Chapter 351: Emerald Eyes, Pitch Black Heart
What both men confirmed was completely impossible for all of them to digest. If what they said was true, it meant this entire fiasco was caused by none other than Evelyn’s real mother, who had ended up sacrificing her own daughter.
The thought alone was enough to make them sick to their stomachs.
Before any of them could ask more questions, the man named Azrath finally spoke.
"Hmm... your face and body are not your own, and yet... that soul inside you..." He narrowed his eyes as if he could see her very essence, and then a wide smile spread across his otherworldly face. "You are my loyal servant, a soul bound to me... Zafira."
At the sound of her name, the woman raised her head with a proud smile. "Yes, Milord. I had to discard that body after the great war that happened thousands of years ago."
"Thousands of years?" Azrath’s brows lifted in question, as if asking what had taken her so long.
Zafira quickly began to explain. "Yes, Lord Azrath. I was badly injured in the war and had to hide to avoid being hunted. After that, my body went into a slumber, only to wake up a couple of years ago. That was when I started working toward reviving you."
While they spoke, Ivan’s eyes finally shifted towards the woman in the red robe, and for the first time, he had a clear glimpse of her face.
The moment he saw it, memories that had long been suppressed and jumbled within his mind came crashing back all at once.
A woman with dark brown hair and emerald eyes holding little Eve’s hand while Evelyn had met him for the first time, back when he had visited the Kingdom of Luminear with his parents.
His blazing eyes narrowed as little Eve’s voice echoed in his head.
’Mother... who is this?’
That one word, ’mother,’ echoed in his head as he stared at the woman.
Ivan’s entire body began to tremble as his fingers curled into tight fists, veins bulging along his hands. With that, more memories surfaced of the woman smiling at little Evelyn, all while deep malice burned within her heart.
But along with those memories of meeting Selene, far older memories also began to resurface.
Memories of a woman named Zafira, one of Azrath’s evil generals.
The blood in Ivan’s veins burned hotter and hotter as the disgusting charade of betrayal unfolded before him in all its ugliness.
Without warning, Ivan’s hand shot up on its own, and a powerful blast of fire burst from his palm, directed straight at the woman in red.
Zafira’s head snapped towards the blazing attack rushing towards her with a speed she could not dodge. Just as she raised her hands to shield her face and brace for the impact, a heavy collision echoed across the field, making her flinch.
She waited for a second or two for the searing pain to strike her, but as the moments passed, nothing happened.
Slowly lowering her hands from her face, her wide eyes discovered a crimson barrier surrounding her. Her gaze shifted towards Azrath and the crimson aura glowing around his body.
Realisation struck her immediately.
The Dark Lord had protected her.
Azrath was already looking at Ivan, a faint smirk curling across his lips as he tilted his head slightly.
"The Malakai I knew would never attack the defenceless like this. Tell me... did thousands of years change your moral compass somehow, Son of Fire?"
Ivan continued staring at the woman with an emotionless face, but everyone in his group knew without a doubt that his rage had no bounds and that he was now acting purely on impulse.
"A thousand-year-old, worthless mutt does not get to teach me about a moral compass."
With that, Ivan launched himself toward Azrath. He pulled back his fist, which blazed with fire, intending to strike the man’s arrogant face.
However, Azrath was just as fast.
He raised a hand seething with dark magic and caught Ivan’s fist before it could land.
The impact caused the air to churn around them, but the two figures did not stop.
Soon, a flurry of blows broke out. They moved so quickly that it was difficult for the onlookers to track the fight.
Cece’s eyes drifted from Ivan toward the woman called Selene or Zafira, who remained on her knees, gaping at the scene.
Cece narrowed her eyes, reaching out to sense the woman’s emotions. There was awe. Elation. Excitement. Fear.
And to Cece’s shock, there was also unbridled lust and desperation.
Her eyes widened at the realisation of whom those emotions might be directed towards.
Was it that thousand-year-old fossil, Azrath?
Was that the reason this woman had stooped to such depths to revive him... and sacrifice her own daughter?
As Cece continued observing her, when Ivan and Azrath suddenly paused, as though they were preparing for the true battle to begin.
In that moment, Cece noticed the woman’s lips slowly curve into a smile, and she finally saw the lust burning within her eyes.
Slowly, Cece followed the woman’s line of sight to see exactly whom she was looking at. The moment she realised, shock twisted violently in her stomach and bile rose to her throat.
She doubled over, trembling, and pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from throwing up right then and there.
Edward and Damien moved quickly, placing their hands on her back and shoulder.
"Cece!" both men exclaimed.
"What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Edward asked, his voice filled with worry.
Cece’s body continued to shake as a storm of emotions created havoc within her. There was shock, then disgust, and beneath it all, a cold rage began to seep into her bones.
They continued to fret over her well-being while she concentrated on steadying her emotions.
Once she had, she looked up at Edward and then Damien.
Her lips trembled before she spoke. "I felt it..."
Their brows furrowed as they listened.
"That woman’s emotions! She wants him so badly it makes my skin crawl," Cece whispered, still shaking.
Dante snorted. "Well, that isn’t a surprise, is it? After all, why would a woman go to such lengths to revive a thousand-year-old fossil if she isn’t lusting after him?"
Cece shook her head. "No, not him."
The group froze. Their eyes moved to Cece’s trembling form as she added, "It’s Ivan! She wants him! The feeling is so strong it’s making me sick!"
Shock was an understatement for the expressions on their faces, which quickly twisted into pure disgust.
It was Damien’s turn to grip his sword tightly. He spoke through gritted teeth. "Don’t tell me... is that why that woman was more than happy to get rid of... Evelyn?"
"As if this night could not turn into a more horrible nightmare than it already is," Dante mumbled, shaking his head.
Before anyone could react, Cece let out an angry, distressed sound and then moved with unimaginable speed, charging the woman in a fit of pure rage. Vengeance filled her mind so completely that she failed to see any logic in her actions.
"Cece! No!" Edward and Damien charged after her, fear gripping their hearts as danger surrounded them from all directions.
Meanwhile, Selene sat there, her eyes soaking in Ivan’s rage-filled, handsome form. Joy began to burst in her chest at the revival of the Dark Lord Azrath. With his help, she would finally have the man she had craved for years. Finally, there would be no other woman to occupy his heart or distract him. She would be the only one for him.
So many things she wanted to do to him. As her sick and twisted mind began weaving dark fantasies around Ivan, she didn’t see the vampiress charge at her.
A hard kick from Cece’s heeled boots landed straight across her jaw, causing Selene to see stars for a moment.
"You f*cking b*tch!" Cece cursed loudly.
She was about to deliver a punch to Selene, but a pair of arms shot out and pulled her away the second before a thick beam of smoky dark magic was hurled her way. The intervention caused her to narrowly avoid the hit.
Damien and Edward restrained Cece with a firm grip, preventing her from rushing toward such a dangerous, psychotic woman.
"Let me go, you two! I’ll kill this b*tch! She took my friend away from me!" Cece yelled at the top of her lungs.
Damien reprimanded her. "Stop it, Cece! How can you kill her if you die on the spot because you have no sense of danger?"
"Control yourself, Cece! We feel just as enraged and disgusted by this woman, but you cannot charge like that without a plan, leaving yourself completely open!" Edward added in exasperation.
Selene, who had hurled that attack purely on instinct, finally raised her hand to her face. She felt the bruise already forming and the blood gushing from her torn lip, a direct result of that deadly kick to her jaw. A wave of pure anger surged through her.
"You! I’ll kill you all for this! I think it’s time to end this!" Selene spoke sinisterly, staring at the blood staining her hand.
