Holy mana pulsed through the fortress walls in steady circulation cycles that vibrated faintly beneath the polished corridors while scripture engravings hidden beneath the floor redirected pressure toward the outer barriers and chapel wards. Incense smoke drifted from ventilation arches carved near the upper ceilings in pale streams that twisted through the airflow each time armored patrols crossed intersections or servants hurried through side passages carrying oil trays, folded ceremonial cloth, sealed ledgers, and water buckets balanced against their hips. Communication crystals embedded between wall pillars released faint pulses beneath the ward network while choir hymns rolled continuously through the structure in layered vibrations that blended with metal footsteps, shifting armor straps, dragging robes, and low conversations spreading through the inner sectors.
Noctis stood along the upper balcony overlooking the grand prayer hall while blood mana rotated around the scripture pillars beside him in dense crimson currents. Hundreds of Bloodfang Reapers hovered beneath the cathedral ceiling, curved crimson-black blades rotating slowly through distorted airflow while candle flames bent sideways beneath the pressure spreading from the weapons. Incense smoke twisted sharply through the blood mana drifting across the upper arches while priests below interrupted their hymns unevenly row by row. Some turned upward from kneeling positions while others rose too quickly and collided against nearby worshippers, and choir members along the elevated platforms missed entire sections of the hymn rhythm while holy knights near the central aisles dragged swords partially from their sheaths and stared upward toward the balcony shadows.
"Barrier teams to the upper—"
A priest near the central aisle lost the rest of the sentence when the first Bloodfang Reapers descended.
The blades moved through the prayer hall in overlapping trajectories beneath distorted candlelight, some spinning downward through the congregation while others curved sideways through the elevated choir rows. A holy barrier erupted near the front prayer formations, silver runes spreading outward in layered geometric rings while several priests raised both hands together beneath streams of circulating holy mana. The nearest Bloodfang Reapers struck the barrier hard enough for cracks to spread instantly through the glowing surface, and the second impact shattered the formation apart. Fragments of broken holy light scattered across the prayer hall while three priests behind the failed barrier were cut apart at the torso, blood and organs spreading across the scripture floor beneath them.
Screams spread unevenly through the congregation as priests shoved against one another between the prayer rows. Overturned lantern stands crashed across the polished floor, melted wax spilled beneath trampling boots, and one choir member stumbled backward off the elevated platform after a Bloodfang Reaper severed both legs beneath the knees. The upper body struck the stone hard enough for ribs to crack audibly while blood sprayed across nearby hymn scrolls. Another priest raised both arms while holy runes formed around his wrists, but a spinning scythe blade carved through both forearms before continuing through his neck, leaving the detached hands suspended briefly inside the half-formed barrier before blood burst across the collapsing holy construct.
The airflow inside the hall shifted under the rotating blood mana. Incense smoke curled sideways while choir banners snapped against the upper arches. A holy knight near the central stairs raised his shield while shouting toward the fleeing clergy, "Form ranks! Protect the sanctum ro—" before a Bloodfang Reaper crossed vertically through his body and split the armor from helmet through groin. Both halves remained upright for a brief moment before organs slid free through the opening torso and the divided body collapsed apart across the stairs, where two more Bloodfang Reapers crossed through the falling corpse and separated the detached arm from the remaining torso fragments before the body fully struck the floor.
The congregation lost all formation after that. Priests shoved through the aisles while overturned benches trapped others against the floor, and several clergy raised barriers independently rather than together, producing unstable holy walls that flashed unevenly through the hall before Bloodfang Reapers pierced them and shredded the priests behind the collapsing formations. One priest near the rear rows screamed prayers while clutching a glowing scripture seal against his chest. A Bloodfang Reaper struck the seal first, split the holy plate apart, and carved horizontally through the priest's abdomen so the upper body hung briefly above the separated waist while intestines spilled across the polished floor beneath him.
Blood flooded down the central stairs in uneven streams while detached limbs slid beneath fleeing boots. One elderly priest crawled across the floor using only his arms while the lower half of his body dragged behind him in torn robes and exposed organs. His fingers clawed against the polished stone slick with blood while nearby clergy shoved past him toward the side exits. Another priest missing both legs grabbed the edge of an overturned bench and pulled himself forward through spreading gore while screaming for help toward a pair of holy knights retreating near the western doors.
