“Cross.”
My voice echoed through the ruins before fading into silence.
The place felt strangely quiet without him.
Just moments ago he had been standing right in front of me, and now he was gone.
“Cross, where are you?”
I called again, louder this time, hoping he would suddenly appear behind me and call me My Bride, the way he always did.
There was no reply.
Only the cold wind drifting through the broken pillars of Larvana.
My heart began to pound.
I looked around slowly, searching every corner of the place, but there wasn’t a single sign of him.
“Cross…” I whispered again.
Confusion slowly took over my thoughts.
First, he couldn’t find his crown, then he suddenly started coughing up black blood.
After that, his body became transparent before he disappeared right in front of me.
And just before he vanished, he had said…
“The seal is pulling me back.”
I frowned and rubbed my forehead.
What seal?
The more I tried to understand, the less sense everything made.
I let out a frustrated sigh.
“I don’t understand anything.”
Suddenly, a siren exploded across the sky.
The sound was so loud that I cried out and immediately covered my ears.
I felt pain all over my body.
It felt as though hundreds of sharp needles had been driven into my skull at once.
I dropped to my knees and squeezed my eyes shut.
“What was that?”
The siren continued screaming across the kingdom.
The ground trembled beneath me and dust drifted from the buildings while tiny stones rolled across the ground.
I struggled to breathe.
“Cross…”
His name escaped my lips almost instinctively, then something made me look up.
The sky was changing.
The bright blue sky slowly darkened until every cloud became stained with red.
Then the sun itself changed.
Its golden light disappeared.
In its place hung a massive blood-red sun, casting an eerie glow over the entire kingdom.
Everything around me turned red and even my own hands looked as though they had been dipped in blood.
A cold chill ran down my spine.
The siren finally died away, leaving behind only silence.
“What is happening?”
For the first time since arriving in this strange world, I truly felt alone.
I didn’t know where I was.
I didn’t know how to get home and now even the sky looked like it wanted me dead.
I shook my head.
“No, no, no.”
I had to leave here immediately.
Without wasting another second, I turned and ran.
My footsteps echoed loudly through the ruined place as I raced toward the bridge Cross had forced me to cross earlier.
“If I can just get across, maybe I can find another way home.”
Hope filled my chest until I reached the edge.
I froze.
The bridge was gone.
My eyes widened in disbelief.
“What?”
Only empty space remained between the cliffs.
The ancient bridge had completely disappeared as though it had never existed.
I blinked several times.
“No”
I stepped closer.
There wasn’t even a single broken plank left behind.
Just an endless abyss stretching beneath me.
My legs suddenly felt weak.
“This can’t be happening.”
I stumbled backward.
“Where the hell is this devil when he’s needed the most?”
My voice came out louder than I intended.
The words echoed through the valley before disappearing into the distance.
No answer came.
For a brief moment, I considered jumping.
The thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came.
“No, that was suicide.”
I slowly turned around and looked back toward the ruined kingdom.
“I have to think.”
Taking a deep breath, I walked back inside.
My heart refused to calm down.
I paced back and forth across the ruined courtyard, trying to force myself to think.
“How do I leave here?” I muttered.
My footsteps became faster and every idea that came into my head immediately fell apart.
I realized I was trapped.
A cold breeze swept through the ruins, making me wrap my arms around myself.
The entire place suddenly felt colder than before.
Then, I heard something.
A whisper, so faint that I almost thought I imagined it.
I stopped walking and the whisper came again.
“Find the crown.”
My eyes widened.
The crown.
Cross’s crown.
I immediately ducked behind one of the broken stone pillars and carefully peeked around it.
A strange black mist drifted through the entrance like smoke.
At first, I thought Cross had returned.
The darkness surrounding it looked almost identical to his.
Instantly I felt relieved.
“Cross…” I whispered.
Then the shadows began to change.
The black mist twisted violently before slowly taking shape.
One figure, then another.
My relief disappeared.
The creatures grew taller as the shadows wrapped around them before melting away.
I covered my mouth to stop myself from gasping.
They had horns like Cross, but that was where the resemblance ended.
Their horns were shorter and uneven.
Their grey skin was cracked and rough like dried stone.
