Hell’s Consort

Newest Chapter of Highest Tier (August 2021)

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Archdemon Empress Luna

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Luna didn't look back and hurriedly exited the rock shelter, not caring whether her husband followed her or not.

She just wanted to talk to Hecate as soon as possible if the Goddess allowed.

Her chest felt tight after hearing Ravin's pronouncement of the goddess' true nature.

Everything he said made sense--somehow valid---and she was afraid that he was right. 

Luna would really take it personally if she were ignored.

She deserved answers from Hecate, and she wanted them now… or else she would be deeply hurt, and her heart would explode from resentment.

If she followed Ravin's line of logic, all of her sufferings had originated from Hecate and becoming her High Priestess.

Therefore, it was the Goddess who had to jeopardize her life in the first place!

Heat flushed from her skin from the intensity of her anger. 

At this moment, she was afraid that Hecate would abandon them and throw them to the wolves halfway through.

The others might misunderstand her reasoning, but this wasn't about being powerful as an Archdemon and a Portal Creator, who had Archdemon Familiars to order around and a Vampire King who doted on her.

Luna might encounter horror-filled surprises along with their travel, and she had to make this clear with Hecate that she should warn her about the dangers early on if she was a real ally of hers. Not just letting them figure it out by themselves without a map to follow.

Come to think of it, the Goddess never told her anything about her plans and kept her in the dark, never giving her explanations, and she obeyed her cryptic commands without question. 

  She gathered Apollyon's clothes to herself and crossed the strong cascades falling over her head in a second so that she wouldn't get wetter.

The cold shouldn't have bothered her when she was a Vampire, but being an Archdemon got her used to the warmth of the flames.

When she glanced up, a few stars in the night sky had returned after the rain all poured down from the thick clouds.

"Speak to me, Hecate and tell me the truth. I want to hear you answer me. I'm sure that you are just around the corner… watching over our group and protecting us so that we could fulfil your wishes without fail. Is it true that you have already snared me to suffer in those situations from the start?" Luna muttered under her breath as she resumed her stroll towards the forest.

She waited, expecting an answer, but no one was there. "Don't you want me to ask? You could, at least, reward me for my loyalty, Hecate." No soothing response in her mind to comfort her, but she wouldn't give up. Not yet. "Why? Why are you silent? You must be guilty of doing this to me. Either that or you are hiding something  from me."

She remembered to quicken her pace before Apollyon could change her mind and chase after her.

It seemed like he believed the Archdemon of Gluttony about what she was attempting to contact Hecate.

Her feet lead her to a tree that was isolated from the rest, and she halted.

A small voice at the back of her mind told her to light the tree on fire.

She gave it a focused glare and willed her mind to fulfil her wish.

Next, Luna closed her eyes and raised her hands to the sky as her consciousness flowed to the Mark of the Triple Goddess on her chest.

"I call you, Hecate. I call you now, Maiden, in your unbounded potential. I call on you, Mother, in all the divine power of your womb. I call on you, Crone, in your wisdom of the dark and light. It is I, Luna Polaris. High Priestess of Hecate and a vessel of the Triple Moon Goddess' power." She began to pick up the sound of wolves howling in the background. "I pray to you from the moment  I wake up and from the moment I fall asleep." She clenched her fists in resolve and continued further, "I shall honour your three forms for as long as I shall live, Dark Maiden, Mother and Crone. Goddess of Magic and the Underworld. Keeper of the key to the door between worlds. I summon you to the Material Realm to discuss something with me!"

The strong winds had picked up, but they suddenly stopped blowing.

Luna opened her eyes only to be disappointed.

There was no Goddess in front of her. 

"Hecate! Please give me a sign, oh Goddess! A reassurance that I am trusting the right person. That all my efforts to heed you as your High Priestess would not be in vain!" Luna refused to lose hope. Once again, she squeezed her eyes shut as she began screaming in desperation.  "Show yourself! I want to see you." 

She felt someone's presence behind her and she fervently hoped that it was the  Goddess Hecate until she quickly realized that it wasn't her.

Apollyon grabbed her and spun her around to face him and she gasped when she felt his claws digging on her skin. "Do not dare to challenge the Goddess at this time, wife." Apollyon's eyes were a deep blue, but this time it had a strange glow. "We need her help."

Luna shook her head as she pulled at her forearm in his grasp.  "I can't, Apollyon."

What if Ravin's accusations were true about Hecate—that the Goddess did all of this to set a trap on her from the start? 

"I need the Goddess to answer my questions. Vanquish the dangerous doubts Ravin had planted on my head. If she wouldn't respond to me now…." Luna trailed off, glanced at the burning tree and looked at him in the eye. "--I was so desperate to prove the Archdemon wrong! Yet, Hecate never cared about me as her High Priestess." Luna sobbed and went into his embrace. "I did everything for her husband, but she never respected me enough to do something simple as appearing in front of me."