CHAPTER 161: THE END OF LEIF AND ALVAR

[Leif’s POV—Holy Temple Battlefield—The Sealing Begins]

The ground beneath him cracked open—dark sludge bubbling upward, trying to anchor him, trying to keep him from being pulled toward the ring.

"STOP—STOP—STOP—!!! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING!!!"

Luminael’s voice burst from my hip—panicked, breaking. "MASTER—THE CAGE IS DRAWING TOO MUCH—IT WILL BREAK YOUR BODY—!!!"

My vision blurred. The world warped at the edges. My legs trembled so violently I nearly collapsed.

Behind me—voices drowned under the roar of power.

"LEIF—!!" Alvar’s scream cracked like glass.

"STOP! YOU’LL DIE—!!" Caelum’s wings thrashed violently, fighting off corrupted bodies trying to drag him away from me.

"LEIF, LISTEN TO ME—!! PLEASE—STOP—!!" Alvar again.

His voice... sounded like someone being torn apart.

But I couldn’t turn back. Couldn’t stop.

Not now. Not when the Devil was finally—finally—being forced into the one cage that could hold him.

The last weapon the first Seraph King never found. The only weapon I had. The Devil’s shadows whipped toward me—giant tendrils snapping like whips of living tar—but before they struck, Zephyy dove from the sky, roaring.

"MASTER—DOWN!!"

I dropped into a crouch just as Zephyy blasted the tendrils with celestial wind—turning them to ash that swirled into the vortex around the ring.

The Devil shrieked again.

"TRAITOROUS BEAST—!!!"

"HE IS MY MASTER!!!" Zephyy roared back.

The corrupted civilians lunged toward Alvar, toward Caelum, toward the elves, and toward the goddess—trying to stop them from reaching me.

Thalion screamed, "WE CAN’T GET TO HIM—THE DARKNESS IS BLOCKING US—!!"

Daren smashed through three corrupted bodies, blood dripping from his face. "LEIF—!!! FALL BACK—!!"

Priest Caldric sobbed, "HE CAN’T—HE’S ALREADY ACTIVATED IT—!!"

Alvar swung his sword with a brutal cry, cutting through another wave as he fought his way toward me—eyes wide, burning, desperate.

"LEIF—STOP—!! DON’T DO THIS—DON’T YOU DARE—!!"

His voice cracked.

Broke.

Collapsed.

For the first time since I awakened as a Seraph...I wanted to turn around. For the first time...I wanted to run to him instead of toward fate.

But I couldn’t.

I pressed my palm against the Divine Cage—and released everything.

All my light.

All my divinity.

All my soul.

It poured into the ring like a river of burning stars. The Devil thrashed, shrieking with rage so sharp it tore cracks into the sky.

"IF I AM GOING DOWN—" His voice twisted into a monstrous roar— "THEN I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME, SERAPH!!!"

A blast of darkness tore from his decaying body—vast, violent, ravenous—a tidal wave of pure corruption aimed for my heart.

I felt it before I saw it.

Heat.Ice.Lightning.Death.

It was the end.

My end.

No Seraph had ever survived the sealing. And neither would I.

I exhaled shakily. "...So this is it."

But before accepting it—before letting the darkness swallow me—I wanted just one last look.

One last time.

I turned my head—slowly—achingly—toward the one who mattered most.

Alvar.

He was sprinting toward me through the storm of light and shadow—slashing the corrupted bodies—screaming my name with a voice unraveling in terror.

"LEIF—!!"

My heart dropped out of my chest. "NO—NO—NO—ALVAR, STEP BACK!!"

He didn’t.

He didn’t even slow down, and the Devil saw him. The Devil’s head twisted impossibly, black smoke curling from his mouth like venomous laughter.

"Oh...?" His grin stretched sideways across Arden’s dead face. "So... he’s your precious one."

"No—NO—!!" I screamed, lunging forward—But I was too late.

The Devil’s arm snapped toward Alvar. A massive spear of pure darkness exploded outward—

Straight at him.

"ALVARRRRR—!!!"

My scream shredded my throat. He didn’t dodge. He didn’t shield himself. He threw himself forward—Toward me.

Choosing me.

Every time.

Even now.

Even in death.

"LEIF—!!" he shouted as the darkness blasted toward him.

"NO—NO—NO—STOP—!!!"

The world went white.

Then—SLASH!!!!!!!! ——— FLASH!!!!!!!!

A colossal explosion of golden light erupted from my body, ripping through the entire capital. A shockwave of divine force tore across the land—

Purifying.Burning.Cleansing.Erasing the Devil.

The ground shook violently as corruption turned to dust. Black veins evaporated into golden smoke. The cursed sky cracked open—revealing stars again for the first time in weeks.

The Devil clawed backward—screaming—but the Divine Cage’s pull turned absolute.

His shadows were ripped from the corpse. His power was torn from the earth. His very essence shredded apart.

"NO—NO—NO—NO—NOOOOOO—!!!!"

The ring devoured him whole.

One last monstrous scream—and then—SILENCE.

The Devil was gone.

