Chapter 179: Awakening of the Queen
Vampire land
The breeze blew sharply as the castle sand softly rose, slapping swiftly against the walls with damp intensity everywhere.
Inside a large room in the castle, the maids stood around the bed of the Vampire King’s wife. They were specially assigned to clean her, and they worked calmly, the only sound being the soft wringing of water dripping into the bucket from the clean towel.
They began cleaning the body of the lady who lay there. Her hair was neatly scattered around the bed. Normally, when they were done, they would leave and return at night to rub the ointment on her skin that helped her.
Just as they finished cleaning, one maid moved to wash the Queen’s hands. As she pulled away, a flash of wind brushed her skin. Her body tingled slightly—she had not expected that at all. She turned to the other maid, her eyes silently asking if she had felt the same thing. The other nodded calmly.
They were not meant to talk when with the queen. Speaking meant disrespect, and they dared not risk it.
Their eyes locked, and they decided to let it go. But their gazes scanned the queen to make sure they were done or if anything else was needed. Since there wasn’t, all they had to do was bow and leave. Yet, just as one maid bent to bow, she froze—she felt the queen’s finger move.
Her eyes widened, and she pointed.
"She... moved." Her body trembled as she spoke, unable to believe it. The other maid’s hands flew to her mouth in shock. No one was allowed to speak, yet the words slipped out.
"I saw it..." the other maid whispered again, pointing at the exact arm that had moved.
The other maid turned quickly to her.
"We are not supposed to talk—have you forgotten the rules?" she asked in surprise.
"I apologize," the maid replied, bowing her head. Maybe she had misinterpreted what she saw. Maybe she was imagining things. But it had looked too real. Was she losing her mind?
Just as the other maid bent to bow, her eyes widened—the queen’s finger moved once more.
This time, the maid clutched her mouth.
"She really moved... you weren’t lying."
They nodded, confusion in her eyes. The queen had been asleep for years. No one had expected this. Not only was she moving—she was alive.
"Quick, call the royal doctor!" one maid cried as she rushed out, knowing this was incredible news. The king would return, and the war would end. This was not only great news for the king, but also a miracle for the entire vampire race.
****
Ariana’s body floated, all eyes fixed on her in shock. Blood trickled down her arms, but it didn’t matter—her eyes had turned blood red.
"Ariana..." Zavren managed to speak as he stood. His jaw ticked, veins popped on his neck, and his eyes were dark. The whites of his eyes and his eyeballs were pitch black—he was already poisoned.
Any Alpha should have been dead by now, for this was a very poisonous steel. So deadly that it had been buried deep under the ground in an unknown land, so dip that it took eight months, one week, and two days to dig up.
Zavren pulled it out slowly, already at his limit, yet still standing despite the deadly pain. Blood poured from his body, his frame drenched in it.
Normally, he should have healed instantly, but the poison prevented it. Worse, he wasn’t supposed to even move, as the steel should have left him paralyzed. Yet he pushed past his limit, throwing the sword away. It sliced through the ground, the sand sticking to the blood. That was the last poisonous blade for Alphas.
The thing about this blade was simple—once used, it was no longer effective. All the poison entered the body immediately.
The place was silent. Even Vrazen hadn’t seen that coming. No one dared move, because neither of the kings had summoned them to fight.
It wasn’t Vrazen who had thrown it... Then who?
Vrazen moved, but just as he took a step, his body stilled. A string of his silver hair fell to the floor. His eyes widened slightly as he stared at it.
That only meant one thing—his wife.
H..His wife was..awake.
The place grew so silent, no one moved except Ariana, who floated in the air. Vrazen’s eyes stayed fixed on the strand of hair on the sand. The Werewolf Queen had woken up his wife... the war should be over.
But it didn’t seem so, not when King Zavren had just been struck with the blade.
Ariana’s eyes shifted, finally landing on the man who had thrown it—the vampire.
Frederick.
Frederick’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected anyone to see him while invisible. And to think it was the queen—the poor lady who had married just that day.
