The Dark Fairy King
Chapter 83: Escape Into Darkness

Chapter 83: Escape Into Darkness

"The King is dead!"

The cry tore through the chaos like a blade through silk.

Too late.

King Baltimore—once proud, once arrogant—now lay lifeless in a pool of his own blood. The dark red stain crept like ivy across the stone floor. His guards, still kneeling in reverence, kissed his hands as if devotion alone could resurrect him.

Something twisted inside me.

I didn’t feel sadness. I couldn’t. He was the same man—unrepentant, hell-bent on executing me.

I merely acted first.

The rest of them? Not worth saving. Not anymore.

Fairies scrambled in panic. Their desperation sparked misfired Love Spells—flickers of pale pink and white, glowing weakly like dying stars.

Arisa had trained them well.

But I was beyond their reach now. Even Arisa couldn’t help them.

She staggered, clutching her chest where my heartbreak spell had carved into her soul. Her voice cracked, fragile as frost on a lake.

"Murderer..."

"Murderer!" Doverel shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at me like a blade.

"You killed the King!"

Several fairies raised their wands in unison. Panic twisted their faces.

They still clung to an outdated rulebook.

I was done playing by their rules.

I smiled—slow, venomous. Satisfaction curled on my lips like smoke.

I lifted the Baltimorean emerald. Its cold green light bathed my face, a mirror of the power I now held.

"Oh?" I said sweetly. "And how exactly do you plan to stop me?"

A hush blanketed the hall. Fear cracked their confidence like porcelain.

Perfect.

The red mist curled from my fingertips—precise, measured.

"Narcissism spells," I whispered.

A fairy gasped.

"We... we can use those too! We’re Love Fairies—just like you!"

I giggled—syrupy, poisonous.

"Oh, sure. But you’d end up just like me."

The mist thickened, snaking into their lungs. Words died. Faces shifted—from outrage to doubt... to something worse.

Self-obsession.

"Get her..." someone rasped—then collapsed.

"Oh, look at me," a male fairy crooned, staring into a puddle. "I’m divine..."

"No, I’m more beautiful!" shrieked another, shoving him aside.

A scuffle erupted. Petty. Pathetic.

Doverel was trampled—shoved aside by the very fairies she’d tried so hard to impress.

"Please... help me," she gasped, reaching for me. Her palm was stained with dust.

Still... some echo in me wanted to reach. But my hands didn’t move.

She was being crushed by her own ideals. By the system she upheld.

She deserved it.

The palace doors slammed open. More guards. Wands drawn. Faces grim.

"Scarlette!" one shouted. "Surrender now!"

Too late.

It started in my fingertips—a flicker. The red mist trembled, dimmed.

Like a storm pulling back the tide.

Crap.

The price of power was coming. It wanted blood.

I had one option left.

I released one final surge of red mist. It erupted outward, engulfing the guards in thick, narcotic clouds. Their minds bent.

And then—

They turned on each other. Crying. Laughing. Kissing their own hands.

Worshipping themselves.

"Idiots," I muttered. "I don’t have time for this."

I ran.

The palace blurred behind me. My body flickered like smoke. My lungs burned. My heart roared in my chest.

Just reach the gates. Just one more push.

I did.

With a scream of effort, I shattered them.

Stone crumbled like brittle glass.

The wind roared across my skin.

I was out.

Out of the Love Fairy Kingdom.

But I wasn’t free.

Not yet.

Arrows hissed behind me. I didn’t need to look. I knew—every fairy, every guard, every elder—

They wanted my blood.

I ducked, wind screaming in my ears, arrows slicing past. My chest burned. Adrenaline surged. Survival was the only thought.

I conjured orbs—pale lights, trembling.

They fizzled out. Weak. Useless.

A few guards collapsed, entranced by enchanted petals blooming at the border. It bought me seconds. No more.

I was starting to feel giddy from my excessive use of powers.

My feet skidded across slick grass. The last orbs sparked, then died.

My hands trembled. No mist. No strength.

Had I burned it all?

I kept running. No time to think. No time to mourn the power that once surged through me like flame.

My legs ached. My lungs wheezed.

The world blurred.

And then—I tripped.

Hard.

We tumbled together—me and something solid. Someone.

I landed on top of him, dazed, breathless.

Still. Calm. Watching.

"Move," I rasped, scrambling off.

And then—I saw him.

Hidden with me under the tall grass.

Grey eyes. Piercing. Like steel left out in a snowstorm. Cold. Measured. Unblinking.

No flicker of surprise.

Just pure, calculating silence.

He didn’t flinch. Not once.

He just watched me—like he’d been expecting me.

Like I was late to an appointment.

My heart skipped. Hands turning clammy.

The air around him felt wrong. Still, but buzzing. Like something had passed through—a shadow that didn’t leave.

I knew him.

The Dark Fairy.

The one who’d lingered in the background while I trained in secret. Mysterious. Lethal. Quietly magnetic.

Capable of decapitating Love Fairies without hesitation.

And here he was.

Waiting.

Had he planned this?

Was he waiting for the palace to fall?

Of course he was.

I staggered back, every instinct screaming. My magic was a whisper. My body—exhausted.

And still he stood.

Unmoving. Sovereign. Like he belonged to the stillness.

Untouched by the chaos I left behind.

"Why are they after you?" he asked.

His voice was low. Velvet over broken glass.

I didn’t answer.

But I felt it.

That shift.

Like the earth tilted slightly in his direction. Like gravity had chosen him.

He wasn’t just watching.

He was measuring.

He didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe wrong. Didn’t try to help.

His stillness wasn’t inaction.

It was a signal.

A warning.

He wasn’t a soldier.

He wasn’t a king.

He was something much darker.

The Love Fairy Guards circled. Their eyes scanned every inch of the grassy field. I stayed still, breath shallow, grateful for the shadows that concealed me.

But even in hiding, I knew I wasn’t safe. Not with my powers running on fumes.

Then the real danger hit me.

It wasn’t just the Love Fairy Guards anymore.

It was him.

Yes, I’d seen him watching me before—but could I trust him?

Could I trust anyone right now?

The truth hit like a falling cedar.

He wasn’t just some rogue.

He was a message. A reminder.

That I didn’t understand the full picture.

Not even close.

And nothing—nothing—could have prepared me for what he said next.

"Listen, Love Fairy," he said, voice low and deliberate. "Here’s what’s going to happen. Either I fight with you... or you fight me. Along with them."

Goosebumps crept up my arms. I froze.

My heart thundered.

"D-Dark Fairy..." I breathed. The weight of it all collapsed in my chest.

I slapped a hand over my mouth.

Too late.

He smirked.

Of course he did.

He gazed at me like a predator who’d waited too long to strike.

This would be his perfect moment.

I needed a way out. Fast.

He was too close.

Too calm.

Too confident.

I couldn’t show weakness.

Not when I am at the verge of collapsing.

Or I’d be at his mercy.