Rise of the Lustful Evil Monarch (Re)

Third Person's POV

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(Author's Warning: Read this chapter at your own risk. A little graphic description of gore is present)

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Corpse flies nested in her eye sockets as their larvae squirmed in the hollows.

Her abdomen had been split open and not with blades but claws.

Ribs jutted outward like broken spokes as the remains of a half-formed goblin fetus rotted inside her.

The Blood Slave continued while its tone was neither mocking nor sympathetic as it merely stated the cold and irrefutable facts.

"Her despair and suffering were undoubtedly used to fuel their hideous summoning ritual.

That is the nature of Dark Soul Energy—it is not something easily obtained.

It is born from agony and from unfathomable sorrow.

Only when a soul is fully shattered and corrupted by the banes of the Astral Realm, does it release the energy necessary to nourish the void."

Ethan exhaled sharply as his mind processed the horrifying truth behind the Dar Soul Energy.

So this is what my devil bloodline craves…

Yet he felt no fear or hesitation. He had already accepted what he was. If his power demanded Dark Soul Energy, then so be it.

And there were plenty of enemies that he was sure he would make in this world.

He already knew that the long list would start with the Youngest Prince of the Empire of Abyssal Dominion.

There were also plenty of monsters who were deserving of true despair.

And I should start with those Dark Goblins. I will not become like them… But I will use them.

A dark smirk ghosted his lips as he turned back to the corpse.

Virelle wiped her mouth as her voice trembled.

"We should burn this place. Now."

In response, the Blood Slave raised his withered hand and summoned a flickering ember of deep crimson flame.

With a slow, deliberate motion, it let the ember fall on the woman's corpse.

The corpse ignited instantly.

The blood-red fire roared to life and consumed the remains in an inferno of blood-red light.

The flames danced along Ethan's features as it cast sharp shadows across his face.

His crimson eyes reflected the burning corpse though his mind was still lost in his own thoughts.

To anyone watching, he looked like a devil standing before an unholy pyre with his expression unreadable and his presence both fearsome and mesmerizing.

Virelle and Velcy stared at him in silence.

And for a moment, no one spoke.

Then, Velcy took a step closer and brushed her thick white tail against Ethan's arm.

He turned his head slightly, and before he could react, she hugged him.

Her soft, trembling form pressed against his chest and her fingers curled tightly around his torn robes.

He could feel her rapid and unsteady heartbeat which clearly reflected her anxious emotions.

Ethan sighed and rested a hand on her head as he softly patted her hair.

He knew this girl.

He Knew how she always pretended to be tough and how she masked her fears beneath a stoic face.

She must have remembered the days she was held captive on seeing the chains bounding the woman.

He thought with sympathy as he realized that in moments like these when her facade crumbled, she was nothing more than a vulnerable soul seeking warmth.

Her tail curled tighter around his arm as the soft fur brushed against his fingers.

He ran his finger on them and feeling their softness he felt a calm setting in his tumultuous mind.

And for the first time since the battle ended, Ethan felt something other than bloodlust and grim resolve.

He felt… human.

They exited the small cave while the bloody flames flickered and died down behind them as they consumed and erased the grotesque traces of the horrifying events that had unfolded there.

The air was thick with the stench of charred flesh and decay, yet for Ethan, it was a cleansing fire and a purification of the vile deeds that had tainted this land.

One by one, he checked the other caves and his grip on his saber tightened with each grotesque discovery.

Within those shadowed hollows, more bodies were found.

They were women who had suffered the same nightmarish fate at the hands of the Dark Goblins.

Each one told a story of unspeakable atrocities that showed itself to them through their broken bodies, shattered lives, and the lingering stench of despair.

Some were long dead with their flesh reduced to nothing but a feast for the corpse flies.

Others were fresher with their bodies recently mutilated and drained of life.

But in one cave, a faint, ragged breath stirred the silence.

Ethan crouched beside the barely breathing figure of a vampire woman.

Her glassy red eyes stared blankly at the ceiling and her once-radiant scarlet irises had now become faded and lifeless.

Her pallid skin which was already ashen by nature and appearance had now taken on an unnatural deathly hue of gray

Her body was broken and her ribs protruded like sharpened daggers beneath torn flesh while her limbs bore the marks of unimaginable torment.

Virelle sucked in a sharp breath, struggling to keep her emotions in check as she gazed upon the fallen woman.

She recognized some of them to be her fellow vampires. They must have been once dignified and strong but were now reduced to nothing more than shattered husks.

Her nails dug into her palms and the pain grounded her as she forced herself to speak.

"They… they were vampires."

Her voice was quiet and like a whisper yet it was laden with fury. Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire

Ethan had already suspected as much.

Unlike humans, vampires had a distinct physiology—one that made their suffering all the more insidious.

The blood flow of their body was sluggish and far less abundant than that of other races.

Their hearts beat so slowly that to the untrained eye, they often appeared lifeless.

This lack of rich blood supply made them highly dependent on external sources that is they needed the blood of others to sustain their existence.