Chapter 226: The Chains of Eternity
The Spirit Realm was silent.
The ruins of the battlefield still smoked, the Eternal Tree shimmering faintly above them. The Seven Demon Lords had fallen, their bodies shattered into dust and flame. For the first time in countless ages, the Spirit Realm seemed to breathe.
The silence broke with a sound.
"Clatter... clatter..."
Chains rattled.
The shattered fragments of the Seven Demon Lords did not vanish as Seraphina expected. Instead, the abyss opened again—black fissures tearing across the air like wounds in reality. The dust of their remains swirled back into forms, their roars shaking the heavens as their broken bodies reformed anew.
Azgorth’s skeletal frame reassembled, hollow eyes burning brighter.
Belmira’s crimson wings regrew, dripping with allure and venom.
Droskar’s molten axe reformed, heavier, burning hotter than before.
One after another, the Seven rose again, their combined authority heavier than the first time.
"No..." Seraphina gasped, stepping back, her hands trembling. "This curse... I should have known..."
The Seven Demon Lords stood tall once more, their laughter echoing like a death knell.
"Foolish mortal," Azgorth intoned, voice like an endless dirge. "You cannot kill what belongs to the Demon God."
Their voices rose as one, chains clattering.
"We are eternal."
The air thickened with despair, yet Igaris did not falter. His cloak fluttered, dark eyes gleaming with cold sharpness. He raised his sword, its edge humming with concepts beyond comprehension.
"If you return, I will cut you down again."
The Seven roared, hurling themselves at him like an ocean of calamities.
The battlefield erupted.
Azgorth’s chains lashed out, dragging screaming souls once more. Igaris extended his hand.
"Genesis Flame."
A pillar of white fire rose, consuming every chain, burning even despair into ash. Azgorth howled, collapsing once again into fragments.
Belmira’s beauty flashed, scarlet illusions binding reality. She whispered into his ear, her voice trembling with seductive authority. But Igaris’s Architect’s Eyes glowed, burning through every illusion. His blade struck in a spiral arc.
"Infernal Tornado."
Her body was shredded once again into ribbons of blood and ash.
Droskar’s axe cleaved mountains, but Titan-Igaris’s colossal hand caught it. His other hand glowed with fiery ruin.
"World Destroying Finger."
The strike pierced through Droskar’s molten chest. The giant fell in two.
The others followed. Nhyzra’s swarm burned, Veythos’s rage silenced, Zarkon’s void reversed, Ithrael’s dominion shattered.
Once again, the Seven were destroyed.
And once again, the abyss laughed.
The air quaked as their bodies knit themselves back together. Their laughter was deeper now, like the echo of an ancient will watching.
"You cannot slay what the Demon God has bound," Ithrael said, scepter gleaming. "We are His curse. His eternal wardens."
Seraphina clutched her chest, her voice trembling as she shouted over the chaos.
"Igaris! They cannot be killed! Don’t you understand? They are bound by the Chains of Infinity, a curse laid by the Demon God Himself. Every death only summons them again. Only the Eternal Tree’s light can banish them!"
Her words cut the air like lightning.
Igaris’s gaze flickered toward her, then back to the Seven, who grinned with renewed bloodlust. He exhaled slowly, golden eyes narrowing.
"If I cannot kill you..." His aura flared, a new weight filling the battlefield. "...then I will claim you."
Infinite Acquisition
The Seven roared and surged forward together, each unleashing the full authority of their sins. The ground shattered under Droskar’s molten axe. Chains of despair coiled from Azgorth’s frame. Belmira’s whispers wove into Seraphina’s ears, forcing her to stumble.
But Igaris moved first.
His body split into millions of doppelgangers, each one radiating Saint-9 might, wielding laws of Fire, Genesis, and Ruination. They surrounded the Seven in a vast circle, locking space itself.
"Space-Time Domain: Eternal Cage."
Reality froze, locking the Seven in place. For the first time, their eyes widened in alarm.
Then Igaris raised his hand. A brand glowed across his palm—an ancient seal, luminous and infinite. His voice thundered with command.
"Infinite Acquisition."
A platinum sun burst into existence, swallowing their demonic authority. The laws they wielded—their despair, their hatred, their dominion—were dragged from their bodies, pulled toward Igaris like chains returning to their true master.
The Demon Lords screamed, their arrogance shattering into raw terror.
"Impossible! How can a mortal seize the Demon God’s brand?!"
"We are eternal!"
"We belong to Him!"
But Igaris’s eyes glowed like two stars. His voice was colder than the void.
"Not anymore. You belong to me."
The brand on his palm expanded, shooting chains of light into the Seven. The demonic chains that had bound them to the Demon God cracked, splintered, and then shattered. New chains coiled around them—chains born of Igaris’s will.
The Seven fell to their knees. Their towering forms trembled, their roars silenced. Their eyes, once blazing with hatred, now burned with forced obedience.
