CHAPTER 222: WARNING

Peri was in deep slumber.

Her head had felt heavy since evening, and after dinner, the moment she lay on the bed, she drifted off without even realizing it.

Now she understood why.

She was being summoned again... by the entity that lived inside her.

Samarella.

Maybe because she had fallen asleep so deeply, she didn’t sense her husband leaving her side. She didn’t sense the storm of emotions running through him either.

Whenever she entered her dreamscape, she lost all connection to the waking world. Nothing reached her—not sound, not touch, not even instinct. The only two things that could pull her out were her own will or the call of her mate.

But right now, Peri felt no danger from the darkness surrounding her.

No panic... only a quiet tension.

That was why the golden-haired elf didn’t leave.

Running would look weak—and she refused to act afraid.

Not today.

It wasn’t Peri who existed because of the dragoness.

It was Samarella who lived because Peri allowed it.

And Peri wanted her to understand that clearly.

She stepped forward without hesitation and walked toward the clearing where Samarella always waited.

"So?" Peri said, her voice carrying a mix of annoyance and courage. "What now? Are you here to push me into betraying Hades again?"

It had been over three weeks since the dragoness last summoned her. The previous meeting ended with a fierce argument—one that broke only because Samarella tried to strike her. Peri woke up gasping, drenched in cold sweat.

Peri wouldn’t lie to herself—Samarella still frightened her. The dragoness was ancient and powerful, with a presence that felt like it could crush Peri’s soul at any moment.

But Peri was slowly building a tolerance to her.

Little by little, she was pushing back.

After all, she couldn’t run from what she was.

Her soul was no longer entirely hers.

A piece of it belonged to the being hiding in the shadows before her.

A long silence stretched out, thick enough to make Peri frown. She crossed her arms.

"What? Are you really going to drag me here and say nothing?"

At last, a voice answered.

"Things... have changed," Samarella said, low and tense. "They know."

Peri tilted her head. "Who knows what?"

"The other Primordials know... that Zerathos has awakened."

As those words echoed through the dreamscape, two glowing blue eyes opened in the darkness and fixed on her.

Peri didn’t look away.

"Well, that’s not exactly surprising," she said. "Sooner or later they were going to find out. Why are you so shaken over this?"

Hades’ presence was impossible to hide. The Primordials—the rulers of reality itself—would sense him the moment he returned.

The King of Chaos had stepped back into the mortal world, even if in a different form.

Through the Dragon Kings, the news of the Chaos Heir’s awakening must have already spread across half the world.

So what Samarella said wasn’t shocking.

But Samarella wasn’t done.

And the fear in her voice was something Peri had never heard before.

"There is more," the dragoness whispered from the dark.

Peri’s brows drew together.

For the first time tonight... a chill ran through her.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

The shadows shifted, and Samarella stepped forward—her large form still hidden, but her presence weighing heavily on Peri’s chest.

"They do not just know," Samarella said. "They are coming."

Peri’s frown deepened. "What do you mean by that?"

Samarella’s voice curled around her like cold mist. "Unlike Zerathos, the other Primordials cannot be reborn in their true form. They cannot create an Heir. They cannot pass down their blood. It was only him... only Zerathos."

Peri already knew this.

Other Primordials could share fragments of their Will—intent, purpose, a sliver of their soul—just like Samarella had done with her. But none of that came close to what Hades carried inside him.

He wasn’t just touched by a Primordial.

He carried Zerathos’s soul.

His will.

His essence.

And most terrifying of all—his blood.

Chaos didn’t just follow Hades.

It lived inside him.

Samarella continued, her tone heavier, more urgent.

"That is why the Primordials are moving. They are afraid of him... and of what he could become. They cannot create Heirs of their own, so they are gathering the only weapons they have left."

Peri’s stomach tightened. "Weapons?"

"Apostles," Samarella answered. "They are forming an army—mortals who were chosen long ago, beings molded for war. And those Apostles have already begun to move."

