CHAPTER 266: _TRUE SUBMISSION

Kyren’s POV

*****

Death.

That was one fleeting concept he never feared. He’s lived and breathed in its unforgiving fog for centuries after all.

Yet when he got warped through the dimensional rift—he felt something. Was it fear? He couldn’t tell. But the moment made him realise how soft he’s become.

Him. The one who decimated a fleet of Arcadian soldiers as a ten-year-old. He who slaughtered rogue factions daring to question his rule. Who’s defended his domain for centuries... Had to resort to a potentially suicidal spell to defeat some augmented witches.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, his eyes fluttered open. Slowly. He’d expected himself to be floating through the void between space-time.

That wasn’t the case.

"Finally." A voice echoed through the darkness around him. THAT voice.

Kyren blinked, scanning his surroundings.

Black obsidian walls higher than mountains. A dark floor that seemed to stretch for miles, breathing with chaotic dark mana. Occasional flashes of crimson and green light show vague silhouettes of the empty space.

Runes etched into the obsidian, whispering with ancient magic. Magic that had no business being unravelled.

"What in..." Kyren tried moving a step, realising the biggest obstacle of all.

He was chained, wrists suspended by large black metal that pulsed with a silver light when he moved. His ankles were also chained, the contraptions all hooked to the obsidian walls.

"You like our little bee hive?" That voice echoed through the endless space again.

Kyren’s face was a cold, stoic mask.

But beneath that was one desire. To kill the bastard behind that voice.

"Garrick." He whispered the name like a curse, turning his head around. "Well played. You—"

Suddenly, the chains lit up with an even brighter tint of silver. His wrists blistered, blood boiling at a degree that made his eyes bulge from the pain.

A grunt escaped his lips, his long white hair falling over his face as his head lowered.

"You will learn respect, boy." Garrick’s tone was cold and cruel now, bouncing off the obsidian walls like a declaration. "In this domain away from normal space time—I’m in control. I will make and break..."

At the mention of that last word, the chains tightened.

Kyren’s wrists and ankles snapped, the sound echoing through the empty space.

He gnashed his teeth, while Garrick continued.

"... Break you if it means instilling submission."

Submission.

The pain was insurmountable. It burnt his skin. His flesh. His bones. His blood.

Despite all that Kyren didn’t cry out. He didn’t falter. Instead... His lips slowly curled into that depraved grin he gives his prey when he finally deciphers their moves.

"It... It all makes sense now." He laughed, the sound choking out in a raspy cacophony. "The anonymous message you sent to my Dukes was to spite me. Make me want to find you. Until I walked right into your palms."

His mana core thrummed in his chest. He tried reaching for his mana but soon noticed something was wrong.

"I see you’re trying to use your magic." Shadows moved several meters ahead of him, twisting and parting to reveal the monster behind the voice.

Garrick.

Still wearing Beta Axel’s skin. Except now he had a black form-fitting full-body armour. A crimson holographic screen hovered in front of him, golden eyes gleaming with an old, wicked light.

"Divinanite." He continued, raising his chin with pride. "Mined from the craters of the land you now call the capital of the Dark Lands. The same land you’ve sent your people to dig for the Divine crystal."

Kyren’s jaw ticked.

How did the bastard know about the excavations?

Garrick went on still, taking two steps forward. "The metal has quite a few remarkable properties. Including—the ability to restrain the flow of mana."

The Rogue King’s eyes flitted to the heavy chains again. They held on strong. He couldn’t even gather the strength to try breaking them.

"On top of that, it’s also mixed with silver. The perfect bane to your witch and wolf sides." Garrick clasped his hands together. "So you see? You might’ve thought of yourself as someone powerful. But this?"

He spread his arms wide, gesturing at the space around him. The flashes of red and green heightened, giving glimpses of the runes etched into the obsidian walls.

"This is true power." His father remarked. "Power which will only reach its peak when you willingly let go of the moon blessed."

Elian.

Hearing his little flame being referenced by the fucker made Kyren sick. A rare feat.

"You deserve all the medals, father," Kyren mumbled through the metallic taste of his own blood. "After centuries of abandonment, you’re back. Not to give. But to take."

In reality, Kyren didn’t give a rat’s ass about the abandonment. If anything, it shaped him into the man he is today.

He just wanted to see if Garrick Ironclaw had any fatherly softness behind those crazy golden eyes.

However—

"The mate bond really has made you soft." Garrick sniggered, shaking his head. "You have no idea how important Elian is. No idea how much power his soul truly holds."

As Garrick spoke, Kyren’s mind still worked overtime trying to figure out an escape.

The Divinanite held back his magic. Silver held back his wolf strength, which further weakened him. But there was one more energy he could tap into—

He just needed a little more time.

