But I could already feel it in the magic laced in the air — the final line of the ritual forming.
She was giving everything. And I wouldn’t let her.
I was just steps away.
So close I could hear her breath catching between each word of the incantation. So close I could reach her, pull her away from this madness, break the circle of light searing into the platform.
Then he appeared — stepping from the shadows like a nightmare pulled from my blood.
The Demon King.
My father.
His armor shimmered obsidian-black, runes glowing faintly across his shoulders and gauntlets like they pulsed with the breath of death itself. His gaze locked onto mine, that same twisted grin playing at the corners of his cruel mouth.
“So predictable,” he murmured. “Just like your mother.”
I stopped cold. My shadows surged behind me, curling with rage.
“Move,” I growled.
He didn’t.
“She has to finish it, boy,” he said, voice lined with centuries of command. “You should be thanking me. I’m giving you the chance to live. Immortal. Uncursed. Free.”
“I don’t want your freedom if it means losing her.”
His smile faltered.
“I warned you once, didn’t I? That love was your weakness.”
My power flared at the word —love.Not a curse. Not a mistake. But my power.
I stepped forward.
“You burned her. You burned my mother for choosing humanity. And now you want me to do the same?”
“She was soft,” he spat. “Like this girl. But Seori is different. She's strong. The ritual will remake you both. She will bleed, yes—but the world will kneel.”
“She’s not a weapon.”
“She’s not yours.”
That was the last thing he said.
I lunged.
Our powers collided like colliding storms — shadow and flame, blood and bone. The entire palace trembled as I struck him across the jaw with a fist burning with the bond’s fury. He reeled, but laughed, wings of black flame unfurling from his back.
He struck me once — and I flew backward, crashing through the side of the dais.
"You're weak," he snarled, approaching. “Love has made you soft.”
I wiped the blood from my mouth and rose.
“No,” I growled. “Love has made me dangerous.”
I roared as I launched myself forward again, our fists and powers slamming into one another — each blow cracking the air like thunder. Behind him, I saw her — still chanting, but her eyes were wide now, tears running down her cheeks as she saw what I was doing.
