CHAPTER 803: HE HAD RETURNED

The hellfire was right there in front of everyone, the powerful absolute darkness controlling it to prevent any destruction.

Ember, who had refused to look at it, couldn’t help but turn and take a glance. That hellfire felt like it was calling to her—it was asking her to claim it once more. The celestial chains restricting her seemed unstable, as if they would break at any moment.

Ember moved away from Morpheus’ hold and stepped toward the hellfire in the Devil’s possession. She looked like she was captivated, possessed by something, her conscious mind slipping away slowly.

It worried Morpheus that she would break free from the chains—and anything could happen if she reunited with the hellfire. There had to be a reason why Drayvor freed the others from the celestial chains, but not her.

Morpheus quickly held her back, his arms firmly wrapping around her. "Ember, don’t let yourself lose to the power. It belongs to you, but you have to wait."

Ember snapped back to her senses, but it was impossible to hold herself back. "It’s calling for me, Morph," she whispered, her gaze refusing to look away from it, slowly losing herself again.

He made her look at him, his worried and reassuring gaze meeting hers. "I know. But now, I need you. I’m calling for you—and you have to be with me. Your mate, remember?"

But he could see her eyes beginning to lose recognition of everything around her. Her gaze was turning hollow, filled only with the image of fire, flickering in her green irises. It was a bad sign. He might just lose her to the hellfire—and let it control her. He couldn’t let that happen. Never.

"I have to go," she whispered, as if she had no control over her own voice. The hellfire had begun to take hold of her mind, even when it was away from her.

Morpheus wondered if Draven were here—he could easily hold her back. But he was her mate too, and he would do anything to protect her from this sinister hellfire, which felt nothing less than ominous.

He gently caressed her cheek with his hand and said softly, his warm gaze trying to pierce through her dazed one, "Ember, just look at me. Think about me. You know how much I love you—and I know you love me too. Just focus on me, alright? Nothing else matters. You have to stay with me. We’re yet to have our kids, our own happy family. Do you not want it?"

He paused, his voice tender. "You have to wait for Draven. He must be worried and doing his best to come for us. You can’t fail him. We can’t fail him. He trusted me to protect you."

All these things seemed to force their way into her dazed mind, and her hollow gaze regained clarity for a moment. Morpheus saw it—and kissed her the next second. He needed to keep her with him.

As if a sudden shock jolted her awake due to the bond they shared, Ember came back to her senses and tried to fight the pull of the hellfire while Morpheus continued to kiss her.

He got the reaction he’d hoped for—she was back to her senses. It showed her soul valued the bond between them more than the call of the hellfire.

He whispered against her lips, "Just be with me," and kissed her again.

Evanthe felt relieved that Morpheus had managed to stop Ember and control her, by whatever means he had to use. Her uniting with the hellfire was not in her favor—at least not yet.

She turned her attention to Seren, who now lay unconscious in Drayce’s arms.

"Dray, she’s alright," Evanthe assured him. "Drayvor made sure to protect her body with darkness before pulling out the hellfire, so she wouldn’t be harmed. Her bond with you made her body accept the protection Drayvor’s darkness offered her. Don’t worry about her."

Drayce hummed, his worried gaze still fixed on his mate. Evanthe pulled out a small vial and fed the potion to Seren, while Solon came to them.

"I can pass her some of my divine power—she’ll wake up soon," Solon offered. "None of your divine powers can help as much as mine, since this is the Heaven Realm."

Both nodded in gratitude, and Solon transferred his divine power to Seren.

"She will wake up soon. She was well protected," he said.

Drayce could only thank his father. He had always feared what would happen to Seren when a strong power like hellfire was removed from her body—a body that belonged to a demigod, not entirely divine. It always worried him that it might threaten her life. But now that she was fine, he felt he needed nothing else. His mate was safe.

Arlan and Oriana were observing from a distance.

"She seems to be alright," Oriana commented, looking in Seren’s direction.

Arlan hummed. "Now we only need to worry about Ember, until the matter of the hellfire is resolved."