Smaller Bloodfang Reaper daggers spun through the hall beneath the larger scythes. One punctured through the crawling priest's skull from behind, the curved crimson blade bursting from the eye socket before continuing forward into another fleeing target. A second dagger pierced through the throat of a choir member attempting to climb over the benches. The body collapsed sideways across the aisle while the dagger continued through the crowd and punched through the back of another priest's head beneath spraying blood and shattered bone.
More clergy reached the side exits. Heavy chapel doors burst open while cold corridor air rushed into the prayer hall and scattered incense smoke across the blood-covered floor. Several priests nearly escaped into the outer passageways before crimson chains erupted upward through the scripture engravings beneath the thresholds. The chains burst through the polished stone in streams of blood mana while holy runes covered the links in distorted geometry that resembled the fortress's own suppression prayers but carried rewritten structures beneath the surface.
"These are Holy Chains—"
"The inscriptions are wr—"
The chains wrapped around ankles, waists, throats, and wrists before the warnings finished. One priest struck the corridor floor hard enough for teeth to scatter from his mouth while another clawed at the crimson restraints tightening around his chest. Holy suppression pressure spread through the chains while rewritten blood glyphs burned across the metal links. One chained cleric screamed, "These are not ours!" before Bloodfang Reapers curved downward through the doorway opening and cut through the restrained bodies. One priest lost both arms at the shoulders before the chains dragged the screaming torso backward against the floor, and another had the entire upper body shredded apart by three overlapping blades while blood splattered across the corridor walls beyond the prayer hall.
The massacre spread through every section of the chamber at once. Choir platforms collapsed beneath fleeing crowds, lantern stands shattered beneath trampling feet, holy barriers burst apart across the aisles, and blood sprayed across scripture pillars before pooling between the engraved floor lines feeding the fortress wards. Several priests collided near the central stairs and fell beneath the crowd while Bloodfang Reapers carved through the packed bodies from above, sending severed heads and limbs tumbling across the steps beneath the rotating blades.
A senior priest forced his way through the panic near the statue platform while holy mana gathered around his robes. "Stabilize the barriers!" he shouted while shoving terrified clergy aside and raising both hands toward the ceiling. "Knights to the eastern—" A Bloodfang Reaper crossed vertically through him from skull through pelvis, and the body separated down the middle beneath spraying blood while both halves continued stumbling forward for one more step. Intestines spilled across the scripture floor between the divided torso sections before two more Bloodfang Reapers carved horizontally through the remains and scattered them across the platform steps.
Priests continued crawling through the gore. One dragged himself using only a single remaining arm while the other shoulder ended in exposed bone and shredded cloth. Another priest missing the entire lower half of his body reached toward an overturned lantern stand and pulled himself through spreading blood trails while holy prayers collapsed into wet choking sounds beneath the panic. Bloodfang Reaper daggers moved through the survivors in rapid arcs, puncturing through skulls, throats, eyes, and backs of heads before curving toward the next moving target.
The hymn vibrations beneath the floor disappeared beneath screaming. Candles overturned, smoke thickened through the hall, and Bloodfang Reapers carved through the final groups attempting organized resistance near the rear prayer rows while holy knights died beneath overlapping blade strikes that shattered shields apart and split armor through the center seams. One knight raised a glowing holy barrier above three surviving priests crouched behind him. The barrier lasted barely half a breath before five Bloodfang Reapers struck simultaneously, and holy light scattered outward through the chamber while the knight's torso burst apart beneath the collapsing formation and the priests behind him disappeared into spraying blood and torn flesh.
Movement inside the prayer hall slowed gradually afterward. Bodies covered the aisles, detached limbs rested beneath overturned benches, blood dripped steadily from the scripture pillars and stairs, and several crimson chains still tightened intermittently around twitching corpses near the side exits. Incense smoke drifted through the open chapel doors and curled above the spreading gore while wind from the outer corridors moved through the chamber beneath flickering candlelight and rolled shattered lantern glass slowly across the polished floor.
Noctis lowered his hand slightly. Bloodfang Reapers hovered motionless above the ruined hall while blood mana rotated beneath the cathedral ceiling in dense crimson currents. The remaining survivors twitched weakly beneath the corpses piled across the aisles. Devour spread outward through the chamber, and the blood flooding across the floor reversed direction before streaming backward through the scripture engravings toward Noctis. Corpses collapsed inward while flesh blackened rapidly against empty robes and shattered armor. Organs dissolved into dark residue, severed limbs folded inward beneath cracking bone, and blood coating the pillars peeled backward in twisting strands while the polished floor gradually reappeared beneath the retreating gore.
