Lily's laughter echoed once more as she removed the dagger that was stuck in her bleeding hands.
Then, her gaze shifted to Xel, smiling with a loving intensity that sent a shiver down his spine.
But when her gaze turned to Camille, everything seemed to stop with fatal dread.
There, on top of Camille's hand, sat a small chest—old and dusty—which exuded an Essence of Death. Ghostly grey, a crimson hue, and corrosive emerald engulfed it in a gruesome harmony.
The chest was engraved masterfully, its golden hue highlighted by bones and skulls placed symmetrically alongside feathery wings and goat-like horns.
A chain of runes that glowed crimson flickered and flowed, sealing something the world was never meant to know.
The skull-cup in the hands of the Immortal shattered into dust, and the thickened air inside the Throne Hall was replaced by something truly ominous.
Her seductive, enthralling rose-gold aura vanished, replaced by a dark crimson hue.
She wasn't giggling anymore… there was no seduction, no enchantment.
There was only pure bloodlust that made everyone choke.
Everyone trembled before the Monarch… their sweat was the only mercy she chose to grant.
"Cams!"
Seth's shout came too late. Everything happened in an instant… even by burning through his life force, he wasn't able to track the Monarch's raw speed.
Camille, on the other hand, saw it all. As one who held power over time, she watched the Monarch move with outstanding velocity despite her own slowed perception.
Lily stood in front of her with a slapping motion, all in a fraction of a second—no, much faster than that.
Instinct consumed Camille. She raised her hands, using the chest to block her face… she knew the Monarch had decided to kill her just from the look in those eyes.
The Monarch swiped her hand with brutal speed, aiming for the kill.
But with the chest now shielding Camille's face, Lily couldn't stop the momentum of the strike.
The Immortal tried to lessen her strength mid-swipe, but an arrow once released from its bow was a difficult thing to control.
Her delicate hands, now bulging and snaked with veins from the effort to halt the blow, hit the chest with exploding force.
Black and purple light erupted from the wood, momentarily blinding anyone staring at it.
Soft, muffled cracks echoed like a muted bell. The fractures slowly crawled across the runes, snaking like lightning awaiting its thunder.
Boom!
Space rippled with thousands of cracks like a shattered mirror as the runes gave way.
The explosion was so powerful it recoiled the Monarch's hands, sizzling her skin into a gore of flesh and bone.
Camille was sent flying toward the entrance wall, trailing debris and grounded shards.
The chest, now stripped of its seal, its old and delicate design webbed with cracks, rolled and skidded across the rough granite floor.
Camille's body dropped to the ground. Her arms were bent at impossible angles, and blood from her head drenched her face, blinding her left eye.
Her consciousness was fading, yet her eyes still fought, glaring toward the Monarch with pure malice.
As the chest stopped its skid a few meters away from Camille, the lid creaked open to reveal the unthinkable.
There, inside the chest, was flesh webbed with thick and thin veins. It was wrapped like a cocoon, waiting to bloom like a moth struggling to enter a new world.
The moment Seth's gaze captured the gory contents, he froze in shock.
The thing inside the chest… beat.
Thump.
Using all the remaining strength he could muster, Seth rushed toward the chest with his knife held in a reverse grip.
"Xel! Stab it!"
The space above the opened chest rippled once more. A dagger slick with blood came into view, dropping at an impossible speed toward the heart within.
'We will not end here!'
Everything slowed down.
The fight between Bren and Bell became muted.
The drop of blood falling from Camille's face paused in mid-air.
Even the dagger meant to strike the beating heart suddenly came to a halt.
Then a growl, much louder than any beast, echoed throughout the hall.
Seth's gaze shifted toward Xel. The man's arm, from the armpit to the shoulder, was gone, replaced by a fountain of blood that drenched his entire being.
"Not so fast…"
Seth blinked and steeled his resolve.
Even seeing Xel's mangled form, even seeing Camille crawling, he decided to rush the chest.
But the Monarch's lips were just inches away from Xel's mouth, claiming him as her new thrall.
"Secure the chest."
Despite the blood flowing without stop, Xel flickered out of existence and reappeared beside the object.
His remaining hand reached out, moving weakly to claim what his master desired.
"Xel!"
Camille's shout was enough to catch his attention.
He still had an ounce of sanity fighting against the enthrallment.
Xel's eyes met Camille's.
Then, his world stopped.
Stone Gaze.
It was Camille's ultimate ability—a power that could stop a person's time momentarily by spending every remaining drop of her essence that she could only use once a month.
Seth smiled. He stopped his run, pulled the knife back, and threw it with terrifying speed, aimed directly at the heart.
Then it hit—the hand of the Monarch, blocking the path to the chest.
His smile vanished.
Despair took its place.
In front of the Monarch's absolute strength, everything seemed impossible, even when success was only inches away.
Yet, he walked. He dragged feet that had lost their strength—not from tiredness, but from the crushing weight of impossibility.
He walked, staring at Camille as she crawled in agony toward the chest.
He walked, hoping his end was not here, even as he felt himself dying.
Lily chuckled, licking her bleeding hands until they regenerated flawlessly.
With a blur of motion, she grabbed Seth by the neck and plunged him into the wall, the stone caving in around his battered frame.
Yet, his hands still reached for the chest.
He saw Bren suspended mid-air by veins… he saw Bell's eyes bleeding from the over-usage of her essence… he saw Xel standing lifelessly in a pool of his own blood.
Finally, Lily turned to Camille, who was still dragging her broken body forward, unwilling to submit to the inevitability of her fate.
"She's beautiful… isn't she?"
Lily stared into Seth's eyes, trying to read his mind.
"Love is… having their heart in your hands."
With a soft chuckle, she teased Seth by gently touching his shoulder to his chest.
"But for you… I'll let you experience more than love. I'll let you eat all their hearts with your consciousness intact!"
She laughed, her eyes tearing with ecstasy and lust. With a gentle touch toward his mask, she smiled lovingly.
"Now… let's see what's hidden behind that mask."