New Chapter for the Highest Tier (June 2021)

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Archdemon Empress Luna

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Luna lost her balance from Princess Ourania's surprise attack that she rolled from the top of the landing until the bottom of the staircase.

Some part of the crystal spear she impaled her with broke into jagged pieces as she laid to her side on the bloody ground.

There was a painful tightness just below her stomach, and it felt like sharp claws were ripping her flesh apart that she closed her eyes shut from the burning ache in her core.

She could barely hear the clatter of Princess Ourania's heels as she took her sweet, sweet time descending to the bottom of the staircase. Luna could feel the fabric of her gown touching her form as Apollyon's mother bent forward, grabbed her shoulders and turn her over from her fetal position.

"You really think my son loved you, Empress, huh?" Princess Ourania clicked her tongue as she twirled a bright orange spear in her hand similar to the one she brought forth at the royal infirmary to threaten Xerxes as a result of Princess Sapphire's disrespect. I was hoping you wouldn't make the mistake that I did with his father. King Gwythyr destroyed my life even after his death."

"Such a delusional girl!"

Why did she still insist that Apollyon was similar to the past Vampire King?

"I will make you understand of the horrible monster you married into since it would appear that you don't realize it." Princess Ourania looked down before crouching beside her.

"I want to save you." Apollyon's mother said in a sing-song voice as she caressed her head the way Apollyon did at the royal infirmary.

"U-urk—" Luna couldn't speak as she tried to stop the blood flowing out of her chest with her bare hands staining her pale pink dress.

Her heartbeat raised as she tried to scamper away from her, but she was too weak when she had multiple stabs on her upper body, but it wasn't healing.

She clasped the embedded crystal on her chest with her trembling fingers to pull them out.

The thick fluid was warm while her own body grew cold as it left her flesh.

"Did you even learn about the ancestors of the man you were mated into? Apollyon's lineage came from the Kings of the dawn of the Vampire Civilization recognized as the royal family of Selcis." Princess Ourania continued calmly as her fingers tighten on her weapon. "The royal bloodline of the oldest male heir in this family are considered to be scorpion-ic which will bring death and misfortune to whoever he was mated to. Like a fatal scorpion, your association with the masculines in their stemma will bring about a venomous sting—whether conscious or unconscious—that might paralyze and kill you slowly. And, every second, might feel like a lifetime."

Princess Ourania was the delusional one!

Luna wanted to scream at her, but she couldn't, as she choked in her own blood when she felt trickles of them running from her flaring nostrils as she tried her best to breathe.

How can Apollyon's mother do this to her with sparkling blue eyes and a warm, caring tone, as if she had a great satisfaction for killing her slowly?

" Haven't you questioned yourself about the source of your suffering?" She tipped her head back and laughed. "If you really think about it, everything started the moment you came into contact with my son, wasn't it? Just like how I suffered the instant my eyes met with King Gwythyr."

Her shoulders stiffened.

Princess Ourania's gaze turned vacant when she stared absently at the wall, reminiscing about her past, before the same light blue eyes sharpened, honing in on her like a weapon.

From her countenance, Luna knew her jealousy and resentment over Apollyon's pure love out on her.

"Until now, I wished that I haven't laid my eyes on the bastard who destroyed me! Who made me like this!" Her voice raised in volumes, resonating into Luna's head as it rang with the force of her rage. "No matter what I do, whether or not, I would do everything in my power to show my love to my children— even jump through hoops to please the Vampire King and my daughter Princess Sapphire. Every precious effort would be in vain. I am already too late. So why even bother doing something about their hatred of me? I would rather do nothing than doing something and still being persecuted!"

Luna's entire form went rigid in fear as she brought her knees together to protect herself when Princess Ourania raised one of her heels and placed them on her side of her face before she pressed it down and applied pressure strong enough to break her jaw.

She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain.