The Spirit Realm fell silent.
The Seven Primordial Demon Lords—undying horrors cursed by the Demon God—now bowed before Igaris.
Seraphina’s emerald eyes widened in disbelief, her breath stolen from her chest. She staggered backward, covering her lips with trembling fingers.
"This... this is impossible. Even the Gods of Mythraldor failed to break the Chains of Infinity. The Demon God made them eternal. And yet... you didn’t just kill them. You... enslaved them."
Her gaze locked on him, her body trembling not just from awe, but from something deeper—fear, reverence, and something she could not name.
"Igaris... who are you really?"
He turned, his cloak whispering against the corrupted earth, his golden eyes steady and cold.
"I am the one who refuses to lose you again."
His voice carried no arrogance, only unshakable conviction. He glanced at the kneeling Demon Lords, their mighty forms quivering like broken beasts.
"They are mine now. Their strength, their curse, their eternity—it belongs to me."
Seraphina’s lips parted, but no words came. In her heart, she felt the weight of his existence—an existence not bound by the limits of men, gods, or demons.
The Eternal Tree’s roots glowed brighter, as if stirred by the chains binding the Demon Lords. Seraphina wiped her tears and stumbled forward, placing her hand upon the bark.
"I... I must still seal the Gate. Even if they serve you, the rift will remain open unless the Eternal Tree awakens. Please, Igaris... protect me once more."
He nodded once. "Do it. They won’t touch you."
As her power flowed back into her body, Seraphina’s hair shimmered with light, her emerald eyes glowing like twin suns. The Spirit Queen was returning to her throne.
Behind her, the Seven Demon Lords knelt, their once-malevolent auras now tethered to Igaris’s will. Their voices were heavy, broken, yet bound.
"Master..." they intoned in unison.
Igaris closed his eyes. For the first time, the Spirit Realm knew what it meant to kneel not to the Demon God... but to him.
---
The light of the Eternal Tree spread across the horizon, sealing the Gate of Invasion. The skies cleared, the rivers flowed with purity, and the corrupted lands began to heal.
Seraphina stood radiant before the Tree, reborn as the Spirit Queen.
Yet her gaze lingered only on Igaris, the man who had done the impossible. The man who now commanded seven eternal Primordial Lords as though they were mere hounds.
Her voice was soft, but it trembled with awe.
"Igaris... what kind of path are you walking?"
He looked back at her, golden eyes unyielding.
"The path of redemption. And the path of conquest."
The Seven Demon Lords bowed behind him.
The Spirit Realm trembled.
And Seraphina realized—
this was only the beginning.
---
The Eternal Tree’s glow had already returned, its roots pulsing with primordial light that spread across the Spirit Realm. Seraphina, her hair flowing like a river of radiant emerald fire, stood tall in her regained divinity. Her presence was no longer fragile nor desperate—she was the Spirit Queen, the rightful guardian of this world.
With Igaris at her side, they descended upon the Elder Council Hall, a grand temple of crystalline spires and woven branches, where the traitorous Elders had long hidden behind politics and cowardice.
As the doors of shimmering light opened, the gathered Elders froze. Their expressions shifted from arrogance to fear, for the pressure Seraphina released was unlike anything they remembered.
"You dare show your face here after abandoning us?" one elder sneered, trying to mask his terror.
Seraphina’s emerald eyes glowed with divine wrath.
"You called yourselves guardians... yet when the Demons came, you bowed. When the Spirits cried for help, you turned away. And when I was taken, you sealed your own Queen away, hoping the Realm would forget me."
The Elders trembled. Some tried to muster excuses, but her power weighed upon them like a collapsing sky.
Igaris stepped forward, his aura vast and unshakable, silencing them instantly. His gaze was sharp, his voice low yet undeniable.
"Do not mistake her mercy for weakness. Today is not for your lies—it is for judgment."
Seraphina lifted her hand. Vines of celestial light erupted from the Eternal Tree’s roots, piercing the floor of the chamber and wrapping around the Elders. They screamed, bound by the very essence of the Realm they had betrayed.
One elder, trembling, shouted desperately, "We did what we had to! If we resisted, the Demons would have destroyed everything!"
"Lies," Seraphina’s voice cut like a blade. "You sought comfort, not survival. You sought power, not sacrifice. For that... your bond with the Spirit Realm ends here."
The vines tightened, draining their spirit essence. The once-proud Elders withered into husks, their screams fading into silence. The hall grew quiet, save for the heartbeat of the Eternal Tree resonating in triumph.
Igaris watched silently, neither interfering nor questioning. He saw the steel in Seraphina’s heart, and in that moment, he knew she had truly ascended beyond what she once was.
At last, she turned to him, her wrath cooling into something softer.
"With their betrayal ended... the Spirit Realm is whole again.
Now, can you tell me who are you really?"
Igaris smiled faintly. "I am your husband."