CHAPTER 47: LET THE BEAST FEED

They were surrounded.

All the high-ranking nobles.

Soldiers.

Every exit sealed off like a noose tightening.

Sylas gritted his teeth—hard enough to crack them.

"So... is this how you want to do this?"

The words slipped through his teeth—low, sharp, and heavy.

Sylas—his sword in hand.

At that moment, King Kael realized something was wrong.

Ana wasn’t with them.

"Where is my daughter?" he asked, his voice sharp.

Sylas looked around—but he couldn’t see her.

His grip on the sword tightened.

Hard.

He was distracted.

And he had put her in danger.

His eyes darted, trying to scan the area as fast as he could.

Then a voice came through.

It was the prince.

"We don’t need you anymore. I got what I wanted."

He was holding Ana.

Her face was filled with fear—

Like what Sylas said about her becoming a hostage had come true.

"I’m sorry," she muttered.

Her voice barely made a sound—like it was filled with guilt.

Tears slipped down her face—slow, silent, relentless.

She was breaking.

"Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to you. I promise," he said out loud.

He had failed her.

Like the creep he was, the prince licked the tear off her face.

With that... King Kael lost it.

He transformed into his beast form and lunged toward him.

Sylas shouted, "Don’t do anything hasty!"

But it was too late.

Just as King Kael was about to pierce through him with his claws—

The prince pulled out a dagger

And placed it under Ana’s throat.

That made King Kael stop mid strike.

A single moment of hesitation.

The king used that chance to plunge his sword into Kael’s chest.

The prince stepped forward.

He took that same sword—

Looked King Kael in the eyes—

And, without a word,

Swiped it clean through Kael’s neck.

The head hit the floor with a heavy thud.

And then—nothing.

Just silence, sharp enough to cut through iron.

Sylas shouted, "Damn you all!"

And just as he was about to lunge forward—

Something came from behind.

Out of his own shadow—

A dagger plunged straight through his chest.

His body jolted.

His breath caught in his throat.

He couldn’t scream—only empty sound escaped his lips.

"No... Not here. Damn it. Not like this."

His knees buckled.

He couldn’t even scream.

His voice was gone—something was in that dagger.

Then the others came.

The nobles walked forward

And plunged their blades into him.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Panic set in.

His mind spiraled.

"No... no... no..."

He lost focus for a second.

Just one.

He didn’t have the time to activate his Domain.

And in that single breath—

He tried to lift his sword up.

But it didn’t move.

He glanced down... and froze.

His arm was severed.

A sharp, wet crack.

Blood sprayed from the stump like a water fountain.

For a moment, he didn’t even feel it.

His body was so broken, so numb—

He didn’t realize what had happened.

But Sylas didn’t fall.

He didn’t scream.

He grinned.

A bloody, twisted smile stretched across his face.

He broke through.

"You all made a really, really big mistake," he shouted.

Then he laughed.

Low at first.

Then louder.

Until it became a jagged, broken laugh that echoed through the chamber.

He was laughing like a madman—

Blood dripping off his lips.

Broken. Bleeding. Grinning like a demon.

His eyes met Ana’s.

He tried to crawl toward her.

Even now...

Even like this...

He was still trying to protect her.

The prince stepped forward, scowling.

His voice cut through the laughter like a blade—

Sharp. Cold.

"Shut up."

"If you touch a strand of her hair, I will erase your entire bloodline."

The words hissed through his teeth—low, final.

But he still wore that devilish smile.

And then the blade came—sideways.

A blur of steel.

A flash of blood.

Sylas was beheaded.

His head hit the ground with a dull thud.

The smile stayed—like death hadn’t come for him yet.

Ana let out a broken breath.

Her eyes widened. Her lips parted.

"No... no, please..."

She tried to scream—

But no sound came out.

The world tilted.

Her knees gave out.

And she collapsed.

She fell into the darkness without a sound.

The king stood still, watching everything play out with a sickening grin.

He didn’t blink.

Didn’t flinch.

Didn’t even look at the bodies.

He turned slightly, voice calm—too calm.

"Toss their bodies out," he turned away.

"They are dirtying my house."

Their bodies were thrown out.

Sylas’s corpse—broken and lifeless—lay in pieces.

Blood soaked his torn cloth... and the carpet beneath.

His head rested near the stairs, eyes half-closed, that same defiant smile still frozen in place.

Ana’s body was limp beside him.

Unmoving.

Silent.

The guards dragged them like trash and dumped them outside the palace gates.

They hit the ground with a sickening thud—

Limp. Discarded like trash.

A moment passed.

Stillness.

Then—

In the shadows, eyes began to glow.

Dozens of them.

Red.

Predatory.

A low growl echoed through the night.

The beasts had arrived.

One of the nobles chuckled from the gate above.

"Let the animals devour their bodies," he said.

Then he laughed—cold and cruel.

He turned and walked back inside.

The palace doors shut behind him with a heavy boom.

Their bodies lay there, under the moon—

Its light hidden behind the clouds.

The beasts came from the shadows, dragging their bodies into the distance.

Hyenas.

Their forms were massive—twisted, monstrous.

They dragged Sylas’s bloody body without care.

As they were about to devour him,

A growl surrounded them.

Deep. Resonant.

It echoed from every direction.

Their golden eyes glowed.

They stepped forward cautiously.

One of the hyenas lunged, trying to protect its food—

But it was silenced.

Its claw was torn from its limb.

Its ribs and flesh ripped open in a single brutal strike.

Seeing that, the others ran—yelping and disappearing into the dark.

From the darkness...

Appeared the lion Sylas had once blessed.

But it was no ordinary lion.

Its body was enormous, divine.

A giant shadowless beast, glowing faintly with gold beneath its fur.

It came to his head...

And licked his cheek.

It ignited the light within Sylas.

And then—

Sylas’s eyes snapped open.

They glowed with blood-red light.

Gold threads burst from his chest, weaving through the air like living veins.

They moved fast—searching.

Looking for his missing body parts.

Once they found them,

They connected.

Each thread tightened—

And pulled the severed pieces toward him.

One by one, they locked back into place.

Then the golden threads began to wrap around his body.

Slow. Precise. Endless.

They spun a cocoon—thick, shining, and alive.

A divine shell, pulsing with light.

Inside, he was slowly recovering.

Then—

Gold light exploded.

A beam of power shot into the sky, burning through the darkness.

From the palace, the king saw it.

He sent his men to investigate—

But all they could see in the distance...

Was that gold light piercing the heavens,

Turning the sky itself

Into gold.