"Erebus," his worried mother called out to him, unlike how she was calling him by his title till now. She squeezed out a healing spell which landed on his body, but it was not strong enough to heal all his injuries. With his energy exhausted, the black in his eyes faded, and his eyes turned crimson red. 𝑏𝑒𝘥𝑛𝘰𝑣𝑒𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"He is fine," Drayce said and looked at those four angels who were mocking them with a smile, looking down on them. He wiped away the blood trickling down his mouth. "We have to protect Seren--"

"Now I think about it, this child is resonating with your powers as well, Evanthe," Petra commented. "A half-warlock, half-Dragon..."

Evanthe could only glare at her. She didn't want them to know Drayce was her son, but it seemed like the truth could no longer be hidden.

"That look in your eyes," Petra scoffed. "Well, don't worry. Since he is your--"

Swoosh!

There was another outburst of power, and this time, it was from Seren which shocked everyone.

Seren, who had been unconscious for some time, had awakened. Her eyes flashed between purple and gold, her fury causing the sea of flames wrapping around her to encircle the remnants of the cave.

The tens of angels screamed.

Burning! Their wings, their bodies, they were burning!

Though angels were powerful, that was only against supernatural beings. There was a strict hierarchy between the purity of divinity.

How could the divine power of angels be purer than that of a deity?

There was a reason why the pantheon feared the vengeance of the Deity of Fire. Hellfire was the most destructive divine power in existence!

"Dray, you have to stop your wife."

"What--"

"They came here in secret and are trying to evade the eyes of the gods, that's why they did not dare attack you all together--otherwise, the commotion would alarm the other gods. However, if they are harmed, it will pull the attention of heaven towards Seren. They must not know her existence, or else, she will get us in even more trouble.

"If she kills those angels, not only an army of angels, even gods will descend to catch her!"

Drayce felt his blood grow cold.

He could barely fight four angels...so if an army came...

With a determined gaze, he wrapped himself in darkness and flew towards his wife.

"Seren, stop!"

She didn't look like herself, and it was as if she had not heard him.

"Seren, come back to your senses! You have to stop! Can you hear me?" he asked while dodging the sea of flames surrounding her body.

No matter how he called out for her, there was no reply from Seren. All he could sense from her was strong killing intent.

She wanted to kill those angels!

Despite his reluctance, Drayce had no choice but to help them survive. Otherwise, they would truly perish at this rate.

He tried to spread the power of darkness in front of Seren, attempting to block her vision and distract her. However, his weakened state could not even harm the angels; how could it defeat the hellfire?

His attempt only afforded the angels a slim chance to extinguish the fire on their bodies, but the fire continued to chase them and cage them within, causing them to scream more miserably.

Drayce's calls fell on deaf ears.

Since he was unable to communicate with Seren, he decided to go through the dangerous hellfire surrounding her.

Even if the fire were to burn him, it would be worth it! At this moment, nothing mattered but her. He could not let her be taken away!

Drayce tore through the sea of flames, his steel-like will ignoring everything else but his wife. He wrapped his arms around her furious form, repeatedly shouting her name as his hand cupped her cheek.

"Seren, please! I know you are there. Wake up! Listen to me. You have to stop! You cannot kill them!

"Seren!"

As her furious eyes met his, Drayce was stunned with a realization.

It was not that he managed to endure the pain caused by his body burning. There was no pain in the first place.

'The hellfire... I don't feel it?'

From afar, he could feel the scorching heat of the flames. The air was dry and hot, but the flames themselves were not harming him. It was surprising.

"Seren? Seren?" He thought this must be Seren's arrangement. Even though she was not fully conscious, she must be controlling the hellfire to not harm him. "Please, stop. I'm fine. You saved us. You have done enough."

As if those words held magic themselves, the sea of flames stopped attacking the angels. Although all of them were injured, thanks to Drayce's intervention, none of them died.

However, as Seren let go of those angels, each of them fell on the broken ground, their wings scorched black and unable to fly.

The strongest of them all, Petra, was the only one able to feebly remain on her feet, but even she looked quite ragged, the holy light around her body flickering to nonexistence.

The injured angels looked at Seren in fright.

Sierra, who had just arrived outside the barrier and witnessed Seren's attack against the angels, was shocked as well.

"I-Impossible. This child could control hellfire?" A shiver ran down Petra's spine. 'How can this be? Is she free from her curses?'

The existence of the Half-Dragon, a pawn probably planted by that existence who rules the darkness, already gave Petra the urge to retreat. Since the purple-eyed child could also wield the power of hellfire, then it would be beyond her ability to bring the child away without a massive fight.

This matter would blow out of proportions. It would be impossible to hide it from the eyes of the gods, and Petra dared not expose her secret mission to the pantheon.

The consequences of failing her master's order would pale to the anger of the entire heavens!

"Brothers and sisters, retreat!" Petra ordered.

As half of the angels stayed outside the cave to guard the perimeter, they were unscathed by Seren's fire. They immediately swooped down to carry the crippled angels who faced Seren's attack.

Petra stretched out her relatively uninjured wings, and her gaze hardened as she stared at Sierra who was standing outside the barrier she casted to shield them from the pantheon's eyes.

"Do not think you have won. Protect that child every day, every hour, every minute of her life...Do not let her leave your sight for even a second, for you will never know, that might be the last time you will ever see your precious daughter."

With a chuckle, a soft light wrapped around the angels, and they disappeared as if they never existed in the first place.

A/N- Dear readers, I am aware that the current plot might not interest you as our MCs are weak compared to enemies, the unsolved mysteries, no romance and comedy. But do note that we are leading to the end of plot and to get the answers of all the questions we had till now. Please bear with this current plot though you might find it uninteresting as it is the time for the villains to show up and mark the plot.

After that soon, we will go back to our Drayce and Seren's sweet moments and you will know whether Seren is in love with Drayce or not. And we will have one happy ending.