Long crooked fangs pushed past their lips, while their yellow eyes darted around the ruins like hungry wolves searching for prey.
Their fingers ended in long black claws stained with blood and an unbearable smell followed them.
I nearly gagged.
“They’re ugly.” I whispered to myself.
If someone saw them from a distance, they would probably mistake them for vampires until they noticed the horns.
“I could sense a strange essence here,” one of them said as his nose twitched.
“Someone was here, someone powerful.”
Another demon stiffened.
“Could it be King Cross?” Fear flashed across his face.
The leader immediately scoffed.
“No, it can’t be. That fool was sealed away centuries ago. He can’t escape that bondage.”
I remained perfectly still behind the pillar.
So, these people knew Cross.
More importantly, they weren’t his friends.
The hatred in their voices made that obvious.
My heart began beating even faster.
I suddenly realized something.
If these creatures found me before Cross did, I could be in trouble.
I stayed hidden behind the broken pillar, barely daring to breathe.
The demons spread through the ruins, their claws scraping against the cracked stone floor as they searched every corner.
Their movements were slow but careful, like hunters who knew their prey had nowhere to run.
The leader walked toward the fallen throne, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.
“Let’s find the crown and leave. After centuries of searching, finally the Red Sun led us to the crown.” He laughed manically.
The sound echoed across the empty kingdom, making my skin crawl.
He stopped in front of the throne and looked around with excitement.
His eyes swept across the broken stones before settling on the spot where Cross had opened the hidden compartment.
He rushed forward.
For a second, hope lit up his face, then it disappeared.
His expression darkened exactly the way Cross’s had earlier.
“Where is the crown?” he said in shock.
The other demons immediately looked at one another.
“Search everywhere!” he screamed.
They scattered at once.
Some overturned broken tables.
Others smashed apart piles of old furniture.
One ripped apart what remained of a stone wall, sending pieces flying across the ruins.
The entire place shook as they searched desperately.
I shrank farther behind the pillar, praying none of them would come my way.
“The Devil’s Crown is gone.” The leader clenched his fists so tightly that his claws dug into his own palms.
“I need to find that crown. It’s the only thing that can make Larvana bow to me.”
His greedy smile made my stomach twist.
So Cross wasn’t the only one searching for it.
Everyone wanted that crown.
Suddenly, the siren returned.
The sound exploded through the kingdom once again.
I cried out softly and grabbed both sides of my head.
The pain was even worse this time.
It felt as though my skull was being crushed from every direction.
The demons reacted immediately.
Several of them dropped to one knee.
Others covered their ears and let out painful growls.
Their leader gritted his teeth as black veins spread across his neck.
“We have to go,” he growled through clenched teeth.
“It’s the second sound of the siren. Soon, Cross’s men will be here, and it won’t be fun if they meet us here.”
The demons quickly stopped searching.
I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying not to make a sound.
The siren finally faded and the pain slowly disappeared.
I let out a shaky breath and without realizing it, a small whimper escaped my lips.
The silence that followed was terrifying.
Every demon froze.
Slowly, the leader turned his head.
“Did you hear that?”
My heart stopped.
One of the demons nodded.
“I heard it.”
I covered my mouth with both hands.
Please don’t come over here.
“Find out what made that sound,” he said.
My breathing became shallow.
The demons spread out again, this time much slower.
They weren’t searching for the crown anymore.
They were searching for me.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the ruins.
One demon climbed onto a collapsed wall.
Another sniffed the air like a hunting dog.
A third walked straight toward the pillar where I was hiding.
“No…”
I whispered under my breath.
His footsteps stopped.
For a brief second, everything became quiet.Then, he stepped around the pillar and our eyes met.
Neither of us moved.
His yellow eyes widened, and a slow grin spread across his face.
“There!”
My body moved before my mind could think.
I turned and ran.
“Catch her!”
Their footsteps thundered behind me.
I dodged broken pillars and jumped over scattered bones, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely hear anything else.
I wasn’t fast enough.
One of them landed right in front of me.
I skidded to a stop, another appeared behind me.
Within seconds, they had surrounded me completely.
My legs locked in place.
There were too many of them.
My heart hammered so loudly I was sure they could hear it.
I forced a nervous smile.
“Hello.”
The demon raised a brow.