Chapter 327: The Era Of Azrath
Hello, lovely readers!
Here is a Chapter featuring an explosive revelation, shared on my birthday! Thank you for staying with the story and for all the powerstones and golden tickets you have sent for this novel.
I hope you continue the journey until the very end. This author will not disappoint.
Thank you once again, and enjoy!
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[Music recommendation: Secession Studios - Epic Dark Fantasy Music - Evermore]
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"I would not do that if I were you," she said smoothly, cutting Eve off. "Using your powers, I mean. Unless you wish for your body to collapse entirely."
She paused, her calm gaze drifting over Eve with quiet scrutiny.
"Not that you aren’t already on the verge of it." A faint, knowing smile touched her lips.
"I imagine you can feel it. Those binders are draining every last fragment of your strength."
At those words, Eve knew the woman was right. Her body was no longer trembling with rage but with a bone-deep exhaustion that threatened to drag her into darkness at any moment.
Days without food or even a single drop of water had reduced her to this fragile state. Now, she remained conscious through nothing but sheer will, driven by the desperate need to extract answers from the woman wearing her mother’s face.
As silence thickened between them, the woman continued to observe her with that same unsettling composure.
"I shall tell you what," she said at last in her smooth voice. "I will give you the answers you so desperately seek... but only if you behave, refrain from using your powers, and manage to remain conscious until I am finished."
Eve let out a shaky breath, forcing herself to meet the woman’s gaze despite the weight dragging at her eyelids.
"Then tell me," she said, her voice strained yet defiant. "Who are you, and what is your purpose in doing all of this? Why take my mother’s form?"
A faint smile curved the woman’s lips, an expression tinged with quiet amusement as she watched Eve struggle to maintain her composure while exhaustion threatened to consume her.
"Very well," she replied smoothly. "Since you are so eager for answers, allow me to tell you a story, my dear daughter."
She tilted her head slightly, her eyes gleaming with something unreadable.
"It appears that even after your powers have awakened, your memories of the past remain incomplete. Let me help refresh them for you."
Eve’s brow creased at the strange remark about her past, but she remained silent, willing herself to listen to the woman.
Selene’s gaze drifted toward the tower window, focusing on a single volcano near the sea, and she began.
"Thousands of years ago, these very lands were devoid of supernatural beings and were ruled entirely by humans. But as we know, humans have always been a greedy race, hungry for the power to rule the world.
One such king drove himself into madness as he conquered kingdom after kingdom, painting the lands red in his relentless thirst for dominance.
King Malrec Bellathorne was that very ruler, the king who once reigned over Varkhalis.
During one of his invasions, he stumbled upon a cave and discovered ancient writings engraved upon its walls. Intrigued, he dragged a captured prince from the Kingdom of Sunfire to decipher them, after subjecting him to unspeakable torture.
The prince had no choice but to comply. From the ancient script, it was revealed that to transcend humanity and become a higher being, one had to perform a ritual requiring the blood of ten thousand innocents and the mating of siblings on the same sacrificial ground. By doing so, the seeker would evolve and gain tremendous power.
In his bottomless greed, King Malrec sacrificed everyone he could find. He murdered his own wife, children, and brothers, believing it was better to have no one left to oppose him or stab him in the back for the throne.
He slaughtered them all except for his eldest daughter, Zafira, and his son, Soren. They were spared only because they were required to mate with one another to complete the ritual. The siblings had no choice but to obey their mad father’s commands.
The king watched as his son defiled his own daughter in the open, in a pool formed by the blood of the innocent, yet not a single ounce of guilt touched his eyes. The siblings burned with hatred for their father, but they were forced to swallow their rage before the mad king.
When the ritual was complete, what Malrec had imagined did not happen. Instead, something else occurred.
The ritual collapsed the wall that separated the two realms, the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.
With the gates of hell torn open, demons and terrifying creatures of all kinds poured out like a tsunami. And then, a truly powerful being finally set foot upon this land: the dark lord, Azrath.
Lord Azrath’s arrival changed everything.
King Malrec was brutally slaughtered by a demon before he could gain even an ounce of the power he had sought through such a horrific ritual.
As for the king’s son and daughter, who had hidden themselves in fear after watching the scene unfold, they were eventually spotted by the dark lord. Upon learning what had transpired, Azrath took them under his wing and granted them the very gifts Malrec had so desperately desired.
He transformed the siblings into half-demons: Soren was given the ability to control blood, while Zafira gained the power to command any creature from the depths of hell. However, in exchange for this strength, Azrath forced a blood pact upon them, binding their souls to his service forever.
Together, they set out to conquer the world. The once peaceful land of humans, consumed by greed, was transformed into another hell.
It was then that the gods intervened, sending celestial beings to rid the world of its suffering, and thus began the long war known as the Great Ruins.
While light and darkness waged war against one another, Zafira found herself captivated at first sight by the celestial being Malakai, the son of the God of Fire.
Unable to appear before him as the demoness she had become, she practised forbidden magic capable of concealing not only her form but also the darkness within her, allowing her to approach him without being struck down on sight.
One day, she assumed the guise of a helpless maiden and encountered him near his camp, where the human army was stationed. Believing her to be an ordinary human in distress, he offered his aid. In return, she resolved to offer herself as his woman.
However, she was unaware that his heart had already been claimed long before she ever had a chance. The one who held it was Solaira, the daughter of the Goddess of Light.
Zafira attempted countless ways to gain his attention, yet she failed every time, as he would not even acknowledge her presence. Over the following days, suspicion began to rise. No matter how powerful her morphing magic was, celestial beings were not so easily deceived.
Left with no alternative, she was eventually forced to return to Lord Azrath and seek his assistance in winning Malakai.
Being his loyal servant, Zafira turned to Lord Azrath, who revealed the only path before her. The only way to claim Malakai was to eliminate Solaira. With Solaira gone, the war would tilt in their favour, and Zafira would finally have a chance with the man she loved.
Driven by that singular purpose, she fought relentlessly. Yet Solaira proved far too powerful, especially with Malakai standing steadfastly by her side at every turn.
After years of relentless conflict, the war was ultimately lost. Lord Azrath was sealed within that very land, while his followers were slain and wiped from the face of the world."
Selene paused after finishing the tale.
Evelyn, however, had listened with unwavering attention, her gaze fixed upon the woman as though she herself had stood witness to every dreadful event. The sensation unsettled her deeply, and the twisted knot in her stomach returned.
Her gut told her there was more....that the worst part of the story was yet to come.
Selene did not turn towards Eve, keeping her gaze fixed beyond the window as she replied, "Zafira suffered grievous injuries from Malakai’s divine flames, which ruined her once beautiful form, yet somehow she survived.
She vanished into hiding, retreating to depths where none could find her. Her brother, however, lost his life at the hands of the celestial beings.
The demon blood flowing through her veins allowed her to endure the passing centuries. In time, she descended into a deep slumber after vowing to revive Lord Azrath and claim the man she loved once more. She swore to restore the world to its former glory, the era of Lord Azrath.
Years passed, and when she finally returned to the surface, she found the land thriving with countless new supernatural species, and reality struck her with cruel clarity.
She was now a nobody in these lands, and the celestial beings no longer walked this realm.
To live a comfortable life and achieve her goal of reviving Lord Azrath, she needed a position of power.
She could not stay in her current form, which remained charred and ruined by Malakai’s flames.
Thus, she delved once more into forbidden magic, practising relentlessly until she uncovered a sorcery capable of transferring her soul into another’s body."
