Spiral of Madness: Ascension of the Villainous Dragon Prince-Chapter 162: I Will Never Let Them Touch You, My Beloved [3] — The Fruits Of Their Love
Seraphine watched the battle unfold with a satisfied smile, choosing not to interfere yet. She savored the sight of these "dogs" tearing each other apart.
"At this point, the entire Frostbane Kingdom is finished. We’ve won. The only thing left is to seize the Queen. The body of such a powerful dragon could forge the ultimate weapon for the Vultarn High Dominion, don’t you think?" she chuckled, stroking her tamed Grievance. "Now, if only Verlan would hurry up instead of—"
Before she could finish, a blazing hand clamped around her face. Sharp claws pierced her fair skin; demonic flames tore into her flesh as she screamed in raw, horrifying agony.
"AAAAAAGGHHH!"
Another hand slammed her head into the ground, shattering the floor. Demonic flames erupted into countless spectral spirits that bit, slashed, and ripped her apart. She screamed in terror and disbelief—her eyes wide, lips numb, everything happening far too fast.
"W-WHO...! AAAH...! W-WHA...?!"
As she struggled to comprehend the assault, she saw a young girl with long black-and-red hair looming over her. Claws plunged into her chest.
"S-STOP!"
With an agonized, desperate shriek, her tamed Grievance lunged forward, unleashing a furious barrage. It tore at the girl’s skin and scales—only for new ones to regrow instantly. Demonic flames swirled around her, transforming into more specters that leaped onto the Grievance and its master, detonating without mercy.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Explosions engulfed her relentlessly. Her foe kicked her away; her body crashed through dozens of empty containment zones, destroying everything in its path.
"A-Ah...! Uuuggh...! Ueeagh...!"
Seraphine gasped for breath, vomiting blood. Her eyes widened in horror as her enemy approached, soaring on long demonic wings.
"Who...! Wait, it’s...! How are you so—"
Before she could retaliate, a blazing spear pierced her left eye and drove through her skull. The massive explosion detonated right in front of her face, obliterating everything in the vicinity.
BOOOMMM!!!
Amidst the swirling smoke, Mirai stepped forward. She had just teleported in and, without a moment’s hesitation, launched a brutal assault on Seraphine.
"You... damn... brazen bitch! Who... who do you think you are!"
Seraphine emerged from the haze, half her body obliterated, yet it regenerated rapidly. Fleshy tendrils resembling vines sprouted, blooming with grotesque flowers studded with countless staring eyes.
"You’re a half-grievance, aren’t you? And one capable of taming and absorbing others... Seraphine was your name, huh?"
"How...! HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"
Seraphine recognized her instantly. This was Mirai—the infamous girl from Yamato who had slaughtered everyone in the hospital where she was born. Rumors claimed she wielded incredible demonic power from birth despite being no demon, commanding the rare Chaos element that only the strongest beings in the Dimensional Labyrinth ever possessed.
Seraphine had been certain Mirai remained confined in her containment zone. She had even planned to tame her eventually, absorb her power, and grow stronger. But everything had changed in an instant. Mirai was free, more powerful than ever, and coming straight for her.
"Wait, if you’re here...!" As Mirai flew toward her, Seraphine glimpsed the chaos unfolding elsewhere.
A blindingly radiant prince with long white hair and gleaming golden eyes savagely attacked her subordinate, Verlan—the shapeshifting demon from Spiritias. Verlan was one of many demons they had "adopted" from that fantasy world and raised into soldiers since childhood.
Verlan had been designed as an infiltration unit, able to perfectly mimic anyone she devoured. She also possessed the dangerous Spiral of Seduction, a magic that enslaved hearts through words and charm. Every fanatic who loved her would die in her place, absorbing damage and protecting her immortality as long as their devotion held.
Yet right now...
"S-Stop! How are you still alive—AAAAGH!"
Verlan’s body was riddled with holes. Prince Louis had appeared out of nowhere, moving like living lightning. His form had transformed, resembling an ashen, metallic dragon. His golden-and-red spear blazed with soul fire, searing Verlan’s very soul—her greatest vulnerability.
"Louis?!" his father cried in disbelief. Just moments ago he had been on the brink of death, and now his son—whom he had believed lost forever in the Dimensional Labyrinth—stood before him. "Y-You’re alive...!"
"Father, I barely made it in time! Aunt Helena, please tend his wounds and don’t let him use his power! Zorba, protect my mother’s realm!" Louis commanded. "As for this bitch... she’s mine."
A wicked smile spread across his face. He was going to savor killing her.
"Understood!"
Zorba acted swiftly, raising towering barriers of bone and ghost fused with spiritual power. His two Spirits stood guard at the newly formed perimeter.
Meanwhile...
"Nggh...! Y-You don’t care that your people are dying?! You’re killing them! Every time you harm me, someone else takes the damage for me, hahaha... Y-You can’t possibly—"
Louis summoned an Ashen Frost sword in one hand while gripping his golden soul spear in the other. Their combined power surged.
"Holy Dragon Lance Style."
"First Form – Radiant Fang!"
