The next morning, Ashu paced back and forth across the decorated office floor, muttering under his breath. "I hope she accepts it... please let her accept it..."
Kael leaned back in his chair, letting out a light laugh. "Hey, if she rejects you, the drinks are on me. We'll drown the pain in your heart together."
Ashu stopped pacing and shot Kael a look. "Boss, you're planning my defeat before I even give it a try!"
Kael turned his eyes toward the bright, sunny sky outside his window. "Sometimes we have to be ready for the consequences, even when luck isn't on our side."
Ashu sighed, nodding slowly. "It's still strange seeing you wear that black mask inside the building."
Before Kael could reply, an early-arriving employee stepped onto the floor, his eyes widening as he took in the banners, ribbons, and balloons. "Whoa! What is all this?!"
Kael smirked beneath his mask. "A proposal."
The employee quickly bowed. "Good morning, Sir!"
"Good morning to you," Kael replied calmly.
One by one, other staff members began trickling into the building. Ashu leaned closer to Kael, whispering nervously, "I thought I was only going to propose in front of a few people..."
"Destiny rarely supports our plans," Kael said with a dry smirk.
Ashu squeezed his trembling hands together. "How do I get the confidence to actually do this?"
Kael adjusted his mask. "Just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and say what's in your heart with clear words."
Suddenly, the elevator doors chimed open. Vrinda stepped out onto the floor, holding a folder and looking curiously at the silver banner hanging on the wall.
Kael pointed a finger toward her. "There she is. Go on—take the ring and the roses."
Ashu tightened his grip on the bouquet of red roses, took a deep breath, and took three confident steps forward.
BOOM!
The massive concrete wall right beside Vrinda shattered into thousands of deadly fragments. Smoke, dust, and dark energy exploded inward, destroying the carefully decorated hall in less than a second.
Kael's eyes widened. Before he could react, Sara's frantic voice echoed directly in his mind. Kael! A horde of demons is outside the building! Get to your private chamber right now—Rexon just teleported there!
Kael turned on his heel and sprinted into his inner office, leaving the ruined hall behind. Inside the private room, Rexon stood waiting. Kael ripped off his black mask and his heavy coat, his expression deadly serious.
"Evacuate every single employee immediately!" Kael ordered.
Rexon pulled on his own mask and nodded sternly. "On it."
Kael smashed the floor-to-ceiling glass window, unleashed a pair of massive dark wings from his back, and plunged into the open sky. Behind him, Rexon burst into the main corridor, shouting orders and guiding the screaming, panicking employees toward the fire escapes.
High above the clouds, Mantra sat on a floating dark throne, looking down at the destruction. "Well done, Shikha," she praised softly. "You did a wonderful job."
Shikha, hovering nearby on dark energy currents, bowed her head. "I am glad to serve, My Lady."
"I'm glad too," a cold voice cut through the air.
The demons turned in surprise. Kael materialized in mid-air, descending gracefully to stand on a floating piece of shattered ledge right in front of them.
Shikha stepped forward, her eyes flashing with hostile energy. "You won't leave this place alive!"
Kael smirked mockingly. "You're just a low-tier demon."
"I was a human!" Shikha spat back angrily. "A human who works for the demons now!"
Kael laughed dryly. "And why would a human serve demons?"
"Because Lady Mantra gave me food, shelter, and love when no human ever did!" Shikha roared.
Kael narrowed his eyes, his tone dropping an octave. "And if I was the one who offered you those things instead...?"
Shikha froze. For a split second, her mind went completely blank as she processed his words.
Kael didn't waste the opening. He thrust his right arm forward, his eyes glowing with lethal power. "Fireforce!"
A blazing red ritual circle manifested in front of his palm, shooting thirty concentrated fireballs straight into Shikha's chest.
The violent impact sent her crashing back. Crimson blood spewed from her mouth as her dark armor cracked. Yet, she forced a wild, bloody grin onto her face. "Is this how you plan to kill me?"
Kael let out a dark laugh. "Oh, I can definitely kill you. Especially with someone up there staring down at me in absolute rage."
Gritation overtook Shikha. She summoned a massive longbow made of flickering demonic flames, drawing an arrow of pure fire aimed directly at Kael's head.
