KING OF RUIN-Chapter 47: Ashes of Dominion

The portal tore through space like a burning wound. Elizabeth stepped through first, her heels hitting cracked stone. Kol followed in silence, the light behind them vanishing as the Demon Realm swallowed them.

What they saw was not the world they had visited.

Ruins stretched in every direction. Entire cities had been reduced to skeletal remains of blackened towers and shattered bones. The sky—a deep crimson—burned with falling embers. Fires smoldered in the distance, and the once-proud capital was now nothing but ash and charred screams.

Bodies littered the ground. Demons winged, horned, clawed—were strewn across the battlefield. Some had died on their feet, weapons still in hand. Others had been vaporized, leaving only outlines scorched into stone.

Elizabeth covered her mouth. "This... this wasn't a battle. This was an execution."

Kol said nothing. His boots crushed a scorched helmet as he stepped forward. He could feel it—the lingering residue of divine power. Five distinct auras, each one monstrous in scale. They had come here personally. Not just to kill—but to send a message.

The remaining demons crawled out of hiding to witness his arrival. They did not bow. They trembled. Some ran. Others turned their faces, whispering in fear.

"It's him."

"He brought them here..."

"Run... before it happens again..."

Elizabeth clenched her fists. "They're afraid of you, Kol. They think this is your fault."

Kol didn't flinch. He had seen this before. Too many times. freewebnøvel.coɱ

He pressed forward, ignoring the stares, the curses, the children hiding behind collapsed archways.

They found him where the citadel used to stand—a heap of shattered obsidian and melted steel. Leo, the Demon King, sat slumped against a broken throne, one arm hanging limp, the other gripping a jagged blade. His horns were cracked. One eye swollen shut.

"Leo," Kol called, his voice calm but edged like a blade. "Who did this?"

Leo looked up, blood crusting the corners of his mouth. "You shouldn't have come."

"Tell me who."

Leo coughed, his voice hoarse. "Five of them. Five gods descended with an army. Tagariel, Mekoriel of Light. Ashbel, the Fire God. Diniel... and Zemariel."

Kol's eyes narrowed. Elizabeth took a sharp breath.

"They came for the crystal orb," Leo continued, shaking his head. "They... destroyed everything to get it. I don't know why. And that's what terrifies me." He dropped the blade. "They could have wiped us all out. But they didn't. They left us. Left me. I couldn't save my people. I failed as Demon King."

There was a long silence.

Then Leo added, almost as a whisper, "They blame you, Kol. My people. They believe you brought this doom. That ruin walks in your footsteps."

Kol's jaw clenched. His fists trembled.

A breeze picked up, swirling dust and ash in the air. The wind whispered the names of the dead.

He stared at the scorched horizon. At the corpses. At the smoke.

"The crystal orb," Kol said. "They wanted it enough to send five gods. They even sent Ruhamiel to distract us."

Elizabeth turned to him. "You think it's part of a larger plan?"

"I don't think," Kol growled. "I know."

He looked down at his hands. They were stained with blood, old and new. His own, his enemies', and those who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And now... this.

He took one step forward. The ground cracked beneath him. His voice was low, but it carried across the realm like thunder.

"They want a war?"

He raised his head, his eyes glowing like molten steel.

"Then I'm taking it to them."