"Second Form – Celestial Claw!"
"Third Form – Heavenly Dragon Ascent!"
Three consecutive spear strikes landed simultaneously. Louis’s aura erupted, transforming into a roaring golden dragon that tore through Verlan’s soul with agonizing, relentless piercing thrusts that impaled her very essence.
And then.
"Dragon King’s Divine Blade Art."
"First Form – Ascending Heavens!"
Gripping his sword in his left hand, Louis channeled his Psychic Powers and fused them with his Sword Energy, a combination never seen before. He manifested his Esper Spiritualization, a towering white dragon in his idealized form, and swung with devastating force, cleaving the entire laboratory apart.
SLAAASH!
"Gaaaahhhhhh!"
Verlan screamed as her body split cleanly in two, her soul sliced apart right after. Her form froze solid in an instant. Louis surged through the massive explosions, struck her exposed soul with the Necromancer’s Skeletal Claw, and ripped it free from her body.
"H-How can you—AAAAAGHH!"
Unable to comprehend that she had been torn from her own vessel, the demoness shrieked. Her latent demonic power let her endure as a pure Demonic Soul. She expanded into a blazing, spectral giant and shoved Louis back.
"YOU DARE... SEPARATE ME FROM MY BODY?!"
"Demons from Spiritias have no true bodies," Louis revealed calmly. "You are beings made entirely of soul. The reason you can seize the bodies of those you devour is that you consume their souls and inhabit their flesh, slowly reshaping it into your ideal form."
"AND SO WHAT?!"
Verlan didn’t care. She attacked with ferocious kicks and blazing fists, unleashing dozens of explosions that rocked the entire VPI to its foundation.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
To her shock, Louis smirked. He swung and thrust his holy spear while slashing with his sword, intercepting every blow and forcing her hands aside.
"Hahah..."
"...?"
Verlan stared in disbelief. He stood completely unscathed. His transformed Dragonoid body was so resilient that her own hands were decaying, her soul trembling in raw pain.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"...What are you laughing at? Why are you laughing?!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Louis laughed harder, clutching his face and shaking his head as he fixed her with eyes full of mockery.
"A powerful Demon and Spiralwalker from Spiritias, huh?"
"..."
"How weak."
Verlan’s face twisted in shock. For the first time, an emotion she never imagined feeling toward the crippled prince of Frostbane flooded her core.
Fear.
"Y-You dare...! You dare mock a demon?!"
She roared in fury, kicking Louis away. He flew backward laughing, crashed into the next building, then kicked off the wall—shattering it—and shot back toward her.
"Yes, I am mocking you. I cannot believe I let my father die against something as pathetic as you... This is all my fault in the end."
"SILENCE!"
Verlan compressed her demonic power into a colossal Demonic Soul Scythe and swung it with everything she had.
"DIE!"
She unleashed dozens of slashing attacks. Louis intercepted them effortlessly. Gungnir blazed with golden holy light as he transformed all the ashes in and around his body into Pale Light—elevated further into Holy Light with Belladine’s aid.
"Holy Dragon Lance Style."
"First Form – Radiant Fang!"
"Second Form – Celestial Claw!"
"Third Form – Heavenly Dragon Ascent!"
A flawless three-hit combo followed in mere seconds: the radiant fang tore the scythe apart, the celestial claw slashed her soul in two, and the ascending heavenly dragon pierced straight through her Demonic Heart at the center of her soul. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
"A-Ah... W-Wh... What?"
Verlan couldn’t even process it before blinding holy light and salt crystals consumed her entire being. Her monstrous, spectral cry echoed through the ruined VPI as she exploded into ashes, her demonic, cursed soul purified.
BOOOMMM!!!
Crystalized fragments of her shattered soul rained down like dark snow. Louis scanned the area, picked up one piece, and felt a trace of her lingering power.
"The Spiral of Seduction she carried was destroyed along with everything else... Well, these fragments might still have some use."
He stored the large purple crystals in his living shadows and walked toward his father with a faint smile.
"Louis!"
His father rushed forward and pulled him into a tearful embrace. His beloved son—the last living piece of the love he had shared with his wife—was safe. Alive.
"I’m alive, Father, so don’t cry for me," Louis said gently, patting his shoulders. Then he glanced behind him. "Stay here. Mirai is still fighting that woman—she’s likely even more dangerous than this demon."
"Wait! But...! Where...! How did you become so strong?!" his father asked in disbelief. "Not only are you... a Tier 7 Spiralwalker?! But... you’re also an Esper? You awakened as an Esper! My son...! Y-You inherited my power?!"
"I did," Louis nodded. "Through countless hardships, I did. And I’ve also inherited Mother’s legacy. But I can’t sit here and explain everything yet. Stay here. There’s another filthy demon from Vultarn left to kill."
Louis spread wings of ashen frost, then reversed them into radiant wings of blinding holy light. He shot toward Mirai and Seraphine like a streak of white fire.
His father stood speechless, watching his son soar away—so reliable, so transformed it almost felt like a different man entirely.
"Louis, my son... you would make your mother proud."
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