The Damned Demon

Lysandra's heart raced as she saw a winged shadow standing on her balcony.

The unexpected presence and the familiar aura around him sent a shiver down her spine, "Mother... were you waiting for me?" the figure whispered, its voice carrying an unnerving familiarity that stopped Lysandra in her tracks.

Overwhelmed by shock and disbelief, Lysandra's voice trembled as she whispered back, "A…Agonon... My son... Is that really you? Am I dreaming you?"

The shadowy figure paused, its back still turned to her. After a moment of silence, it replied with a tone laced with pain and accusation, "Is it so hard to recognize your youngest son? Did I matter to you only so little?" Then, with a powerful spread of its wings, the figure took off into the night sky.

His words struck Lysandra like a physical blow. Her heart pounded in her chest, a mix of hope and despair overwhelming her, "No! Agonon! Wait!" she cried out, rushing to the balcony in a desperate attempt to follow him.

Standing on the balcony, Lysandra scanned the skies, her fiery red eyes searching frantically for any sign of her departed son.

Without even caring about her nightwear attire, she took off as well, driven by a mother's desperate need to reconnect with her lost child.

Could he have been really alive all this time?

It seemed impossible but so did what has just happened now.

But no matter how far her gaze reached, no matter how sharply she looked, there was no trace of Agonon. The skies were dark and empty, devoid of the figure she so desperately sought.

Confusion, grief, and a sense of surreal disbelief washed over Lysandra.

The emotions she had been bottling up in her chest were slowly oozing over her eyes.

The encounter had been too real, too visceral to be a mere dream.

Yet, the absence of any evidence of Agonon's presence left her grappling with the disappointing possibility that what she experienced might have been an illusion or a ghostly visitation created by her mind, stirring up emotions she had struggled to keep at bay.

But how could her mind be so feeble? She had never experienced something like this before.

The night air around Lysandra grew colder as she continued to hover in the air, lost in her thoughts, the weight of the moment leaving her feeling both hollow and filled with unspoken longing.

"Queen Lysandra, what are you doing out here?"

The sudden casual voice from behind startled Lysandra out of her reverie.

She spun around, her expression shifting from confusion to annoyance to resentment as she looked down to see Asher standing on his balcony, gazing up at her.

The coldness in Lysandra's voice was palpable as she retorted, "You dare speak to me?"

Asher, unfazed by her tone, continued, "I was just being curious upon seeing you hover in the sky. Or is this a nightly thing for you?" His gaze was steady, his question genuine yet probing.

Lysandra glared at him with undisguised hostility, but chose not to engage further, especially not after her mind was in a mess after what happened.

With a swift motion, she flew back into her room, leaving Asher on his balcony.

Once she was gone, a slight smile played on Asher's lips. He retreated back into his room and took out a whisper stone, "Thank you, Lady Naida. We got this started beautifully," he spoke into the stone with a tone of satisfaction.

Naida's voice responded from the other side, tinged with a mix of admiration and curiosity, "I am glad to hear that, but I had no idea you were capable of producing something so convincing. I am curious about how you did it, but I'll restrain myself from probing further. Goodnight, my king."

"Thank you for the consideration and goodnight, Lady Naida," Asher replied, ending the conversation.

He then tapped on his whisperstone and said, "Eradicator, come out and stand guard in front of my room."

"I am already standing guard outside, Your Majesty. You can rest without worry," Her stoic voice echoed from the other side, surprising Asher. Does the concept of sleep not apply to her?

Still, since that was taken care of, Asher went into his bathroom, and his figure disappeared.

Far from the opulent chambers of the royal palace, Rhygar stood alone on the balcony of his mansion.

The night was quiet around him, but his sharp eyes were fixed on a distant scene unfolding at the palace.

Every night, he would step onto his balcony and gaze far at the royal palace. Even though his mother's room wasn't in his line of sight, he wondered what she might be doing at this time and if she was eating and sleeping well.

The death of that arrogant prick shouldn't deter her for too long. He could only pray she quickly forgets about him so that she would realize some truths that she was blind to before including the fact that she wasn't alone.

But tonight, he had noticed his mother hovering in the air in her private attire – a rare and unusual sight, especially at such a late hour.

It felt like a long time since he had seen her in such clothes.

But then his attention got distracted as he observed the brief but surprising interaction between his mother and Asher.

A mix of confusion and anger welled up inside him as he witnessed their exchange. Rhygar's voice was low but laced with contempt as he mumbled to himself, "Mother... what are you doing out there in the cold air, talking to that swine? He doesn't deserve your attention."

The sight of his mother flying back to her room did little to ease his suspicions. His gaze remained locked on Asher, who soon retreated into his own room while his mind raced with questions and doubts.

In the eerie expanse of the Dimension of the Damned, Asher watched as a figure began to materialize before him.

This being before Asher was an imposing, nightmarish vision of power and despair. The creature was an amalgamation of man and dragon, its form both grotesque and awe-inspiring.

Its wings, vast and dark, were like swathes of blackened, magma-drenched fabric. They unfurled with a pulsating power, casting deep, abyssal shadows in the damned dimension. Half of his form was of burned flesh, while the other half was charred, exposed bones.

Despite his monstrous appearance, Agonon immediately bowed in deference upon sensing Asher's presence.

"Rise, Agonon," Asher commanded with crossed arms.

Agonon slowly rose, his dark green eyes respectfully lowered. Despite his terrifying appearance, there was an air of subservience about him that contrasted sharply with his monstrous guise.

