Chapter 368: A Predator’s Confession
[Music recommendation: Secession Studios - The Untold]
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Eve caught the sphere, compressing it into a small ball within her palm. Without a moment’s hesitation, she shoved the condensed magic into Selene’s shocked, open mouth before slamming her head into the ground.
The energy detonated inside Selene’s throat, the force tearing her jaw unhinged. Her agonised cries echoed across the battlefield, drawing the eyes of every warrior on the field.
Alex, Caleb, Damien, Ruth, Cece, Edward, and Oliver all turned toward the sound. They stared at the gore unfolding on the far side of the field, realising that Eve was now standing over the woman who had once been her mother.
Damien let out a low whistle. "Oh my... it looks like Evelyn is truly furious."
"Can you blame her?" Cece replied, her gaze fixed on the scene. "Not only did that vile woman drive a dagger into her heart, but she also did the one unforgivable thing we all know sets Evelyn off."
"What?" Edward frowned slightly, turning to her.
"Do I need to spell it out?" Cece said flatly. "That psycho is after Ivan, of course."
Ruth, who was new to all of this, had her purple eyes widen as a cold shiver ran down her spine. "Y-you mean that woman... or demon... was coveting Prince Ivan?"
Cece, Damien, and Edward turned their attention to the new princess, and Cece’s lips curled into a small smile. "Aren’t you Princess Ruth of the Kingdom of Helion? I had heard rumours that your father was quite persistent about getting you married to Ivan. Well... if he is still holding on to that idea..."
Cece’s gaze shifted back to Evelyn as she finished, "...then take a good look at what happens to those who cross the line."
Damien added lightly, "Or cross my sister, to be exact."
"Sister?" Ruth repeated, her eyes moving to Cece in confusion.
"He means Evelyn," Cece replied without looking at her.
"Ivan is Evelyn’s bottom line. What you see right now is not just a woman paying for a centuries-old betrayal. It is happening because that woman dared to cross Eve’s line." Damien added.
Ruth’s eyes widened even further. "Okay, let’s make this clear, I was never interested in Prince Ivan in the first place! Or anyone else, for that matter! So you can all stop looking at me like I might be next."
At her sudden defensive tone, all three burst into quiet laughter.
Damien then flashed a wicked grin. "Well, that’s good to hear. As for not being interested in anyone... I’m sure you’ll change your mind once you get to know me."
He gave her a playful wink.
Ruth immediately flushed, colour rising to her cheeks.
Cece and Edward rolled their eyes at Damien openly flirting with the princess, but then turned their attention back to Evelyn.
They saw how Selene’s jaw had been blown to smithereens and heard Eve’s cold voice.
"This is for you... for even daring to utter Ivan’s name with that filthy mouth of yours. This is for every lie you spewed, and for every sweet word you used to destroy the lives of those around you. This is for ever daring to call yourself my mother!"
Eve rose to her full height, looking down upon the vile woman who was still writhing in pain. Her gaze drifted to Selene’s grotesque hands. Suddenly, she pictured those same hands caressing Ivan in his bedroom at the Dracoria palace when he was only five years old.
Eve had been deeply disturbed when she heard Ivan recount that lost memory. But now, knowing what she knew, Evelyn’s blood boiled at the thought of this woman harbouring impure intentions toward Ivan, even when he was a mere child.
Gripping her sword tightly, Eve asked, "Did you have impure thoughts when you were in Ivan’s room, back when he was only five years old?"
The question was unexpected, and it jolted everyone within earshot.
Iskara, Regulus, Solan, Damien, and Cece were particularly taken aback, as they clearly understood exactly what Eve was implying.
Eve raised her sword and plunged it ruthlessly into one of Selene’s arms. The blade sizzled on contact as Eve’s divine power began to melt the flesh. At the same time, she raised her foot and stomped mercilessly on Selene’s other hand, causing her to scream with such agony that the hearts of those watching shuddered.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, she bent down and hovered her hand over Selene’s shattered jaw, releasing a different kind of energy that began to mend the damage she had inflicted moments ago.