The prayer hall emptied in stages. The last remains disappeared from the aisles, leaving overturned benches, broken lanterns, shattered barriers, torn scripture scrolls, and scattered weapon fragments across the chamber. Incense smoke continued drifting through the air while wind moved through the open side doors. Noctis approached the statue afterward while holy pressure circulated weakly through the remaining blessing inscriptions, and his boots crossed the scripture floor beneath dimming crystal veins as Devour spread across the statue base through dark crimson streams.
Holy mana poured from the blessing arrays and flowed into Noctis while the crystal veins dimmed section by section. The surrounding inscriptions lost their glow, and the pressure feeding the fortress wards weakened beneath the spreading devouring influence until the statue stood dull and lifeless above the ruined chamber. Noctis placed both hands against the statue's legs, applied force through his fingers, and cracked the stone beneath his grip. The pedestal fractured apart while dust and debris spilled across the floor, and he lifted the statue free from the shattered base before rotating his body and hurling it across the chamber.
The massive stone figure crossed the prayer hall beneath compressed air pressure and struck the eastern wall. Stone blocks fractured outward from the impact site, crystal fragments scattered across the floor, and dust clouds rolled through the hall beneath weakened candlelight. Footsteps rushed through the outer corridor moments later. Bishop Seraphel entered the prayer hall beneath swirling dust and drifting debris while holy mana gathered around his robes instinctively. His eyes moved immediately toward the shattered statue remains embedded inside the ruined wall before shifting across the empty chamber littered with broken benches, destroyed barriers, and scattered armor fragments.
Then he noticed Noctis still standing there in priest robes.
The bishop stopped abruptly. Holy pressure gathered around his hands as his gaze shifted across the hall again. There were no bodies and no blood remaining, only destruction, broken inscriptions, and scattered traces of devoured holy power. His breathing tightened while instinct forced him another step backward. "Where is everyone?" he demanded. "What happened here?"
Noctis smiled faintly.
The bishop's gaze moved from the shattered doors to the broken altar and then back toward him. Holy mana gathered harder around his arms while suspicion crossed into visible fear. "You—"
Tier 6 holy sigils erupted around the bishop's hands while compressed holy mana gathered into a blazing spear of light. The spell launched across the prayer hall and struck Noctis directly in the chest beneath expanding holy pressure. The light shattered apart and dispersed into the surrounding air. Noctis continued walking forward through the fading glow without slowing. The bishop stumbled backward hard enough for his robes to catch against broken stone fragments scattered across the floor.
"Stay back!" he shouted while dragging another spell formation into existence. "Do not come closer!"
Noctis kept walking.
The bishop fumbled beneath his robes before pulling out a silver relic cross set with a blue crystal gem at the center. His hands shook while holy pressure gathered violently through the artifact. "Summon Holy Angel!" he shouted, then crushed the crystal between both palms. Blue light expanded outward through the ruined prayer hall while holy mana surged upward into a massive summoning array spreading across the air above the shattered chamber. Wind pressure rolled downward through the cathedral while scripture fragments and dust spiraled upward beneath expanding holy radiance.
Noctis stopped walking.
Above the ruined prayer hall, a descending holy presence began pressing downward through the summoning gate. Blue holy light spread through the chamber in expanding currents while broken stone fragments lifted slowly from the shattered floor beneath the descending pressure. Dust spiraled upward through the airflow around the ruined statue remains embedded inside the eastern wall, and the weakened scripture engravings scattered across the chamber pulsed erratically beneath the sudden return of dense holy mana. Torn banners hanging from the upper arches snapped violently while incense smoke twisted between crimson blood aura and descending holy radiance that pressed downward through the expanding summoning array above the cathedral ceiling.
The bishop knelt near the fractured altar steps clutching the shattered remains of the relic cross against trembling hands while blood from earlier cuts dripped down his sleeves and soaked into the ruined scripture floor beneath him. His breathing came unevenly through the pressure spreading across the hall while holy mana gathered around his body, the remaining fragments of faith clinging to the descending radiance forming overhead. The summoning array rotated slowly above the ruined chamber. Layered holy sigils unfolded outward in massive concentric rings while streams of pale light descended through the center and gathered into a humanoid silhouette suspended above the prayer hall floor.
