Chapter 184: “King of monsters.”
The night split with the sound of steel against claw.
Lucy’s blade slashed in black arcs, each swing faster, heavier, sharper than the last. Karl barely moved in time. His body was broken already, every bone screaming, but still he forced his legs to shift, wings to flare, claws to catch the edge of her sword. Sparks tore the air with every clash.
"Lucy—" he rasped, blood spilling from his mouth as he ducked under another slash. The sword cut clean through a broken tower behind him, stone splitting in half.
She didn’t answer. Her eyes were blank, glowing rings locked on him as though nothing else existed.
The markings on her body pulsed harder. Her horn cracked again, spilling black fire that burned through the ground at her feet.
She roared and lunged.
Karl twisted away, but the strike was too fast. Then Kaelis moved. The great dragon’s wing shifted low, a gust of wind hammering against Karl, pushing him just far enough aside for the blade to miss his chest. The sword cut air where his heart had been a heartbeat ago.
Karl staggered, catching his balance, panting. "Tch. Thanks, big guy."
Kaelis’s voice rumbled like thunder, low and cold. "I am not saving you. I am buying time. Do something before she erases you."
Lucy swung again, her blade dragging black fire across the ground. Karl leapt back, wings snapping open. He dodged left, then right, each movement sharper, but still the blade carved closer every time. His arms burned, scales splitting, blood dripping from fresh cuts.
"Lucy! It’s me!" he shouted, his voice cracking. He ducked another slash, claws scraping against stone. "You’re not my enemy! Snap out of it!"
No answer. Just another roar, another strike.
He moved again, Kaelis helping with blasts of wind, pushing him out of range when his body was too slow. But Lucy didn’t slow. She pressed harder, her blade blurring in the air, black fire eating through every block Karl tried to make.
"You’re not this," Karl shouted, dodging sideways, blood spraying from his lips. "You’re not a monster!"
Her blade slammed into the ground beside him, stone exploding. Karl barely rolled away, the blast tearing his back open. He staggered to his knees, gasping, his arms trembling.
"Lucy!" His voice cracked now, raw. "I know you can hear me!"
She raised her blade again. Her body twitched, unstable, but her aura flared higher, hungrier. She stepped forward, blank eyes fixed on him like prey.
Karl’s chest heaved. His claws shook. His voice broke into something almost pleading. "Don’t do this. Don’t make me fight you."
Kaelis’s head lowered slightly, his vast eyes watching. "She does not know you anymore. She knows nothing."
Lucy roared, raising her blade for the final strike. The markings flared so bright they carved light into the smoke. Her body trembled, but the sword came down fast, heavy, straight for Karl’s skull.
He stared up, frozen. For the first time, hopelessness cracked across his face. "...Lucy."
The blade fell—
And stopped.
Her arms shook. The sword hung inches from his head, black fire dripping from its edge. Her blank eyes flickered. Her body trembled violently, as if two wills were fighting inside her.
Then a voice cut through the ruin.
"Lucy."
Soft. Weak. But steady.
Her head snapped sideways. Her eyes widened faintly.
Lucian was awake.
He stood behind Kaelis’s wings, his body swaying, blood still dripping from his chest. His cloak was in tatters, his skin pale, but his eyes glowed faint with space. He took a step forward, slipping out from Kaelis’s shield.
Lucy’s body twitched. Her sword lowered a fraction, her breath hitching.
Karl staggered back, coughing. "Lucian ..."
Lucian didn’t look at him. His gaze stayed on his sister.
"Lucy," he said again, his voice quiet but sharp enough to cut through the fire.
Her sword shook harder. The black fire lashed outward, carving trenches, but she didn’t swing. Her lips trembled, her blank eyes flickering with faint violet again.
Her voice cracked, raw, almost lost. "...Brother?"
Lucian moved.
One instant he was standing weakly in the rubble. The next, he blurred. Space folded around him, bending speed past sight. Even Kaelis’s slitted eyes narrowed at the movement.
Karl’s vision barely caught it. "What the—"
Lucian appeared in front of Lucy, faster than her blade could lift again. His hand pressed to her chest, right over the markings. Space folded sharp.
"Sleep."
The black fire collapsed inward. The markings across her body flickered, then dimmed. Her horn cracked down the middle, light fading.
Lucy’s body sagged, her blade slipping from her hand. Her knees buckled.
Lucian caught her before she fell, his arms trembling from the effort. Her head slumped against his shoulder, her breath shallow but steady.
The battlefield went quiet.
Karl collapsed backward onto the rubble, laughing once through blood. "About damn time."