His plans were already ruined. He moved quickly, flinging another sword. It wasn’t poisoned, but the speed was deadly. Before anyone could react, the blade flew straight toward the queen.
Ariana’s body twisted, swiftly dodging it.
The Seer began to chant. She couldn’t protect the queen—her powers had shifted, stronger now, fueled by her emotions. But she could at least heal the king.
Deciding to focus, her glowing hands pressed over Zavren’s wounds as Raven leapt down, sword in hand, guarding the king as he healed slowly.
Ariana dodged once more, her body vanishing at inhuman speed. Frederick froze. He hadn’t expected that—twice she had slipped him. By the time anyone realized, Ariana had disappeared.
Zavren groaned, jaw ticking. He was holding himself back. Raven was stunned as well—he had known his king was strong, but never imagined this strong. The last Alpha they had used that blade on had died on the spot. Yet Zavren was still standing.
Frederick turned swiftly, but the queen was nowhere. His body stiffened as he searched. This had never been part of the plan. Never had he imagined a woman would step onto a battlefield—and not just step in, but bring the war to a halt and his plan as well. His head snapped around.
And there she stood—Ariana. Behind him.
His eyes widened. How had she done that?
Before he could react, her hands were on his neck. Her fingers pressed deep into him. His body weakened instantly, momentarily paralyzed. His eyes could no longer shift away from her fiery gaze.
Her fiery gaze pinned him as his body grew numb. Then, his skull began to burn from the inside—a torturous pain. Eyes widened in horror as Ariana lifted him into the air, her hands still digging through his throat. Blood trickled down his neck, but he couldn’t pull away. His skull felt as if it were set ablaze.
He screamed, his hands clawing at his hair like a madman, but even that did nothing to ease the torment. The pain inside was far worse.
Then his body began to burn. The heat was so intense his face twisted tightly together, as though his very blood was boiling hotter with each passing second.
"P... p..p..please..." he rasped.
Ariana’s hands moved, and swiftly a punch landed on his face. Blood trickled down his nose as his body weakened. He had already been paralyzed; he could not move his body as if his bodily functions were no longer working.
He hissed in pain.
In fact, shock clouded his senses like never before. He could never have believed that the tiny lady he had married would be the one to cause this to him, the one capable of ruining his plan. He had heard from the vampire aerr how powerful the queen was, and he had never taken it seriously.
Even though he had married her knowing she had power—or rather, as he had heard—he had never actually seen it. That angered him. In fact, he was utterly shocked to find out the lady was mute, and he wondered what could possibly be powerful about her. Yet here she was, gauging an intense pain in him that he had never felt before, and that shock struck him deeper than he could admit.
Before he knew it, she threw him into the air. Even her strength was astonishingly great. He tried to steady himself, but a sharp kick landed in his tummy, making him hiss as blood poured from his lips.
The seer and Raven were completely stunned. Even the vampire king himself was shocked. All eyes were fixed on the scene. Who would have thought that the queen could end a war with her blood?
This was what would have simply happened, and after months of war, a single day had brought it to an end by the queen.
The vampire king’s body felt lighter, perhaps because he knew he would meet his wife once he reached home. And for some unknown reason, the thought of "home" brought warmth to his heart.
The seer had heard about this type of power before—the power driven through love. ’Langpa power’ Where emotions clash because of a lover, it grants an ultimate power that no one can calm. It happened only to powerful couples with undeniable love. Seeing it now was far more shocking than she could admit.
Fredrick lay on the floor, his head pressed into the sand, his body unmoving, numb from the experience.
Ariana held the crystal blade, moving swiftly. But before she could reach him, she heard her husband’s soft voice in her head:
"My love."
That alone shattered all the pain. Anger disappeared, and her body collapsed to the ground.
SLING
Fredrick’s head was removed from his body, his eyes rolling backwards—nobody had expected that at all. As if that was not enough, his body began to burn fiercely on the ground, the flames licking his flesh.
Eyes widened in horror as the fire moved with a life of its own. The wind blew, scattering ashes across the sand, mixing them with dust.
There, standing with a sword dripping with blood, was Zekel.
"I hope to see you again, Mr. Johnson."