White robes formed first beneath the descending mana pressure. Long layered cloth drifted through the spiraling air currents while silver embroidery along the hems glowed faintly against the blood-darkened hall. A holy staff condensed within slender hands wrapped in pale radiance while black straps covered the angel's eyes beneath flowing silver-white hair that shifted through the surrounding pressure currents. Six wings spread gradually behind the descending figure, feathers releasing pale motes of holy light that drifted downward across the ruined chamber and dissolved against the lingering blood mana still circulating beneath the ceiling.
Cracked scripture pillars vibrated beneath the collision of opposing pressures. The bishop raised his head toward the descending angel while holy tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. "A holy angel," he whispered, voice shaking while dust drifted through the hall around him. "Please… purge this demon…"
Noctis laughed.
The sound spread through the ruined prayer chamber beneath the shifting pressure while his priest disguise dissolved into streams of fading holy mana around his body. The borrowed robes blackened and peeled away into crimson-black particles while his trench coat reformed across his shoulders beneath circulating blood aura. Crimson patterns spread faintly beneath his skin while abyssal pressure rolled outward from his body in dense waves that pushed against the descending holy radiance overhead. Broken lantern frames rattled across the floor, cracks spread farther through the fractured scripture pillars, and holy pressure circulating around the summoning formation distorted unevenly against the expanding blood aura.
The bishop staggered backward on his knees while his breathing shortened. "No…" His eyes widened while holy mana fluctuated around his trembling hands. "You were…"
Noctis continued laughing softly while crimson eyes reflected the descending holy radiance overhead. The angel lowered slowly toward the prayer hall floor while holy pressure gathered around the staff held within both hands. The black strap covering the angel's eyes shifted slightly beneath the spiraling airflow while the six wings spread wider through the chamber. Holy sigils ignited across the surrounding floor beneath the descending presence while broken holy inscriptions embedded in the ruined hall reignited faintly against the pressure.
The angel's head tilted toward Noctis.
A roar erupted through the prayer chamber as holy pressure expanded outward, lifting shattered stone fragments from the ground while scripture dust spiraled through the air. Tier 7 holy sigils unfolded around the angel's staff while compressed holy mana gathered into a spear of white-gold radiance above the ruined hall. The spell launched downward, and Holy Smite crossed the chamber beneath high pressure currents while the remaining candle flames bent sideways from the force of the attack.
Noctis kept laughing.
He raised one hand casually, and the incoming holy spell shattered apart before reaching him. The spear of compressed holy mana destabilized beneath his gesture while the surrounding sigils collapsed into drifting particles of fading light that scattered across the ruined floor. Shockwaves rolled outward through the chamber and extinguished several remaining lantern flames while Noctis remained standing beneath the fading holy glow without slowing his forward steps.
The angel's wings twitched sharply. Holy mana surged through the surrounding floor inscriptions while chains erupted upward from the shattered scripture lines beneath Noctis's feet. White-gold Holy Chains wrapped around his wrists, waist, chest, and legs while dense suppression pressure spread through the bindings and tightened violently against his body. The bishop's expression brightened with desperate relief. "Yes… yes, restrain him…"
The chains tightened harder, and holy inscriptions along the links ignited brighter beneath the pressure. Noctis flexed his shoulders slightly. The Holy Chains fractured, split, and burst apart into glowing fragments that scattered through the chamber while holy pressure rolled outward in collapsing waves across the ruined floor. Several broken pillars cracked farther beneath the shockwave while the angel's wings shifted unevenly through the destabilized mana.
The bishop's face drained completely. "What…" His voice fell into a whisper while his hands shook. "What sort of demon are you…"
Noctis did not answer. He walked forward through the ruined prayer hall while broken glass shifted beneath his boots and dust drifted through the fractured holy radiance still hanging across the chamber. The angel raised the holy staff again while layered sigils unfolded rapidly through the surrounding air. Tier 8 barrier formations spread outward between them in massive rotating layers of glowing scripture and compressed holy mana. The barrier stabilized, holy pressure gathered through the formation, and Noctis continued walking.
The barrier failed to reject him. The surrounding holy sigils distorted around his body while rotating scripture layers collapsed inward one after another beneath the blood aura spreading from his skin. The angel's wings pulled inward slightly while the staff trembled within tightening fingers. Holy mana fluctuated unevenly through the barrier geometry as Noctis stepped through the formation without resistance.
The angel staggered backward.
