Tristan's gaze settled upon the terrifying figure holding Yeri.
"Find a way to take Yeri from him. Take her hostage if necessary, and I shall assist you in sealing the Mad Emperor's consciousness once more."
The Light Emperor's expression changed. "You are Paris Helle, the commanding general of the Demon Army?"
Tristan smiled and offered a courteous bow. "Your Majesty of the Light Realm, it has been many an age since our paths last crossed."
"Your Majesty, heed not his words!" one of the Light Realm knights interjected. "He is an Incubus, a creature renowned for guile and deceit. His tongue is honeyed, but his intentions are seldom pure!"
Tristan merely smiled at the accusation, seemingly unbothered.
"I, too, have no desire to witness this realm's destruction. Surely, Your Majesty has not forgotten the calamity that once befell the Demon Realm when our Emperor descended into madness." His smile faded slightly as he glanced toward Shin. "You witnessed the devastation with your own eyes. You know better than anyone what almost became of our realm when the Mad Emperor lost himself to his grief."
Tristan's voice grew solemn. "How, then, could I deceive you at a time such as this? Should this realm fall and the Empress perish alongside it, his wrath shall not end here. Once he turns his gaze upon the Demon Realm, none of us shall escape the ensuing catastrophe."
The Light Realm's emissaries fell silent.
The memories of that dreadful time resurfaced in their minds. They remembered the Demon Realm reduced to a desolate wasteland, its once-mighty territories ravaged by an emperor whose power had surpassed all reason.
Emperor Hexion was no ordinary sovereign among the demon emperors of history.
He was an existence that emerged once in a billion years, a harbinger of calamity whose very power threatened the balance of all realms.
Should he regain his true form while remaining consumed by madness, even the combined might of the Light Realm might prove insufficient to restrain him.
After a prolonged silence, the Light Emperor finally spoke.
"Very well. We shall proceed according to your plan."
-
When Yeri regained consciousness, she remained dazed for a brief moment.
Then, like a sudden bolt of lightning, the memory of her wedding day came rushing back.
Hiro had shoved her.
Yeri abruptly sat upright.
Only to find herself surrounded by utter devastation.
The once-grand wedding venue had been reduced to a sea of rubble. Broken pillars and shattered fragments littered the ground, while what remained of the walls stood precariously amid the ruins.
But that wasn't the strangest part.
Why could she see the sky?
Above her stretched a sight so incomprehensible that, for several moments, she could do nothing but stare.
"No... What in the world is that?"
The words escaped her lips in a faint murmur.
The heavens were no longer the familiar blue she had known. Something indescribable had taken shape above the world, its vast and dreadful presence defying anything she could begin to comprehend.
Yeri stared at it, utterly bewildered.
Then she finally looked down at herself.
She was still wearing the same white dress.
Beneath her lay a pristine white cloth, seemingly taken from the altar, which had been spread over the debris to provide her with a clean place to rest.
Looking around, Yeri was stunned to see people scattered throughout the ruins. But why weren't any of them moving?
From the corner of her eye, she spotted her parents lying unconscious on the ground. Jj stood nearby in what appeared to be a defensive stance, yet he remained frozen like a statue.
Without a second thought, Yeri hurried toward her parents.
"Mom! Dad! Wake up!"
Yet neither of them stirred. Their bodies felt as unyielding as stone, and no matter how desperately she called, they remained motionless.
It wasn't just her parents. Everyone around her was the same.
Yeri looked up again, are those enormous birds battling one another in the sky?
Utterly bewildered, she hurried toward the exit, only to collide with what felt like an invisible wall.
"What is this?"
She pounded against the empty air, but something was undeniably blocking her path. No matter how hard she pushed, she couldn't get through.
High above, Xati released his third orb. It transformed into yet another serpent, its enormous body surging toward Tristan, only to be cleaved in two by the latter's swords.
"You dare?!"
Xati's furious roar reverberated through the heavens.
"Just you wait! I'll fill the entire sky with my serpents and swallow every last one of you whole!"
"Prince Xati, this is hardly the time for you to cause trouble," Tristan retorted. "You have never been particularly fond of your father, so tell me, why do you suddenly find yourself so eager to stand at his side?"
"Hah! Don't think I haven't noticed your injuries!" Xati sneered. "You know you can't fight for much longer, so now you're trying to talk your way out of this!"
Tristan couldn't deny that he was in poor condition.
He let out a weary sigh before replying, "Perhaps you are right. But tell me, what exactly are you fighting for? Have you not considered that unleashing the full extent of your power will only hasten this realm's destruction and bring about your mother's demise as well?"