A cold breeze swept across the dreamscape, making the trees shiver.

Peri’s heart sank.

"Luna..." she whispered, her voice thin and trembling.

Samarella’s answer came cold and immediate. "Yes. They have already set their eyes on that phoenix. She is tied too closely to one of the Primordials. If you wish to save her, you must erase that essence hiding in the village."

Peri’s breath hitched. "How do I do that?! Tell me what to do!"

Silence stretched—long enough for fear to crawl under her skin.

Then Samarella spoke.

"Eradicate its remnants. Destroy whatever the Primordial left behind. You will *feel* it when you are near... the essence will react to you."

Peri clenched her fists. "And if I fail?"

The dragoness’ answer was sharp as claws.

"Then the Apostles will overwhelm the phoenix. They will break her, twist her, and overwrite her mating bond. They will offer her as a sacrifice to their Primordial."

Peri’s eyes widened, horror gripping her spine.

Samarella’s final words drifted through the darkness—slow, heavy, merciless.

"Stop them... or your friend will be lost forever."

....

Hades was sitting with Beatrice, the two of them finally relaxed after everything that had happened. Now that they had confessed their feelings and chosen each other without hesitation, their walls were gone. They were open—completely.

Beatrice leaned gently against him as he sat on the stairs, their fingers intertwined. Hades was telling her about his training days and the strange things Commander Vulcan is making him do.

"He really did that?" Beatrice asked, her lips parting in disbelief.

Hades chuckled. "Yeah... he said it was important for me to understand how a wild dragon lives. Not something shaped like a human."

Beatrice let out a long sigh. "So being human is a crime in his eyes?"

"Well," Hades said, brushing a hand through her soft hair, "he thinks humans are weak, and their ways don’t make sense."

Beatrice grumbled under her breath. "No wonder the conflict between dragons and humans takes up so much of our history."

Hades smiled faintly at her reaction, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. Her warmth against him felt grounding... something he hadn’t known he needed until she offered it freely.

Beatrice tilted her head and looked up at him, her blue eyes softening. "Still... I’m glad you weren’t like him."

Hades raised a brow. "Oh? And what am I like?"

She nudged his shoulder lightly, cheeks warming. "Someone who doesn’t choose power first. Someone who chooses people. Someone who doesn’t use his fists for every answer. Someone who actually feels... and judges things with his heart, not just strength."

Hades laughed under his breath, a warm, low sound that brushed against her ear. "Are you sure you aren’t being biased toward your husband?"

Beatrice froze—then blushed fiercely.

The word *husband* felt new. Strange. Shockingly sweet. It rolled through her chest like a warm breeze, making her toes curl inside her boots.

She lowered her gaze for a moment before whispering, "Hades..."

Her fingers squeezed his.

A nervous flutter bloomed in her stomach.

"How do you plan on telling others about... us?"

Even saying the words made her feel awkward. A part of her still couldn’t believe she was sitting here, asking *him* this—asking how the King of Chaos planned to announce their relationship like some ordinary couple discussing future plans.

Hades tilted his head, watching her with a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Does it worry you?" he asked softly.

Beatrice swallowed. "Not worry... just—" she paused, searching for the right word, "—curious. You’re... you. And I’m... me. It just feels surreal."

Hades brushed his thumb across her knuckles.

"Surreal isn’t always bad," he murmured. "But if you want the world to know, then they’ll know. If you want it private, then it stays between us."

Beatrice blinked up at him, her heartbeat quickening.

"And what do *you* want?" she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Hades leaned slightly closer, the warmth of his presence spreading across her skin like sunlight.

"I want them to understand," he said gently, "that you are mine... and I am yours."

Beatrice’s breath caught.

She just stared into his eyes, the warmth, the understanding...full of love.

She must have used all her fortune to have him fall for her.

Just when she was about to respond, Hades flinched.

His eyes widened, urging Beatrice to ask, "What happened?"

"Luna...she is scared...troubled. I need to see her."

°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Run boy run.

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