Lyra did not realize how long she had been staring at the dungeon entrance after Diatrus left.The silence he carried lingered behind him, heavy and unsettling, as though part of him had refused to go completely.
Her chest felt strange,too warm and empty,she pressed her palm against her heart, trying to steady her breathing. Every encounter with him left echoes inside her mind, fragments she did not understand.
Pain and loneliness.Rage buried beneath centuries of control,she had seen monsters before. The world outside the empire was filled with them.
But Diatrus…He felt like something broken pretending to be invincible.Footsteps approached again but not his.
She looked up just as the iron gate opened sharply.Three guards entered this time, their expressions harder than before.
Behind them stood a woman cloaked in deep crimson silk, her posture elegant, commanding, untouched by fear.
Even without introduction, Lyra understood immediately who she was.The air shifted around her presence, refined danger wrapped in beauty.
The guards bowed low.
"My lady."
Sappira stepped forward slowly, studying Lyra as one might examine an unwanted object placed inside a sacred room.
"So…" she said softly, voice smooth as glass, "you are the girl who has captured my lord's attention."
Lyra rose carefully to her feet.
"I didn't try to."
A faint smile touched Sappira's lips.
"They never do."
Her gaze swept over the simple cell, the untouched food tray, the loosened chains.
"He visits you personally," Sappira continued. "Do you understand what that means?"
Lyra hesitated.
"It means he chose not to kill me."
Sappira's smile sharpened."No. It means you are dangerous."
The temperature seemed to drop.Lyra sensed it then… power hidden beneath Sappira's calm exterior. Not brute strength like Diatrus's darkness, but something precise;controlled and calculated.
"You love him," Lyra said quietly.
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
For the first time, Sappira's composure flickered but only slightly.
"I belong beside him," she corrected.
"That isn't the same."
The guards shifted uneasily. No one spoke to Sappira so directly.
She stepped closer to the bars, eyes narrowing."You should be afraid of me."
Lyra met her gaze calmly.
"I think you're afraid of losing him."
Silence struck the dungeon like a blade.Sappira's expression softened again but now the gentleness felt far more dangerous.
"You misunderstand your position," she murmured. "You live because he allows it. That mercy can vanish."
Her fingers lifted slightly.Invisible energy slid through the bars.
Lyra felt it instantly, pressure wrapping around her throat, tightening slowly. Not enough to kill.Just enough to hurt and warn her.
Pain flared, yet Lyra did not struggle.Instead, warmth surged beneath her skin.Light flickered faintly around her wrists.
The pressure shattered.Sappira's hand froze midair,for a brief second, genuine shock crossed her face.
The magic had broken,not resisted but broken!
Lyra inhaled sharply as the invisible hold vanished.Neither woman spoke.
Sappira slowly lowered her hand, eyes dark with realization.
"So the prophecy is true," she whispered.
Before she could act again…A crushing presence flooded the dungeon. The temperature changed to colder and darker.
The guards collapsed to one knee instantly.
He appeared at the corridor entrance, eyes blazing crimson, shadows roaring around him like living beasts barely restrained.His gaze moved once from Sappira.To Lyra.
The temperature dropped to below freezing.
"What," he said quietly, "is happening here?"
Sappira turned gracefully, masking everything behind calm devotion.
"I came to see the prisoner."
"You came without permission."The shadows around him sharpened dangerously.
Sappira inclined her head. "I wished to understand what troubles you."
Diatrus walked forward slowly.Each step carried lethal authority.When he reached the cell, his attention fell briefly on Lyra's neck where faint red marks remained.
The dungeon instantly trembled.Rage rose instantly … raw, instinctive, uncontrollable.
The demons inside him surged violently.His voice dropped.
"Leave."
The command struck like thunder.
The guards fled immediately.
Sappira did not move."My lord," she said gently, "I was only ensuring your safety."
"My safety," Diatrus repeated softly, "does not require your interference."
Something sharp passed between them… history, loyalty, and an unspoken fracture forming.
For the first time in centuries, Sappira realized something terrifying.He had chosen a side And it was not hers.
She bowed slowly.
"As you wish."
But when she turned away, her eyes briefly met Lyra's.
Promise burned there,this was not over.She disappeared following up the stairs.
Silence returned briefly…Diatrus stood motionless for several seconds before speaking.
"Did she harm you?"
Lyra shook her head gently.
"I'm fine."
His jaw tightened at the lie.He stepped closer to the bars.
The shadows around him calmed as they always did near her, settling into quiet obedience.
"You should fear her," he said.
"She loves you."
"That is precisely why you should fear her."
Lyra studied him carefully."And you?" she asked. "Do you fear me?"
The question caught him unprepared.Diatrus stared at her longer than intended.
"Yes," he answered finally.
The honesty surprised them both.He turned away abruptly, irritated by his own admission.
"This ends now," he muttered.
With a flick of his hand, the iron bars dissolved into dark mist.
Lyra blinked in shock.
"You are not remaining in the dungeon."
He extended his hand toward her, surprising her..not an order but invitation.
The moment stretched between them as she stared at his hand contempleting,If she accepted, nothing would remain the same.
Lyra hesitated only briefly before placing her hand in his.Warmth surged instantly through both of them.The demons within him fell completely silent.
Above the palace, unseen by either of them, storm clouds gathered once more.
Because in that single decision, fate shifted irreversibly.The prophetic being was no longer a prisoner.
She was entering the Devil's world.And every enemy waiting in the shadows had just received confirmation of their greatest fear…The Destroyer had begun to care.