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The air in the Purple Demon Kingdom felt less like atmosphere and more like congealed despair. The great hall, usually blazing with malevolent, beautiful light, was suffocated by a silence so heavy it pressed the breath from their lungs.
In the center of the vast, obsidian floor, Liora was a statue carved of grief. She knelt, her purple robes pooling around her like spilled wine. Her eyes were empty, fixed on a point beyond this world, a soul that had finally shed its physical anchors and was adrift in a sea of deep sorrow. She had lost everything, but more agonizingly, she had lost herself.
A few steps away, the true tragedy unfolded. Lia, caught between two worlds, felt her existence being ripped in two. Her brother, Dylan, held her right arm, the familiar, fierce grip of Blue Moon Kingdom blood. His left hand rested lightly on the hilt of his black sword, a silent promise of destruction for any who dared to harm her. On her left, Ren, her husband, held her with the desperate, blinding devotion of the Heaven Kingdom. His silver sword was sheathed, his heart exposed.
Lia turned from side to side, her head swimming. Brother? Husband? Demon? Queen? The identities were a dizzying kaleidoscope.
Dylan, seeing her paralysis, offered a sharp, painful smirk—a mask of bravado over his own fear. He released her wrist, the black sword remaining still.
It was Ren who broke the stalemate, his voice thick and wavering. "I don't care if she's a demon. I don't care about blood or kingdoms or any foolish war!" He paused, his emotional gaze locking on Lia. "Before all that… she is my wife."
Lia's eyes locked into his. In that moment, the entire weight of the Purple Demon Kingdom, the millennia of hate, the ancient prophecies—all dissolved. The truth of his simple, unconditional love was a warm, melting current through her soul.
"Leave me, brother," she whispered, the words tearing through her throat. She closed her eyes tightly, bracing for the inevitable fury.
Dylan recoiled as if struck by a physical blow. "Lia!" His voice was a guttural shout. "Don't believe the Heaven people! They abandoned Irin once! Don't let them—"
Lia opened her eyes, smiling through a cascade of tears. "But Ren won't leave me." She turned fully to Ren.
Ren, can't believe it, felt a tidal wave of relief and love crash over him. All formality, all strategy, vanished. He rushed to her, cupped her face, and kissed her lips.
Lia gasped, her eyes widening in surprise, but the shock lasted only a second before the dam broke. She kissed him back, a desperate, consuming kiss that sealed their bond against the raging universe.
Dylan, unable to watch the raw, consuming passion, turned his eyes to the shadowed walls. A wave of hurt—the rejection of his warning—pricked him, but underneath, a flicker of something else ignited: pride. His sister had found a partner who would stand against the world for her.
He turned to leave, allowing himself to hide a small, fleeting smile.
As Ren and Lia parted, their smiles were radiant, tears still wet on their cheeks. Lia's joy was instantly tempered by guilt. She turned quickly, seeing Dylan's retreating back. She rushed to him, grabbing his arm. "Brother, wait!"
Dylan turned, his face carefully wiped clean, normal—a dangerous blank slate she couldn't read.
"I won't interfere in your life anymore," he stated, his voice flat.
Lia grasped his hand, her own shaking. "No! I didn't mean that! I meant…" she choked.
His eyes softened, the mask cracking. "When I found out you were my sister," he said, his voice now a low, emotional tremor, "I felt truly happy. At least I had one family member left in this world." He paused. "But…"
"No, brother. I am your sister. You have me," Lia insisted, sobbing.
Dylan gently placed his hand on her cheek. "You have a partner now," he said, his gaze drifting to Ren, who watched them, a mixture of emotional relief and sorrow in his expression. "A true partner who will stand for you every time."
"I am your sister," Lia repeated desperately.
Suddenly, a voice, soft yet containing the sound of distant thunder, pierced the air behind Dylan. "You are not."
Dylan widened his eyes and spun around. His tears instantly welled, then spilled.
Standing a few steps away was a figure in a simple blue gown, her features delicate, her presence radiant despite the purple backdrop. It was Irin, his wife.
