The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Music Recommendation: The Burnt Orange Heresy Theme by Craig Armstrong

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Madeline felt the sharp blade-like hand pierce through her flesh as if it was ripping her chest apart beneath which her heart continued to beat. She tried to use the icicles that she could manifest by using the snow on the ground.

But when Madeline sent the icicle flying at him, Darian caught hold of it with ease, and with one crush of his hand, the icicle turned to nothing but white dust.

"There were many demons who belonged to the first level which we call it to be the superior level. But very few made it through as once the Devil ascended the throne, he sent out an order to capture all the level one demons and were thrown to the pits of Hell so that the demons would scorch and extinguish them from the underworld," said Darian. He pushed his hand further into her chest and more blood started to spilt out from Madeline's chest to drip down on the white ground, turning it red.

Madeline flinched in pain, unable to think of a spell. She had never felt any blade or hand in her chest trying to get hold of her heart. She slowly tried to inhale air. Her one hand was on the ground, grabbing the snow, while the other tried to push his hand away from her.

Darian sat on top of Madeline, and he had a maddening smile as if a whole wave of happiness had been thrown at him.

"Even if you take my heart out of my body, you will never be able to make use of my powers or abilities. It will never be yours," Madeline gritted her teeth, and she wondered if this was how Lucy had felt on the night when Samuel had harmed her.

The demon chuckled in delight, "I am not any mere demon, but a demon who can absorb abilities by killing the other. Have you not heard about it? There are only a few of us who still exist with that ability, while the rest of them have perished thanks to the Devil," explained Darian. "It is time to say goodbye and join your mother, Madeline," he smiled at her.

If she wasn't born to a demon and an angel, Madeline doubted she would have been able to live this long with the amount of blood that profusely oozed out of her chest. But her mind was turning dizzy and her body weak, after all, she was still a person from the living world.

When Darian moved his hand in another direction on Madeline's chest as if he were cutting a cake, he whispered spells to start the sacrificial ritual. Madeline's eyes turned pitch white. Her hand that was on the ground, held the snow in her fist and it converted it into a sharp blade that was sharper than Darian's hand that was trying to cut her heart out.

It was a throwing starblade that rotated in Madeline's hand, and within the next second, her hand went towards his neck. The blade sliced the front part of the demon's neck, and Darian who hadn't expected it jumped away from her.

Darian placed his hand on his neck where black blood started to drip down. The demon glared at Madeline with rage-filled eyes. All he needed was to make another cut before whispering the last spell that would pull out her heart from her chest. He was so fucking close!

Madeline didn't know if she could move or not, and she could hear her heart beating loudly.

The blade in her hand continued to spin, and slowly she tried to get up to sit on the ground.

"Why do you resist when you know I will kill you now or later? There's no point in unnecessarily trying to drag the time," commented Darian, and he turned his other hand into a blade too. His appearance continued to stay that of her husband, and it troubled her.

She knew the demon who was in front of her wasn't Calhoun. The demon had smartly impersonated Calhoun's appearance and somewhere it weakened Madeline's heart.

"Your ambition is pointless," stated Madeline, "If you wanted to rule Hell, you had all the opportunity to do it before the Devil came into the picture. You were eyeing Heaven, believing there was nothing in the place where you had born and lived. It was only after that you realized that Hell was as valuable as Heaven."

Madeline's eyes had not returned from the pitch white. Even though Darian had tried to block any possible angelic magic from being used here, Madeline was still able to bring out her true nature and abilities.

She slowly stood up to face the demon who had pitch-black eyes.

"You don't deserve to live anywhere," whispered Madeline, "Less rule one." Her words were enough to irk the demon, and he ran right at her with his hands ready to swipe and cut her into pieces. It didn't matter anymore to him if Madeline would be damaged as the only thing he cared about was her heart and soul.

Madeline picked up the snow in her other hand, and the blade that was rotating in her hand turned to a strong sword and another formed in her other hand. The swords were made of unbreakable ice, and they clashed against Darian's hands that tried to break them. He uttered a spell that sent a gust of wind from where they were, sending birds that had perched themselves in the nearby trees to fly away from there.

He clashes both his hands against each together, and the gust of wind that had moved outward, moved back in the reverse order. He brought his bat-like wings out of his back to move up in the air, leaving the spell to attack Madeline.

Madeline tried to protect herself from the collision by covering herself with her wings that took the hit, and the feathers caught fire.

"Give up, Madeline," Darian shouted, whispering another spell. Many branches from the trees broke, and they came flying towards Madeline, ready to pierce through her body.

In return, Madeline bent down and placed her hand on the ground for walls of ice to appear in front of the flying branches, and they fell.