Chapter 93: The Knight’s Gambit
The demon inside Meylo seethed.
Its black eyes narrowed, moving in circles with an anger that had no place in this world.
Lirian barely held onto consciousness, her breaths ragged, her vision swimmed.
Her body was spent, her mana drained, but something inside her had pushed back.
Something had stopped the demon from consuming her completely.
But she didn’t know what.
Neither did the demon.
And that terrified it.
"What did you do?" Meylo’s distorted voice crackled through the chamber, sounding more with something close to desperation.
His body twitched, dark veins pulsed beneath his skin.
"What did you do, little bird?!"
Lirian tried to move, tried to push herself up, but her limbs refused to obey.
She could barely keep her head lifted, let alone fight back.
The demon snarled, raising its clawed hand again, preparing to rip into her soul a second time—
Then—
A boom thundered through the air.
The chamber shook, the stone walls trembled as if the entire fortress had been struck by lightning.
Meylo whipped around, eyes flared with unseen fire.
"No... not now—"
The heavy doors at the far end of the chamber exploded inward.
A blinding white light flooded the room, banishing the eerie green glow of the altar.
The torches on the walls moved wildly, their flames bending toward the incoming force as if drawn to its power.
And then—
Gabriel stepped through.
His sword was shining like polished silver, his stance was surrounded by the shield of wind.
Behind him, warriors flooded into the chamber.
The moment Lirian saw him, her heart clenched.
He came.
She had been drifting at the edge of oblivion, drowning in the demon’s suffocating grasp, but Gabriel had found her.
His eyes locked onto hers, and in that instant, she knew—he had never stopped searching.
The demon inside Meylo hissed, its form drifted as if the light alone was enough to unsettle it.
"Tch. The little knight arrives. Too late, as always."
Gabriel didn’t hesitate.
With a leap, he crossed the chamber in a heartbeat, his sword was already swinging.
"Get away from her."
The blade sliced through his own shield, but Meylo was fast—unnaturally fast.
The possessed body twisted at an impossible angle, dodging the attack just in time.
Gabriel landed between them, raising his sword, his entire body crackled with barely restrained magic.
His face was set in stone, his jaw clenched so tight it looked like he was ready to break his own teeth.
The demon chuckled darkly.
"Bold. But pointless. She is already mine."
Gabriel didn’t spare it a response.
Dropping his eyes to Lirian, his muscles softened for a mere fraction of a second.
"Lirian," he said. "Hold on."
She wanted to tell him she was trying, but she barely had the strength to keep her eyes open.
The demon growled, stepping back.
"It doesn’t matter," it spat. "You cannot save her. She is already tainted. She belongs to me."
Gabriel let out a slow breath, rolling his shoulders. Then, in a voice with icy confidence, he said—
"No. She belongs to me."
The demon stilled.
Something crossed its face—hesitation, confusion—passed through its hollow eyes.
And then, all at once, it felt it.
A shift. A presence.
Something inside Lirian moved.
The demon’s eyes widened in realisation.
"You... you did something to her..."
Gabriel’s lips curled into a smirk. "I did."
The surroundings cracked with energy.
Lirian felt it—something inside her responding, shifting, awakening.
Gabriel lifted his sword, and for the first time, the demon stepped back.
"What did you do, knight?" the demon spat, its voice unravelled into something raw and hateful.
Gabriel tilted his head slightly, his eyes looked like steel. "I planted a mark on her."
The demon’s body trembled a little. "What—?!"
"From the moment we entered that cursed forest," Gabriel continued, his voice even, "I knew she was in danger. So I did what I had to do."
The light around him pulsed, and Lirian felt it inside her—the warmth, the anchor, the tether that had refused to let her be taken.
Gabriel’s eyes darkened.
"I marked her with my magic. The moment anyone tried to claim her soul, I would know."
The demon reeled back as if struck. "You—!"
Gabriel took a step forward.
"And not just that," he added. "I didn’t just make it a marker."
He lifted his free hand, palm outward.
A deep blue sigil flared on his skin, glowing like a burning star.
The same mark flared on Lirian’s chest.
Her body trembled as heat rushed through her veins.
Gabriel’s smirk deepened. "I made it a curse."
The demon let out a screech.
"You—insolent—"
Gabriel clenched his fist.
The sigil burned brighter, and Lirian’s body responded.
Something inside her ignited.
The demon shrieked as Lirian’s mana surged back into her, no longer golden, but a deep, crackling blue.
Gabriel turned to her.
"Take it back," he said. "It’s yours."
"Ah!" Lirian gasped.
The energy filled her, chasing away the numbness, the emptiness, the horror.
She felt whole again, but not just that—stronger.
Meylo’s body jerked violently.
The demon inside him was wanting to come out, slipping.
"No... no, no, NO!" it howled. "This is NOT how it was meant to be!"
"It’s over."
He lunged.
The blade of his sword glowed, infused with the same magic that now flowed through Lirian’s veins.
The demon tried to move, tried to flee, but Gabriel’s strike was true.
Steel met flesh.
The possessed body, a bone-chilling sound teared through the chamber as the demon was severed from Meylo’s form.
A wretched, formless black mist erupted from the wound, spiraling into the air, shrieking as it lost its hold on the mortal realm.
Meylo’s body collapsed.
The black mist twisted violently, screeching in fury, its shape fraying at the edges.
Gabriel turned his head toward it... "Begone."
And with a final flash of blue light, the demon was eradicated.
Silence fell.
The only sounds left were Lirian’s ragged breaths, Gabriel’s steady inhales, and the sound of dying magic.
Gabriel turned back to her, stepping closer, kneeling down.
For the first time, his anger melted away, replaced by something softer.
"Lirian," he murmured. "It’s over."
She swallowed hard, her throat felt raw, her body trembled.
"...You came," she whispered.
His lips twitched. "Of course I did."
She let out a breathless, weak laugh.
Gabriel hesitated, then—very gently—reached forward, brushing her bloodied hair back from her face.
"You’re safe," he mumbled, but Lirian started shaking her head.
"No,no! Gabriel, you must run! Please!"