CHAPTER 95: DEFEATING THE KING THAT STARTED IT ALL

Athena pov

I started forward, the injured wolves limping beside me like tattered banners of loyalty. I could feel the old bond stirring between us. Even after everything, they knew me. Their goddess. Their queen.

We passed toppled statues of myself, crumbled monuments to a people who once danced beneath full moons in celebration. Now... reduced to ruin.

At the edge of the broken city walls, more demon wolves gathered.

I didn’t hesitate.

The moment they saw me, I flung my hand toward them, and silver fire rained from the sky like spears hurled by vengeful gods. They howled, clawed, and begged, but none of them escaped the light.

I walked through their ashes like a wraith made of vengeance and sorrow.

A part of me wanted to scream. To tear at the heavens and demand why it had all come to this.

But I knew why.

Him.

The king who had done this.

My heart thundered with one truth as I stepped toward the burning skeleton of my city.

No more mercy.

Not for him.

Not for anyone who stood in my way.

Not anymore.

I stood before the shattered gates of my once‑proud palace, its spires twisted into dark silhouettes against a bruised sky. Black vines clung to broken stone; corrupted runes pulsed with malevolent energy. Even the wind carried a fetid scent—sweat, blood, rancid magic.

Years of peace were erased. My people’s heart was bleeding out. And I could feel it all.

Lucas and Lira hovered behind me, silent support. Their faces were ashen. Lira still trembled, clutching the pendant Lucas had given her.

I swallowed. No more hesitation.

I stepped forward.

A low groan rumbled through the gate. Stone cracked. Two malformed beasts—once palace guards now warped by demonic energies—shambled into view. Half‑wolf, half‑stone‑crowned horror. Red veins pulsed in their sinew; their fangs were jagged shards.

They lunged.

I didn’t hesitate. Silver flame erupted from my palms and consumed them before they even reached my feet. Their howls cracked apart and their bodies fell—ashes drifting in the cursed dusk. I didn’t blink. I didn’t hesitate. My blood thundered, and each heartbeat echoed in my skull like a war drum.

I took another step—past the bodies, into the shattered courtyard.

A voice rang out, cold and familiar.

"Well done," the King said, stepping onto a crumbling dais. Eight demon‑wolves flanked him, each chained by dark energy. Then I saw him: Marcus, suspended mid‑air by silver phantoms of magic, limp and unconscious. And at the far side—Kieran, shackled to iron rings embedded in the stone. His glare was fierce, but his body was broken.

My chest slammed shut. They did this.

"Forgotten your palace already?" he taunted, venom dripping from every syllable. "Let me reintroduce you, Goddess. Welcome home."

I advanced, moonlight swirling around me like a weapon. "Why did you do it, Johan? Why destroy everything I built?"

He smiled—sharp, thin, cruel. "This place was your kingdom. You abandoned it. You snubbed the divine order. Now it serves a higher purpose."

His lie crawled through me like ice.

"What purpose?"

He glanced at Marcus. "To break you. But first—it belonged to me."

"And you threatened Kieran and Marcus to make me come." My voice trembled, but loud. "They’re your hostages."

He shrugged. "Collateral. You march to my drum, or they die."

My vision narrowed. Rage roared louder than any music. I clenched my fists so tight I saw stars. "You worked with Caelum. You betrayed me."

His eyes darkened—for an instant, I thought he might lie. But he only nodded. "Yes. Caelum is returning. You were his queen—and he decided you..."

A sharp pain stabbed my throat. Betrayal—both ancient and immediate. He moved forward, hand brushing Marcus’s hair with cold familiarity. "I was loyal. I sacrificed everything for this chance."

"By enslaving my people?"

His smile curled with certainty. "No. By freeing them from your weakness—and from chaos."

I shook my head. "Chaos you created."

He opened his arms wide as if he welcomed me. "Submit. Join me. Claim this world—or lose everything."

I took a breath. My power surged, trembling beneath my skin—divine, dangerous, waiting to unbind floodgates of wrath.

"No." The single word splintered the air.

I pushed forward. Demon‑wolves snarled, their chains breaking. The eight beasts launched forward.

Silver erupted from me—light as blinding as the full moon. The ground split beneath them. One by one, arcs of moonbolt rained down, sizzling fur, flesh, bone.

Lucas and Lira moved into the fray. He fought with brutal precision, disarming one twisted soldier with a clean strike. Lira—healed by the last of my moonlight—wielded a shard of corrupted rune, lengths of silver energy swirling around her arm. She struck a beast, her eyes steeled.

Kieran hauled himself against the confines of his chains, snarling as silver cracks lit across his skin. "Athena!" he roared. "Break them all!"

She met his gaze—burned with purpose. "I will."

Mid-Battle Revelation

As I stood amid the fallen beasts, the King sneered, drawing a blade shimmering with dark magic. I yanked the chains tethering Kieran with moonlight, freeing him. Lucas, Lira, Kieran—side by side, bloodied but unbowed.

The King’s laugh echoed. "You think that saves you? I made this blade when Caelum stabbed your heart. It’s the Eclipse Fang—or rather, a shard of it. A fraction of his betrayal lives here."

My skin quivered. He raised the blade, summoning black magic that shimmered with green venom. spells slithered around him.

I stepped forward.

"Your blade doesn’t scare me."

He sneered. "It should. Once, it unmade you. Remember your pain?"

I closed my eyes.

The betrayal. The loss. The feeling of self shattering, eternity turning cold.

But I also remembered a spark—small, but not destroyed.

I opened my eyes—and the full moonlight began to blaze through me.

To defeat the King, I needed to embrace who I was, not who I lost.

Captured Power

The King lunged. I met him blow for blow, his blade clashing against my flaming crescent staff, sparks cracking like solemn fireworks.

We fought across the throne room, shifting vantage points. He taunted me, hurt me with every strike. Magic crashed, pillars cracked, runes shattered.

He landed a heavy blow across my chest. I staggered—and the world blurred.

But then I saw my team behind me: Lira cradling an injured Lucas, Kieran standing tall, unchained.

They were my people. My reason to fight.

Moonlight flared.

It was no longer just fire—it bent reality itself. Gravity shifted. Whispers of ancient words fluttered in the air. Pillars shattered, debris hovered, as if time slowed around me.

The King’s eyes widened.

I pressed forward.

With a last cry, I gathered moonlight into a spear of pure divine intent. It hummed with old power—my power. I flung it.

It struck the throne—and the corrupt root‑infested dais cracked in half.

Black energy erupted, flaring into silver. The demon vines curled and died—like shadows retreating at first light.

The King staggered, weaponless, his body flickering with unstable magic.

He fell to one knee. Blood dripped from the corner of his lips.

"You, you can’t let this end," he rasped.

I stepped forward slowly.

Marcus stirred behind him.

Kieran fronted me, steady, his presence like bedrock in a storm. Lucas and Lira watched from the shadows.

The King raised a trembling arm. "Caelum... he’ll"

I raised my voice. Not just as a goddess of moonlight, but as a queen of my world: Lords, Wolves, gods and mortals—listen now.

He sank to the ground. The throne crumbled behind him.

Words of power, ancient and unstoppable, slipped from my tongue, weaving around the broken stone, dissolving every trace of his stolen authority.

Black vines burned to ash. Corrupt runes faded. The broken throne room brightened with pure moonlight.

The King covered his face, weeping. Something raw and brittle broke inside him, relinquished hope for power he could not hold.