CHAPTER 179: SO WHAT?

Draegon

The air in the hall was thick, like the calm before a storm. But inside me, there was no calm—just a fire, roaring hotter by the second.

I stood before Reagen and Rael, fists clenched at my sides, breathing hard through my nose like a dragon holding back a roar. The moment the truth fell from Reagen’s smug mouth—that he had been abusing Aelin since they were children—I felt something rupture in my chest. The blood drained from my face, only to return boiling.

"You," I growled, stepping forward, my eyes burning into his. "You touched her. You beat her." I could tell something was wrong that night when she disappeared from the party hall, only to return looking pale.

The human delegates didn’t talk, either they really had no idea or they were pretending not to know.

Either way, it didn’t change the fact that even that day he must have abused my wife. I wanted to ask her, but I didn’t want to force it out of her and scare her.

Part of me wished I had, but I wanted to give her the space she needed. And I was glad I did because we had grown so close together now.

And I wanted us to be even closer.

He met my fury with a laugh.

"So what?" Reagen said, brushing imaginary lint off his shoulder. "I can do whatever I want. She was mine to break."

I saw red. My vision blurred. I wasn’t sure if it was rage or if my body was simply trying to contain the overwhelming need to rip him apart.

"You’ve crossed several lines," I said through gritted teeth. My claws twitched at my sides, aching to strike.

Reagen only smiled wider. "Why are you so mad about that trash Aelin, hmm? What about your precious kingdom? Soon it’ll be nothing but ash and screams."

"I won’t let that happen," I snapped.

"Oh?" He folded his arms, "And how are you going to stop that?"

"I didn’t come here alone. The other already spotted the ritual site and are heading there."

"You can’t stop it." He waved a hand lazily. "Already too late."

I didn’t rise to the bait. "They found the ritual site," I said, staring hard at him. "They’re going to stop it."

Reagen’s smirk faltered, but only for a moment

His eyes darted toward Rael.

And Rael—without a word—turned on his heel and bolted.

I didn’t stop him. My entire soul, my entire wrath, was now pointed at the monster still standing before me.

I took a step closer. "How long?" I asked coldly. "How long have you been serving the abyss?"

Reagen tilted his head, thoughtful. "Since I was ten. Maybe younger. Old enough to realize that the world was trash—and power was the only truth."

It all clicked in that moment. The years of peace in the human kingdom. Even when the abyss gate opened near Raki village, none of the monsters turned their direction to run towards the human kingdom, but I didn’t think about it then since the humans sent aid and soldiers.

And even after that, only tiny gates opened in the Havenmoore as compared to the near-constant disaster in the demon lands. The imbalance.

"It was you," I said. "You kept things quiet on your side so no one would suspect the rituals. Only opened small gates to maintain the illusion—while we bled trying to close the big ones."

He gave me an exaggerated slow clap. "Knew you’d get there eventually, Demon King. That’s why it’s time to end the game."

"You’re not ending anything," I snapped, claws unsheathing now, flickers of flame rippling across my arms.

Reagen chuckled. "Everything is ready. You’re just late. And your sweet little wife—" he licked his lips, "—she’ll be gone soon too. Forever."

I lunged forward a step, fury surging. "You’re wrong. She’s stronger than you know. She’ll fight through it."

"Yes," His smile turned wicked. "She could’ve been stronger. If I’d let her. But I didn’t."

My stomach twisted.

"What...what do you mean?"

He leaned closer, whispering, like a viper revealing a final secret. "She started her training like what? Two months ago? Meanwhile, I’ve been one with the abyss since I was a child. There was no way she could win." He grinned, eyes sparkling with madness. "I gave her one final lesson. Tortured her one last time. As a parting gift. Then I left her at the altar."

My breath caught. Aelin.

"You—" But I couldn’t finish. The sky outside rumbled—then ripped open in a storm of red.

A giant eye blinked open above the palace. Its gaze cut through the clouds like a god’s judgment.

The ground quaked beneath our feet.

Reagen spread his arms wide, laughing. "Oops. Looks like your wife is dead."

That word—dead—shattered something inside me.

Dead??

That word...

It echoed like a death bell inside my skull.

Dead.

I couldn’t hear anything else.

Couldn’t see anything else.

Couldn’t breathe.

Aelin.

I must’ve heard him wrong. I had to.

She wasn’t dead.

She couldn’t be. There is no way he killed her that easily. She has the power to fight the abyss. How? Her magic repels the very essence of the darkness that makes up the abyss

So how?

But Reagen’s grin was the kind that confirmed it.

I blinked. And something snapped.

The grief, the despair, the guilt—it all turned to rage.

The sky above us split in red.

A monstrous eye opened in the heavens like the Abyss itself had arrived to mock me.

Reagen laughed, drunk on destruction.

"I broke her," he said. Like he was proud of it, "Just like how the rest of you will break!"

I couldn’t feel my body anymore. Only heat.

Only fury.

Only the raw, guttural need to end him.

I took a step forward.

He didn’t stop grinning.

My voice came out like fire laced with ash:

"You killed her."

He didn’t answer.

I looked up at him.

I made sure he saw me—what he had turned me into.

What he had awakened.

"You’re not going to die fast."

And then I ran towards him