Kaelis’s wings shifted, folding tighter against his body as he looked down at the siblings. His vast eyes narrowed faintly. "He moves like one of them."
Lucian lowered his sister to the ground carefully, brushing blood from her face. His voice was hoarse, but it carried. "She’s safe now."
Karl coughed, grinning through the pain. "Safe? Lucian ... you better pray she stays that way."
The fires still burned across the capital, smoke blotting out the stars. The Dragon King’s corpse smoldered in the ruins. Kaelis’s shadow stretched long across the street, his eyes watching in silence.
Lucian sat beside Lucy’s unconscious body, his hand still trembling over her markings.
But for now, she was his again.
The smoke shifted.
From the ruins that still smoldered, shadows began to stir. Claws scraped against stone. Wings beat dust into the air. Dozens of eyes gleamed through the dark—red, gold, green—one after another until the avenue was crowded with shapes that had hidden while their King fought.
Monsters.
Some still dripped with blood from their own wounds. Others limped, their bodies scarred from the chaos that had ripped through the capital. But none raised their heads high. One by one, they dropped low, claws to the ground, wings folding, jaws pressed against the dirt.
They bowed.
Their roars were gone. What came instead was silence. Submission.
Karl stared at them, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his mouth. His body barely held him upright, every scale cracked, but his molten eyes burned sharp as he watched them fall into line.
"...The hell is this?" he muttered, half laughing, half choking on blood.
The biggest of the monsters—a bull-headed beast with broken horns—pressed lower to the ground. "The Dragon King is dead. The crown belongs to his blood."
Karl blinked. Then his grin split wide, sharp through the blood on his teeth. "You’re saying I’m King now?"
The bull didn’t answer, but the silence of the crowd was enough. More heads bowed. Even the serpents coiled themselves flat against the broken stone.
Karl dragged a hand across his face, wiping the blood from his jaw. "Heh... took long enough."
A shadow shifted beside him. Kaelis’s massive head lowered, his slitted eyes fixed on Karl. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then his voice rumbled deep, shaking the ruins.
"King of monsters."
Karl shot him a look, coughing once, still grinning. "Don’t you start."
Kaelis’s jaws curled faintly in something like amusement. "Small crown, small king. Even smaller monsters."
The words rolled like mockery, but his eyes stayed sharp, unreadable.
Karl spat blood into the dirt, chuckling through the pain. "Funny, coming from the overgrown lizard who sat and watched while I did the dirty work."
Kaelis rumbled low, the sound like a laugh muffled by fire. "And yet, here you stand. Broken, bleeding... but standing. Maybe that is enough for them." His head tilted slightly toward the bowing beasts. "Not for me."
Karl smirked, dragging himself to his feet with a grunt. He spread his arms wide, flames crackling faint around his claws. "Then watch, Kaelis. Watch your ’small king’ do what your golden fool of a brother couldn’t."
The monsters didn’t lift their heads. Their silence pressed heavier than any roar.
Karl’s grin faltered for half a breath. The weight of it hit him—how quick they had turned. How easy they’d let go of one god to worship another. His jaw tightened.
"Tch." He spat again, shaking his head. "Guess that’s what monsters do, huh? Doesn’t matter who wears the crown, so long as someone’s bleeding enough to prove they can."
Kaelis lowered his gaze, his voice rolling quiet this time. "And are you ready to bleed for them, Karl?"
Karl’s smirk returned, sharper now. He flexed his claws, fire snaking up his arms. "I’ve been bleeding for years. This changes nothing."
Kaelis huffed, smoke curling from his nostrils. "Then congratulations, little king. The monsters are yours."
Karl barked a laugh, though it cracked halfway. "Don’t sound so bitter, old man. You might have to bow next."
Kaelis’s eyes narrowed, glinting faint gold in the smoke. "Bow? To you?" His voice rumbled deep, low. "Not in this lifetime."
Karl just laughed harder, clutching his ribs where blood still leaked. "Didn’t think so. But it’s funny, isn’t it? The one thing you’ve been mocking all night—" He jerked his chin toward the kneeling beasts. "—they’re already calling me King."
Kaelis didn’t answer. His massive head turned slightly, his wings shifting tighter around Lucian and the unconscious Lucy. His silence said more than words.
Karl’s grin dimmed faintly as his eyes lingered on them. For a moment, the weight of crown and blood pressed against his chest heavier than the wounds in his ribs.
The monsters stayed bowed. Smoke curled higher. The capital burned around them.
And in the silence, Karl stood crooked, broken, but with fire still burning in his veins.
King.
Even if he hadn’t asked for it.