Ruth narrowed her eyes at the sight and asked in disbelief, "What is she... why? Is she healing her jaw?"
All the earlier playfulness vanished from Damien’s face as his expression darkened. Understanding exactly what Evelyn intended, he replied coldly, "She wants her to confess."
Ruth’s eyes widened in shock, but one look at Damien’s expression was enough for her to hold back any further questions as she continued to watch.
"Did you? Speak, vile creature!" Eve hissed, her voice so cold it felt unfamiliar to everyone who had once known her as their gentle and kind Evelyn.
Agony beyond endurance tore through Selene as her hands melted under Evelyn’s divine power. Selene’s trembling slit eyes lifted, only to meet Eve’s blazing golden ones, and something unseen seized her will, forcing her newly mended mouth to move against her control.
"Y-yes..."
The moment the word left her lips, Eve wrenched her sword free and, without hesitation, cut through Selene’s arm at the shoulder, tearing her flesh and bone. Selene’s body convulsed, a broken scream ripping from her throat as she writhed in blinding pain.
But Eve gave her no mercy.
Before the agony could even settle, she drove the blade straight back into the raw, severed shoulder and twisted it slowly, as though carving her suffering deeper into her very soul.
Selene choked, her body jerking violently, her voice reduced to shattered, breathless cries, but Eve did not even look at her.
Her gaze shifted instead to the severed arm lying nearby. With a cold lift of her hand, divine energy poured from her palm, and the limb dissolved, melting into nothingness as if it had never existed.
"This...is for touching someone you should have never touched," Eve whispered, her voice low, lethal, and trembling with restrained fury.
No one moved or spoke. Not a single soul found the brutality before them excessive.
Because Selene’s confession still echoed in their minds, twisting their insides with revulsion. The mere thought of her harbouring such vile, corrupted desires for Ivan, when he had been nothing more than a child, made their blood boil.
And if this was the rage they felt...none of them could even begin to comprehend the storm raging within Evelyn.
Eve continued her interrogation. "Confess... confess what happened the night you visited him in the Dracoria Palace!" She twisted her blade further, the divine heat searing through Selene’s flesh.
Just as before, the power of Eve’s gaze ensured that Selene could not withhold the truth.
"I-I went to erase Ivan’s memory of you ever meeting him, since he wanted to marry you... but when I saw him... I wanted to have him." Her voice trembled as the words spilled out against her will.
"I thought of taking him away with me, filling his mind with thoughts of only me, shaping his young mind and body to be obsessed with me... so that when he grew up, I would be the only one he would ever think about."
Eve began to shake with such intense rage that her powers started to leak from her form. The surging energy transferred into the sword still buried in Selene’s shoulder, making the demoness scream in agony.
"Confess what happened after that," Eve whispered menacingly.
"S-since I couldn’t take him then without drawing attention, as I had to return to Luminear before anyone noticed my absence... I ordered my people to capture him." Selene’s voice broke as pain tore through her. "B-but his mother got in the way when they came for him... and her death awakened his divine powers... which destroyed my entire plan!"
Selene’s scream echoed as the forced confession finally spilled free.
Iskara, listening to the horrifying truth that this woman was responsible for the death of his beloved wife, Irene, felt his blood reach a boiling point.
His body began to tremble with such overwhelming rage that the mere thought of the unspeakable things she had planned to do to his son was unbearable.
Iskara’s eyes turned a lethal, bright crimson. His fangs lengthened, and his claws expanded as a matching crimson aura began to emit from his body.
Regulus, standing beside him, saw the transformation and immediately placed a firm hand on Iskara’s shoulder. "Calm down, Iskara! Calm down! You cannot go there now!"
"That vile creature dared to have such thoughts for my child! She killed my wife, and you are asking me to be calm, Regulus?" Iskara roared with a fury Regulus had never seen before.
Just then, something came crashing down from the sky with a thunderous impact, the ground shaking violently beneath them. As their eyes shifted towards the source, they widened at the unbelievable sight before them...