"I can't express enough how great you did tonight. Your mother, or the mother of who you once were, was quite shaken to see you," Asher commented, a note of satisfaction in his voice.

"I have to thank Naida for hiding your body from others' eyes. We can't have people suspecting you are back," Despite his statement, Asher didn't expect a response, fully aware of Agonon's current state.

He will only answer if he asks anything. This was also one of the reasons he couldn't let Agonon interact with Lysandra for too long.

Since Agonon's soul was damned, he had lost his sense of identity and was experiencing a pain akin to his soul getting crushed again and again that he couldn't even formulate his own thoughts or express himself.

He can only carry out specific orders and act accordingly. The real Agonon had long since succumbed to the pain, and the one standing before him was no different than an empty shell of what he once was. Still, he commanded this one to consider itself as Agonon only.

Pausing, Asher then delved into a more profound inquiry, "But I have to ask... Why does your mother love you so much? I know it might seem like a dumb question, especially since you are her son, and mothers are supposed to love their sons. But in a world like ours, love is a luxury, and even when it exists, most demons have a twisted concept of it in their minds," he mused aloud, his tone reflecting a mix of curiosity and introspection.

Agonon remained motionless, his expression unchanged.

Asher's steps circled Agonon as he probed deeper into the complex dynamics of the Draconian royal family. "So, at first, I thought she loved you because you were a rising genius and possibly the future king. It would elevate her status as a consort, and losing you could deal a severe blow to her position and power in the kingdom. But then I realized she still had Rhygar, who is the 1st Prince. Her status wouldn't be challenged. None of the other princes can match Rhygar. So, could it really be that she has a pure motherly love for you? Care to enlighten me here, Agonon?"

Asher knew that even if the real Agonon was gone, his memories would still be there.

Agonon's voice, hollow and gruff, broke the silence, "She did," he confirmed.

Asher, intrigued by this brief yet revealing response, prodded further, "Is there any specific reason, or just pure motherly instincts?"

Agonon's next words were startling in their revelatio, "Because I was the son she had with her one true love," he said, his tone as dead as his expression.

Asher's surprise was evident, "What? Are you kidding me? Did you just say that she cheated on Drakar out of all people?"

Agonon clarified, his voice still devoid of emotion, "No. It happened before she married Drakar. It took many years before her lover's seed came to life inside her. She had been praying and waiting for it to come to life desperately for over 80 years."

Asher couldn't believe this woman literally waited for an entire lifetime of a human to bear the child of her lover. She must have been really in love with him, which was quite surprising for a draconian.

Asher's bafflement grew with each revelation, "Still, it doesn't make sense. How can Rhygar be born before you?" he questioned, trying to piece together the complex puzzle of the draconian royal family.

He knew if the seed of a man inside a woman, especially a powerful demoness, wasn't purged, then she couldn't carry another seed.

Agonon's next statement added another layer to the intrigue, "Because Rhygar wasn't born from her," he revealed, causing Asher's disbelief to deepen, "What? She isn't his mother? How could Drakar be fooled like that? Isn't a bloodline test conducted whenever a child is born?"

Agonon explained further, "No. He does have her blood, but he wasn't carried in her womb. She made another woman carry him until he was born while she went into seclusion on the pretext of nurturing the child safely."

Asher's expression changed to one of realization, "Surrogacy, huh... how clever to satisfy Drakar with a son. She truly went that far to give birth to you while hiding that fact from Drakar. I'm assuming she silenced this woman after she gave birth to Rhygar? But what if her secret gets exposed? Even if Rhygar is technically her son, she still gave birth to someone who is not of Drakar's blood. How did you escape the bloodline test?"

"I do not know that because she purged that memory permanently from her mind since that was a very serious crime."

"Wow…she must be used to playing with fire."

Asher's curiosity led to another question, "Wait... where is her lover now?"

"He died right before she got married to Drakar," Agonon replied, his voice still devoid of emotion.

"How?" Asher probed further.

Agonon revealed, "Her lover was from her branch family, and the two of them grew up together and also had the right to marry each other. But Drakar took a fancy to her, and so a duel was set up where Drakar ended up beheading her lover."

Asher let out a low whistle, shaking his head, "Oof. How tragic. Her life just keeps getting better, doesn't it? Having to marry the same man who killed her lover and can't even do anything about it," Asher was also astonished that she managed to keep her resentment against Drakar in check without the slightest suspicion for all these years. Truly hardcore she was.

From an outsider's perspective, her life seemed pitiful, but for him, this was getting better and better.

"You must resemble her lover in many ways... you were the last proof of her love for that man. No wonder... Did Drakar know about this?" Asher realized that he underestimated Lysandra's urge to kill him after learning about this.

She might be dreaming of killing him in a million different ways every single day. This also made him realize her indescribable restraint.

As expected of a woman married and living with the man who killed her lover.

Agonon shook his head and said, "She knew Drakar had his eye on her even during her younger days, and because of his tendency to kill anyone he didn't like, she made sure to not make her feelings for her lover obvious to protect him. But in the end, when Drakar demanded her hand in marriage, her lover challenged Drakar despite her warnings and protest."

"What a story…" Asher shook his head as his lips began to form a smile, "You have been quite helpful, Agonon. Stay put because we are just getting started, especially after learning all this."

Asher couldn't stop smiling as he left the Damned Dimension.