Novel Full Chapter 355: Betrayal
Chapter 355: Betrayal
Razeal did not stop.
His fangs remained buried deep in Merisa’s neck, drawing her blood steadily, relentlessly, as the ritual continued its inexorable course. The euphoria surged through him in violent waves, raw and intoxicating, flooding his senses until the world narrowed to heat, pulse, and the taste of her blood on his tongue. His grip tightened unconsciously as her body trembled against his, limp and yielding, every shudder passing straight into his own frame. He could feel it.. her heartbeat faltering, racing, syncing unnaturally with his own. He could hear it too: the faint, broken sounds escaping her lips, breathless moans pulled from her throat without intention, her body reacting in ways her mind no longer governed.
She was lost in it.
Completely.
Her strength was gone, her will submerged beneath overwhelming sensation, her consciousness flickering as pleasure drowned thought. Razeal felt her weight sag further into him too.. felt the way her body clung instinctively for balance even as her mind unraveled. And still he did not stop. The blood circle beneath their feet expanded slowly, sigils forming as crimson lines crept outward across the ground, glowing faintly as power flowed through them. The blood he controlled no longer merely floated.. it moved with purpose, drawn from his own veins and hers alike, spiraling through the air before funneling directly toward her.
Thin streams of blood parting her lips, slipping into her mouth as her head tilted back, throat exposed, eyes unfocused. Her body convulsed faintly as the foreign power entered her, her breath hitching sharply before dissolving into a long, trembling exhale. The transformation was underway, unstoppable now.
And then
The pressure holding everyone else vanished.
The invisible telekinetic grip Merisa had imposed shattered abruptly, like glass breaking without sound. Maria, Sofia, Yograj, Aurora everyone felt it at once. The sudden absence of force sent several of them dropping mid-air, bodies pitching downward as gravity reclaimed them without warning.
Levy was the first to fall.
Still trapped deep within the illusion Merisa had cast on him, his body slack and unresponsive, he tipped forward helplessly. His weight shifted, balance lost.. and he would have hit the ground hard.. even in water.. if not for a flash of movement from the side.
“Levy!” Aurora shouted, her voice sharp with panic.
She lunged forward and caught him just in time, arms wrapping around his falling form as she absorbed the impact herself. The force drove a grunt from her chest as she staggered back a step in water, but she held on, tightening her grip around him protectively. His head lolled against her shoulder, eyes unfocused, breath shallow but steady.
“Hey.. hey, wake up buddy..” she said urgently, lowering herself with him, one hand gripping his shoulder, the other brushing his cheek. “Levy, can you hear me? Are you alright?”
He didn’t respond.
Her heart slammed painfully against her ribs as fear spiked, cold and immediate. For a brief, horrifying second, she thought.. something worse might happen
“Don’t panic,” Yograj said, his voice calm but firm as he floated down beside them. He crouched and placed two fingers lightly against Levy’s neck, checking his pulse, then his breathing. After a moment, he straightened. “He’s alive. He’s still inside the illusion. That’s all.”
Aurora sucked in a sharp breath, relief crashing through her so fast it left her dizzy. She pressed Levy closer instinctively, her arms tightening around him. “So he’s not.. he’s not dying? I thought that.. Crazy women.. woul…”
“No,” Yograj replied. “Not unless the caster intends it. Which she obviously didn’t.. I mean he would’ve been if she..”
Her shoulders sagged slightly, tension easing just enough to let her breathe again. “Thank god…” She hesitated, then looked up at him, worry still etched deep into her expression. “Is there any way to pull him out? To break the illusion? He looks sooo uncomfortable and even in bad condition.”
Yograj’s gaze flicked briefly toward the center of the battlefield.. toward Merisa and Razeal before returning to his daughter. He shook his head slowly. “Not unless someone of equal or greater strength intervenes. Or unless she ends it herself.”
Aurora fell silent.
Her eyes dropped back to Levy, unconscious in her arms. Someone on that woman’s level? A world-class powerhouse? The thought made her stomach sink. There were only a handful of beings like that in world and none she could reach. And Merisa… ending it herself? She.. Doesn’t look like a gentle person to her.. Atleast to do it.. She thought hardly. Understanding she might wont.. But maybe someone can.. Razeal?
