Chapter 353: Dear Wife Selene - I
"Alex, where are Ivan and Princess Evelyn? And why is there a fire dragon causing destruction across the entire city?" Iskara asked.
Before Alex could respond, a loud sound of something shattering echoed nearby, snapping everyone’s attention towards the source.
As the dust slowly settled, their eyes widened at the sight of someone who had crashed against one of the rocks with such force that it split in two before the stone itself began to melt.
And when they finally saw who it was, Iskara’s heart lurched as he whispered,
"Ivan."
Iskara’s feet moved on their own towards his son, but before he could take another step, Alex reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, for being imprudent, but it is dangerous to go there right now."
"Alex, what is the meaning of this? If it is dangerous, that is exactly why I must go to my son!" Iskara replied in anger.
Alex sighed helplessly, releasing his grip. He looked toward the opposite side of where Ivan had crashed. "Please, see for yourself just who he is fighting."
At his words, Iskara and the others, who were unaware of the situation, followed Alex’s gaze.
They finally saw a man with otherworldly features hovering in the air. A powerful crimson barrier shimmered around him, but that was not all. He emitted such heavy, sinister energy that they were all taken aback.
"Who... is he?" Solan asked in disbelief. As a powerful Lumen, he could sense the pure evil radiating from the man’s entire being.
It was then that Alex began explaining quickly, before his king could decide to intervene in the dangerous battle. "We are not privy to all the information, but from what we have witnessed, he seems to be the Dark Lord whom the celestial beings fought thousands of years ago."
Alex’s voice was not loud, but his words hit like thunder for those who heard him.
Iskara and Solan’s eyes went wide. They slowly turned to look at Alex, then at Caleb, who stood beside him.
"What are you saying, Alex?" Iskara asked, as if he could not register the words.
Alex bowed his head. "It is true, Your Majesty. That man... he is so powerful that even Prince Ivan has been having a hard time against him, despite using his divine powers. We all would have perished long ago if it were not for His Highness. He intervened just in time to stop that man’s advance."
Solan’s hands began to shake as the truth started to sink in. His cold blue gaze shifted to Ivan, who suddenly was back to his feet with incredible speed, rushing to attack the man whose barrier he could not penetrate.
As he watched Ivan relentlessly strike at the shield, a dreadful feeling settled in Solan’s chest. His lips parted as he asked softly, "W... where is my daughter?"
At Solan’s question, Iskara snapped out of his shock and turned to look at Alex once more. He noticed the way Alex’s eyes lowered in defeat and how his hands curled into tight fists at his side. Right then, he knew something terrible had happened.
"Answer his question, Alex," Iskara prompted him in a tight voice.
But before Alex could respond, the loud cackle of a woman echoed across the field. Solan and Iskara’s eyes once again turned to the source. As they did, it felt as if time had come to an abrupt halt.
The blood seemed to drain from their faces when they saw a woman whose features were clearly familiar to both men. One knew her more than the other, yet the instant recognition was undeniable. She had the same hair, the same features, and the same emerald eyes.
She continued to laugh after blasting away a couple of soldiers, and Solan felt as though his heart had stopped beating.
Before he knew it, his feet began moving toward the woman he had dreamt about every single day. She was his everything, the love of his life, the light of his world. She was the same woman he had buried years ago, along with his heart.
And now... she was standing right there in front of him, as if nothing had ever happened.
Those who recognised the late Queen Selene were just as stunned as Iskara and Solan, who had spotted her.
As Solan moved closer to her, he ignored the chaos raging around him while the soldiers fought desperately to prevent the ghouls from reaching him.
Then, finally, he called out in a soft, trembling voice, "Selene."
Selene heard her name and turned. Her eyes widened as she saw the man before her.
For a moment, neither of them spoke as they continued staring at each other. Then her lips slowly curved into a beautiful smile, her face just as he remembered it.
She dropped the vicious expression she had worn moments earlier when she had attacked his people and instead called out lovingly, "Oh, Solan."
Solan felt his heart skip a beat at the familiarity in her voice, and his own voice trembled with emotion as he spoke again.
"Selene... is that really you?"
His face was filled with disbelief, something Selene did not miss. Keeping that same false smile on her face, she took a step closer to him.
"Yes, my love. It’s me... Selene... your dear wife."
Solan could not respond. He seemed rooted to the spot, standing dangerously close to one of the rifts where ghouls continued to pour out, only to be held back by the soldiers still fighting them.
"Come to me, my love. I have missed you so much. Didn’t you miss me?" Selene continued.
She raised her hands toward Solan expectantly, as if goading him to rush into her arms.
But on the inside, she was hoping he would fall into the rift, never to be seen again.
To Selene, all the years she had spent with this man were nothing but an act. It had been a painful performance to keep her true purpose and nature hidden behind fake smiles and the sweet little whispers she used to fill his head with.
Before stealing Selene’s body, when Zafira first came to this place to revive Azrath, she had performed dark magic to find the answers she sought.
It was then that a dark voice spoke to her, revealing that the key to his revival was the blood of the very woman who was bound to him and had sealed him away, Solaira’s blood.
But with Solaira gone from the world, Zafira had been stuck in a hopeless situation.
Still, she resorted to using forbidden magic to take Selene’s body to build a new identity, swearing to find another way.
She figured that since Solaira was gone, there was a new species in the world with light magic flowing through them: the Lumens, who possessed the same light magic bestowed upon them by the Goddess herself.
So she began crafting a plan to discreetly recruit followers, little by little. She never revealed her face or gender to lure them, promising only more power.
That was how the Darkrots came into existence. They began sacrificing everyone from women to children, and especially Lumens, believing that these offerings would somehow trigger the Dark Lord’s awakening.
In the middle of all this, Selene had not expected to have a child. When she discovered she was with child, she initially thought that since the infant would possess great powers born from a pure-blooded Lumen, she could use the child to fight for her cause. If not, she would use the child as a powerful sacrifice to increase her own strength later.
But fate worked in twisted ways.
When the prophecy came to light, a realization struck her like a lightning bolt: the child born to her was no ordinary being.
At first, she still had doubts about Evelyn’s true identity and whether she was truly Solaira’s reincarnation. So one day, she took the locket that suppressed Evelyn’s powers into a quiet room, and the familiar power that emanated from her was all the confirmation she needed.
However, Selene knew that having such a vast amount of power at a young age would not be enough to awaken the Dark Lord. Every Lumen’s power only matures completely when they reach the age of eighteen.
That was how she decided to wait until Evelyn came of age, refusing to kill her until the right time arrived.
Moreover, she later discovered that the ritual had to be performed during a rare celestial phenomenon, when the moon turns crimson. This was the same phenomenon that had occurred when Azrath was first sealed away.
During this long and painful period of waiting, it became increasingly difficult for Selene to move freely and continue maintaining her facade.
So she faked her death by consuming a rare herb that could stop her heart from beating for nearly two days.
That was enough time for her to be buried away from the royal cemetery, as she had requested in the form of her final wish to be laid to rest in the mountains so she could watch over them. But in reality, it allowed her to escape easily once she regained consciousness.
