As soon as Arlen and Cornea returned to the palace, Nyx was already waiting.

  She bowed deeply to her queen — but her eyes, sharp and unreadable, flicked toward Arlen the moment he stepped into the hall. Something tight, almost human, crossed them.

  Arlen didn’t waste a breath.

  “Nyx. Call the other two royal guards,” he ordered.

  Her eyes widened — a flash of disbelief, hurt, and anger mixing behind them.

  “I told you to stay away from them,” she snapped. “They only want to use you. And why the hell are giving me orders? You think holding one sacred relic makes you—”

  Cornea’s fingers made the softest sound.

  A single gesture.

  And Nyx froze mid-sentence like a blade held at the throat.

  “Do as he say,” Cornea said, voice cool and absolute. “For now.”

  Nyx stiffened. No demon could defy their queen. Not even her loyal shadow.

  She turned sharply and vanished down the corridor.

  Minutes later, she returned — Grom and Aura walking behind her.

  Grom bowed respectfully to Cornea, his hulking red frame crackling with battle-lust.

  Aura didn’t bow. She only tilted her head with a lazy, sensual smile, obsidian butterfly wings fluttering like silk blades.

  “What business brings us here?” Aura asked, voice sweet enough to rot bone.

  Cornea remained silent.

  The one who stepped forward was Arlen.

  “You three wanted me on your side,” Arlen said. “You wanted to use me to climb higher. So let me be clear—this time, I’m the one asking.”

  He didn’t raise his voice — but the hall chilled.

  “Serve me. Join cause. And none of you have the option to refuse.”

  Grom let out a thunderous laugh, slapping his thigh.

  “Hah! Human boy, even with a sacred relic, you're still a human. Ordering the Demon Queen’s royal guards? You’re bold — or suicidal.”

  Aura smirked, stepping closer, hips swaying, wings trembling like a predator’s purr.

  “If you promise to be a good boy and join faction instead… I’ll give you pleasures Cornea never could. You’re cute enough to keep as a pet.”

  Her voice was honeyed venom.

  Only Nyx said nothing.

  But her silence screamed louder than words.

  The disbelief.

  The crack in her trust.

  The ugly sting of betrayal.

  She hated him at first — yet she reluctantly respected his grit, his survival, his willingness to bleed harder than any demon. She had begun to see him as an equal, maybe even a comrade…

  And now he was shattering that fragile bond.

  Cornea finally spoke — voice dripping with dark amusement.

  “In this underworld, strength decides everything. That is our law.”

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  She leaned back on her throne, eyes bright with violent curiosity.

  “All three of you will duel him. Whoever wins may decide the fate of the loser. Simple. Pure.”

  A wicked smile touched her lips.

  “Survival of the fittest.”

  Exactly the same rule they would soon use against Dryas — the goddess of nature.

  The royal guards had no path but obedience.

  Nyx stepped forward first, rage in her eyes — not the cold professional fury she usually carried, but something raw, personal.

  “Grom. Aura.”

  She cracked her knuckles.

  “He’s looking down on us.”

  Her voice trembled, not from fear — but from pride wounded deep.

  “Let’s show this brat what the Demon Queen’s royal guards truly are.”

  All three royal guards attacked at once.

  Grom moved first — the ground cracked beneath his steps as he pulled a colossal great sword from a pocket dimension. The blade itself looked ancient: chipped edges, scorch marks, dents from battles that should’ve killed him a thousand times. He charged with the force of a collapsing mountain.

  Arlen met him head-on.

  Raikiri’s pitch-black edge caught the blow, thunder crackling across its surface. The shockwave trembled through the hall.

  Grom grinned savagely.

  “Not bad for a runt!”

  Behind him, Aura fluttered her wings, releasing a shimmering cloud of sweet-smelling pollen.

  “Just breathe it in, darling,” she purred, voice dripping honey and poison. “And you’ll sleep like a baby… while I take my sweet—very sweet—time devouring every inch of you.”

