CHAPTER 348: CHAPTER 337: WE FINALLY MEET.

Southern Frontier: The Serpent’s Throne

The air in the lower veins of Hell was thicker, heavier — alive with a pulse that was not its own. Aurora descended through the southern fissure, wings folded tight, guided only by the faint red glow that bled from the stone itself. The tunnels here did not echo; they devoured sound. Every step she took seemed swallowed by the weight of what waited below.

The closer she drew, the more the world shifted. The scent of brimstone gave way to something more intricate — incense, crushed bone, myrrh, and memory. Symbols etched along the cavern walls pulsed faintly with living fire, tracing serpentine shapes that coiled and uncoiled in rhythm with her heartbeat.

It was said that Asmodeus no longer had a throne, only a nest — a labyrinth of flame and thought where reality bent around his will. She had come here once before, long ago, when she had still been his acolyte, and she had left with scars she still dreamt of.

Now she returned, not as a disciple, but as a question.

The passage opened into a vast hollow — the Serpent Hall — carved from obsidian that shimmered like liquid night. The air shimmered, thick with enchantment, and at its center sat the King of Lust himself.

Asmodeus.

He was not what mortals imagined. His form shimmered — fluid, unstable — a man of impossible beauty and monstrous grace. His skin was molten gold, his eyes the color of fresh blood. Two wings unfurled behind him like the sails of a dying sun, and at his feet, the stone itself curved into serpents that moved when he breathed.

"Aurora." His voice came before his smile — smooth, warm, and full of something that made her chest tighten. "My wayward flame returns."

She bowed her head, just enough to show respect, but not submission. "My lord."

"You haven’t called me that in centuries," he said, rising with a slow, sensual movement that carried more menace than affection. "What brings the Guide’s new herald to my ruins?"

She met his gaze, steady and cold. "You sent for the Heir."

His smile didn’t waver. "A child with a crown she doesn’t yet understand. I did. Why does that trouble you?"

"Because she believes you showed her father a future that destroyed him," Aurora said. "Because she thinks you made her a bait. And because the one you hunt may be the only thing standing between Hell and oblivion."

The serpents at his feet stirred, whispering in tongues older than flame. Asmodeus tilted his head, studying her as if she were a riddle written in ash. "Ah," he murmured. "So the Guide told you of me. Or did he tell you nothing at all?"

"He told me truth enough to fear your name," Aurora said.

A low chuckle rippled through the chamber. "Then he’s learned humility. Impressive." He stepped closer, the air trembling with heat. "Tell me, Aurora. Do you still believe he can save you?"

Aurora’s wings flexed once, the motion sharp, instinctive. "He can save Hell."

"Ah, yes," Asmodeus said softly, circling her. "That old dream. The unification. Redemption. Turning sinners into saints, and demons into dreamers." His voice coiled around her like silk. "Tell me — when he whispers salvation, does he look you in the eyes? Or does he still look at what he lost?"

Her breath caught — just for an instant. "I didn’t come here to talk about the past."

"No," Asmodeus said. "You came for prophecy." His tone changed; the air darkened. "You came to know why I called the Heir."

Aurora didn’t answer, but her silence was answer enough.

Asmodeus smiled faintly, and with a flick of his hand, the chamber itself shifted. The walls dissolved into smoke. In their place rose visions — memories drawn from the Deep Vein.

A battlefield of angels and demons, skies torn open, rivers of molten shadow cutting through cities of light. A Gate, massive and burning, stood at the center of it all — a wound in reality. And before it stood a man cloaked in pale fire, his eyes radiant, his hands outstretched.

The Guide.

Aurora felt her chest tighten. "This is—"

"The end," Asmodeus finished, his tone almost gentle. "The future I showed her father. The Prophet will open the Gate, thinking he will bring unity. But the Gate does not unite, Aurora. It consumes. Every Circle, every soul. Even the Heir you protect."

Aurora’s throat tightened. "You’re lying."

"I don’t lie," Asmodeus said. "I seduce truth until it tells me what I wish to hear." His eyes burned with unholy amusement. "The Gate is not salvation. It’s hunger. A bridge between the Infernal and the Empty. Do you know what lies beyond it?"

She didn’t answer.

He leaned close, voice a whisper that seemed to echo inside her skull. "Nothing. No Heaven. No Hell. Only silence. And the Prophet seeks to merge us with it."

Aurora stepped back, her pulse hammering. "That’s impossible. The Guide—he seeks harmony."

"He seeks completion," Asmodeus said, a flicker of something darker crossing his face. "And completion is death, Aurora. You know that. You’ve tasted it before."

She swallowed hard. "If what you say is true, then why not stop him yourself?"

His smile sharpened. "Because I can’t. He is beyond me now. His path winds through prophecy, and prophecy is shielded by choice. The only one who can stop him is the one written into his fate."

Aurora frowned. "The Heir."

"The bait," Asmodeus said softly. "The child born of blood and ruin. She is the balance written into the prophecy — the death waiting inside his faith."

Aurora felt the heat of the chamber deepen, pressing against her skin like breath. "You’re using her."

"I’m saving her," Asmodeus said smoothly. "The Prophet will come for her, and when he does, she will choose. Her blade, or his mercy. Either way, the cycle ends."

Aurora’s hands clenched. "You want her to kill him."

"I want her to see him," Asmodeus murmured, stepping closer again. "To see what he is. The Guide is not a savior, Aurora. He is the final King. The one who will reign when all other Thrones have fallen."

Aurora’s heart pounded. "No," she whispered. "He—he rejected the Thrones. He swore to destroy them."

"And what happens," Asmodeus said softly, "to the man who destroys every king? Who removes every ruler, every tyrant, every god?" His smile widened, cruel and knowing. "He becomes the only one left."

The truth landed like a blade in her chest.

He studied her face, his tone almost tender. "You love him still. That is your curse. But love does not change what he will become."

Aurora’s wings twitched, her eyes blazing faintly with inner light. "You can’t know that."

Asmodeus extended a hand, palm glowing faintly with molten symbols — sigils that pulsed like a heartbeat. "Take it, and see. I’ll show you the last image. The one your precious Prophet hides even from himself."

She hesitated. The serpents hissed. The heat of the Vein grew unbearable.

Then, slowly, she reached out.

Her fingers brushed his — and the world shattered.

She saw the Gate again, wider now, its edges spilling endless light. She saw the Circles collapsing into one another, demons and angels kneeling in the same flame. And at the center — the Guide, crowned in light, his body half-shadow, half-divine. His voice was thunder, his gaze endless.

And beside him — her own reflection, kneeling.

The vision broke. Aurora staggered back, gasping, wings flaring wide. "No—"

Asmodeus smiled, cruel and patient. "Now you understand."

Aurora’s voice was a rasp. "You twist prophecy to your will. You always have."

"I interpret it," he said. "Just as he does. We are both liars who believe we’re right." He stepped closer, his tone silk and venom. "You will go to him, won’t you? Warn him. Tell him what you saw. Tell him what I said."

Aurora didn’t answer.

Asmodeus leaned close, whispering against her ear. "Do it. It will make the trap perfect."

Her wings unfurled with a snap, heat radiating from her feathers. "If you’ve touched that child again," she said, voice trembling with contained fury, "I will burn your throne to glass."

Asmodeus only smiled. "Then he had taught you something at last."