He rushed to her, his long journey of anguish ending in this moment. He lifted her, spun her in a joyous, fierce embrace, then gently placed her down. Irin smiled, but her face was pale. Dylan's smile vanished, replaced by a caring tone. "Are you okay?" he asked, placing his hands on her cheeks.
Irin nodded, her own tears streaming down her face.
"Our baby?" Dylan asked, his head turning down in sudden guilt. "I'm sorry, Irin. The Healer said…"
Irin grabbed Dylan's hand, placed it over her lower belly, and shook her head fiercely. "Our baby is still with me." Her voice was fierce, protective. "I won't allow anything to happen to our baby. If anything comes to harm our child, it will have to face me first."
Dylan hugged her, a profound, gut-wrenching emotional embrace. "I won't allow anything to happen to you both," he vowed.
Lia watched them, a genuinely happy face replacing her despair. This was the happiness she had fought for.
Irin turned to Lia, her expression hardening. "No," she repeated. "You are not Dylan's sister."
Lia froze. "What are you talking about? I am!"
Dylan was shocked.
Irin's eyes were narrow, direct, and devastating. "If you are his biological sister, why didn't you tell us earlier?"
Lia hesitated. "Because…"
Irin's voice was a straight, unrelenting force. "Were you hiding from us all this time? When did you find out you were Dylan's sister?"
Ren moved close to Lia. Lia glanced at his face, then turned back to Irin, tears returning. "I knew it a long time ago."
Dylan gasped, widening his eyes.
Irin pressed. "When?"
"When I saw my face in the truth pond," Lia cried. "I found out my past."
"But you didn't even tell me anything," Ren asked, confusion mixing with betrayal.
"I couldn't," Lia whispered.
"Why?" Dylan demanded. "Are you ashamed because you're a demon?"
"No!" Lia shouted. "How could I tell? The situation wasn't favorable to us!"
Irin's voice dropped to a deadly sharp whisper. "If you knew that time… why did you want to separate me from Dylan?"
Dylan and Ren listened, their faces rigid.
"Because… I don't want history to repeat itself," Lia said, her voice breaking. "My mother is a Goddess and my father is the Great Demon, Alex. You know that, right? They couldn't live peacefully. The world didn't let them live. What was the point of their love if they were still separated by their enemies?" Lia cried. "So I didn't want that to happen to you! But… your strong bond united you," she finished, offering a gentle smile.
Irin broke down, tears streaming. Lia rushed forward and hugged Irin fiercely.
"But you are still hiding something from me," Irin said into the embrace.
Lia pulled back, locking eyes with Irin. "What?"
"Why did you seal my Goddess power?" Irin asked. "I know you lost your Demon core because of that."
Dylan and Ren widened their eyes in shock. The depth of Lia's sacrifice was staggering.
"The reason I told you before is true," Lia admitted. "I wanted to protect you. But there was another motive, too. I saw my mother as a Goddess. She sacrificed a lot for her life and family, but she couldn't bring this world to peace. I wanted you to bring this world peace as a goodness, by standing yourself, not dependent on both demon and heaven sides. And so, to protect you from both heaven and demon people, I sealed your power temporarily... but I didn't know I would lose my core power."
Irin melted, the last vestiges of suspicion gone. She hugged her friend tightly. "I'm glad Dylan got his sister back." She pulled back. "You don't know how much Dylan worried for you." Lia nodded, tears of relief falling.
Ren offered a genuine, warm smile at the family reunion. Dylan smiled too, but his smile instantly disappeared. "How did you end up in the Heaven Kingdom?" Ren looked confused as well.
"Mother helped me escape from our palace," Lia explained. "Our palace was surrounded by the enemies of other demons and heaven people."
Dylan's eyes involuntarily flickered towards Ren, who quickly looked down. Irin grabbed Dylan's hand, reassuring him.