  Her smile was hunger disguised as seduction.

  Arlen slashed once.

  Just .

  The pollen dissolved midair.

  Grom’s massive swing was cut cleanly in half — the force and fire behind it

  as if it never existed.

  He smirked.

  “Oh, right. I forgot to mention.”

  His demonic eye gleamed.

  “I killed a couple lesser gods earlier.”

  He lifted Raikiri — lightning whispered along the blade’s edge.

  “And I picked up another Sacred Relic.”

  Grom and Aura recoiled, genuine shock twisting their faces.

  But Nyx didn’t retreat.

  She attacked with everything she had.

  A blur of black hair and shadow-fire, claws elongating, fangs gleaming, she lunged at Arlen with killing intent sharp enough to cut bone. Her speed dwarfed the gods he had fought — she was relentless, furious, heartbreak burning behind her rage.

  Arlen was completely on the defensive.

  Then—

  A sting in his left arm.

  He glanced down.

  A small parasitic insect burrowed into his flesh, its tiny legs drilling deeper.

  Aura laughed loud and triumphant.

  “Ah, you noticed my pet. Its venom paralyzes anything it bites. Once it reaches your bloodstream—you're done, human boy.”

  Arlen didn’t even hesitate.

  In one brutal motion—

  He severed his own arm.

  Blood erupted and the poison could never spread.

  Cornea’s eyes glimmered with pure amusement from her throne.

  She wasn’t siding with anyone.

  She didn’t need to.

  No matter who won, the underworld’s game belonged to her.

  What happened next lasted only seconds — but it was enough time for Cornea to take a sip of wine.

  Aura, startled by his self-mutilation, flinched — her fatal mistake.

  Arlen charged forward in a suicidal rush, taking Nyx’s claws straight through his ribs and Grom’s sword slicing his right leg. Flesh tore, bones snapped, blood spilled—

  And he didn’t flinch.

  He fought through the agony like it was nothing.

  With a savage motion, he gripped his severed left arm — insect still embedded — and hurled it at Grom’s face. The creature latched onto his temple. Paralysis hit instantly.

  The giant collapsed like a felled tree – shivering on the ground. The poison works faster when bitten near the brain.

  Aura tried to summon pollen again—

  Raikiri flew from Arlen’s teeth, a streak of thunder.

  It pierced her wing and pinned her to the wall like an insect on display. She shrieked — her pollen ability sealed.

  Finally, Nyx.

  Her claws still buried in his chest.

  Her fangs still digging into his wrist.

  She was the closest, the fastest, the most dangerous.

  And that’s exactly why Arlen closed his eyes.

  One second of vulnerability.

  One second of total exposure.

  Cornea rose slightly from her throne — recognizing the move instantly.

  Nyx sank her claws deeper, trying to kill him before he acted—

  And Arlen whispered:

  “OATH BINDER.”

  A blinding chain of light and darkness erupted around Nyx’s neck.

  The collar clicked shut.

  Her claws retracted instantly.

  Her fangs slipped from his wrist.

  Her body fell to her knees as if the universe itself forced her submission.

  Cornea stood fully now, eyes gleaming with sinister delight.

  “Well,” she murmured, “I suppose we have our victor.”

  Arlen stood trembling — one arm missing, one leg half-severed, ribs shattered, blood leaking from every inch of him — but still upright.

  Still alive.

  Cornea stepped forward, licking a drop of blood from his hand — slow, possessive, proud.

  Power rippled outward.

  His wounds began to heal.

  His missing limbs regenerated.

  Bones reformed.

  Skin knitted.

  He exhaled, collapsing backward onto the floor.

  “I win,” he whispered.

  Breath ragged, voice cold as winter steel.

  He looked at the three broken royal guards.

  “Now all of you serve me. We move to our next target—Dryas, goddess of nature.”