Spiral of Madness: Ascension of the Villainous Dragon Prince-Chapter 144: Thalor Vex [4] — A Father’s Tragedy

"Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Amused by everything happening, Verlan laughed wildly. She shredded the Esper Spiritualization with vicious strikes—only for it to instantly regenerate and retaliate, slamming her with massive fists and hurling her downward.

The devil sprang back up, shattering the earth with a single kick, her aura exploding outward into hundreds of dark purple flame demons that swarmed the giant made out of Gustaf’s psychic powers.

"I won’t let you touch her! Never!" Gustaf ground his teeth together as cherished memories flooded his mind.

The very first moment they met—when Benladra crashed into Earth like a radiant golden meteor.

The day they "captured" her (though she had allowed it), when they first spoke face-to-face inside the fledgling VPI laboratory under his now-deceased mentor’s direction.

Her gentleness. How effortlessly she read people’s hearts. Her kind smile, her warm presence, and above all...

Her boundless understanding. Despite Gustaf’s lifelong struggles, his mental scars, and his fractured sense of self, Benladra had accepted him completely.

She loved him exactly as he was, flaws and all.

He could still feel the warmth of her enormous hand enveloping his own, see her radiant smile, hear her gentle laughter.

"Benladra...!"

Blood tears poured from Gustaf’s eyes. His body began to fail as torrents of Psychic Power erupted from him in endless, blossoming waves like countless lotus flowers.

"Gustaf?! Wait! Stop!"

Helena cried out, rushing to halt him as horror dawned on her face.

He was about to burn everything—his power, his spirit, his soul, his mind, his very life—to annihilate this enemy.

Even if it killed him.

He could not bear to exist in a world where Benladra died... or worse, became a puppet for a creature like Verlan.

"Hah, give me your best shot."

"HAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Gustaf’s scream tore through the air. His Aura detonated outward, coalescing into a colossal beam. Behind him materialized the intertwined silhouettes of Gustaf and Benladra—the living embodiment of their unbreakable bond.

Of their love.

"STOP!!!"

Helena shrieked, desperately trying to restrain him, but his surging Aura flung her aside. She could not reach him.

"GUSTAF! YOUR SON! YOUR SON IS ALIVE! STOP! GUSTAF!!!"

She fought to close the distance, but Gustaf’s resolve was absolute.

Verlan howled in agony even as she laughed. Gustaf’s power relentlessly compressed her body, then deeper still, her very soul.

He was not attacking her flesh. He was striking straight at her heart, at the core of her existence.

"Hahahah... Hahahahaaaaaaaaaggghhh!"

BOOOMMM!!!

RUMBLE!

Half the Divine Realm where Benladra rested was obliterated in an instant, leaving behind only a vast, desolate, smoking wasteland.

"A-Ah..."

Helena glanced toward Benladra, confirming she was still unharmed, and let out a shaky sigh of relief.

Then her gaze fell on Gustaf.

"Gustaf!"

She rushed to him, horror rising as she saw how close he was to death.

He dropped to his knees, vomiting blood. His eyes were bloodshot, completely blind.

His brain was melting.

Yet through the swirling smoke...

"Hahah..."

A demon’s laughter rang out. She stepped forward from the haze, advancing on Gustaf with a satisfied smile curling her lips.

"This is the difference between Espers and Spiralwalkers."

She reached him. Helena clenched her teeth, unable to comprehend how the monster had survived when Gustaf had struck straight for her heart and soul.

"How...?! How are you still alive?!"

Helena attacked with desperate fury, but vines studded with blooming red roses erupted from the ground, seizing her legs and yanking her down.

"Aaaggh!"

The poison surged straight into her veins, flooding her mind with visions of flowers and the thick scent of soil.

"W-Wha...?! Aagh...! What the...?!" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Helena couldn’t comprehend the assault, but the deeper the poison sank, the more her mind corroded under a force eerily similar to a Grievance.

"I’m sorry, but I cannot let you interfere, my dear."

From a distance, Lady Seraphine waved her hand. Helena’s eyes widened as a colossal figure of flowers and vines rose behind the woman, its head a single enormous red rose with one glaring eye at the center.

"A Grievance...?! Y-You tamed... that thing... the Gardener?!"

As Helena convulsed in agony, vomiting blood, Verlan turned to face her with a mocking smile and answered.

"Simple. One thousand citizens of Frostbane just died right now. Amazing, isn’t it? They all perished by the hand of their own King! Hahahaha! How poetic, don’t you think, Gustaf?"

"..."

Gustaf remained in a vegetative state, unmoving, yet somehow still clinging to life as he stood protectively before his slumbering wife.

"Hm, oh dear, poor thing."

Verlan sighed, patting his head gently. Her claws traced along his neck with cruel tenderness.

She smiled back at Helena.

"No..."

And then—

"DON’T YOU DARE!!!"

It happened in an instant, swift and merciless.

A razor-sharp metallic claw sliced clean through Gustaf’s neck. Verlan seized his hair and lifted his severed head high.

Blood gushed from the stump in a violent fountain. Helena’s face contorted into pure, soul-shattering horror—the kind she had never known before.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Psychic power exploded from her body in wild torrents. Blood streamed from her eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. Spatial energy twisted violently, ripping the vines apart.

Her hand thrust toward Seraphine. A perfect cube of compressed space snapped into existence around the woman, crushing inward.

"Oohhh?!"

Seraphine’s shocked cry cut off as she vanished, erased entirely from existence.

Verlan glanced back at the raging Helena, sighing while idly stroking Gustaf’s lifeless face.

"Oh dear, look at her. What is she doing now? Does she want to die heroically like you, my dear King?"

"HAAAAHHH!"

Helena screamed, sweeping aside soldiers in a furious storm as she carved her path straight toward Verlan.

At that moment, another presence arrived.

"...F-Father?"

A trembling voice echoed from the distance. Helena halted mid-charge, glaring at the newcomer and the group beside him.

"Oh...! Nooo!"

Mirai’s horrified scream rang out. She covered her mouth and eyes wide with disbelief as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"G-Gustaf..."

"No..."

Tisha and Pekorine stood frozen, swallowing hard, words failing them.

"M-My King..."

Catrise’s spirit shattered in an instant. She collapsed to her knees, mouth agape, tears streaming endlessly.

And Louis...

Louis stared in utter silence. His face completely paralyzed, eyes twitching uncontrollably.

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