Her gaze lifted again, drawn unwillingly toward the scene unfolding before her.
“What… what is he doing?” she asked quietly, her voice barely carrying.
She couldn’t fully see it from this angle. Only the blood.. too much blood and the way Merisa’s body hung limply in Razeal’s grasp. The air itself felt heavy, charged with something vast and wrong. Her instincts screamed that something irreversible was happening.
“I don’t know,” Yograj answered, his voice grave. “But whatever it is… he’s overpowering her.”
He stared openly now, disbelief etched into his features. Even at his peak.. when he himself had stood among the strongest in the world Merisa Virelan had been untouchable. She had defeated him without effort, without even taking him seriously. And now…
Now she was like this.
His brows twitched, unease crawling up his spine. He understood.. Why it happened She had dropped her guard completely as as a mother. Obiously she was looking very much emotionaly unstable before.. For whatver reasons.. And that single moment of trust.. of vulnerability had been enough.
Anyone could kill a human no matter how strong if they stood close enough, he thought grimly. Even a child with a knife.
Still
“This…” he murmured, more to himself than anyone else. “This boy is dangerous.”
Nearby, Maria stared at the scene with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Her chest felt tight, her throat dry, a bitter ache spreading beneath her ribs as understanding dawned. She had believed.. foolishly.. That he might really not be that from inside.. As what he shows himself to be.. She even though that he might be soft from inside as how he took step towards her.. But
Instead…
“Backstabbing her,” she muttered under her breath, her voice trembling with restrained emotion. “After she gave him a chance…?”
Her hands clenched at her sides, nails biting into her palms. Disappointment burned hot behind her eyes.. disappointment and something painfully close to hurt. From her perspective, what Merisa had done was no small thing. A mother admitting fault which even wasn’t fully her fault. Asking for forgiveness. Offering a new beginning.
“I misjudged him,” Maria said quietly, her voice heavy. “He’s heartless… after all.”
Yes.. She maybe didn’t like Merisa’s methods. She didn’t liked the way this woman spoke, the way she imposed herself on him as though he existed to be corrected by her will. The sharpness. The authority. The cold, commanding presence that left little room for argument or refusal. Maria had disagreed with her..
But this?
This was different.
What Merisa had done just moments ago was not trivial. It was not a small concession, not an empty gesture. She had stepped back from herself. From her pride. From the rigid framework she lived by. She had gone back on her own words even.. The words she had spoken with certainty, words she had reinforced only minutes earlier when speaking to Maria herself. She had said she would never apologize even that… She had said she would never even forgive him. And now she had offered it freely.
She had lowered herself?
As a mother… Maybe just because of some fear and something she doesn’t know.. But she definitelydesperation on her face.. moments ago when she did it. As if she was very scared of loosing him.
And Razeal was the one standing there now bitting teeth in her neck until blood comes out? Doing something to her as she lay helpless in his arms?
Maria could do nothing but watch.
The red glow illuminated everything.. Even the water itself.. the figures standing frozen at the edges of the scene. Blood shimmered unnaturally as it moved, drawn by a power Maria could not understand, could not name. The ritual was far beyond anything she had ever studied or encountered.
“What kind of magic is that?” Sofia asked quietly, standing beside her Obiously unaware of magic in itself… Her voice was steady, but her eyes were locked on the scene, reflecting crimson light. “You’re human. You should know, right?”
Maria didn’t answer at first.
Her gaze remained fixed on Razeal.. on his cold, glowing eyes, on the way his grip held Merisa upright even as her body sagged, on the thin line of blood slipping down her neck. The sight made something tighten in her chest.
“I don’t know,” Maria said finally, her voice flat. Honest. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Sofia frowned slightly. “She’s unbelievably powerful. Even if I used everything I have… I wouldn’t be able to do anything to her.” She hesitated, then asked the question that had clearly been forming since the moment the ritual began. “How did he do it?”
Maria didn’t respond.
