Enzo's training under Darius grew harsher with each passing day. His body bore bruises like war medals, and his hands had grown calloused from endless drills. He no longer hesitated when swinging a blade or pulling a trigger. Each strike was faster, sharper, and more merciless than before. Yet behind his newfound strength, shadows still lingered.
While Enzo sharpened his steel, Selene writhed under a far different trial. Shackled in chains, she hung in the cold chamber where Veyra made her playground. The walls were painted with old stains, each a mark of someone who had once dared to cross Lucius.
"You look tired, little viper," Veyra sang, dragging her blade against the stone wall to make sparks dance. "But the Devil is not finished with you yet. He has a task for his broken snake."
Selene lifted her head weakly, blood matting her hair against her cheek. "What more can he take from me?"
Veyra crouched low, pressing the edge of the knife against her throat, just enough to prick. Her eyes glimmered with feverish joy. "Everything. He commands that you kill your own subordinates, every soul who followed you into betrayal. Only then will you begin to pay for your treachery."
Selene's breath hitched. The faces of her people flashed before her eyes, loyal men and women who had once trusted her orders. "No… not them."
Veyra's smile sharpened. "Yes, them. You will slit their throats yourself. And when it is done, I will return you here. Because the Devil is not finished breaking you."
Dragged before her subordinates, Selene's wrists were unshackled, though blades surrounded her to ensure she did not resist. Her people looked at her with shock and betrayal, chained on their knees before her. Some begged for mercy, others cursed her name.
Lucius's voice echoed in her mind, cold and undeniable. "Loyalty is measured in blood. Kill them, Selene, or they will curse your name until death, and you will never crawl back into my shadow."
Her hands trembled as Veyra placed a dagger in her palm. Tears welled in her eyes, but she swallowed them, forcing herself to breathe. She stepped forward, lifted the blade, and pressed it against the first throat. The man pleaded, "Please, Commander, not you."
Steel slid through flesh. Blood spilled. Selene's body shook with each life she took, but Veyra's laughter rang louder, echoing like music. "Yes, yes, kill them all, let their screams baptize your return to the Devil."
When the last body fell, Selene dropped the blade and fell to her knees, her hands soaked in the blood of those who once followed her. The weight of betrayal crushed her chest, yet Veyra clapped her hands together like a delighted child. "Good little viper. You killed your own brood. Now you are truly ours."
Selene was dragged back into the chamber where her punishment resumed. Chains tightened around her wrists, pulling her taut. Veyra circled like a predator, humming to herself as she pressed heated iron near Selene's skin. "Pain will become your second tongue. Until then, scream."
The iron burned her flesh, her cry piercing through the estate. Her voice cracked, raw from agony, but Veyra pressed on, delighting in every sound. "Sing louder, viper. Sing until even the Devil smiles."
Days blended into nights as torment became Selene's reality. Sleep was stolen, food was scarce, and every moment was another reminder of Lucius's power. She broke, piece by piece, until her defiance was drowned beneath suffering.
Yet in the midst of her agony, a seed of something darker took root. She no longer cursed Lucius's name. Instead, her hatred turned inward. She despised herself for betrayal, for weakness, for failing to see the Devil's shadow for what it truly was.
One night, Veyra leaned close, whispering against Selene's bloodied ear. "You are almost ready. When Lucius calls you again, you will kneel without hesitation, and you will love him for it."
As Selene's head drooped, her tears mingled with blood, the last flicker of her old self drowned beneath Veyra's cruelty. The viper had been declawed, but she was not dead. She was being remade into something far worse.
And while Selene's screams echoed through the halls, Lucius watched from above, his smile stretching as he whispered, "A broken viper will crawl farther than a free one."