Finished.

Ended.

The sky turned blue. The city exhaled. Light returned.

But—THUD!!!!!!!!

My knees buckled. My vision blurred. I collapsed onto the cracked marble floor.

I couldn’t feel my legs.

The Divine Cage had taken everything.

My power.

My divinity.

My life.

But when I saw him, Alvar, sprawled on the ground only a few feet away—blood everywhere.

Dripping from his arms. Pooling under his ribs. Seeping from a wound that went too deep. He tried to crawl toward me—fingers shaking, dragging across the stone—eyes filled with so much pain, so much love, it stole my breath.

"A... Alvar..." My voice trembled. "Why... why did you...?"

He looked up at me.

And he smiled.

Weak.Trembling.Broken.

But real.

"...If there’s no Leif..." he whispered, voice cracking like shattered glass. "...there’s no Alvar either."

My breath hitched.

"Alvar—!"

I forced my limbs to move. I dragged my body toward him— falling beside him—lifting his head into my lap.

Blood stained my hands.His blood.

"Please... please don’t close your eyes," I whispered, my voice breaking into pieces. "Stay with me—just a little longer—please—Alvar—"

His eyelids fluttered.

His breath trembled.

And panic stabbed me so violently I could barely think. I grabbed Luminael, hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Luminael—please—heal him—!" My voice cracked on the plea. "Please...please heal my Alvar..."

I pressed the glowing blade into Alvar’s hands, desperate, frantic—But—The world tilted.

Blurred.

Spun.

The blood.The courtyard.Alvar’s face.

And then—THUD—!!!!

Everything went black.

***

[White Realm—Later]

Softness.

Silence.

Light.

I blinked—slowly—my consciousness drifting up from darkness like a drowned soul breaking the surface.

I was kneeling.

Alone.

White stretching in every direction like an endless horizon made of clouds and forgotten dreams. My tears hit the ground silently, darkening the glowing surface beneath me.

Because the first thing my mind remembered was Alvar’s failing breath.

His blood is on my hands. His voice said he lived only if I did. And I felt something inside me crack open.

"Alvar..." I whispered, my voice barely a sound. "I’m so sorry... I’m so, so sorry..."

My shoulders shook.

I covered my face with trembling hands—and cried.

Until a gentle, familiar voice drifted through the empty white.

"You did well, child."

I lifted my head. The old goddess—the grandmotherly deity—stood before me, her soft-crinkled smile warm enough to melt the coldest sorrow.

But it only broke me more.

Because I wasn’t finished. Not while Alvar still lay dying somewhere far beyond this white void.

She approached with slow, reverent steps, her glow comforting... but unbearably final.

"You," she said gently, "have trapped the Devil in a divine cage. A prison no darkness can escape. He will fade... slowly... until nothing remains."

I swallowed hard, chest tight.

Her eyes lowered—tender but grave.

"And now," she whispered, "it is time for you to return to your own world."

The words stabbed like ice.

Return.Go back.Leave everything behind.

Leave him behind.

My breath trembled—and the dam inside me broke completely.

"I... I can’t," I choked. "Alvar—he’s injured—he’s bleeding—he’ll die—" My voice cracked into a sob."Please...please cure him... I’m begging you..."

The goddess watched me quietly, her expression softening into something like sorrow, like understanding, like ancient compassion.

She leaned closer.

"Child," she murmured, "is that your wish?"

Her tone changed—slowed—weighted—"Your last wish?"

Wish? That’s right...she promised me she will grant me one wish before leaving.

My tears fell faster. My hands clenched. My heart felt like it was tearing itself apart.

I didn’t hesitate.

"YES—IT’S MY WISH! I want Alvar healthy—alive—safe with me."

My voice wasn’t strong.But it was absolute.

The goddess breathed in slowly, the realm brightening around her.

"Then..." she whispered, her smile warm and devastatingly gentle, "...your wish shall be granted, child."

My knees buckled.

Relief.Pain.Love.Loss.

All crashing into me at once.

Her light wrapped around me—soft, warm, final.

"Now," she said, her voice echoing like a fading lullaby, "it is time to return...to your world."

My vision blurred. The white realm trembled. I felt myself unmaking—thread by thread, memory by memory, tether by tether.

My body dissolved into light.

The realm warped around me, white shifting into gold—And just before everything vanished—Her final words reached me.

Soft.Quiet.Cruel.

"Do not forget, child... once you meet him—"My breath hitched. "—he will forget everything. Including you."

The light swallowed her face before I could speak. My heart seized, twisting painfully.

Meet him? How? Isn’t this the end of us?

. . .

Yes.

This was the truth.

This was the end. The end of Leif and Alvar. There would be no miracle. No loophole. No last-second rescue by fate.

There was no happy ending for us. There never was. There never could be. We were two worlds divided by destiny—two souls destined to touch only long enough to break.

And as the white realm faded completely—as my existence unraveled into silence—I understood.

We were two stars crossing for a moment—only to burn each other away.

Our fate was not love.

It was loss.

THE END OF LEIF AND ALVAR—END OF SEASON TWO