The reborn city gleamed under the moonlight. Siren still felt a shiver of disbelief as she took in each restored building, every ruin now a distant memory, as if the devastation had never happened. Her kingdom stood tall once more, and the reason for that was standing right beside her.
Dante, in his colossal dragon form, watched the scene with a satisfied smile before shifting back into his human form. He ran a hand through his black hair, his golden eyes reflecting the night’s glow.
"So, satisfied?" he teased, his voice carrying that careless superiority that defined him so well.
Siren sighed, crossing her arms as she regarded him. "I don’t know if satisfied is the right word… but I’m definitely impressed." She glanced around once more, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders. "Come, let’s go inside. I want to talk to you." Explore stories on freewebnovel
Dante arched a brow, a mischievous smirk curving his lips. "Oh? Finally inviting me in? That sounds dangerous… I hope it’s to your chambers..."
"Just come, Dante." Siren rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t quite hide the small smile on her lips.
They walked together back toward the palace, their presence commanding attention as they passed. However, just as they neared the entrance, a muffled and unsettling sound echoed through the air.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Low, desperate cries mixed with the heavy pounding of something—or someone—striking deep within the castle. Siren halted abruptly, her lupine hearing picking up the details with eerie clarity.
"What… what the hell is that?" she murmured, furrowing her brow.
Dante also perked up, his sharp senses catching the same disturbance.
"Sounds like someone’s locked up down in the dungeons," Dante commented indifferently. "Nothing unusual there."
However, Siren’s expression darkened. She had never left prisoners alive after the war. There was no reason for anyone to be down there.
"This doesn’t make sense." Her tone was firm but laced with uncertainty. "All the traitors were executed. There’s no one in the dungeon."
The pounding continued, now more frantic.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Siren exchanged a quick glance with Dante before they both moved. They descended the castle’s stone staircase, where the scent of damp rock and rusted iron grew stronger. The torches along the walls flickered, casting dancing shadows along the narrow corridor.
The dungeon door was locked, yet the pounding came from within.
Siren felt a chill run down her spine. Something was very wrong.
Without hesitation, Dante raised a hand, and with a casual snap of his fingers, the lock dissolved in a crimson glow. The door creaked heavily as it was pushed open, revealing a solitary cell at the far end of the corridor.
The figure inside the cell moved slowly into the light, the cries ceasing abruptly.
Siren felt her heart stop for a moment.
Her eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat.
There, inside the cell, covered in grime, weighed down by silver chains, was a man she never imagined she would see again.
Velkan.
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Her entire body froze.
No. This isn’t possible.
She had killed Velkan with her own hands. She had felt his last breath, watched the life drain from his eyes. She had ordered his body burned to ensure he would never return.
And yet…
He was there.
"…Siren?" His voice was hoarse, weak, but unmistakable.
She didn’t respond. She couldn’t.
Velkan stared at her with tired yet intense eyes. His face was thinner, his beard unkempt, and his claws were broken, as if he had been trying to claw his way out for weeks.
Dante tilted his head, observing the scene with a glimmer of predatory curiosity in his eyes.
"Interesting… looks like I accidentally brought him back." He glanced at Siren. "Did you kill him with some kind of structure?" he asked.
"I crushed his head with that pillar," Siren said, pointing to a nearby column that looked like it was just waiting to be ripped from the ground and used as a weapon.
Dante looked at the pillar, then back at Velkan, a smirk forming on his lips.
"Hm… smashed his head with that?" He crossed his arms, his sharp gaze analyzing Velkan as if he were a fascinating experiment. "And yet, here he is. Intriguing."
Velkan let out a weak, almost mocking chuckle despite his miserable state.
"Seems like my restoration magic didn’t just apply to the kingdom. It must have reconstructed everything that was destroyed… including a certain werewolf king." Dante ran his tongue over his teeth, pondering, his golden eyes glowing with predatory interest.
Siren felt a chill run down her spine. If that was true, then everything she had eradicated in the past could have returned alongside Velkan. The thought made her clench her fists, struggling to suppress the rising anger and discomfort within her.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself, but Dante had already made up his mind.
"Well, let’s kill him again."
The words left his lips with cruel indifference, as if he were talking about squashing an annoying insect.
Panic seized Velkan. His eyes widened, and he began thrashing inside the cell, pulling at the chains that bound his wrists.
"No! No! No!" His voice came out hoarse, trembling. "Please! I don’t want to go back to that hell!"
Dante merely raised an eyebrow, as if the plea meant nothing.
"You should’ve thought about that before betraying your wife, going against me, and refusing to hand over your son." His tone held no rage, only cold, merciless disdain. "I honestly couldn’t care less."
Velkan realized Dante was a lost cause. There was no persuading him, so he turned to Siren—the only hope he had left.
