Chapter 176: The Seventh Wing and the Eclipse of Divinity
The rejection of the Prophet's pact acted as a catalyst that finally broke the dam holding back the full wrath of the Upper Realm. As the ashen remains of Malachi's staff were scattered by the howling winter wind, the sky didn't just crack—it shattered. The bruised violet rift was forcibly torn wider by invisible, divine hands, revealing a blinding white void beyond the stars. This was the opening of the Seventh Gate, the domain of the Seraphim of the Seventh Wing, the ultimate executors of the High Council's will.
From the farmhouse, Volt watched as the golden vortex was replaced by a cascading waterfall of white fire. Within that fire, the silhouettes of a hundred thousand celestial soldiers began to materialize, their silver armor reflecting the cold light of a dying sun. Leading this celestial armada were the three Arch-Seraphim: Remiel, Sariel, and Azrael. They were beings of pure concept, each possessing six wings that spanned the width of the horizon, casting a shadow of "Holiness" that felt like lead upon the mortal earth.
"They have brought the entire Seventh Wing," Anos observed, his voice echoing with a cold, analytical edge. He stood atop the farmhouse roof, his God-Slayer sword plunged into the chimney, using it as a conductor to weave a massive, planetary-scale ward around the valley. The energy requirements for such a feat were astronomical, but the recent surge in their family's influence provided an almost infinite reservoir of power.
Akuto, standing at the edge of the obsidian-shattered field, let out a low, vibrating laugh. The Sakuna root was no longer just a marking on his skin; it had begun to sprout ethereal, blood-red tendrils that anchored him into the very foundations of the mountains, as his father had commanded. "A hundred thousand?" Akuto whispered, his eyes glowing with the stolen divinity of the Warden. "It's not enough. They should have brought them all."
The Arch-Seraphim Remiel descended first, his voice a choir of a billion voices that caused the trees for miles to spontaneously combust. "Volt! You who have stolen the title of Author! Your existence has created a cancerous growth in the data of the universe. We are not here to judge you; we are here to delete you and everyone who carries your tainted blood!"
Volt stepped forward, his boots crushing the crystallized earth. He didn't look up at the army; he looked through them. The golden crest on his wrist was no longer just a badge; it had become an open eye of abyssal authority. "You talk about data and deletion as if you are the ones who built this system," Volt said, his voice quiet but overriding the celestial choir. "You are merely programs running on a script I abandoned eons ago. Today, I am simply hitting the reset button on your divinity."
With a flick of his wrist, Volt activated the "Sovereign's Revision." The air around the farmhouse distorted, turning into a sea of liquid ink that rose to meet the descending angels. The hundred thousand soldiers charged, a wave of light intended to wash away the darkness. But as they entered the ink-black zone, their silver armor began to rust and crumble. Their divine songs turned into screams of static.
"Anos! Akuto! Now!" Volt commanded.
Anos pulled his sword from the roof, and the violet ward he had built suddenly contracted, then exploded outward in a ring of absolute negation. The first ten thousand angels were vaporized instantly, their essence being sucked directly into the God-Slayer. Meanwhile, Akuto pulled on the mountain-anchored tendrils of the Sakuna root, causing the earth itself to rise up in the form of massive, stone hands that swatted the Seraphim out of the sky like insects.
The Arch-Seraphim Sariel and Azrael joined the fray, their spears of concentrated starlight clashing with the princes' blades. The sky became a chaotic battlefield of conceptual warfare. Every time Sariel tried to "fix" the reality Volt had broken, Volt's Author Mark would simply overwrite the fix, creating a recursive loop of destruction that drove the angels into madness.
The influence of the Demon King's household was now a literal weight upon the planet. The statistical growth of their power had bypassed the limits of the world's 'Inkstone' system, causing the reality of the surrounding continent to rewrite itself into a dark, neo-Gothic empire. The farmhouse was now the spire of a growing fortress of obsidian and bone.
Vanessa, Sasha, and Karin stood at the center of the house, maintaining the internal sanctum. They were the heart of this new empire, the reason the King and his Princes fought with such reckless abandon. "The light is fading," Karin noted, watching as the Arch-Seraphim Remiel was forced back by Volt's sheer presence. "The gods' sun is setting, and our night is just beginning."
Volt finally raised both hands. The golden crest split into two, one on each palm. "You wanted the End, Remiel? Then witness the final sentence of your chapter." Volt closed his hands together, and the hundred thousand angels were pulled into a singular point of gravitational collapse. The Seventh Wing was being compressed into a pearl of pure, raw energy.
As the pearl formed, Volt held it out toward his sons. "Consume it. Let the heavens feed the hunger of the new Kings."
Anos and Akuto gripped the pearl together. The resulting explosion of power didn't destroy the farm; instead, it elevated their souls to a level where they could see the strings of the universe. They were no longer just characters; they were the Editors. The Arch-Seraphim fled back toward the closing rift, their wings broken and their light extinguished.
Volt stood alone in the center of his new fortress, the winter wind now a warm breeze of victory. He looked at the data of the world, seeing the massive numbers that represented his absolute control. The war was not over, but the message was clear: The High Council had lost their monopoly on fate.
"Write the next page, my sons," Volt said, his eyes glowing with the satisfaction of a master storyteller. "And make sure there are no gods left to read it."