Married To The Villain
Chapter 94: The Demon’s Return

Chapter 94: The Demon’s Return

Chapter 94; The Demon’s Return

Lirian’s body trembled as she grasped Gabriel’s tunic, her fingers were weak yet desperate.

She was pleading—

"No, no! Gabriel, you must run! Please!"

Gabriel’s brow furrowed, "Lirian, it’s over—"

But before he could finish, the torches around them burst, shattering into embers.

The temperature in the chamber dropped instantly, a deathly chill started sinking into their bones.

A deep voice laughed.

"You think you can banish me, little knight?"

Gabriel’s head snapped up just in time to see the black mist that had been expelled from Meylo’s body surge back together—not as mere smoke, but as something worse.

A writhing mass of darkness coiled at the center of the chamber, tendrils of black sludge twisting unnaturally, reshaping, expanding.

A body began to form.

A hulking, misshapen body...taller than any man, with jagged, grotesque limbs that bent at unnatural angles.

A mouth filled with endless rows of teeth stretched into an inhuman grin.

Its hollow, glowing eyes burned with malice as it turned its head toward Lirian.

It had no name.

It had no true form.

It was hunger incarnate.

And it was still after her.

Gabriel’s expression hardened.

He immediately placed himself between Lirian and the monstrous creature.

Kael and Raphael burst into the chamber.

Raphael took one look at the demon and let out a sharp curse. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

Kael barely paused before raising his sword. "Looks like we’re doing this the hard way."

The demon laughed, its deep, slithering voice vibrated through the walls.

"Yesss... the hard way... I like that."

It lunged.

Gabriel barely had time to raise his blade before a massive clawed hand swiped at him, the force of it sending him skidding back.

Raphael and Kael moved in, their blades cut into the demon’s shifting flesh, but it didn’t react—as if their weapons meant nothing to it.

A shadow rushed toward Lirian.

Gabriel twisted, his sword slicing through the air, intercepting the attack before it could reach her.

"You’re not touching her," he growled.

The demon grinned.

"She is already mine."

Lirian forced herself to stand, though her legs trembled beneath her.

Her mana felt unstable, but her eyes burned for not being able to help.

"I don’t belong to you."

Then—

Lucius came into the picture...

"Oh dear," he mused, voice as smooth as silk. "You’re all making quite the mess."

Lirian’s hands clenched into fists.

Lucius smiled at her, that same detached smirk that had haunted her nightmares.

"Daughter."

Lirian’s breath hitched.

Her body screamed at her to run, to hide—but she held her ground.

She would not cower.

Not this time.

Lucius tilted his head, eyeing her critically. "You look awful."

Lirian spat blood onto the floor. "You should see the other guy."

Lucius let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head.

"Still so stubborn." His eyes darkened. "You should have just accepted your fate, Lirian."

Lirian’s fingers curled tighter.

"And let you drain me like the others? Like Daria? Like all those girls you murdered?"

Lucius gave an elegant shrug. "They were necessary sacrifices."

Lirian’s heart pounded, rage bubbled beneath her exhaustion.

Raphael’s grip on his sword tightened. "Lucius, you bastard. You’ve been working with that thing, haven’t you?"

Lucius sighed, as if bored by the accusation.

"Work with it? No. But I did make a deal. A rather beneficial one, I might add."

Kael scoffed. "You sold your own daughter."

Lucius didn’t even blink. "I simply saw an opportunity."

Lirian snapped.

Energy flared around her, her mana rushed and ran despite the pain wracking her body.

"I will never be yours, Lucius!"

Lucius’s smirk deepened. "Then let’s put that to the test."

He vanished—

And then reappeared in front of her, his blade was already swinging in front of her.

Lirian barely dodged in time, rolling across the bloodied floor as Lucius’s sword slammed into the ground where she had been.

He was fast.

Too fast.

She barely had time to register his next attack before he was already on her again, elegant, lethal.

Lirian gritted her teeth, her hands glowing with unstable energy.

She met his blade with her mana, the force of the clash sent sparks through the air.

"You’ve improved," Lucius mused. "But it won’t be enough."

Lirian lunged.

She fought with everything she had, pushing herself beyond exhaustion.

But Lucius was calm, controlled, unshaken.

"Fighting me is pointless," he murmured, blocking her strike with ease.

"You could never defeat me before. What makes you think you can now?"

Lirian growled, stepping back, summoning more of her mana.

"Because I’m not the same girl you tried to control," she hissed.

Lucius’s smirk vanished.

For the first time, he frowned.

Meanwhile—

Gabriel, Raphael, and Kael fought to keep the demon away from Lirian.

The creature thrashed, howling with frustration as its prey remained just out of reach.

"GIVE HER TO ME!" it roared.

Gabriel drove his sword into the demon’s shifting flesh, sending wind magic through the blade.

"Like hell."

Raphael followed up, slashing through its side. "You’re getting desperate, aren’t you?"

Kael spun his weapon, cutting through the demon’s tendrils.

"Yeah, doesn’t it feel so fun when you’re losing, huh?"

The demon screamed, the sound was shaking the very walls.

It was losing its grip.

But Lucius wasn’t.

His strikes grew sharper, faster.

Lirian barely had time to react, her body was running on nothing but pure instinct.

Lucius aimed low, forcing her off balance.

She stumbled—

His sword came down—

But Gabriel was there.

His blade clashed against Lucius’s at the last second, the impact sent shockwaves through the air.

Lucius’s eyes narrowed. "Ah. Duke...."

"Stay. Away. From. Her."

Lucius chuckled. "Why? Do you think she belongs to you?"

Gabriel pushed against his blade.

"No. But she sure as hell doesn’t belong to you."

Lucius’s smirk faltered for just a moment.

And then—

Lirian struck.

With every ounce of mana she had left, she blasted Lucius away, sending him crashing into the far wall.

The moment he hit the ground, the demon screamed.

Its connection to Lucius had been severed.

And in that moment of weakness—

Gabriel, Raphael, and Kael unleashed everything they had.

The chamber was lost in a blinding blast of magic.

And the demon...

The demon was no more.