Lia continued: "That time, in the forest, Mother hid me behind a tree and used a magic to turn me into a six-year-old child. She went to fight against a Heaven Realm person. I was hiding… when suddenly a man covered my mouth. He used some magic, and I fainted. When I opened my eyes later, I was in a Fairy Village. I don't know what happened, but I still had my memory until I was hiding Irin's power… but after I lost my core energy, my memory was also gone."
Dylan pulled Lia into a deep, warm hug. "I won't allow anyone to harm you," he vowed. Lia felt the undeniable warmth of brotherhood.
Suddenly, a presence shimmered into being beside Ren. A severe, old man—a Heavenly Ancestor—stared at the group. "What's going on here?"
Ren panicked. "That…"
Dylan chuckled, a cold, dark sound. "You didn't expect this, did you?" His eyes darkened with old rage. "I found my sister."
The Heavenly Ancestor was shocked. "Impossible! She isn't in the demon world!" He laughed, but when he saw Dylan holding Lia's hand, his eyes widened. "What! Lia is your sister?"
Ren stepped in front of the Ancestor, his voice shaking with rage. "What did you do to the Great Demon and Dylan's family?"
The Heavenly Ancestor stumbled backward as Ren advanced. "On the Great War… time…" he hesitated.
"Do you want my sword to speak for you?" Dylan demanded, his black sword half-drawn.
The Ancestor paled. "No!"
"Leave him to me, Dylan," Ren commanded, his gaze turning deadly sharp on the Ancestor.
"I followed the Goddess and her daughter while she was fighting with my fellow Ancestors," the man confessed. "I used a faint magic on her daughter and brought her to the Fairy Village and left her there. Actually, they told me to kill her…"
Dylan and Ren both roared. "What?!"
"But I didn't!" the Ancestor quickly insisted. "I couldn't kill her, so I used my spell to erase her memory, then left her there. But I didn't know she would become the Heaven Queen one day." His eyes locked on Lia.
"Then why did you cage my mother in the Heaven Realm?" Lia asked, her voice dangerously quiet.
"We had no other option," the Ancestor said. "If we left her, she would obviously stand with Demon Realm. We wanted victory in the Heaven Realm, so we did."
Dylan went furious. He lunged, grabbing the Heavenly Ancestor's neck. "You don't know how much I suffered after I lost my family!" Tears of past agony poured down his cheeks.
Ren forcibly removed Dylan's grip. "Leave him, Dylan!" Irin commanded.
Dylan's eyes snapped to Ren. "You don't know what they did to you!"
Ren's eyes widened. "What?"
Dylan gave a dry, humorless chuckle. "Xander."
"Stop, Dylan!" the Heavenly Ancestor screamed.
"Say it!" Ren commanded.
"Xander killed your real parents in the war," Dylan spat out. "And he felt guilty, so he raised you as a brother."
Lia and Irin were shocked. Lia moved closer to Ren, whose gaze turned to the Heavenly Ancestor, who nodded once. Ren's eyes glazed over, a single tear falling. He can't believe it.
"You are lying! Xander couldn't, he is my own brother!" Ren cried out, before collapsing, shattered down, to his knees. Lia grabbed him and hugged him tight as he broke.
Dylan's angry gaze shifted back to the Ancestor. "Then tell me," he hissed. "What happened to my Father, Alex?"
"I don't know," the Ancestor pleaded.
From behind them, a voice, gravelly and full of finality, broke the stillness. "I… know."
Dylan turned. Irin and Lia turned. The kneeling Liora.
She slowly lifted her head. "Actually, I was there when your father was killed."
Dylan rushed near Liora. "Who is that?!" he demanded.
Liora smirked, a chilling, triumphant darkness replacing her sorrow. "But you had already avenged him."
Dylan's eyes widened.
Liora's eyes darkened with absolute madness, and she delivered the final blow.
"The one who killed your father is Xander."
Silence. Utter, deafening silence. Irin, Ren, Lia, and the Heavenly Ancestor—all were paralyzed, shocked to their very core. The brother who betrayed one was the killer of the other. The two men standing against the world together were, unknowingly, connected by the same ruthless dagger.
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