The bishop stared upward in horror. "The barrier…" His lips trembled unevenly. "Why is the barrier not rejecting him…"
Noctis raised one hand. Crimson chains erupted through the shattered prayer hall floor beneath the angel, bursting upward in overlapping streams of blood mana while rewritten holy runes glowed along the darkened links. The angel's wings spread violently while attempting to ascend, but the chains wrapped around both legs before coiling around wrists, waist, and wings. The holy staff slipped free from the angel's grasp and struck the broken floor beneath scattering sparks of fading holy mana. The chains tightened until floor tiles cracked beneath the restraint pressure, and several white feathers tore free while the angel struggled against the bindings.
Noctis approached through the settling dust and stopped directly before the restrained angel. He raised one hand, and the angel roared when his palm pressed against the center of her chest through the white robes. Holy mana burst outward while the surrounding chains rattled against the pressure. The angel twisted against the restraints while the wings convulsed repeatedly through the chamber airflow, but Noctis remained steady and watched the interaction of her mana with his blood aura.
Blood aura spread slowly from his palm into the angel's body. Abyssal pressure followed afterward. Black liquid emerged beneath his fingertips before spreading gradually across the angel's chest and shoulders. The substance moved across the white robes while crimson chains wrapped around the angel began secreting the same dark fluid through the glowing runes carved along their surfaces. The angel screamed, and the sound shook dust from the upper arches while holy mana convulsed through the chamber. Black liquid spread farther across pale skin and feathers while the holy radiance surrounding the angel destabilized beneath the invading corruption.
The bishop stumbled backward through broken debris while staring at the transformation unfolding before him. "No… no, stop…"
The angel's halo flickered unevenly overhead. Black cracks spread through the holy light. Noctis poured more blood aura directly into the restrained body while the dark liquid crawled across the angel's throat, wings, and face in expanding streams. The bishop suddenly turned and tried to flee toward the shattered corridor entrance, but crimson chains erupted upward beneath him before he reached the opening. These chains differed from the previous restraints. Serrated blades extended from the tips, and they pierced directly through both thighs before driving through shoulders and forearms hard enough to lift the bishop partially from the floor. Blood sprayed across the broken stone while the bishop screamed and clawed at the restraints pinning him in place.
The chains tightened deeper through flesh. The bishop's body shook while blood dripped steadily from the suspended limbs. Meanwhile, black liquid covered nearly all of the angel's body. Only fragments of white robes remained visible beneath the spreading corruption. The dark substance thickened afterward, inflating outward around the restrained angel until a massive black sphere pulsed above the ruined prayer hall floor. Crimson chains remained embedded through the surface while pressure waves spread outward from the cocoon in slow rhythmic pulses. Holy mana and blood aura rotated together beneath the surface while distorted wing silhouettes shifted faintly through the black sphere.
Noctis pulled his hand away and observed. Cracking sounds echoed from inside intermittently while black liquid dripped steadily downward across the broken floor and dissolved through the shattered scripture engravings. The bishop hung pinned against the debris while blood continued dripping from the chain wounds through trembling robes. His voice broke when he spoke again. "What… are you doing to her…"
Noctis ignored him.
The cocoon remained suspended above the ruined hall while pressure fluctuations rolled outward continuously through the chamber. Dust drifted across the cracked floor while the remaining candle flames flickered weakly against the unstable mana spreading through the air. Time passed slowly inside the ruined cathedral. The cocoon continued pulsing while cracks spread gradually across the black surface. Thin streams of crimson light leaked through the fractures while black liquid spilled downward in thicker streams across the broken floor beneath.
Another crack spread across the surface.
Then another.
The cocoon ruptured, and black liquid burst outward through the ruined hall while a figure dropped from the shattered sphere and struck the floor heavily beneath spreading wings. Dark fluid splashed across the stone while the collapsed remains of the cocoon slid around the fallen body in steaming streams. Crimson-black wings spread slowly across the floor first, followed by long black hair spilling across pale skin. The figure twitched weakly, one hand pressing against the shattered floor while the body pushed upward unsteadily through the dripping black liquid. Crimson eyes lifted gradually beneath strands of dark hair while the newly transformed wings shifted through the lingering pressure currents.
The bishop stared without speaking. Fear hollowed his expression completely.
Noctis approached the fallen angel slowly before extending one hand toward her. The transformed angel stared at the offered hand for several seconds, then accepted it. Her fingers closed around his hand with uncertain strength, and Noctis pulled her gently onto her feet while black liquid dripped from the crimson-black wings onto the ruined scripture floor beneath them. She swayed once, then steadied. Her breathing moved unevenly as blood, holy, and abyssal energies circulated together through her body in balanced layers.
