Chapter 139: The Monster Inside Me
Azriel
Every second felt like an eternity, yet time was slipping through my fingers far too fast. Soon, I would have to bid farewell to Seraphel, and as the daylight waned, a desperate part of me wished I possessed the power to freeze time itself, trapping us in this quiet sanctuary forever.
"Are you sure you want me to come to the Hall of Justice with you?" Seraphel asked softly as we walked hand in hand down the grand, cold hallways leading to the tribunal.
I nodded, my grip on his fingers tightening slightly. It felt as though the moment I let him out of my sight, he might vanish into thin air.
"If the sight becomes too gruesome, I will gladly carry you away from there," I murmured, leaning down to brush my lips against his hair. "I just want to hold you close for every remaining second until my insufferable brother drags you away tomorrow. I am going to miss you and I will miss you so much but I have to let you go becasue it’s all for the best.’’
Seraphel nodded gently, leaning his weight comfortably against my shoulder as we stepped through the massive iron doors of the hall.
Lumiel was already standing near the dais, his eyes gleaming as he idly balanced a massive battleaxe in one hand. He wore a brilliant, dark smile, looking like a man who had just won a grand lottery—no doubt because he had already picked out which traitors he planned to butcher.
"What have you uncovered so far, brother?" I demanded, my voice echoing across the chamber as I guided Seraphel toward the velvet throne at the center of the room.
Once he was seated, I beckoned to Malachi to explain.
Malachi stepped forward instantly, bowing his head in deep reverence. "Your Highness, Prince Lumiel has already conducted a thorough memory extraction on the conspirators, and..." He paused, gesturing sharply to the royal guards stationed at the heavy iron grates.
The guards dragged the prisoners into the center of the hall in heavy, anti-magic chains.
Lord Vaust was dragged across the cold stone, weeping, followed closely by Lady Mireth and Lady Lydia—all high-ranking human noble relatives of the concubines I used to dote upon before Seraphel entered my life.
"Tell me, brother," I began, stepping down from the dais with a predatory grin stretching across my face, "which among these pathetic insects dared to plot against my mate? Which ones wished to end his life?"
Lumiel raised his axe, pointing the heavy blade toward the entire group. "All of them. Their minds are overflowing with foul greed and ambition, and every memory shows their obsession with eliminating the human. Though, amusingly enough, their perverse loyalty to you remains quite real.’’
Before I could take another step toward them, Lord Vaust threw himself onto the floor, crawling forward until his forehead hit the cold stone at my boots.
"It’s true, Your Highness! We only sought to eliminate the human because he is unfit to stand beside a Sin!" he sobbed, his voice cracking with sheer terror. "We did it to protect you! We knew he could be deceiving you! Please, have mercy, Your Highness!" He lifted his tear-stained face, pointing a trembling finger toward Lady Lydia and Lady Mireth.
"My son Lioren was murdered! He was framed! He would never tamper with the Tower of Prosperity and put the realm at risk! It was their brother and nephew! Lady Mireth’s kin were in direct contact with Elysium, and Kaevian is the traitor who sent Sylven to his death! He is the one with the dark magic who sent them right here! have mercy your highness. I will never betray you ever and...’’
"ENOUGH!"
I unleashed my Celestial Voice, the deep tone booming shattering the stone beneath our feet and silencing him in the blink of an eye. Combined with the dark, restless energy swirling within my demonic core, the overwhelming pressure crushed down on Lord Vaust’s lungs, making his heart race violently until he gagged and coughed up a pool of fresh blood onto the marble floor.
"I will not listen to another word of your pathetic deflections," I warned, my tone dropping into a deadly whisper before turning my gaze toward Lady Mireth and Lady Lydia. "For years, I kept you two directly under my wing, elevating you to high ministers. But in the end, humans truly are nothing more than insufferable, parasitic pests." I let out a soft, cold laugh. "You never cease to amaze me with your foul nature. You humans are infinitely more treacherous than the Sins, and you deserve a fate far worse than simple death."
"It is because you changed, Your Highness!" Lady Mireth shrieked, suddenly forcing herself to stand despite the crushing pressure in the air. "Ever since that human arrived, you stopped listening to us! You abandoned your ministers! We couldn’t sit back and watch a fragile human steal everything we worked to build, which is why he needed to die! He could be...’’
"Die?" I roared, my voice vibrating through the entire hall. "You wanted my lover to die?"
A dark, twisted chuckle escaped my throat as I raised my hand. Thick, barbed shadow-vines erupted from my palm, twisting violently through the air until they shot forward and wrapped tightly around Lady Mireth’s throat, hoisting her high off the ground.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
The murderous whispers of Mirevale’s curse burst into my mind like a raging tempest, beating against my skull and sending my heart thrashing against my ribs.
The violent surge of bloodlust drowned out my sanity, and within seconds, the dark energy infusing the vines began to corrode Lady Mireth’s physical body, causing her flesh to rapidly wither and fade into ash before my very eyes.
The vines dropped her lifeless, half-dissolved remains onto the floor with a dull thud.
A collective, terrified gasp echoed through the room. The remaining prisoners scrambled backward in horror, and even Malachi instinctively retreated a step, suffocated by the sheer intensity of my demonic aura.
This was no longer just execution—this was the unhinged wrath of the curse taking complete control of my mind.
’’Kill Seraphel,’’ The voices echoed over and over again in my head.
And all I could imagined was choking the life out of Seraphel once I laid my eyes on him.