"As long as the humans disappear, I'll stop!"
Xati pointed toward Shin, who stood at a distance, his attention still fixed upon the process of reuniting with his true form.
"The Mad Emperor can restore anything! He even managed to restore the Demon Palace he himself destroyed! So don't tell me this realm will perish! You're simply too attached to these humans and wish to save them!"
Tristan was about to retort when something caught his eye. Looking downward, he caught sight of Yeri.
In that fleeting moment of distraction, Xati seized his opportunity.
One of his serpents lunged forward, its body expanding at an alarming rate until it had grown as massive as a dragon.
Meanwhile, dimensional rifts continued to multiply across the heavens. The weather descended into utter chaos as torrential rain battered the realm.
"Hahahaha! Do you see that?!" Xati roared triumphantly. "Did you think I'd forgotten how you cast me into a dimensional rift the last time I came here?! Now it's my turn to make you taste defeat!"
Tristan paid him no heed.
Instead, he plunged toward the ground like a shooting star, his swords flashing as he slashed at the invisible barrier Shin had erected earlier.
"Brother Tristan!" Yeri stared at him in astonishment.
It was the first time she had ever seen Tristan in such a disheveled state, with bloodstains on his clothes.
Before she could ask what had happened, Tristan broke through the barrier and reached her.
Without the slightest hesitation, Tristan seized Yeri and pulled her in front of him, using her as a shield from the enormous serpent already closing in.
The instant Xati saw what was happening, his triumphant laughter died in his throat.
"Wait!"
His expression turned to sheer terror as he hastily recalled his serpent, transforming the monstrous creature back into an orb before it could strike Yeri.
"TRAITOR!" Xati's furious voice shook the heavens. "You nearly killed my Empress Mother, you treacherous demon!"
Tristan raised an eyebrow, utterly unrepentant. "Oh? That's your serpent not mine. I believe that much is obvious here."
Yeri, however, felt as though her head were about to split open.
What were these two even talking about?
Why did Xati look exactly as he had when she first met him? And why were they fighting in the middle of what appeared to be the end of the world?
Seeing her bewilderment, Tristan briefly explained what had transpired.
Yeri "..."
To annihilate humanity and transform the entire realm into an extension of the Demon Realm?
She couldn't understand how everything had spiraled into such a catastrophe.
All because she had struck her head?
Wait-
Did that mean she was responsible for all of this? Was this somehow her fault?
While Yeri struggled to process the horrifying revelation, Xati continued furiously berating Tristan.
"Xati. That's enough." Yeri's cold voice cut through his tirade.
Xati immediately flinched seeing her expression of restrained anger.
"Look around you. You may not care about many humans, but what about Grandpa Allister? What about my family? Your friend Sean? And all those people who have treated you kindly? Were you lying when you said you wanted to be my parents' grandson?"
For the first time, Xati looked like a child caught doing something terribly wrong. His expression crumpled into panic as he hurried to defend himself.
"Empress Mother, that's not what I meant! I only got rid of the people who hurt you! Besides, the Mad Emperor has the power to ensure this realm won't be destroyed!"
"If he truly possesses such power, then tell me something." Yeri fixed him with a piercing gaze. "Would he be trapped inside a human vessel if he hadn't failed to save me from dying? Would he have descended into madness?"
Xati froze as her words struck him harder than any blade could have.
"This is precisely what I've been trying to tell you," Tristan interjected, his expression turning solemn. "Shin isn't himself. Perhaps he possesses the power to reverse time or restore what has been destroyed. But Yeri was not born of this realm. Who can guarantee that she would survive if this world were remade?"
"Where is he now?" Yeri asked.
Tristan pointed upward. "Up there, shedding his human vessel and attempting to reunite with his original self. You must understand what that means... Shin Keir will cease to exist."
"I-I didn't mean it!" Xati said guiltily. "I just hate how those humans dared to harm you, Empress Mother!"
Before Yeri could respond, Tristan suddenly scooped her up and flew.
"I'm sorry, but this is the only way," Tristan said. "I know you don't want this realm to be destroyed either. To us demons, humans may not matter, but I know you care about them. This is your world, and your family is here. You'll understand me, won't you?"
Yeri opened her mouth to speak, but Tristan didn't give her the chance.
Instead, he suddenly let her go.
"?!?!?!"
Her eyes widened in horror as she plummeted toward the ground.
Can't he at least give her a heads-up if he's going to kill her?!
Meanwhile, Shin was battling countless beings from the Light Realm, including their emperor, while attempting to widen the dimensional rift.
Suddenly, his heart clenched.