Chapter 449 — I Don’t Want To

Luna said nothing for a long moment, her silver eyes studying his face.

Then she spoke, her voice completely calm.

"I don’t want to."

Azareth froze mid-step, his expression shifting to genuine confusion.

"You... refuse?"

His head tilted again, wings rustling with agitation.

"I don’t understand... Nobody has ever refused this offer before. The chance to transcend your limitations, to become something greater–"

"Is there even a need to ask why?"

Luna interrupted, her voice hardening.

"I don’t even know you! Not to mention, everyone I care about is here... My family, my friends, my responsibilities. Why would I abandon my world to go fight in a war that has nothing to do with me?"

Azareth’s confusion deepened, his wings spreading wider as if physical expansion would help him comprehend.

"Your attachment to this place is... admirable in its sentimentality, but ultimately shortsighted." His tone shifted, becoming almost lecturing. "Most human worlds across the universe haven’t even awakened to Aura yet. They remain primitive, unaware of the greater reality beyond their skies."

His golden eyes swept across the academy buildings visible in the distance.

"Your world only awakened two centuries ago when the portals first opened. You are infants compared to races that have existed for thousands of years."

Luna’s eyes narrowed, her grip on the chained blade tightening.

"So what? We’re still here, still surviving."

"For now." Azareth’s expression became grave. "But understand this clearly, child. Your world is special in ways your kind doesn’t comprehend yet. Almost every race in the universe will come to covet what exists here eventually."

His white wings folded partially.

"The demons will come for conquest... The elves will come for resources. The giants will come for territory. The beast people, and countless others, all seeking to claim this world for themselves..."

He paused, letting the weight of that sink in.

"The Light Bearers are the only major race that covets nothing. We seek only survival and the preservation of balance. We offer you strength without demanding servitude afterward."

His hand extended again, more insistent this time.

"The Oracle specifically sent me here to find you. Your potential was shown to her in visions spanning multiple futures. You are meant for greater things than dying on this world when it inevitably falls."

Luna’s jaw clenched, her mind racing through responses.

But before she could speak, Azareth moved.

Golden chains materialized around her body, wrapping her arms and legs and torso before she could even process what was happening.

Her Aura tried to flare, but the chains suppressed everything instantly.

Azareth’s expression became apologetic as he began pulling her toward the dimensional tear.

"Forgive me, but the Oracle’s commands supersede individual choice. Your potential is too valuable to leave wasted on this world."

The chains dragged Luna backward, her boots scraping against stone.

’No No No NO!’

Panic flooded through her.

’Why?! Why is this happening?!’

Five meters from the tear.

Her feet left grooves in the terrace floor as she twisted desperately, trying to plant herself.

The chains yanked harder.

Four meters.

’I don’t want to leave! Damian! Mom and Dad... I still don’t know what happened to them!’

Three meters.

Azareth’s wings spread fully, preparing to pull them both through.

Two meters.

Luna could see through the tear now, glimpses of impossible structures made of beautiful materials.

’Someone please!’

One meter.

The dimensional tear loomed directly in front of her face, reality peeling back.

Her shoulder touched the edge.

Cold flooded through that contact point, alien and wrong, spreading through her body like ice in her veins.

’Someone–’

As if answering to her prayers, a hand fell on Azareth’s shoulder and the Light Bearer froze instantly.

The golden chains died, energy dispersing like smoke.

Luna collapsed to the ground, gasping.

A voice sounded beside Azareth, casual and amused.

"Tsk tsk... A being centuries old trying to kidnap a little girl. That’s not a good look, friend."

’Who–’

Azareth turned his head with visible effort, his neck muscles straining like he was fighting against tremendous resistance.

A middle-aged man stood beside him, unremarkable features that would blend into any crowd, wearing a simple suit that looked completely ordinary.

There was no Aura radiating from his body and no power signature visible to Azareth’s senses.

Just a human standing there like he’d appeared from nowhere.

’Impossible!’

Azareth’s mind raced, trying to reconcile what his senses told him with what his instincts screamed.

’I didn’t sense his approach at all! He just... appeared.’

His eyes tracked the hand on his shoulder, noting how the casual grip prevented him from moving despite his strength.

’I can’t break free... My body won’t respond... What kind of skill is suppressing my movement?’

He forced words through his paralyzed throat.

"Who... who are you?"

The man smiled, the expression carrying genuine amusement.

"Me? Just a government worker trying to keep things running smoothly."

He waved his free hand casually, and Luna’s body lifted from where she’d fallen, floating gently through the air until she settled beside him at a safe distance.

"Though I suppose my official title is Chairman of the Earth Federation." His tone remained conversational. "Speaking of your recruitment efforts across the universe..."

The book floated toward Azareth, pressing against his chest.

"There’s a concept you should familiarize yourself with before continuing... It’s called consent. Take this human dictionary with you and hand it over to your Oracle once you’re back home. Page 147 has a very clear definition."

The Chairman’s pleasant expression didn’t waver.

"Now shoo~ Hurry back to wherever you came from."

His grip on Azareth’s shoulder tightened fractionally, and suddenly the temperature around them seemed to drop.

"And don’t you dare open a dimensional tear into our world again... I won’t be polite next time."

Azareth’s face flushed with anger and humiliation, centuries of being treated as one of the universe’s apex beings rebelling against this casual dismissal.

His eight wings flared with golden radiance, power radiating outward.

"You dare speak to me with such disrespect?! I am a High Commander of the Order, guardia–"

Before he could finish, the Chairman waved his hand–

"Sigh... Why doesn’t anyone ever listen to me? Maybe... I’m just too polite."

–And Azareth’s body began disintegrating.

The process started at his fingertips, flesh and bone breaking down into golden particles that scattered into the night air.

His wings went first, the eight appendages crumbling from the tips inward like paper catching fire.

’A law?! SS rank!’

Pain exploded through his consciousness, unlike anything he’d experienced in centuries of brutal warfare.

His eyes went wide with shock and terror as the disintegration spread up his arms, consuming flesh and exposing bone that dissolved moments later.

’What kind of law is this?!’

His mind scrambled desperately, trying to identify the power being used against him.

’Humans shouldn’t possess understanding of such powerful laws! Their world is too young, their understanding too limited!’

His torso began crumbling, golden particles drifting upward.

’I’m... going to die in this primitive world...’

The realization hit with absolute clarity.

CRACK

Suddenly, a force erupted from the dimensional tear behind him, slamming into what remained of his disintegrating form.

Golden light wrapped around Azareth’s crumbling body, stabilizing the decay and halting its progress completely.

The dimensional tear expanded violently, edges crackling with power.

A feminine voice emerged from the other side, that made reality vibrate.

"How interesting."