The Little Demon Empress watched Duke Ming with a gaze that could freeze hell itself. Her eyes, two deep black wells, held no trace of emotion.
Duke Ming writhed within the spatial prison, veins bulging beneath his pale skin.
Her voice cut through the silence like a cold blade:
"Duke Ming. You stained the Illusory Demon Realm with blood and betrayal. You killed my father, my brother. Today, this Empress will finally take her revenge. Do not think you will have a quick or painless death..."
She took a step forward.
"Before you die," she continued, her voice so icy it seemed to come from another world, "this Empress grants you the right to speak your last words. Ren Zu, allow him to speak."
Ren Zu made a slight gesture with his hand. The seal around Duke Ming's mouth dissolved, dissipating like mist in the wind. The duke gasped, gulping in air with a stifled roar. His eyes, consumed by rage and hatred, immediately fixed on Ren Zu.
If not for that young man standing before him, how could his plans have failed so miserably?
Four months ago, upon learning through intelligence from his most trusted subordinates that the Little Demon Empress was living in seclusion in the mountains with her cultivation sealed, Duke Ming saw the perfect opportunity: the chance to kill her and begin his own ascension.
However, his plans were ruined when Ren Zu appeared and saved her.
Worse still, the two ended up encountering the Golden Crow and gaining its favor, becoming so powerful that he could never have imagined reaching them.
Regret gnawed at his chest. If only he had tried a little harder to kill them four months ago... none of this would have happened.
That was the only thing running through his mind.
Last words?
"Hmph..." A twisted smile curved his lips. "Last words? Hah... This duke has nothing to say to you."
He raised his gaze to the Little Demon Empress and laughed, a hoarse sound mixed with pain and scorn.
"You should be kneeling before this duke, not the other way around. If not for that brat you found, your 'husband,' you would have been dead long ago. Your plans, your revenge... everything would have ended before it even began. In the end, you just got lucky..."
His laughter echoed through the hall but died quickly. The Little Demon Empress's expression did not change; only the air around her trembled, as if space itself twisted in response to the silent hatred she carried.
Then, she raised her hand.
An instant later, her palm struck Duke Ming's chest with a dry thud.
The impact did not seem strong, but the echo of profound energy reverberated through the air, making the walls shudder. Duke Ming's body was hurled backward, but the spatial ring held him firmly, preventing him from moving even a centimeter.
The silence lasted only a second before blood gushed from his mouth.
His eyes widened. Terror replaced hatred. He tried to gather profound energy... and nothing responded.
"N-no... my veins... my Profound Veins...!"
The energy within his body collapsed in chaotic spasms, fleeing from his form.
His Profound Veins had been destroyed!
Duke Ming, the man who believed himself invincible, fell to his knees. The pain made him grind his teeth until blood dripped from his lips.
The sensation of emptiness within his body was worse than death.
The Little Demon Empress observed the scene without moving a muscle. Her voice sounded low, almost a whisper, but each word was a blow:
"This Empress wanted to give you the taste of helplessness before killing you. That invincible strength you prided yourself on is worth nothing now!"
Duke Ming tried to scream, but the sound that emerged was an animalistic growl. He pounded the ground, his face twisted in pure insanity.
"You... you crippled me!!" he roared, his voice breaking. "I... the strongest in this world... reduced to this!? I will kill you, you damned!! I will—"
The sentence dissolved into a frenzied roar.
Ren Zu calmly raised his hand while manipulating space; a sharp snap resounded, and Duke Ming's mouth was once again sealed by a thin translucent layer of spatial energy. His maddened roar was silenced in an instant, leaving only the muffled sound of irregular, desperate breathing.
The hall plunged into absolute silence.
Everyone watched, petrified, the man who had reached the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm—a power so immense that it allowed him to disdain the heavens and earth of the Illusory Demon Realm itself.
The Little Demon Empress remained motionless.
Ren Zu, beside her, observed without saying a word.
The Little Demon Empress walked up to Duke Ming. She crouched before him calmly while raising her delicate hand, which glowed with the Golden Crow Flames. The flame in her hand grew, enveloped in golden hues that illuminated Duke Ming's face.
She pressed her palm against his chest.
The sound that followed was not human.
The flame spread slowly across Duke Ming's body, like a river of fire coursing beneath the skin. He writhed, trying to scream, but Ren Zu's seal prevented it.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Duke Ming's eyes were wide and trembling in despair, begging for something—mercy, death, anything.
But the Little Demon Empress merely watched.
With each second, the flame burned deeper, melting flesh, consuming bones, yet still not allowing him to die. Under her control, the Golden Crow fire did not kill quickly; it scorched the soul, tearing away every fragment of consciousness until only agony remained.
The spectators recoiled, horrified by the scene, stepping back to protect their own sanity, averting their eyes or trying not to stare at the torture for too long.
It was simply brutal.
The Little Demon Empress lived up to all the rumors of her cruelty.
And now, everyone could witness it firsthand.
When the flames finally extinguished, what remained of Duke Ming was nothing more than ashes floating in the air.
Not a single trace of his body or soul survived.
The Little Demon Empress lingered there for a moment, watching the ashes dissipate, carried by the wind. Her face remained emotionless, revealing nothing... but inside, her mind and heart were a whirlwind.
A hundred long years of hatred and loneliness. A hundred years living under the suffocating shadow of a lie. All that time, she had believed her father and brother's deaths were a cruel whim of fate, an inevitable disaster. When the truth came to light, she froze everything that remained within her, leaving only vengeance.
And now... she had achieved it.
That man, the source of all her pain, had been reduced to nothing more than dust.
An indescribable sensation overwhelmed her chest—a insane mixture of relief, triumph, and bitter pleasure. It was as if a mountain had been lifted from her shoulders, but the emptiness that remained made her tremble inside. The taste of revenge was sweet... and terribly lonely. If not for Ren Zu... none of this would have been possible. He, who declared himself her husband, had truly fulfilled the role he promised. He respected her wishes, fought by her side, and guided her steps in the darkness without ever trying to change her.
At that thought, her gaze faltered for a brief instant. A warm emotion, nearly forgotten, blossomed amid the ice of her heart. An intense, confused feeling, impossible to name... but real.
She truly had been lucky to meet him...
After a while, she turned slowly around, and her vision swept downward. In the ruined Demon Emperor's Hall, those sinners who had surrendered to Duke Huai's Palace were still kneeling on the ground, and no one dared to rise. Under the Little Demon Empress's gaze, their bodies trembled, and every pore from head to toe shook.
"This Empress will give you a chance to atone for your crimes!" The Little Demon Empress's voice was like the reaper's judgment, ringing coldly in their ears. "I give you ten days. In those ten days, this Empress wants all of you to annihilate the entire clan of Duke Huai's Palace! Father, mother, wife... exterminate their whole family! Even women and children cannot be spared! And bring their bodies, pile them in front of the gate of Demon Imperial City, and burn them all; not a single hair can remain!"
"After ten days, if anyone from Duke Huai's clan remains, this Empress will condemn and kill a hundred of you! If ten people remain, then this Empress will kill a thousand of you!"
The Little Demon Empress's cruel command initiated the most terrifying reign of terror in the history of Demon Imperial City. A baptism of blood with the Little Demon Empress's infinite hatred, centered on Duke Huai's Palace, descended upon the sacred Demon Imperial City of the Illusory Demon Realm...
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