Chapter 99: When a True God Intervenes: Bathhouse Ambush

The heavy doors clicked shut behind them, sealing away the cold banquet hall. King Vilucious didn’t waste a single second.

In one clean, powerful movement, he scooped Florianthum up into his arms, his grip tight and unyielding against her frame.

From a low, trailing camera angle behind them, his long royal robes swept across the dark stone floor.

Exactly three paces back, a single, secret female militant walked in absolute silence.

Her gaze was locked straight ahead, her movements completely robotic as she carried a heavy silver tray laden with towels of an incredibly thick, elite rich texture.

Florianthum’s chest heaved, a violent panic clawing at her throat. She could feel the icy pressure of his chest against her skin.

Desperate to mask the sheer terror paralyzing her mind, she reached up with trembling fingers and grasped the dark fabric of the King’s chest piece.

She squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face slightly against him.

To anyone watching from behind, it looked like the ultimate gesture of submission and deep, desperate love... but beneath her eyelids, her mind was screaming.

Tap. Tap.

His heavy boots stepped off the stone and onto the heated floor of the grand bath chambers.

The space was enormous, dominated by a massive sunken tub.

The water inside steamed heavily, completely blanketed by a dense, fragrant layer of rich, exotic night-blooming flower petals.

Vilucious brought her to the edge of the water and slowly set her down.

The moment her feet touched the marble, her wet silk skirt gave a heavy, wet slap against her shins.

Without looking away from her, Lord Vilucious casually flicked his right hand in the air.

A silent, absolute command.

Behind them, the secret militant instantly stepped forward, set the rich towel tray onto a stone pillar with a muted metallic clink, and turned on her heel.

As she exited the chamber, the heavy velvet privacy curtains snapped shut with a dull thud-shhh, locking the two of them inside the humid, isolated dark.

Vilucious stepped deep into her personal space, a dangerous, low smirk playing on his pale face.

"Open them... nothing to hide between us,"

He murmured, his voice dropping into a smooth, spicy drawl that oozed royal authority.

"Let us see what is hidden beneath this ruined dress, my sweetheart Lordess. It’s offcourse all your bold charm!"

Florianthum’s heart gave a violent, painful thud.

Smile, she told herself, forcing her lips to curve upward into a soft, adoring expression.

Do not let him see the horror. Her eyes shone with a beautiful, faked warmth, even as her inner voice shrieked:

If he touches me, I swear I’ll break. Please, just don’t let him look inside my mind.

Lord Vilucious finally slid her gown from the bottom to uncover her skin of thighs and started to caress it.

"My Lordess you are the purest... You know this?"

His voice absolutely dominating and airy slow with slow burn romance and owning a pet aura.

His another hands went back to her waist tracing down. "Don’t worry, I am yours, your beloved Lord forever!"

Florianthum knew nothing was going to stop what was happening with her.

Please not there! I beg... help me god, her frantic thoughts screamed.

She fully lost her faith and started to uncover her upper part of the dress, as her inner wear got visible a bit.

Lord took her hands and gave her a polite royal kiss as she did that. And then grasped her hand while pinning her to himself, as he kept her leg on his waist.

His hands tracing upwards, to her sacred privacy at the bottom.

Noooo! I hate him... He’s a monster, save me god! I beg my life.

Thoughts in her mind kept increasing with her loudest inner screams.

But a massive twist right here, which was even unexpected to the most powerful Vampirian Lord Vilucious.

Before he could step more into her space, the air in the room was violently sucked out.

A sudden, fierce gale of wind blasted through the chamber, tearing the heavy curtains completely open.

An explosive, blinding flash of pure starlight erupted right between them, illuminating the steam in a harsh, electric glare.

CRACK

Florianthum let out a sharp, piercing scream---

"AAGHHHHH!"

As a mysterious force violently pushed her backward, away from the edge of the bath.

In a single second, the blinding light vanished. The wind died instantly.

Everything returned to a dead, heavy calm.

Vilucious lunged forward, his hands slamming into empty air. "Who in the dirty mud even tried such thing?!" he roared.

In the far corner of the grand bath, pressed tightly against a marble pillar, stood Lordess Florianthum.

