Holy and Blood on the Altar of Heaven
The skies over Raventhorn were shrouded in silvery clouds as the sacred bells of the Church of the Sky tolled—a sound that shook both the land and the hearts of its people. From behind the white cathedral standing on the eastern edge of the kingdom, priests clad in golden robes chanted purification hymns. But none knew that behind the sacred hymns, the greatest sin was being planned: the murder of a queen carrying the blood of a demon.
Among them stood High Priest Elmar, in front of the altar adorned with a statue of Vantris, the god of light. His eyes were hollow yet deep, his hands clutching a scroll bearing a decree from the heavens.
> "Demonic blood must not be born into the mortal world," he said softly, yet his voice echoed with force. "The demonic blood in the queen's womb must be destroyed before a dark immortality floods the earth."
---
In the palace, Seraphine began to feel something disturbing. The ground beneath her pulsed faintly, and the protective wards of the palace began to mysteriously weaken.
Kaelion, who had grown more familiar with his mother, saw her clutching her belly and sweating coldly.
> "Mother, are you... alright?"
Seraphine smiled, for the first time before Kaelion without her mask of power.
> "He kicked," she whispered gently.
Kaelion looked at her stomach and, without thinking, reached out to touch it. At the same moment, a tiny finger from within seemed to press back.
Kaelion's eyes widened.
> "He... feels me?"
Seraphine nodded.
> "He loves you. Just as I do."
For the first time, Kaelion couldn't hold back his tears.
> "Mother... I... I missed this... This version of you..."
They embraced—an image that would've been impossible only a month ago. But in the midst of their quiet joy, a dark shadow crept behind the palace pillars.
---
That night, three holy-robed assassins slipped into the palace. They carried silver daggers blessed to end the heartbeat of a half-divine being growing within the queen.
But before they could reach the queen's chamber, a voice in the darkness stopped them.
> "Do you truly believe you can touch my blood without paying the price?"
Rai'el appeared. But not in human form. He came as a demon—wings of shadow, eyes burning like the coals of hell.
The three assassins immediately collapsed, their bodies frozen in absolute terror.
> "Tell your High Priest," Rai'el's voice thundered like a storm,
"that our child will be born. And the world will change. You may choose to stand with us... or be buried beneath us."
He opened the door to Seraphine's chamber and looked at the woman bathed in candlelight.
> "It's time," he whispered. "We must go to the place of my blood's origin. There, the child will be safe. And we... we can begin preparing for war."
Seraphine looked at Kaelion, then at Rai'el.
> "If we must fight for this life," she said,
"I will stand between hell and heaven itself."
And that night, the three of them vanished from the palace, heading for the demon realm—the birthplace of Rai'el, and the place where history would be rewritten.
Behind them, the cathedral bells rang nine times.
A sign: The Holy War had been declared.
---
The Black Gate and the Throne of Hell
The air on the threshold between the mortal world and the eternal realm of demons felt like the final breath before death. At the foot of Mount Rhaegis—covered in black snow and crimson lightning—lay a gate unseen by human eyes: Limos Gate, entrance to the long-forgotten world of demons—Zeryphiel, the throne of the ancient hells.
Seraphine stood before the gate, her cloak billowing in the wind, which bit like needles into bone. Behind her, Kaelion watched warily, his hand never straying far from his sword's hilt, though his face paled at the changing landscape of the world.
Rai'el stepped forward. As his feet touched the soil of his ancestral realm, his body erupted in an aura of darkness and blood-red light. His black wings unfurled, small horns emerged from his temples, and his gaze blazed like the embers of a long-slumbering hell.
"Welcome... to my hell," he whispered.
With a wave of his hand, the gates opened. The chaos of screams, wails, and the rumble of magma greeted them. But it was not destruction they saw—it was a grandeur beyond human comprehension: towering spires of crystal bone, crimson lakes reflecting the light of a black moon, and cities forged from the ruins of ancient worlds.
Kaelion turned pale. "What is this place...?"
Seraphine did not answer. She simply held her belly, feeling something within her respond to the land. Her unborn child stirred—not in fear, but as though it had found its home.
---
They were greeted by three high demons, shadowed beings who lined the path with their massive bodies and voices that echoed like ancient gongs. One of them, named Nerezha, bowed before Seraphine.
"Queen of Blood Destiny. Your inheritance has been awaited."
Seraphine remained silent. The words struck her soul like a trembling quake.
Rai'el took her hand. "They are not speaking to you as the demon's wife. But as the heir to my mother's throne."
"Your mother's throne?"
"The Great Demon Queen—the former ruler who vanished on the battlefield. The demon world needs the pure bloodline of her descent to rise again. And... that blood is within you."
Seraphine gripped Rai'el's hand. "Because of you?"
"Because of us."
---
In the shadowed castle named Tenebrae Solis, Seraphine began her new life. Her days were not of mere survival—but of building power. Demon nobles came one by one—either to swear loyalty or to challenge her.
One night, in the cold throne room filled with statues of agony, Seraphine sat with a blood crown upon her head. Kaelion stood beside her, while Rai'el lounged casually on the arm of the throne, like a pampered demon too comfortable by the side of the woman he loved.
"There is one more who refuses to kneel," reported one of the shadow guards.
"Then make him kneel," Seraphine replied coldly.
"But he is not a demon," another voice said.
All eyes turned to the figure stepping forward—a human. A holy priest who had defected, bringing a message from the heavens above.
He knelt, blood spilling from his lips. "The heavens... are sending a holy army to Raventhorn. They know you carry a demon's seed in your womb."
Kaelion stepped forward, his face pale.
"They're going to attack Mother?!"
Seraphine rose slowly, her body trembling as her unborn child began to react to the external threat.
"No. They will attack our kingdom."
Rai'el placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then we will strike back."
---
That night, Seraphine lay in Rai'el's embrace in the castle's bedchamber. The demon lights glowed softly, shadows dancing across the walls.
"Rai'el," she whispered, "if I don't survive... protect them. Kaelion and our child."
Rai'el pulled her closer. He kissed her hair and whispered words that only a demon who had fallen in love could say: "If you die, then I will burn the heavens to ash."
Seraphine smiled, her hand entwined with his. For the first time in her life, she did not fear war.
For a love that bleeds... is a love that cannot be destroyed.
And in the skies above, the gods trembled—for they knew: this woman would become the Queen of the World—of both light and darkness.