"I find you and dear old mom’s story... impressive." He raised his head, blowing away a strand of hair blocking his vision. "A rejected Lunarian bastard prince. And a witch who defied her kingdom and the High matron to create the perfect hybrid baby..."

He chuckled, a dry, crispy sound.

While he did, he watched Garrick. Every flare of his nostrils. Every tremble of his muscles and twitch of his eyelids. All of it.

It could be the key to his escape.

"Boy," Garrick scoffed. "You’re stalling. And—"

"Stalling?" Kyren took a step back, resting his head against the cold obsidian wall behind. "Maybe. Or, I’m heading to a realisation. You and Amara are rejects of your respective Kingdoms. Yet you’ve manipulated things in Lunaria all these years through that body you stole."

He paused, squinting. "And mother still lives in Arcadia. We tracked the signal from your anonymous message—clever trick bouncing it off different territories by the way."

Garrick’s calm expression distorted.

He flicked his wrist, clicking a runic symbol on the holographic screen in front of him. The chains around Kyren’s ankles tightened, melting through his skin until his bones hissed.

Kyren staggered, teeth gritted through the pain. Most people would be crying their eyes out by now.

"Shut up." Garrick sneered. "I broke Alpha King Arian into submission. You will fall as well, my son or not."

"Exactly!" Kyren cackled. "Bending a nation’s leadership to your whims. You did it with Arian and Lunaria. Trying to do it with me now. And Amara..."

Something snapped in his mind just then.

It was as if the cosmos had cracked open and revealed all its secrets. Everything seemed clearer now.

"Naive little thing... You really think the Dark Hand is all I have behind me?" Those were his mother’s words from the first time they met in Lunaria. Now echoing in his mind.

"How do you think I’ve ’escaped’ the High matron’s punishment for birthing you all these centuries?"

Yes... How?

It made no sense. He could find house flies in the Dark Lands better than the High Matron’s efforts in finding his mother. That’s if the elusive woman was even making any effort.

Amara couldn’t have her under her control, right? It was crazy to think of. The most powerful witch in Evaros under the control of a fugitive. Yet it was either that or—

His breath hitched.

No...

"It..." His eyes widened, trailing briefly away from Garrick’s face. "It can’t be. Amara. The High Matron..."

He raised his head to the ceiling. That’s if this damn place had one. All he saw was an endless labyrinth of darkness and chaotic energy.

"Amara Redthorn IS the High Matron." His voice thundered through the void, lips parted as he brought his gaze back to Garrick.

The latter’s silence spoke VOLUMES.

"Gods below." Kyren wasn’t shaken by the realisation. He laughed, limbs vibrating from excitement. "That tracks. At least now I know where I get most of my power from. Nay—ALL my power. You’ve hidden behind her for centuries like a lap dog while SHE’S been pulling the strings."

His father moved his fingers, about to click on that holographic screen again. But Kyren had had enough.

Deep inside him, beneath his mana core, his Alpha aura flared like a sun. It bled into his veins, strengthening what the silver and Divinanite weakened. Pushing his physical capabilities beyond their max.

"What—" Garrick frowned, immediately flicking his wrist.

More chains sprouted out of the ground, soaked with chaotic energy. One wrapped around Kyren’s neck. Another around his waist, forcing him to drop to his knees.

"I’ll give you points for figuring out your mother’s true identity yourself." Garrick began walking forward. "But that secret will remain buried in you. Whether you get out of here dead or alive."

Kyren’s neck muscles tightened, veins and arteries popping from the pressure the chains exerted. His waist felt like it was going to snap in half.

Pieces of his skin began flaking off, burnt by the chains. Garrick probably thought he had won. It sure seemed like it. But—

"You’re right about one thing." The Rogue king smirked, breath shuddering. "I will get out of here. Not dead. Not yet..." His Alpha aura bubbled like magma about to combust.

Garrick must’ve noticed it from the way his face flickered with uncertainty.

Excellent.

That hesitation meant he had him right where he wanted him.

"... Not until I have your head." With a roar, Kyren let it all out.

His Alpha aura exploded, lighting up with a bright red light. His muscles strained, gaining enough strength. When he yanked at the chains, they didn’t just break.

They melted.

His roar thundered through the chaotic labyrinth, echoing on the obsidian walls as he got out of the chains one by one. The red and green lights flashing occasionally ceased.

Garrick’s eyes widened but he didn’t back down, summoning more chains with several clicks on his holographic screen. They all melted like ice blocks against fire as Kyren’s mana core ignited.

"Feel the power of the one you cast away, father!" Kyren boomed, driven by a ravenous bloodlust. "Feel my madness! Feel what TRUE submission means!"

Then he lunged, the obsidian wall behind him shattering from the sonic boom he left behind.