surroundings."

"LIKE THAT?" Graye shouted, pointing ahead.

They all turned.

A sleek beast—long, black, and panther-like with glistening silver eyes—stood on a ridge just meters ahead. Its muscles were coiled, its claws twitching slightly.

But it didn’t move. Didn’t roar. Didn’t attack.

It simply... stared at them.

Jake narrowed his eyes.

Nibbles slowly flipped his sign. "Uh-oh."

The group exchanged glances.

"Okay," Clara said, "this one’s different."

"It knows," Alex whispered dramatically, lava swirling in his palms. "It sees into our souls."

"It’s staring at you, genius," Jessy muttered.

"Maybe it’s a fan?" Graye offered, tilting her head adorably.

Lia blinked. "It doesn’t smell aggressive..."

Siris flicked her dagger.

Jake stood absolutely still.

Then, the beast’s tail twitched once. Just once.

The tension spiked.