There was no answer.. To answer.. Obviously he did all because by betraying her motherly trust and taking advantage of her emotions towards him.. as a son.. What to say even? Even would feel ashamed. She could only look
For a few seconds, they stood in silence, watching as Merisa’s body trembled faintly in Razeal’s grasp, her movements reduced to involuntary reactions to sensation and power beyond her control.
Then Sofia spoke again, her tone unchanged, disturbingly calm. “Is he going to kill her?”
The question landed heavily.
Maria’s jaw tightened. She didn’t look away from the scene as she answered. “What’s the difference? Whats even left now?”
Sofia turned to her, startled. Maria continued, her voice cold, clipped. “He betrayed her trust. That’s what matters. After everything she did.. after she apologized, after she went back on her own principles, after she lowered herself and offered him a new beginning.. this is what he chose.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Razeal, saw the tears slipping silently from his eyes even as his mouth remained at Merisa’s neck. “She cared. And he used that.”
“You’re angry,” Sofia said carefully.
Maria didn’t deny it. “She stopped us all like prisoners. She threatened him. She said she’d kill him.” Her fingers curled slowly into fists at her sides. “I know that. I’m not blind. But this?” Her voice wavered for the briefest moment before hardening again. “This is different.”
Sofia exhaled slowly. “She was forcing him. Trying to even control him. Maybe this was his decision.” She paused, clearly conflicted. “I’m not saying it’s right. I’m saying… I understand why he might have done it.”
Maria clenched her teeth.
She didn’t step forward. She didn’t shout. She didn’t try to interfere. She simply stood there, fists tightening further, nails biting into her palms, as she watched.
She knew what kind of monster he was becoming.
That truth settled heavily in her chest, unwelcome but undeniable. Merisa was not right.. not entirely. Her methods had caused him harm. Her rigidity had pushed him toward darkness. But she was not entirely wrong either.. Just pure Mistakes she had made.. and she even apologized for those.. And now, whatever fragile thread still connected them was being severed in the most brutal way possible.
“Should we stop him?” Sofia asked suddenly.
Her voice sharpened.. not with panic, but concern. “If he really kills her… he’ll regret it.. I know.. Maybe not now. Maybe not soon. But he will.” She hesitated, eyes flicking briefly toward Maria as said before returning to the scene. “And if she dies… we might have bigger problems. Someone like her definitely doesn’t exist in isolation.. She definitely have some powerful factions behind her.”
As she spoke, something shifted.
Sofia’s eyes narrowed as she noticed Merisa’s skin.. how the color was draining from it rapidly, unnaturally. The warmth that should have been there was vanishing, replaced by a pallor that crept across her face and down her body. Too pale. Dangerously pale.
“Is she dying?” Sofia said quietly.
Maria swallowed.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, the words tasting bitter. Her gaze flickered between Razeal and Merisa, torn. If she didn’t stop him, Merisa might actually die. And if she did.. It be bad.. abut if Merisa survived what then? Rage. Betrayal. Disappointment deeper than before. What would be left between them?
Nothing. She might kill him in anger.. Afterall she literally said she would kill him if he did that again.. and he did.. something like this.. She think she might really..
Her body trembled.. not from fear, but fury. “He finally got a chance,” she whispered, almost to herself. “One chance. And he fucking destroyed it.”
The others remained silent, each trapped in their own conflicted thoughts, none of them moving as the ritual reached its end.
Then, slowly, the blood circle beneath Razeal and Merisa began to fade.
The glowing lines dimmed, the crimson light receding into the ground as though absorbed, leaving the earth dark and stained but no longer alive with power. The air grew still.
Razeal released her.
Merisa’s body slipped from his arms, her weight suddenly unsupported. He staggered backward as she fell, barely catching himself as he wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand. His crimson eyes flashed violently, pupils constricting as the last echoes of hunger and pleasure surged through him.
His breath was uneven. His body trembled.. not with weakness, but excess. Desire still burned through him, raw and intoxicating. The taste of blood lingered on his tongue, overwhelming, addictive, far more powerful than he had expected.
Too delightful.
He swallowed hard, jaw tightening as he fought to steady himself, eyes still glowing deep crimson as the final traces of the ritual faded into silence.
And around him, the world waited.. uncertain, horrified, divided staring at what he had just done, and what it had cost.
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