Volume 2 — Chapter 6: The First Shadow of War
The battlefield had finally grown quiet.
For nearly a month, the land had trembled under the clash between Icarus Grimm and the Creator's Descendant. Now only silence remained.
Cracked earth stretched endlessly across the horizon. Mountains that once stood tall had been reduced to jagged ruins. Rivers had been redirected by the sheer violence of the battle.
Yet in the center of it all stood Icarus, calm and unmoved.
Behind him, his wings of distorted reality slowly folded inward, shrinking back into nothingness as if space itself were swallowing them.
The air around him stabilized.
But something else lingered.
A faint tension.
Something was changing.
Beside him, Seraphine walked across the broken ground, lightly kicking a small stone as she moved.
She glanced around the battlefield with mild curiosity.
"Well… you really ruined the scenery."
Icarus didn't respond.
Seraphine folded her arms behind her back and tilted her head toward him.
"You fought that thing for almost a month, you know."
Still nothing.
She stepped a little closer to him, leaning forward slightly.
"Not even a little tired?"
Icarus spoke without looking at her.
"No."
Seraphine smiled softly.
"Of course not."
She turned her gaze toward the distant mountains.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then suddenly—
Nexus appeared.
A translucent screen of dark energy formed in the air beside Icarus.
[Warning.]
[Large-scale dimensional disturbances detected.]
Icarus finally shifted his gaze slightly.
"What kind?"
The system responded immediately.
[Two separate spatial openings detected.]
[Estimated distance: 2,300 kilometers.]
Seraphine blinked.
"Oh?"
She looked at the floating display curiously.
"Something interesting?"
Before Nexus could respond—
The sky trembled.
Far beyond the horizon, the clouds twisted violently.
A massive pillar of golden light erupted upward into the sky.
Moments later—
A second disturbance appeared.
But this one was different.
The sky tore open like a wound.
Dark crimson energy poured out like a burning storm.
Seraphine's eyes widened slightly.
"Wow…"
Her voice sounded almost impressed.
"That's not normal."
Nexus confirmed it.
[Energy signatures identified.]
[Heaven energy.]
[Hell energy.]
For several seconds, silence fell between them.
Then Seraphine slowly turned to look at Icarus.
"Well… that's suspicious."
Icarus stared toward the distant disturbances.
His expression remained unchanged.
"Probably."
Seraphine raised an eyebrow.
"Probably?"
She laughed softly.
"Two massive dimensional rifts appear out of nowhere and that's your reaction?"
Icarus turned slightly and began walking.
Seraphine blinked.
"…Hey."
She quickly followed him.
"Where are you going?"
"To see."
Seraphine smiled widely.
"That's more like it."
She walked beside him now, clearly enjoying the situation.
For the next several minutes they moved across the ruined land in silence.
Then—
Icarus suddenly stopped.
Seraphine nearly bumped into him.
"Whoa—"
She stepped back.
"What?"
Icarus slowly looked up at the sky.
His wings erupted outward instantly.
Reality distorted violently around him.
The air warped.
Space twisted.
Seraphine's eyes lit up.
"Oh… we're flying."
Before she could say anything else—
Icarus grabbed her arm.
Then the world vanished beneath them.
The wings surged forward.
Reality bent like water.
Within seconds they had risen thousands of meters into the air.
Wind roared violently around them.
Seraphine's hair whipped wildly in the rushing air, but she didn't look frightened at all.
In fact—
She looked thrilled.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked down at the endless landscape beneath them.
"You know…"
She said casually.
"This is way more comfortable than walking."
Icarus didn't answer.
The two of them continued flying.
From this height, the scale of the disturbances became clearer.
The golden pillar in the distance pulsed with divine energy.
Around it, countless smaller lights floated like stars.
Seraphine narrowed her eyes.
"…People."
Thousands of humans had gathered near the golden rift.
Some knelt.
Others raised weapons.
A few simply stared upward in awe.
Seraphine leaned slightly forward.
"Looks like someone started a religion."
But then she turned her gaze toward the second disturbance.
The crimson rift.
That one was very different.
Dark energy poured from it like smoke.
Around it stood groups of warriors—humans who radiated dangerous, violent energy.
Some carried weapons shaped like demonic artifacts.
Others wore armor made of strange black metal.
Seraphine whistled softly.
"And someone else started a cult."
Icarus observed both scenes silently from above.
Factions had begun forming.
Humans were gathering under different powers.
Just as the Creator's dimension had intended.
Evolution.
Competition.
Conflict.
Seraphine glanced sideways at him.
"You're not thinking of joining either of those groups… right?"
Icarus looked down at the golden rift again.
Then at the crimson one.
Finally he answered.
"No."
Seraphine grinned.
"Good."
Her voice became softer.
"Because I'd hate having to destroy them for you."
Icarus ignored the comment completely.
Instead he turned his wings slightly.
They began flying again.
This time toward a distant direction.
Seraphine blinked.
"Wait… we're leaving?"
"Yes."
She looked confused.
"You're not going to check them out?"
"Not necessary."
Seraphine stared at him for a moment.
Then she suddenly laughed.
"You really don't care about anything, do you?"
Icarus said nothing.
But far behind them—
Inside the golden rift—
Several Gods watched the world below through a massive projection.
One of them spoke.
"The humans gather quickly."
Another nodded.
"They are useful tools."
A third god leaned forward.
"Soon we will have enough players."
The image shifted.
The crimson rift appeared.
On the other side of that projection—
Devils observed the same world.
One devil chuckled.
"Look at them scramble."
Another devil grinned.
"Soon they'll fight each other for us."
Back in the sky above the world—
Icarus and Seraphine continued flying.
Neither of them knew that far above existence…
A war had already begun forming.
And sooner or later—
The Void would become its center.