A Peacock Husband of Five Princesses by day, a Noble Assassin by Night-Chapter 102: The demon heart

"The Monarch of Darkness… wasn't always a monster," she began, her voice quiet. "Once… he was a hero. He was a champion of Elyria. A human. A warrior who led the final charge against Demon King Asmodeus, who was already too weakened during the war against angels and humans.

Kael leaned in, listening closely.

"But after he slew the Demon King… he did something unthinkable." Mia swallowed. "He replaced his heart with the demon's heart in order to gain power and cross that demigod realm barrier to become transcendent. While it didn't help him reach that mythical realm, he did attain true immortality. But it also corrupted him. The darkness tainted his soul. Twisted his mind." Her voice grew bitter. "And he only became the very thing he slain to protect humanity—a demon king."

Kael's fingers curled.

"With his newfound strength and corrupted mind, he raised an army. But unlike Asmodeus—a true demon, he didn't have the power to create demons. Hence, he made them instead." Mia's voice trembled slightly. "He corrupted his own soldiers and captives, turning them into demons. And they were loyal. Completely and utterly devoted to him. It was as if their wills were erased and replaced by his own will in their minds."

Kael exhaled sharply. "And the world fought back."

"Yes." Mia nodded. "Unlike Demong king Asmodeus, the Monarch of Darkness is a human warrior who knows the way of humans. He knows where to strike and where not to, when to strike and when not to. As his army numbers grew rapidly while he went on destroying the kingdoms one after another, even after establishing himself as the emperor of the world, for the first time in history, the humans, elves, angels, dragons— every intelligent race—came together. They united under one cause. To end his reign."

Kael's mind raced. He had heard bits and pieces of this story before. But not in this much detail.

"The war was devastating." Mia's expression darkened. "Millions died. His army was nearly unstoppable. But in the end… he was defeated."

Kael's lips pressed into a thin line. "The Dragonlord."

Mia nodded. "Yes."

"Kagyre. It took the strongest of the dragons to defeat him, but not without a cost either. Kagyre had gone into eternal slumber after that. It has been seven centuries since then, and the dragonlord never woke up."

Kael leaned forward. "But how is this related to you?"

Mia glanced at her arm, her fingers tracing the faint lines of the mystic tattoo. The dim glow of the lantern cast flickering shadows across the room, highlighting the exhaustion on her face.

She took a deep breath and finally spoke. "The Monarch of Darkness… he didn't exactly die. Because he achieved true immortality, after his false death, his soul was sealed away. His body was destroyed, erased from existence. But his demon heart, the very core of his power… was never destroyed. It was hidden. It wasn't that they intended to hide it, but they couldn't. The demon king's heart can only be destroyed by primordial attributes, and there was no warrior left at that time who had such an element."

Kael frowned. "Hidden where?" He could only suspect the answer. After all, it has to do with Mia, and the only way it is possible…

Mia hesitated before she met his gaze. "Inside the mindscape of Lady Athena Moonstone, the third-generation head of the house. She was the only one who had the capability and willpower to seal it inside her mindscape. Later on, the demon heart was passed onto her successor. The successor passed it to her successor and so on… To be brief, we've been the keepers of his heart for generations, brother. But no one outside our bloodline was ever supposed to know."

A cold dread settled in Kael's stomach. He thought it was passed onto Mia through her master or something. But he didn't expect it to be passed onto her from their mother.

Kael let out a bitter smile as he commented. "And here I thought I knew every secret of the family. It looks like there are more secrets buried than I have no idea."

Mia didn't respond to that and just continued, her voice quieter now. "It was supposed to remain a secret forever. Unlike other typical noble houses, our househeads decided when they were born. The head of the family would pass it to their successor, embedding it into their mindscape while they were still a baby. That's what Mother did to me. I only learned its existence when this tattoo was inscribed onto my arm."

She exhaled shakily. "And Father… he knew the risks. He knew what would happen if the heart wasn't contained properly. That's why he made the decision to sacrifice your future, brother. Our parents cannot afford to let the demon heart come out and consume me instead, not because they loved me more than you, brother. They had to make sure that I had a mana core. As a result, they had to transplant yours into mine."

Kael stared at her, his heart pounding. While his sister still doesn't know that their parents transplanted his mana core into hers because he had twin mana cores, he now understands that they might have still taken the risk and taken away his mana core even if he didn't have twin cores.

But that is of the past matter. It doesn't matter. What matters is the present.

"The Clowns of Ark," he muttered, piecing it together. "They have not only found the method to bring back the Monarch of Darkness, they might have also got their hands on the Monarch's soul. I bet that's what they have been doing for the past year. Now that both the soul and the demon heart are in their hands, they only need a host willing to be possessed and the resurrection will be done." frёeωebɳovel.com

Kael's hands curled into fists. His mind was racing on how to prevent this, but then something clicked inside his head. He pointed to her arm. "Mia, The mystic tattoo. Tell me, what can you do with it?"

"It is the very thing that binds the demon heart, Brother," Mia replied, her voice tight.

"What?" Kael frowned at her reply.