Far from the chaos of Golden Gate, where screams still echoed and the skies burned a furious crimson, Hadrain and Catherine stood silently atop a jagged hill, their figures silhouetted against a storm-dark sky. Shadows swirled around them as dark clouds convulsed like a living thing, thickening with every passing second.
"This is where we stop whatever is happening," Hadrain said, his voice low, resolute, a silent thunder rolling beneath his words.
And with a sudden crack, the world seemed to explode.
A violent burst of energy surged from the ground beneath their feet—an explosion of dark light and chaos—and in an instant, the two vanished into thin air. When the dust cleared, two eerie silhouettes reformed in the heart of the battlefield.
Asher staggered back, his aura already flaring in preparation for a strike. But the moment he laid eyes on them—on Hadrain, with those crimson eyes, and Catherine, glowing faintly with boozing darkness —he froze.
"What the hell..." he whispered, stunned.
Lamia turned slowly, his smile cold and sharp like a blade.
"Now... who the hell do we have here?" his voice curled like smoke—malicious, venomous.
Asher flinched at the tone, but instinct kicked in—he had to run.
He grabbed Jeremy's hand, desperate to escape. But just as he took the first step, a sudden surge of force gripped them—invisible, cruel—and dragged them back like rag dolls. They slammed to the ground inside a massive witch circle, glowing red with shifting runes and symbols.
"Fuck!" Asher cursed, panic flooding him.
Jeremy coughed, his breaths shallow, blood pouring freely from a wound that refused to clot. Poison—black, demonic, and rotting—was already spreading in his veins.
"This isn't good," Jeremy muttered weakly. "He's... he's too strong."
Asher turned toward Lamia, who now stood at the center of the circle, robes billowing unnaturally, dark energy oozing from his limbs like smoke.
"Oh, I see... if it isn't the one and only son of Lucifer," Lamia spat coldly, "and his whore of a wife, come to challenge me."
Catherine stiffened, her lips parting in horror.
That voice—that tone—it wasn't their Lamia.
Not anymore.
"What the hell did they do to you..." she whispered, more to herself than anyone.
Lamia's face twisted into something unrecognizable.
"Don't look at me like that. I didn't ask for this. Those worthless children challenged me—especially the divine being and his pathetic sidekick with that goddamn sword."
His eyes flickered to Asher and Jeremy. Hadrain noticed it.
So this was the one. The boy holding the weapon capable of ending everything.
Hadrain's gaze darkened, his red eyes glowing faintly as he studied Asher and Jeremy like a spider considering a fly.
"You," Hadrain said, voice like iron. "Lady Desdemona. You have one chance. Leave my husband's body... and I might show you mercy."
The air dropped several degrees.
Even Asher flinched at Hadrain's tone—it was so sharp, so piercing it cut straight through him. But they were innocent. Why was Hadrain glaring at them like they were the villains?
Asher leaned close to Jeremy, whispering urgently. "Just stay with me. We're getting out of this. We'll live—for Ezekiel, for everything."
Jeremy didn't answer. His body trembled, his blood still leaking. The poison was taking hold.
But Lamia wasn't going to give them more time.
Rage snapped through him like a whip. "ENOUGH OF THIS!"
He lunged.
Hadrain responded in kind.
The collision was monstrous.
Lamia's blood magic twisted the air, turning the sky crimson. Runes exploded from his hands, ripping apart the earth. Blades made of coagulated blood sliced toward Hadrain, hissing.
But Hadrain lifted his hands and unleashed the dark arts. The ground beneath him cracked as shadows burst upward like tendrils, shielding him. Dark energy spiraled around him, wrapping his form in a cloak of night.
Lamia screamed, and in a wild burst of power, hurled a spear made from human bone. Hadrain caught it with one hand, shattered it with the other, and then—
His eyes turned completely red.
Wings burst from his back—black, massive, made of smoke and fire. He rose into the air, hair whipping around him, a god of vengeance.
"Lady Desdemona," his voice echoed like thunder. "It's time to leave this body."
Lamia convulsed.
A violent, writhing darkness tried to escape Lamia's vessel, screaming, clawing—but the possession held firm. Lamia laughed, blood spilling from his lips.
"You think that will stop me?"
With a savage snarl, Lamia raised both hands and unleashed a gravity curse.
Hadrain screamed. His wings shattered into smoke and he was ripped from the sky, slammed to the ground with a sound like cracking mountains.
Catherine acted. Her hands glowing, she summoned dark fire and lunged.
Lamia merely looked at her—cold, emotionless.
Snap.
Catherine's neck twisted violently, and she dropped like a rag doll, blood pooling around her shattered form.
"No!" Hadrain gasped, still pinned, fury boiling in his chest.
Lamia turned to Asher and Jeremy.
Asher struggled to rise—but Lamia appeared before him in an instant and stomped his chest, crushing him into the ground. Asher screamed, his ribs cracking.
Then Lamia faced Jeremy, who stared up at him, terrified, barely alive.
Lamia began to chant—low, guttural, demonic.
"I command thee to rise... and slay thy partner."
Jeremy's body jerked. Then again.
His mouth opened in a silent scream.
And then it started—the transformation.
His body twisted, bones snapping and re-forming, flesh searing with black energy. His back glowed—and then from his spine erupted the Divine Sword—the very weapon that could destroy Lamia.
But Jeremy no longer had control. His eyes were dead.
Asher, broken on the ground, stared in horror. "Jeremy... no... please... fight it—"
But Jeremy didn't hear him.
He rose, limp and lifeless, like a possessed puppet.
And with inhuman speed, he dashed toward Asher.
Asher summoned his power—light, divine magic, raw energy—but nothing came.
And then—he saw it.
Lamia's hand on his head.
And a dark energy exploded into his skull.
Asher screamed—a raw, agonized sound.
Then Jeremy struck.
The sword pierced Asher's chest, sliding deep, cracking ribs and splitting through muscle.
Blood exploded from Asher's mouth. He gasped.
Jeremy stood above him—motionless, soulless.
Lamia grinned, the circle glowing crimson around them.
"It's done."