Chapter 423: The One Who Should Be Angry

The beast looked down.

Slowly.

Almost disbelievingly.

Blood soaked his chest, spreading outward from where Orion’s sword had pierced him.

He lifted his head.

And stared at Orion.

His remaining eye was wide with shock.

"...How?" the beast breathed.

Orion rolled his shoulder once, a sharp flex meant to loosen tight muscles.

"Huh," he muttered mildly. "That should’ve killed you."

He tilted his head a little to the side.

"...Guess my aim was off."

Sophia blinked.

The beast’s lips parted.

His gaze flicked again—down to the blade still buried in his chest.

Then back to Orion.

"How," he repeated hoarsely.

Orion frowned at him, genuinely confused.

"...How what?"

The beast stared at him.

"How are you able to hurt me?" the beast asked.

The words came out strained now, as if his mouth no longer trusted the rules of the world it had lived by.

"That shouldn’t be possible," he told Orion, who squinted at him and shrugged.

"I threw a sword," he said simply.

The beast’s expression twisted.

His jaw tightened.

His face contorted into something dark and furious.

The air around him shuddered.

The runes at his chains pulsed.

Violently.

Orion clicked his tongue.

"Hey."

He lifted a finger.

"Don’t give me that look." His eyes sharpened and his voice held barely restrained anger. "The person who should be angry here... is me."

Orion’s gaze slid—briefly—to Sophia, who was taking everything in with shock and fear.

"You just told my mate you were going to make her regret being born." His voice dropped an octave as he spoke, rather calmly compared to how he really felt.

"And you did it in front of me without fear too," Orion said as he started walking toward the beast.

Sophia’s heart lurched.

"No—Orion."

She caught his hand.

Her fingers wrapped around his wrist before she even realized she’d moved.

"Don’t go any closer." Her voice shook as she spoke. "He... that’s what he wants. He’ll kill you. Don’t go any closer, please."

Orion stopped and turned to her, then wrapped a hand around her and drew her closer. He placed a kiss on her head and then spoke softly.

"I’ll be okay, shorty," he told her.

"B—but..." Sophia began, but Orion cut her off.

"Shorty, you are forgetting I have Noctis, and besides, I can’t let this ugly beast live after everything he just said to you," he told her.

Sophia still stared at him worriedly, and he traced a finger over her lips.

"I’ll be okay."

She swallowed, then nodded and released him.

Orion nodded and closed the remaining distance between him and the beast.

The beast tracked every step.

His lips peeled back.

His breathing grew shallow.

When Orion reached him, he stopped close enough that Sophia’s stomach twisted violently in fear, but she chose to believe him when he said he’d be okay.

There was very little distance between Orion and the beast now.

Orion reached out and wrapped his hand around the hilt of the sword still buried in the beast’s chest.

The beast’s eye widened as he did.

"How...?"

Orion yanked, cutting the words short.

The blade slid free with a wet, dragging sound.

Blood spilled down in a fresh wave.

"How are you doing this?" the beast rasped. "You shouldn’t be able to enact injuries on me."

Orion lifted an eyebrow.

"Enact injuries?"

He huffed quietly.

"That’s one way to put it."

The beast shook his head.

Frenetically.

This time, it wasn’t rage that twisted his face.

It was disbelief.

"It cannot happen," he muttered. "It should not happen."

Orion only smiled at the beast. "It’s happening already," he said, and then drove the sword back into the beast’s chest.

Hard.

Straight through the same wound.

The impact forced a strangled sound from the beast’s throat.

His body jerked violently against the chains.

Orion leaned closer.

Tilting his head just enough for the beast to see his eyes.

"Does it still not feel real?"

Blood bubbled at the beast’s lips.

He stared at Orion, his eye still widened in shock.

Orion lowered his voice.

So low that Sophia barely heard it from where she stood.

But the beast did.

"Anyone who threatens my mate with death..."

He twisted the sword.

Just slightly.

"...dies by my hands."

The beast choked.

Blood poured freely now.

Orion ripped the blade free.

Stepped back once.

And raised his sword.

The beast lifted his head slowly.

His eye locked on the steel above him.

For a single heartbeat—

Sophia thought she saw fear.

But then—

He laughed.

It burst out of him suddenly.

His head tipped back.

Blood sprayed from his mouth as his laughter shook his body.

Orion’s brows knit in confusion.

The beast’s gaze slid sideways.

Past Orion.

Past the blade.

And locked directly onto Sophia.

"I should have known."

He coughed as he spoke, then stared back at Orion.

"I should have known... the moment I saw the wolf."

Sophia’s fingers curled into her palm as the beast looked at her again.

Cold crawled through her veins.

"You and him..."

His voice dropped into something almost intimate.

"...your path will never be smooth."

The chains rattled faintly as his body trembled with laughter.

"It will be the same thing all over again."

Her heart slammed violently.

The beast smiled at her.

A slow, knowing curve of bloodied lips.

"If you think you will survive..."

Another wet cough.

"...even after you manage to kill me..."

Sophia’s breath caught.

"You should think again."

Orion stiffened.

The beast’s gaze sharpened.

The amusement twisted into something darker.

"Because the beasts are already—"

The sword came down immediately. The blade sliced through his neck in a single, fluid motion.

The runes flaring along the chains cut out instantly.

As if someone had extinguished a fire.

The beast’s head separated from his body and rolled on the floor. He laughed as it did. The sound echoed through the cave and then stopped.

His body slumped backward, heavy and lifeless.

The chains went slack against the floor.

The glowing symbols carved into the stone dimmed.

Faded.

And died.

Orion stood over the corpse.

Chest rising and falling steadily.

Sword dripping red.

For several seconds, none of them spoke.

Then Orion lowered his blade, turned, and walked toward Sophia.

She didn’t even realize she was trembling. Orion removed her sword from the beast’s hand and then walked to the head and removed her dagger. He cleaned the blood on the beast’s body, then walked back to Sophia and extended her weapons to her.

She took them quietly, and before she could say anything, they heard footsteps rushing toward them.