CHAPTER 333: FLOWER FROM HELL

Dante’s every step was filled with dread. He knew his dad would kill him if he brought dishonor to him by surrendering.

But he had no choice.

He had seen what Lily was capable of now and it terrified him. Alone, he knew he stood no chance. She had her pet bodyguard with her but she too had changed and became freakishly strong. As they were making their way to where the Former head was taken, they came across several patrols.

Each one was asked the same question.

"Did you kill your comrades."

The ones who said yes. The ones who laughed. The ones who scoffed and berated them. All of them died. Not a single one was spared. Each one died in a way that was somehow more gruesome and terrifying than the last.

However, when they came across the wounded who had remained loyal to her father, she would stop for a second and pull outt a strange liquid and give it to them or pour it into their mouths if they were incapable of doing it themselves.

That too was scary in its own way. Men who were teetering on the edge of death with no hope of surviving to see tomorrow somehow were healed to the point their lives were no longer in danger.

Dante kept his head low, the crunch of shoes on bloodied tile echoing louder than it should have. The scent of iron hung thick in the air, clinging to his skin like sweat. He hated how his hands trembled. He hated how each step forward felt like another step into the grave.

But most of all, he hated how helpless he felt.

How could he face his dad after falling into the hands of the Lazy Kitten. She was always so cheerful, kind but impossibly lazy and whimsical. In a perfect world, she would have become his woman and he would have taken over the family and brought it back to its former glory.

But reality turned out to be far more cruel. Lily was really her father’s daughter, Lucian "Lucifer" Gattioni’s spwan was just like him: a monster.

"How close are we?"

Lily’s emotionless voice caused Dante to jump in fright as he was dragged out of his own desparate thoughts.

"We should be getting close," Dante mumbled, trying to steady his voice but failing. It came out weak, dry, almost like a whisper begging not to be noticed.

Lily didn’t respond. She just kept walking, each step deliberate and quiet. Her expression didn’t change, not even a twitch of the lips or crease in the brow. It was as if she had already buried every emotion deep beneath the surface, locked away and forgotten.

The silence stretched for what felt like forever, broken only by the flicker of faulty lights and the wet sound of blood squishing beneath their shoes. Dante didn’t dare speak again. Not unless she asked him to.

His eyes drifted toward the girl walking beside her. The so-called bodyguard. Her white hair was streaked with blood but she looked relaxed to a degree. She had some concern on her face when she glanced at Lily but made no attempts to try and stop her.

The green dog that had walked in front of them suddenly came to a stop in front of a large ornate door. Once upon a time it was a meeting room. But now? Now it was the room where Lily’s father was being imprisoned.

Lily stopped walking.

She didn’t say anything, didn’t gesture, didn’t blink. She just stared at the door, her gaze sharp and distant. For a moment, she didn’t even seem human. There was a quiet stillness to her. The kind that came before a storm. The kind that made people run and hide without knowing why.

Her hand reached into the pouch at her side and pulled out another vial of that glowing liquid. This one shimmered faintly, like starlight trapped in a bottle.

Dante watched as she turned to her bodyguard and handed it to her without a word.

The girl hesitated for only a second before taking it. She didn’t ask questions. She just nodded and tucked the vial into one of her pockets.

Then Lily turned to Dante.

"You’re going to open the door."

His mouth went dry. "W-what?"

"Don’t make me repeat myself. Open it."

Dante hesitated. His hands shook, sweat dripping down his temple as he stepped forward.

He placed a trembling hand against the handle and gave it a push.

The door groaned open.

And then—

Gunfire erupted.

The hallway exploded with muzzle flashes. The roar of automatic weapons filled the air as a wall of bullets ripped through Dante’s body before he even had time to scream. His limbs flailed violently, his torso convulsing under the relentless hail of gunmetal fury.

Blood sprayed in every direction.

Chunks of flesh burst from his back as his body was torn apart, stitched with hundreds of rounds in the span of seconds.

"CEASE FIRE! STAND DOWN, DAMN IT!"

A voice bellowed from inside the room. But it was already too late.

By the time the last gun clicked empty, Dante was gone.

What remained of him hit the floor with a sickening squelch. His body was a heap of meat and shattered bone, limbs barely attached, his head nearly caved in. The only thing intact was the open doorway he had pushed with shaking hands.

The silence that followed was crushing.

Lily didn’t flinch.

She simply stepped over what was left of Dante without sparing it a glance. The blood soaked into her shoes, but she walked forward as if she hadn’t noticed.

Luna followed her closely behind with Moku and Morgan bringing up the rear.

"Well hello Elders. Fancy meeting you here~!"

Lily had a smile on her face as she greeted the Family Elders who were deeper into the room. The men who had just killed Dante were trembling at the bloodthirsty aura that leaked from her body as the smile on her lips didn’t reach her eyes.

Lily scanned the room for what she sought and it too her only a moment to find it.

Her father with his signature white hair and beard was tied to a chair but he was limp as if he had been beaten repeatedly for the last hour or so.

Lucian Gattioni looked like a shadow of the man he once was. His face was swollen and bruised, one eye nearly shut. His beard was matted with blood, and his clothes hung from his body in tatters. Yet despite it all, despite the obvious signs of torment and humiliation, there was something unbreakable in the way he sat. Even slumped, even bloodied, he still exuded presence.

He was still Lucian.

Lily’s eyes didn’t soften. If anything, they sharpened.

Her gaze swept over the room once more. There were six men seated behind the long conference table One in particular looked like he was about to cry tears of blood. Elder Nico’s eyes were glued to the minced meat that Lily had stepped over.

Lily and Luna’s vision flickered in that moment as two faint stars appeared before both of them. One encased in light while the other in darkness.

Lily without even thinking reached out to the Dark Star as from a nearby window, a black beam of light flew in and struck her. A sense of coldness washed over her, allowing her to cool her head if only for a moment.

These were the ones who had orchestrated this. Blood was on their hands. They could die. But by no means should they die quickly. They needed to suffer!

The dark star of Lily’s path had now formed and this was her equinox.