Oriana agreed, "I can understand the way she reacted to the hellfire. I was the same—almost lost myself to darkness when, in the demon realm, I regained my demoness form after I thought I’d lost you. If not for you coming to stop me and marking me, I would have lost to darkness and ended up destroying everything. It’s a relief that at least one of Ember’s mates is here to stop her. Powers like absolute darkness and hellfire can truly be dangerous—even for those who possess them."

Arlan looked at Drayvor, who was still busy controlling the hellfire with all his strength. His darkness was at its peak—every ounce of his existence seemed to be filled with nothing but darkness.

"I wonder how he could keep himself in control with such a strong power," Arlan mumbled. "He must be someone beyond what we can even comprehend."

Oriana seemed to get lost in thought and then spoke, "He was the only god ever who achieved a perfect celestial body, which is the most powerful form in all three realms," she sighed helplessly, "And only to waste it on absorbing absolute darkness to save the world, and then be punished with a life of loneliness. The more powerful you are, the worse your destiny becomes. You are left only as the tool to save this world, this ungrateful world."

Arlan looked at her, his gaze doubtful. "Are you saying that from hearsay, or from a part of your lost memories from your previous life?"

Oriana was taken aback, but then composed herself. "Just from what everyone said."

Arlan let it go, not wanting to pressure her.

Meanwhile, Isis walked toward Drayvor, seeing that he had managed to control the hellfire enough.

"Lord of Darkness, it’s time you fulfill the promise you made to me," she said.

Drayvor kept his gaze fixed on the hellfire and said, "I already fulfilled it. I retrieved the hellfire from the young demigod’s body."

"But you are yet to fulfill the other part of it," she said. "Merge it into my body."

"That’s your own interpretation. I never said that," Drayvor replied, looking at her. "Moreover, the ruler of the Heaven Realm is still here—and he will be the one to decide what should be done with this hellfire."

Isis remembered—Drayvor had only promised to remove the hellfire and told her to keep her word in return.

She had been played.

"I am the ruler here! I am the most powerful and I hold this crystal," she said angrily. "Grianor is nothing in front of me. He has lost a great part of his powers."

Ignoring her, Drayvor’s dark gaze shifted to Grianor. "King Grianor, you called me here. Now tell me—what should we do with this hellfire?"

"We should return it to where it belongs," Grianor replied, his gaze shifting to Ember, who was gasping after Morpheus kissed her for a long time and only let her go when he heard what Grianor and Drayvor were discussing.

Isis realized—they had already planned to return the hellfire to Ember. They had planned it all along, together, and deceived her.

"You deceived me!" Isis raised her angry voice. "You two came together to deceive me! Did you really think I wouldn’t break this crystal?"

She looked like a madwoman in defeat, staring at the crystal floating in her hand.

"As punishment for your betrayals, I’m going to break this crystal. Let’s all cease to exist together—let all three realms die!"

She looked at Drayvor. "You’ll be the only one left behind. Alone. Always remember—you are the reason all three realms were destroyed. You are the reason everyone dear to you died—your soulmate, your friends, your child, your family. You’ll live till eternity, alone and mourning over everything you lost."

She raised the crystal in the air, ready to use her power to destroy it.

All the deities gasped, believing it was their end. They all cried out:

"Sovereign! You can’t let her do this!""You have to stop her!""You have to listen to her—she’s going to destroy everything!"

Grianor remained unfazed and looked at Isis. "You can’t destroy it. You won’t be able to."

She laughed wickedly. "Really? Then let me show you."

Just as she was about to use her powers—and every deity thought they were going to die...

Boom!

The entire Heaven Realm shook with violent tremors. The strongest divine power surged through the realm as something from the sky landed in the throne hall—a divine figure—cracking the floor carved from the strongest, most sacred rock of Mount Aramis.

When the fog of destruction cleared, everyone saw a figure at the center of the throne hall.

He was lowered on one knee, holding the most powerful sword in existence, its tip embedded in the cracked floor. His head was bowed, his body clad in the brilliant white attire of a warrior, emitting a divine power unmatched by any present.

God of War.

He had finally returned.