Kael smirked, raising his right hand high toward the heavens as if commanding the sky itself.
Thick, pitch-black storm clouds rushed across the horizon, blocking out the sun in a matter of seconds.
Shikha blinked in confusion, her aim faltering. "What are you doing?!"
Kael ignored her completely, keeping his gaze fixed on the sky. A second later, a heavy torrential downpour flooded the atmosphere—a divine rain laced with ancient holy energy.
The moment the rain struck Shikha's bow, the demonic flames fizzled out, vanishing into harmless steam. Her eyes widened in absolute terror. "How did this happen?!"
"Divine rain," Kael said simply.
Driven by blind desperation, Shikha charged straight at Kael through the heavy rain, clenching her fist to strike him down.
Kael dodged her punch effortlessly. In a fluid motion, he pulled a razor-sharp dagger concealed inside his boot and drove it deep into her stomach.
Tears welled in Shikha's eyes as the life drained from her body. She coughed up blood, her voice trembling. "You... you are killing a couple..."
"You did the exact same thing to my people!" Kael yelled back.
Shikha's eyes fluttered shut, and her lifeless body fell like a stone toward the pavement below.
Inside the ruined office floor, Ashu slowly pushed himself up from the rubble, his vision blurry and his body bruised.
"Vrinda..." he choked out, his voice cracking with desperation.
No one answered. There was only dust, shattered concrete, and ruined decorations. Ashu collapsed to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably. He wiped his tears, letting them mix with the divine rain pouring through the gaping hole in the building.
Crawling frantically through the debris, he called out her name again. But before he could reach the inner section, another blast of dark energy violently shattered the remaining structural walls.
High above, Shin Yan screamed in pure rage over Shikha's death, hurling a massive spear of concentrated cursed energy straight at Kael.
Before the blast could hit, Sara materialized in mid-air, tackling Kael out of the trajectory. Both of them fell heavily onto the floating platform, but the stray wave of cursed energy ricocheted off Kael's magic barrier, surging straight into the wrecked office floor—directly toward Ashu!
From her high throne, Mantra spotted Ashu standing in the path of the oncoming cursed wave. Her heart stopped. His face... it was identical to Dusk.
In a flash of dark magic, Mantra teleported, spawning directly in front of Ashu to shield him from the blast.
The heavy impact of the energy wave detonated around them. The shockwave surged into Ashu's mind, shattering the spiritual seal on his soul. A flood of dark, ancient memories rushed back into his consciousness—centuries of a forgotten past returning all at once.
The darkness faded from Ashu's eyes. He stood tall, no longer just a human employee, but Dusk—the ancient demon warrior.
Mantra looked up at him from her knees, her eyes brimming with desperate hope, praying to hear the words she had longed for: I was waiting for you.
Instead, Dusk looked down at her pale face with utter coldness.
"I hate you."
Those three words cut deeper into Mantra's heart than any cursed energy blast ever could.
Dusk violently threw her off him, his voice laced with disgust. "Mantra, the single biggest mistake of my previous life was ever loving you."
Leaving Mantra stunned on the floor, Dusk turned away and rushed toward the collapsed wall. He spotted Vrinda lying motionless under a pile of heavy stone.
His hands shook as he reached down, noticing Vrinda's unlocked mobile phone still clutched tightly in her pale hand. On the screen was a secret photograph of Ashu working at his desk, set as her wallpaper with the caption: My future husband.
Hot tears spilled from Dusk's eyes. He fell to his knees, pulling her lifeless hand into his, weeping bitterly as he tried to wake her up. "Vrinda... please... open your eyes..."
Before he could pull her free, the unstable cursed energy embedded in the building structure detonated in a final, massive explosion.
The entire floor collapsed.
Mantra watched in absolute horror as the bodies of Ashu and Vrinda fell through the burning sky, their hands still tightly intertwined even in death.
"No..." Mantra whispered, her voice breaking into a silent scream.
Overwhelmed by crushing regret, heartbreak, and despair, the chaotic cursed energy inside Mantra flared wildly, devouring her core. She collapsed onto the floating rubble. Her skin rapidly turned a deathly pale gray, her vitality draining away until her eyes grew completely hollow—a lifeless shell broken by the weight of her own actions.