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"It\'s over." As all the memories and events related to the crown prince vanished from her mind, the Queen Mother whispered, aware that somehow, Cassandra\'s group had managed to derail her plans.

Because of a boy she\'d yet to meet face to face, centuries of planning had gone up in flames.

Vel\'Asha\'s fists trembled in frustration, her nails digging through her flesh as she lowered her head and gasped with a deflated look.

"You should kill me while you still have the chance to. You won\'t get another opportunity." Still unable to move due to the internal damages she\'d suffered from the Red God\'s divine flames, the Queen Mother said, facing Cassandra with provocative eyes.

The Astalon matriarch didn\'t answer, raising her boot off Gaiseric\'s neck and walking past Vel\'Asha with a series of leisurely steps.

"If divine flames can\'t kill you, there\'s no way I can either. No worries though, Queen Mother, I am not here to pick a fight. Quite the contrary, in fact. My beloved godson wants me to help you," Cassandra said with a sidelong glance, and stretched out her hands, causing two flaming swords to appear within.

Watching Cassandra adopt a battle stance, the Queen Mother\'s eyes widened in a mix of shock and fear. The moment next, violent vibrations rocked the royal palace upside down, growing more intense as a column of scarlet light shot out from the royal garden, piercing through the sky.

A large earthen trunk emerged from the light column, firing a flurry of sweeping vines and pole-sized branches in all directions.

A green-skinned demon dressed with a large golden crown, gold inlaid pants, and sparkling jewels lay on the trunk, tied by coiling branches.

"Grrr…" The 1.6-m-tall creature growled at Cassandra—drooling as its gaze shifted between the barbecued Gaiseric and Cassandra.

"So that\'s what you were hiding here, Yaksha demons? I can\'t believe it. Mithras was right. The royal family has been making deals with demons and got screwed over eventually.

What a disgrace. And here I thought our nation had zero tolerance for heresy. I\'m disappointed in you, Queen Mother," Cassandra said with a jesting tone, causing Vel\'Asha\'s face to twist into a grimace.

But then the earthen tree started making its way forward, and Vel\'Asha\'s face softened into a wry smile.

"The Blood-Smelting Gene is a much weaker variant of the Great Smelting Hammer—enabling its bearer to resist poison, physical and elemental damage, multiply their physical attributes and crystallize the blood of their enemies.

Once paired with the Great Blood Flame, the Great Smelting Hammer enables its bearer to craft unbreakable blood puppets and dominate most lifeforms with blood in their veins.

A bit like the gods\' authority over weaker races." Vel\'Asha explained. Powers like the Great Smelting Hammer were typically all in the hands of Dark Preceptors and Antigods—restrained so they didn\'t cause disasters.

Mortals weren\'t meant to possess such powers, so the Great Blood Empire eventually incurred the wrath of higher powers, flattened by an invasion of wyrms.

The remnants scattered in various directions, becoming the Blood-Smelting Kingdom and Gorefiend tribes.

"The Gorefiend tribes are a lost cause, making the House of Uriah the last true successor of that bloodline…of the Great Blood Emperor\'s lineage. So, the previous king had an idea…why not restore it? Why not restore that power and rebuild the Great Blood Empire?

To accomplish that, he made a pact with a Dark Preceptor, offering Gaiseric, himself and various others in sacrifice so his grandson would awaken the Great Smelting Hammer and Great Blood Flame when he reached Great Expansion.

Like his father, for the glory of the Blood-Smelting Kingdom, Gaiseric didn\'t mind giving up his life. But the thing about demons is that they\'re really fucked up and will always find a way to screw you over.

After seizing the previous king\'s soul and fulfilling the first half of the bargain, the Dark Preceptor demanded that Gaiseric\'s wife, your dead sister, become the mother of his children. If Gaiseric refused, he wouldn\'t fulfill the rest of the deal.

Gaiseric agreed, and so on the night your sister gave birth to Celestia, she was taken to the Dark Preceptor\'s domain in Atala. Fortunately, Elektra was nearby, and managed to use a Dissociation Mantra to separate Lyssandra\'s body from her soul—ruining the Dark Preceptor\'s ritual." Vel\'Asha explained.

"Lyssandra? She isn\'t dead?" Cassandra staggered, her brows creasing at the queen mother\'s revelations.

"Why do you think Elektra agreed to marry Gaiseric? Do you really think your emotionless goddess of a sister fell for my son\'s charms? Come on. It\'s such a mismatch. Elektra was just looking for an opportunity to save or avenge Lyssandra—preferably both.

But now she won\'t get it, because your people have destroyed our last connection to the Yaksha Preceptor. Gaiseric and the previous king are doomed too," Vel\'Asha said in a matter-of-fact tone, but as she expected Cassandra to break down at the news…"

"Thank you, Queen Mother," the Astalon Matriarch didn\'t seem bothered, casually stepping into the air as she walked towards the Yaksha Tree.

Vel\'Asha wasn\'t optimistic. The Yaksha Tree was a demon at the 12th level of the Golden Palace and a level one Sage. The Dark Preceptor had so much faith in it that it even allowed it to bring a servant, carry out deals and collect souls on its behalf. Vel\'Asha at her best would have been able to suppress it.

But a mere Cassandra clearly couldn\'t…

[Pyretic Hell]

"Crawk—gah, gah!"

Blinding flames lit up the royal palace\'s sky, and as Vel\'Asha looked over her shoulder, she was shocked to see Cassandra standing over the bisected corpses of the Yaksha demons—both choking on their own blood.

Wrathful God flames coiled up Cassandra\'s body, a boon from her godson dearest.

"You can\'t be serious." Vel\'Asha couldn\'t believe it, and yet these were the facts.

Cassandra made a grasping motion, collecting dozens of souls that had formed pacts with that demonic tree. This included Honoria, royal guards, and other palace ladies\' souls.

"House Astalon will send you the bill for this clean-up job tomorrow. Don\'t be stingy. Mithras loves money. So if you wish to impress him, you better empty that bank account.

Do your best while the fees are still within your pay grade. You won\'t regret it." Drenched from head to toe in the blood of her victims, Cassandra said, walking past a dumbstruck Vel\'Asha and vanishing from the scene.