Chapter 348: Wrath Of A Brother
Slightly longer Chapter ahead...
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[Music recommendation: Rok Nardin - The Mad Queen]
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Damien went completely still, as though a bomb had just been dropped on his head. And in many ways, it truly was, because he could not process what he had just heard.
His wide crimson eyes slowly lifted as another blast echoed nearby, and for the first time, he truly took in the apocalyptic state of the place where he was standing.
His eyes widened even further as he saw a massive red fire dragon unleash another heavy beam of fire that created an enormous blast not too far away, making the ground tremble.
"That..." Damien could not even finish his question because it felt as though his ability to form words had been taken away from him.
But Cece understood what he wanted to ask, so she answered him.
"Damien, we are in the middle of a battle with the Dark Ones. Ivan... Ivan lost it after he saw Evelyn. That’s his dragon. It has been rampaging since it was summoned, and it has Evelyn’s... b-body with it."
"No... this is... no." Damien shook his head, as though he could not believe what he was seeing and hearing.
"Damien! I’m sorry, but we have to fight them! They took her away! I cannot forgive them! I will make them pay... pay for taking her, for taking Evelyn away." Cece’s voice hardened, as though she was trying to convince not only him but herself, and her resolve strengthened tenfold.
Just then, Drake, who had been thrown far away earlier, launched himself forward with incredible speed, hoping to catch both of them off guard while firing a red beam from the regenerated arm to shatter the Lumen’s barrier around them.
Damien sensed it instantly, and in one swift motion, he pulled Cece behind him while raising his hand.
Then, for the very first time, something crackled from his palms... purple electricity.
The energy sparked and hissed around his hand before he unleashed it, blasting a sphere of crackling lightning to counter Drake’s destructive red beam.
The moment Edward’s barrier shattered, the two forces collided violently in mid-air.
The impact exploded outward with a thunderous shockwave, powerful enough to hurl several Darkrots in the surrounding area off their feet.
Drake’s face twisted with absolute shock as he witnessed the display of Damien’s power. A cold shiver crawled down his spine when he saw Damien’s eyes blazing red while streaks of purple lightning continued to crackle around his body and along the edge of his blade.
"You. All. Will. Pay."
That was all Damien said before launching himself toward Drake. Rage filled his shining crimson eyes as he sent another blast of lightning toward his enemy. Drake recovered from his shock and hurled a red beam to counter it, causing the forces to collide and impact everyone nearby once again.
As the sparks flew, a memory resurfaced of the very first time he had met Evelyn.
"Well, well, well. Good evening, milady. Who might I have the pleasure of speaking with tonight?" His eyes had glinted with mischief back then.
Eve had cleared her throat, looking at him warily. "I am Princess Evelyn, from the Kingdom of Luminear."
His smile had widened as he replied, "Ah, the famous Princess of Luminear! What a pleasure it is to finally meet you."
The memory squeezed Damien’s heart, and he began attacking with even greater aggression. Closing in on Drake, he raised his sword, which was heavily charged with electricity. He severed both of Drake’s arms before pulling back his fist to land a blow squarely on the man’s cheek. He struck so hard that blood splattered from Drake’s mouth and nose, all while Eve’s voice echoed in Damien’s head.
"You better not get hurt or lose, or this sister won’t forgive you!"
And Damien did not stop, with each punch he landed on Drake, more memories of her flooded his mind.
"Welcome back, sister."
A soft smile had bloomed on Evelyn’s face as she hugged him. Before she realised it, her eyes had begun to well with tears at his words.
"She did not deserve this!" Damien roared, his voice cracking with the weight of his loss.
Damien’s voice choked as he continued to strike Drake. He hit so hard and so fast that anyone watching from a distance would have thought Drake was merely a punching bag. Damien continued to rain a barrage of powerful blows upon him, bludgeoning his face into a bloody mess.
"She did not deserve this at all!"
He whirled around and delivered a kick to Drake’s chest with such force that the man flew back and crashed into the distance once again.