"Please!" His voice was a desperate lament. "I am your husband!"
Time seemed to stop.
Siren’s mind froze for a moment, but then, something inside her shattered.
A raw, absolute, uncontrollable rage took hold of her being. Her green aura exploded around her like a devouring wildfire, making the air vibrate with her fury. Her white hair began to lift slightly, moved by the wild energy surging from her body. Her chest rose and fell in heavy, almost ragged breaths, while every muscle in her body trembled with pure hatred.
Her eyes, glowing like two furious emeralds, began to bleed—tears of blood streaming down her face, marking the irreversibility of her wrath.
"How... dare you... call me your wife?"
Her voice was no longer the same. It was a low, guttural growl, dripping with resentment and disgust, each syllable saturated with a murderous intent on the verge of being unleashed.
Dante smirked as he watched Siren’s fury overflow, her body trembling with pure rage. But before she could lunge forward and tear Velkan apart, he moved swiftly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his chest. His touch wasn’t meant to restrain her but to soothe her—his hands sliding gently down her waist, holding her with a tenderness that contrasted with the brutality of the moment.
"Shhh... no need to dirty your hands over this trash," he whispered against her ear, his voice laced with a seductive and possessive undertone.
Siren shuddered—not from anger, but from the chill that ran through her skin at his proximity. Her bleeding eyes blinked slightly, her body relaxing for a brief moment in Dante’s embrace.
Velkan watched it all, unable to react.
Thousands of years of memories flashed through his mind like an unending nightmare. He remembered every failed attempt to get close to Siren, every night where the silence between them was louder than any battle. They shared a title, but they had never shared a real bond.
He had never touched Siren like that. Never felt her breath so close. Never had the privilege of holding her in his arms with such intimacy.
And now, right before his eyes, he saw how she surrendered to Dante without hesitation.
Velkan’s eyes shattered completely, like glass breaking into a thousand fragments. The arrogance, the pride, the superiority he once flaunted… all disappeared. What remained was an empty gaze—an irreparable void of someone who realized, far too late, that he had lost long before he had even died.
Velkan barely had time to process his own misery before the temperature in the dungeon dropped abruptly. The dim torchlight flickered, as if the surrounding darkness had a life of its own, and then… it moved.
Pure shadow began slithering across the ground like a black tide, creeping toward Velkan’s fallen body. He tried to move away, but something seized his ankles—twisted, skeletal hands emerging from the darkness, their clawed fingers slicing into his flesh as they held him in place.
Dante chuckled, his golden eyes gleaming cruelly in the dim light.
"You know, I was actually considering letting Siren have her fun first… but I think it’s about time you went back home." He grinned.
The demons began emerging in masses from the shadows surrounding Velkan. Grotesque creatures of indescribable shapes—some humanoid, others beastly—all deformed and ravenous. Their mouths stretched into impossible smiles, dripping with black saliva, their forked tongues flickering in the air as they circled Velkan like predators about to feast on their prey.
He screamed, struggling to fight back, his claws tearing through a few of the beings, but for every one he destroyed, ten more slithered out of the darkness. One of them lunged at him, sinking its teeth into his shoulder, ripping flesh and muscle apart in a ravenous bite. Another tore into his leg, exposing bone.
Velkan roared in agony, but Dante only watched, holding Siren even tighter, his hand gliding possessively down her waist as he whispered into her ear.
"Enjoy the show, my queen."
The demons tore Velkan’s arms from his body, his bones snapping with dry, sickening cracks. His scream was muffled when one of the creatures shoved its hand into his mouth, shattering his jaw before ripping out his tongue. His stomach was split open, his entrails pulled out like mere playthings for the infernal beasts.
But the worst came at the end.
The shadow beneath him began to widen, expanding like a bottomless abyss. A suffocating heat rose from within, and from its depths, glowing red eyes like burning embers started to appear. Blackened hands reached out, grasping at the remains of Velkan, pulling him down as he desperately clawed at anything to hold onto.
His eyes, dilated with sheer terror, met Dante’s. He tried to beg, but all that escaped was a choked, gurgling mess of blood.
"Missed Hell?" Dante smirked.
And then, with one final yank, Velkan was dragged into the abyss, his body vanishing into the darkness. The hole sealed shut, leaving nothing behind but silence.
Dante let out a satisfied sigh, as if he had just crushed an annoying insect, before turning his attention back to Siren. His fingers traced gently across her face, wiping away a drop of blood that had splattered onto her skin.
"Now that’s what I call justice." He teased, pulling Siren closer and healing the Queen’s eyes, restoring them to normal.
"Let’s enjoy ourselves for a bit." He murmured, his touch gliding smoothly over her body. "Right?"