"How do you feel?" Noctis asked.
The fallen angel lowered her gaze toward her hands first. Crimson eyes traced slowly across pale fingers, blackened wings, and the blood aura circulating faintly beneath her skin before lifting again toward him. "Master…" Her voice came softly beneath the drifting dust. "It seems I am fine."
Noctis did not answer immediately. The ruined prayer hall continued settling around them while weak holy light filtered through the broken eastern wall and caught along the black liquid still dripping from her wings. For the first time since the transformation completed, he truly looked at her face. Her long black hair clung to pale cheeks in damp strands, and her crimson eyes no longer carried the distant obedience of a summoned angel but the newly awakened awareness of something bound to him through blood and corruption. The structure of her features, the calm restraint beneath the transformation, and the way she looked at him without fear pulled a memory from a life older than this body.
Yinxue.
The name remained inside him. It did not leave his mouth, but it moved through his thoughts with enough force to still his expression. He remembered another world where he had been Haotian, another lifetime where moonlit courtyards, sect halls, cultivation storms, and long wars had filled his path. He remembered Yinxue standing near him after battles, remembered her quiet steadiness, remembered the controlled warmth in her gaze, and remembered the way she had trusted him without needing unnecessary words. The fallen angel before him was not Yinxue. Her hair, eyes, aura, wings, and existence were different. Yet something in her face and the way she carried herself struck the memory hard enough that he stared longer than intended.
"Master?" the fallen angel asked softly.
Her voice returned him to the ruined cathedral. Dust drifted through fractured holy light, black liquid spread in cooling streaks across the floor, and the bishop's strained breathing scraped from the chains behind them. Noctis looked at her again. Beautiful, dangerous, compatible. The resemblance to Yinxue did not control his decision, but it sharpened the pull already forming in him. This fallen angel had been created through his blood, reshaped from holy authority, and stabilized under his abyssal influence. She was not a servant taken from the Church. She was the first being born so close to his own nature that she could stand beside him.
The decision formed cleanly.
He wanted her.
Not as a tool.
Not as a subordinate.
As his wife.
The fallen angel tilted her head slightly while watching his face. "Master… could you give me a name?"
Noctis lifted his hand and brushed gently against her cheek. The gesture left a clean line through the black fluid clinging to her skin. His fingers slid beneath her chin afterward and raised her gaze toward him while the bond connecting them pulsed faintly beneath the pressure filling the chamber.
"From now on," he said quietly, "your name will be Nocthyrael."
The fallen angel repeated the name under her breath. "Nocthyrael…"
The name settled over her without resistance. Her wings shifted softly behind her, and the crimson light within her eyes brightened as if the identity had found a place inside her new existence. She looked back at him with more focus than before. "Nocthyrael," she repeated, this time with certainty. "That is my name."
"Yes," Noctis said.
She remained close to him while cold wind moved through the shattered wall behind them and stirred her black hair against her shoulders. Her gaze searched his face again with newborn caution and instinctive attachment. "Master… what am I to you?"
The bishop lifted his head weakly at the question. His blood continued dripping onto the broken floor beneath him while the chains held him suspended against the debris. Noctis did not look toward him. He kept his attention on Nocthyrael and answered with the decision already settled inside him.
"You will become mine," Noctis said.
Nocthyrael froze beneath his hand.
The bond between them pulsed once, and her wings shifted behind her as warmth spread across her pale face beneath the dim holy light. "Become yours?"
"You will become mine."
Her fingers curled slowly at her sides. She did not reject the words, and she did not step away. The bond connecting them grew warmer beneath the blood aura circulating through the chamber, and the newly stabilized energies inside her body moved in closer rhythm with his presence. Her crimson eyes remained fixed on him as the answer settled into her.
"I would like that," Nocthyrael said.
Noctis smiled faintly, then leaned forward and kissed her.
Nocthyrael released a soft hum against his lips before returning the kiss. Her hands rested lightly against his chest while black wings folded gradually around them beneath the drifting dust and fractured holy light. The kiss remained slow at first, shaped by her uncertainty and his control, then deepened as the bond between them stabilized further. Blood aura circulated around both bodies while the weakened holy inscriptions beneath their feet flickered and dimmed again under the pressure.