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Erica's P.O.V
I heard the sound of a door opening, followed by footsteps drawing closer. Each step reminded me how near I was to death. I shivered from the cold, suffocating air, and then — a familiar, menacing laughter echoed through the darkness.
"Ha, ha, ha! Finally, our time shall come. But before then, any last wish?" Asher's cold words sank deep into my heart, offering no warmth, only despair.
Ever since my parents died, leaving me alone in this world, I had known only pain and torment. I clung to the hope that one day things would change. And for a while, they did — I found kindness from strangers who weren't bound to me by blood, but by something even stronger: compassion.
Yet now, I couldn't stay anymore. I couldn't continue to be a burden to those I loved. I only wanted to know one thing.
"Why did he do this to me? Why did my uncle betray me?" I thought miserably.
"No answer? Well, since you have nothing to say, I'll leave..." Asher's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Wait!" I screamed in panic.
"I want to speak to my uncle. At least grant me that... I deserve to know why he did this to me before I die." I said it all in one breath, forcing myself to face my fate.
"Fine. I'll grant your wish. Bring him in," Asher said.
I heard the door open again, though I still couldn't see clearly. Slowly, from the shadows, my uncle's figure emerged — like a soulless body.
His eyes were empty, hollow. His body was covered in strange tattoos that pulsed faintly. This wasn't the uncle I once knew.
Pain pierced my heart at the sight.
Warm tears streamed down my cheeks.
"What did you do to him?!" I screamed, my throat raw, struggling against the chains that bound me.
The empty halls echoed my screams and the clanging of iron shackles.
"This was the path he chose. You asked for him. I delivered. Now, I'll give you some time."
With those words, Asher left, the door shutting behind him.
Now it was just me — and the broken man I once called family.
"Why?" My voice cracked with grief. "Why did you do this? What wrong had I done you? Why?"
Tears blurred my vision, and my body trembled with cold and sorrow.
"It all started years ago," he said, his voice hollow. "When my father brought back your father... We were little then. He was a few years older than me — a son from another woman. I never considered him family."
His dark eyes gleamed with long-suppressed bitterness.
"We grew up together, but he always outshone me. The elders adored him.
Then, one day, I fell in love — with a remarkable woman. But she didn't love me. She gave her heart to him."
He paused, laughing bitterly.
"They married and had a child — you. The beautiful baby girl everyone praised."
I watched, helpless, as hatred twisted his face.
"Seeing him so happy, so loved, while I rotted in the shadows — it ate away at me. I tried to suppress it, thinking maybe I'd inherit Father's position one day.
But even that... was snatched away."
His gaze grew even colder.
"When Lucifer first attacked, your father had a choice. He could have stayed out of it. But he didn't. He interfered.
Thanks to him, I found my opportunity.
When your mother found out about my plans..."
He fell silent for a moment, regret flashing across his face — or was it merely exhaustion?
"I had to kill her," he finally whispered. "She would have exposed everything."
"Argh! How could you?!" I cried, struggling violently against my chains, feeling as if my heart were being torn apart.
"I feel no remorse," he said calmly. "She had to die for my plan to succeed.
And just as expected, your father lost control, blinded by grief and rage. He doomed himself."
I trembled, the horrors he confessed almost too much to bear.
"Then how... how did you get involved with Asher?" I managed to ask, though my voice barely rose above a whisper.
"You should thank your father for that," he sneered.
"Your father refused to turn his back on the balance. He chose to meddle in a war he could have ignored.
That's when I met Asher. He showed me a vision — a future where I ruled — in exchange for one thing."
A terrible smile crept across his lips.
"What did he want?" I asked, though a part of me already knew.
"Lucifer had a vision," he said. "He wanted to seize unimaginable power, enough to dominate not just Earth, but the realms beyond.
And you, Erica... you are the key to unlocking that power."
My blood ran cold.
"You have the potential to wield great forces. Lucifer needed you.
Asher helped me eliminate the two greatest threats — your parents — so nothing would stand in his way.
Your father used the last of his strength to create a seal... a seal that imprisoned Lucifer.
But now, a magistrate must undo that seal.
And that magistrate... is you."
He said it so simply, but the horror of it made me feel faint.
I stared at him, brokenhearted. "Uncle... you've been used. Can't you see it? Lucifer never cared about you.
You were just a pawn to break the seal."
"Don't push it, kid," he growled. "Accept your fate."
"No! You're wrong!" I shouted, my voice trembling but firm.
"A magistrate locked him up — and he needs a magistrate to free him.
My father would never help him willingly, so they manipulated you into destroying yourself — and now they plan to use me to finish the job!"
My words seemed to hit something inside him. For the first time, doubt flickered across his face.
"That's right, Erica. You're smart indeed," Asher's voice echoed from the shadows.
He stepped into the firelight, smiling cruelly.
Two men emerged behind him, seizing my uncle by the arms.
Suddenly, the dark room blazed to life as torches ignited along the walls.
I realized we were in a massive hall.
At my feet was a giant symbol — a star formed from overlapping triangles, encircled by strange runes that pulsed blood red.
They matched the tattoos on my uncle's skin.
My uncle was dragged into the center of the mark.
All around us, dark figures chanted in a language I didn't understand.
Then — the fire.
A wall of flames roared up around my uncle, hiding him from view. His screams tore through the hall, heart-wrenching, soul-breaking.
I closed my eyes, trembling.
When the fire finally died down, it was replaced by dense, writhing shadows.
The air grew heavy, suffocating.
Then — a voice.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! I am back."
The words slithered across the hall like snakes, thick with malice.
I knew then.
My uncle was gone.
And a powerful, ancient enemy had returned.
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