HPDBC Chapter 290: To Fight The Divine - One Must Stake Everything
Chapter 290: To Fight The Divine - One Must Stake Everything
Freyja's eyes looked stunned.
Her spear penetrated the ground, creating a crater deeper than five metres, yet what she watched stood on the opposite side of her body: a male figure covered in black scales, thick black horns with cracks pulsating with an amber glow, a pair of black eyes with golden iris staring at her without feeling, and a perfect set of bladed claws on each hand yet able to carry Vela like a princess gently.
"..."
She could not speak nor process what was before her. This was the form of Asura she knew, but this version had a distinct feeling, no, more like his soul's connection with her wasn't there. Like his entire existence rejected hers, those eyes, cold like ice, made her body tingle. A feeling of rejection was something new to Freyja.
"I have been calling you for a while now, you know?"
A clear yet dark tone of voice that once sounded warm and friendly now carried a sombre note. It was calm, like the eye of the storm. The voice was both sweet and malicious. The feeling one felt after meeting someone they despised so much and yet couldn't help but love and obsess over.
"I can't feel my magic coming from you anymore. What did you do!?"
"Surpassed your inferior bloodline."
Without warning, Asura dashed to Freyja at a speed she could barely follow, her hand reaching for her spear. To destroy the thing she should have worshipped a moment before, only to find that Asura didn't attack her but handed Vela to the queen.
"Leave, get her medical care. Don't get in my way, mother."
Asura didn't look at the queen's expression; he could only sense the various people trying to fight for him. Bearing their grudges and anger for the pain suffered at the hands of Freyja, he didn't care.
To save Vela, he abandoned the divine path for now and took the path of the devil. Able to hear the grudges and anguished voices of those he killed or the deaths he caused.
They wished for him to suffer and experience a fraction of the pain they suffered before passing on. Yet these voices, once upon a time, would cause him to grieve. Now, his mind remained still as if nothing had fazed him.
Because they were his food.
"Freyja, are you done daydreaming?"
The devil's smile grew as his voice changed with several wings growing from his back. Each one was smaller than the previous, except for two pitch-black ones that caused the devil's body to emit a threatening black smoke, shrouding him.
Now able to create Devil's Shroud at will.
"Asura!" Freyja didn't care if he didn't respond to her call. "How can you call her mother and me by name!?" She grabbed her spear, cutting the air with a hysteric motion, her face still crazed with a twisted smile.
"You are not my parent; the mother I remember loved and cared for me. Her name is Ophelia Fenix!" Asura's smile became cold, his voice carrying a distant tone as if remembering a fleeting dream. "The Freyja I knew never existed."
"No, I've always been here, loved you since your birth! Yet you don't understand and shy away from me. You chose those... insects because they fool you... It has to be! I watched you grow, watched you cry, watched you die...
I watched you over, over, over and over!!"
The intense power of Freyja began destroying the once beautiful capital city; with the loss of the Silvara Sword, the kingdom of Silvara lost its defensive barriers, and monsters would soon appear naturally in almost all parts of the kingdom. This woman destroyed the peace and prosperity that it celebrated since the first queen's sacrifice.
"Shut up... You're not my mother."
The final words fell, and in an instant, the wings on his back disappeared. The black mist spread from his body, enveloping him as he shot forward, holding his father's huge black sword; the wings didn't disappear but began flapping too fast to be visible.
Asura cut the air with several deep sounds and flashes of black light, each blow from his blade colliding with Freyja's spear like a meteor colliding with the planet.
"He's alive!" The cry of Xavida disturbed him, yet he didn't seem to mind and only turned to face the door. With Mu Xue and Xavida rushing inside, Vela stood at the back, blowing him a kiss and showing a loving smile.
"It's good to see you alive. I knew you could do it."
His consciousness became relaxed and clear once more after he met Vela's gaze.
"How are you feeling, Master?"
"Sore, it's like I was flung into a wall several times."
"You have been out for two days and almost died several times in that time. We could barely keep you stable. I didn't think you would be hurt so badly or fight that crazy woman..." Xavida didn't mince words and had a sharp and tense tone. Yet he felt only affection, worry and love from her soft eyes that dripped with tears.
"Master, the city is almost fully recovered, but the barrier protecting our nation is gone. Monsters have popped up all over, causing chaos..."
"Husband, my mother called back the royal knights and army. We can no longer take Romantica and will probably have to leave it for the orcs."
Mu Xue and Vela gave him the information he dreaded to hear, a sense of irritation that he couldn't stop those people before Freyja got involved, though he felt her madness wasn't natural. 'It's like when I was still following the whims of those shards... Is there something binding her?' Explore more at m,v l'e-novelhall.net
Asura hated anything related to fate and destiny, but when he remembered the mission the priestess requested of him, he felt like she knew something would happen.
'Now it must be me who attacks and conquers that kingdom...'
"How is the situation in Romantica now?"
"The orcs are still building their defences at the port city to the east while they seem to prepare to attack the fort city of Mary Svesta soon. We probably have less than two weeks before they attack."
"I see... Vela, can you inform the queen and Ignis I wish to speak with them?"
"Husband, are you sure?"
Asura only smiled at his kind wife. Their first night together was ruined, yet she still didn't complain, so he would make sure they could complete that sacred night soon. "I must do this for our kingdom."
"Ah.... Our kingdom..." Her little cheeks turned red as she seemed fired up.
The two girls followed Vela who suddenly rushed away, her face red and a happy chirp coming from her lips.
"Wait, Vela, your body is still..."
"Princess, you aren't supposed to run!"
Suddenly, a figure sat on the window, a nostalgic figure that Asura longed to meet. The moment he did, everything felt like it had finally started.
"Asura, why do you always do crazy things? If I couldn't help stabilise your body, you would have died from being too greedy and devouring so much of that woman's divine magic."
"Be gentle, Hellia. I am an injured patient."
The raven beauty didn't speak or change her faint smile as she walked towards the bed and placed her fair hand on his cheek.
"I am so relieved."