Damien began walking toward him, pausing only to retrieve another sword lying on the field. Electricity continued to crackle across his entire body. With a blade held in each hand, he looked like a god of thunder about to deliver a final judgment.
He tilted his head as he watched Drake’s hands begin to regenerate. Drake attempted to pull himself up, but Damien did not give him the chance.
One thing he had learned from past experience was that those claws were deadly. They were capable of infecting anyone and corrupting their bodies. He made sure to chop the hands off each time they began to regrow, refusing to allow another accident to happen as it had before.
"I remember. I remember... what you did to my sister, and I remember what you intended to do to her, Drake Viremont." He raised his swords. In a swift, blurred motion, he sliced through not only Drake’s hands but his legs as well.
His screams echoed across the battlefield as black blood continued to gush from his mangled limbs.
Damien continued his relentless judgment. "To think you were so close to me, and yet I did not recognise you. To think you stooped so low as to abandon your pride as a vampire, only to become the lowest of the low."
Damien began circling him like a predator. He continued to sever Drake’s limbs every time they began to regenerate, forcing him to endure the agony over and over again. He relished the screams, yet they did not ease the hollow ache in his own heart.
He simply could not accept the fact that the woman who had carved out such a special place in his life was gone. She had become as dear to him as his own blood sister.
He could not bring himself to accept a world where she was no longer around to laugh at his jokes or to grace them with her radiant smile. She was the woman who had lightened not only his brother Ivan’s world, but the worlds of everyone she touched.
Damien knew that she had not lived an easy life. He knew she had suffered so much in her past, yet he had prayed every day for her to have a brighter future. He wanted a future where she would be as happy and radiant as she was meant to be.
But these vile beings had taken that away. No, they had stolen that future from her. They had stolen that bright light not only from their lives but also from his brother’s life.....the brother who had always lived in the darkness.
At that thought, Damien’s bright crimson eyes moved across the field, and he finally saw Ivan, who was tackling the colossal beasts charging at him from every direction. Ivan was using his destructive powers against them with a face devoid of any life or emotion, as if he had truly turned into a mindless killing machine.
Unable to watch anymore, Damien turned his attention back to the insect in front of him, the one who plotted for all of this to happen.
He knew he had been unconscious for the most part, but he understood that this man was responsible for the events leading to such a tragic outcome.
"I know I am at fault for not realizing it sooner, and I will pay the price for it,"
Damien spoke, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous whisper. "But you... you all will pay that price first. So, let me start by taking away the one thing you thought you could use."
Damien’s gaze shifted toward the area between Drake’s legs.
Drake’s eyes widened as he realised where the young duke was looking. He began to scramble backwards with great difficulty, but his severed limbs hindered any real escape.
Agony continued to shoot through every mangled body, but his efforts were useless because Damien did not intend to let him move even a single step away.
Damien lifted his boot, which crackled with purple electricity, and stomped down with such lethal force that an animalistic cry tore from Drake’s lips. He felt his member burst like a squished tomato, crushed beyond any hope of recovery.
But Damien did not feel even an ounce of pity for the creature beneath him. He pressed his boot down further, grinding the heel as if to completely erase the organ from existence.
Hearing Drake’s agonising shrieks and watching him thrash around without limbs began to cool the fire in Damien’s heart, yet Evelyn’s image continued to flash in his mind. He saw her looking at him with kind eyes and a bright smile.
One final memory surfaced of her running toward him in Dracoria Palace after the incident in Dartmouth. He remembered how she had hugged him, like a sister who was simply overjoyed to see her brother after a long time.
With that, Damien released a pained, guttural cry and raised both his swords. They were heavily charged with his purple electricity. With one swift motion, he severed Drake’s head with one blade while plunging the other directly into the man’s heart. The intense heat coursing through the steel caused Drake’s heart to explode from within.
Finally, his dull red eyes dimmed. His entire body shriveled like a dried leaf before crumbling into ash, the remains carried away by the passing wind.
Damien heaved, remaining in that position for a long, heavy minute. His head stayed bowed as a single, silent tear slipped from his eye. A whisper finally escaped his lips. "Forgive me, my sister...Evelyn."