"You should thank me for waking you up about the truth of this mating bond. He is only interested in you because you are beautiful and immortal, just like his father did. That is the only reason Apollyon is amiable with the mating bond. Nothing else. Pure-blooded vampires are very shallow, and they will never love you back. Only treat you well if you are still useful to them. If someone would take the beauty, sex, and power you had, you will be thrown away like trash." She said calmly, "The Selcis' love isn't true. Their love is an obsession. They desire to rule over you. Apollyon is controlling you like how his father, the Vampire King, controlled me."

She could feel the blood gushing in a constant flow from her legs, and she shrieked from the pain of the idea of losing a child instead of what she felt from Princess Ourania's assault.

Her pulse became slower and weaker as she moaned her husband's name repeatedly, hoping he will hear her.

If he wouldn't arrive on time, baby Leo will die.

"This is why I am trying to help you, Vampire Princess."

"You… are helping….me…by killing me…. Yourself—" Luna sputtered, and she began to see bright flashes of colour in her vision. The kind of hue which made her thoughts spin and split her brain into two. "Fuck. You."

Another orange crystal dagger materialized in her hand and stabbed her in the shoulders and on the chest repeatedly. "Die. Bitch. Die."

Luna's blood splattered everywhere, but most of them stained Princess Ourania's face.

Luna bit her lip to stop her cries silent.

After a few minutes of her never-ending onslaught, Princess Ourania's serene countenance contorted into a rage, and she halted, spearing her with her orange crystal.

It landed with a clunk when she threw it aside and hit a gold pedestal.

"Why wouldn't you die, you bitch?!" Her hands clenched on her collar as she shook her shoulders. "I pierced your heart with my spear. You should have turned into ashes by now."

"I thought you are a vampire!" Princess Ourania's light blue eyes were so wide that the whites almost took over. "I heard you at the Faerie Tea Party that your diet consisted of blood from your mate?" Her chest rose and fell from breathing hard. Biting her fingernails, she muttered as her eyes darted from left to right, "Did I miss something?"

"Apollyon—"

"I already shut him out with Underworld Magic so that he could barely detect where you are."

"APOLLYON—" Luna shouted at the top of her lungs, and Princess Ourania slapped her hard.

She held back another scream as another wave of dizziness hit her.

"Shut up, bitch."

'Apollyon, help me.' Luna thought, but there was no response bouncing back to her mind.

The Fury abruptly appeared behind Princess Ourania.

"Caelano." Apollyon's mother stood up immediately at the creature's presence as if she was caught with her hand on the cookie jar. "What had taken you so long?"

"I made sure this dimension was locked and separated from the Summer Realm." It answered. "Your son would have a hard time locating this dark dimension."

So this was the reason why it took so long to get here!

As they wandered around the Summer Castle, Luna was focused on following Princess Ourania and checking her every movement warily for anything suspicious, but she found none.

She knew that Princess Ourania had a sinister aura, and never did Luna let her guard down around her.

It turned out that it was the Fury, 'Caelano', who was doing the dirty job for Princess Ourania while her only task to this ambush was to lead her here.

She couldn't believe they passed through dimensions without her knowledge.

She hadn't picked up Caelano's manipulation of dark magic because she was too focused on Princess Ourania!

"You heard that, Empress?" Princess Ourania kicked her stomach, and she groaned in agony. How can Apollyon's mother kill her own granddaughter like this? "If Apollyon attempted a teleport with your mind link, he will find that the one in this exact location at the Summer Palace will be. We are in another space just between the material the spiritual plane. A Vampire King, even as strong as him, will not have access to this. This is my familiar's power."

Then, she shifted her attention to her Familiar. "Maybe, it will take her a day to turn into ashes. Just tie her hands behind her back, including her feet, with ropes that nullify the power she owned, Caelano. Break the sharp ends of the crystal spear on her form so that she could fit into the metal box. Wrap them in metal chains and hang her upside down. It will be her end. My son would never suspect a thing. " She ordered the Fury as Princess Ourania regained her composure.

Luna blinked until her eyes couldn't open anymore.

Then, she surrendered her mind to the night until there was nothing at all.