Chapter 549: Even the Moon can Appear in the Day

Umbriel faltered mid-air, almost breaking his flight as he felt a searing pain in his head. Such pain could only be inflicted when something very dangerous happened: when his twin dies. Despite being twins, they were like the opposite sides of a coin. One was light, and one was darkness. Luneth was the light, and Umbriel was the darkness.

Umbriel, just like Luneth, had been given a mission to kill and devour as many citizens of Anbord as possible, but who would have thought that in less than five minutes since the war started, his twin sister would be killed. His dark eyes glinted with pain, anger, and wrath. The sky instantly darkened, turning day into night as he descended onto Anbord. Unlike his twin, who was slimmer and lighter, Umbriel, although slim, was bigger and heavier. His horns curved back like black crescents, glinting sharply.

His wings wear leathery and somewhat skeletal, unlike his sister’s feathery ones. In simpler terms, Umbriel looked demonic, and Luneth looked angelic. His aura spread out, causing dark draconic wraiths to descend on Anbord. Soldiers, warriors, and some citizens who had taken up their weapons to fight were scared out of their minds. These wraiths could pass through the barrier, and because of the sudden darkness, which was most likely a darkness domain created by Umbriel, they were practically unstoppable. In just a few seconds, 50 people went missing, dragged into their own shadows. They couldn’t even scream for help. Those who weren’t taken by the wraiths were impaled by shadow spears and spikes that drained them of energy till it sucked dry.

It was a very horrific sight, but just when everyone thought all hope was lost, light appeared. It didn’t disperse the darkness. No. It looked as if it was being charged by the darkness. Squinting for a clearer view, they saw a beautiful silver moon with someone standing on it. They couldn’t see the person’s face or appearance, but they could make out that the person was feminine, and she seemed to be in flowing robes.

Umbriel, on the other hand, could see the person clearly. The person’s aura was similar to the flame dragon, Barki’s aura, meaning that the person was more or less the same level as him. She had long silver hair that flowed down to her knees, fair skin, silver eyes that glowed as intensely as the moon, and elf ears. She also wore a crown, or more like a crown floated on top of her head.

Sensing Umbriel’s gaze, Andriel smiled calmly.

"Looks like Clara finished at her side. I can’t lose to her, or else I will be the last to have my turn~ I can’t afford that!" Andriel muttered with a determined face that stroked Umbriel’s reverse scale so hard that he opened his mouth, gathered a torrent of energy, and shot it at the moon and Andriel. A dragon’s breath wasn’t something that could be countered easily...

Well, the energy attack didn’t even make a sound. It never reached Andriel either. It was absorbed, swallowed by the moon. It didn’t even get the chance to change the terrain. It was nullified, just like that. No sweat. The breath that was capable of erasing cities, kingdoms from the surface of the earth, from Debranlith... had been swallowed.

For a moment, even the wraiths hesitated. Umbriel’s pupils shrank. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"You swallowed it?" His voice came out low, disbelieving, edged with something he hadn’t felt in a long time: Unease. Above him, the silver moon pulsed gently. Andriel stood upon it, robes flowing like liquid light, her expression calm... almost playful.

"Swallowed is such a crude word," she said softly, tilting her head. Her silver eyes glowed brighter. "I prefer... refined."

The moon beneath her shimmered. A soft glow spread outward, cascading down like falling petals of light. Wherever it touched, the darkness didn’t disappear; it changed. The shadows lost their aggression. The wraiths slowed, their forms flickering as if uncertain of their purpose.

Umbriel’s expression twisted.

"What did you do...?"

Andriel smiled.

"I reminded them," she said simply, "that shadows only exist because of light." Her gaze lifted slightly.

"And the moon?"

Her fingers brushed the air.

"Is the master of borrowed light."

BOOM!!!

Umbriel vanished. He reappeared above her in an instant, claws wrapped in condensed darkness, tearing downward with enough force to split mountains. The moon flickered, and Andriel moved. Her body dissolved into light for a fraction of a second, reappearing behind him as his attack passed harmlessly through afterimages. Umbriel twisted mid-air, his wings snapping outward as he unleashed a storm of shadow spears in every direction. They bent, curved, and redirected. The moon’s glow warped their trajectory, pulling them into orbit around it like celestial debris.

"You’re manipulating space?" Umbriel growled.

Andriel shook her head gently. "Not space, but influence."

The battlefield changed conceptually. Darkness spread further, Umbriel pouring more power into his domain. The sky deepened into a suffocating void, swallowing stars, swallowing even the faint glow of distant light. This was his realm, his authority, his concept.

"I am Umbriel!" his voice thundered. "Darkness is not absence. It is dominion!"

The shadows beneath Anbord surged violently. More wraiths emerged. More screams were silenced before they could begin. "This world will drown in me!"

Andriel watched quietly. She raised her hand. The moon expanded. Its presence deepened, pressing against the darkness like a tide against a storm.

"You misunderstand," she said softly. "Darkness is not dominion." Her eyes shone.

"It is dependence."

The moon pulsed: it rose higher, glowing brighter and stronger, and the darkness responded. Umbriel’s eyes widened as he felt it. His power was being drawn and used.

"What... are you?!"

"I am the moon," Andriel said simply.

Her voice now carried something deeper, something ancient.

"I do not fight the night."

Her hand lowered slowly.

"I define it."

The battlefield tilted. Concepts clashed with authority. Umbriel pushed harder. His darkness thickened, becoming almost tangible, crushing, consuming everything it touched. Andriel answered by becoming brighter. The moonlight seeped into every shadow.

Umbriel roared. A true dragon’s roar filled with fury, pain, defiance... and Pride. He surged forward, his entire form collapsing into a singularity of darkness, a living void aimed directly at her. This was everything, all of his power and existence.

Andriel didn’t move. She just looked at him. Time slowed because in that moment, Umbriel saw it: Her truth. She wasn’t opposing him. She wasn’t countering him. She was... completing him. The impact never came, because the moment he entered the moon’s light, he stopped.

Silence fell.

The darkness unraveled like a storm, realizing it had already ended. Umbriel hovered mid-air, frozen. His body was trembling. His power had been subdued. Andriel stepped forward. The moon lowered with her, bringing her gently before him. She reached out and placed her hand against his cheek.

"You’re beautiful," she said quietly. Umbriel’s eyes shook. He tried to move, but it failed.

"...Kill me..." he growled weakly. Andriel blinked in confusion and smiled.

"Why would I do that?"

A pulse of silver light spread from her hand. Umbriel gasped. His wings faltered, his body shrank. His massive form collapsing into something smaller... more manageable, more... contained. The darkness around Anbord receded. The wraiths vanished, and the sky lightened.

Andriel turned slightly, her robes flowing as the moon stabilized beneath her once more. At her side hovered a much smaller form.

Umbriel.

His draconic features were still present, but diminished and contained, his power sealed beneath layers of lunar authority. His eyes burned with rage and humiliation.

Andriel glanced at him and smiled gently. She reached out again and scratched lightly beneath his chin.

Umbriel froze.

"\You’re mine now," she said softly.

Silence followed.