The ruined gown was entirely gone.

In its place, millions of elite, microscopic silver glitters were swirling aggressively around her skin, instantly solidifying into a breathtaking, structured outfit that shimmered like liquid starlight.

Florianthum panicked, trying to pull her foot back to run, but her legs wouldn’t budge.

The silver glitter held her completely pinned to the stone, paralyzing her limbs like a frozen statue.

Vilucious turned slowly, his face twisting into an expression of raw, terrifying malice.

The veins along his neck bulged as he stared at the silver magic binding her.

He was the King, the ultimate authority, and someone had just intervened directly in his palace.

He stepped violently out of the water, sending the rich flower petals flying in every direction as he marched toward her corner, his voice dropping into a guttural whisper that shook the walls.

"Who dares,"

Vilucious hissed, eyes flashing with fury, "interfere with the domain of the King?"

CRACK!

The blinding silver flash vanished, leaving a dead, suffocating silence.

Vilucious’s hands snapped shut on empty air. He lunged forward, a feral snarl ripping from his chest. "Where is she?!"

In the corner, Florianthum tried to fake run, but the silver glitter held her completely paralyzed to the stone.

(Oh, God... You heard me. You actually heard me.)

A wild, euphoric shock detonated inside Florianthum’s chest.

The suffocating terror that had held her throat for weeks evaporated in a single second.

She wanted to laugh out loud, to scream in pure, unadulterated happiness. Her mind spun, discarding the terrifying image of Vilucious and replacing it with the only face that had ever truly mattered.

Cassius Victus.

His name bloomed in her thoughts like a fire in the dead of winter.

Look at this, my only true friend, she thought, her heart swelling until it ached.

They didn’t win. Your death wasn’t the end. The Almighty hasn’t abandoned us to these monsters.

Her faith, once a flickering ember buried beneath the lie of her submissive act, flared into a brilliant, roaring flame. A true God was here. Justice was moving.

But on the outside, her face remained a picture-perfect mask of absolute horror.

She let her eyes widen, forcing her pupils to dilate with simulated panic.

Her body remained completely rigid against the pillar, frozen by the stardust armor. She let out a soft, trembling gasp, squeezing her eyelids together until a single, perfectly timed fake tear escaped.

It rolled slowly down her pale cheek, catching the faint cerulean light of the dying fire.

"M-my Lord!" she cried out, her voice pitching into a beautiful, fragile tremble as she stared at the furious King.

"I can’t move! What is this... what is happening to me? Help me!"

Vilucious turned slowly, his face twisting into raw malice. The veins along his snowy neck bulged, turning a bruised blue.

He stepped violently onto the marble ledge. But before he could cross, the surface of the grand bath boiled aggressively.

The dense layer of elite flowers and heavy petals surged upward as the water violently morphed into jagged, liquid spikes that shot directly at the King.

FSHHHHH!

The water shapes struck him with immense force. Vilucious threw his arms up to block the onslaught, but the liquid whips tore directly through his royal clothes.

RIPPP

The sharp water slices severed his front threads. The rich buttons popped clean off, bouncing across the floor.

His heavy outer doublet fell open, sliding down his shoulders to expose his snowy white, cold chest.

He stumbled back, his chest heaving as he bared his glistening fangs.

For a tyrant who viewed the world as a system he owned, this defiance was intolerable.

"Insolent vermin!" Vilucious roared, his voice cracking the tiles near his feet.

"You dare bring your pathetic tricks into the domain of the King? I am the absolute rule! Show yourself so I can tear you apart!"

The water in the pool began to hum. It rose in a slow wave, and a deep, resonant echo vibrated straight through the damp walls, as if the water itself was casting judgment:

"NOTHING... JUST A TRUE GOD, CALCULATING THE CRIMES OF A FAKE, OBSESSED LORD."

The water’s booming echo died down, leaving nothing but the wet drip, drip of the falling petals against the marble floor.

Instead of flying into a blind, reckless rage, Vilucious went deathly still.

A slow, chilling smirk carved its way across his pale lips, completely replacing his anger with a terrifyingly calm, dark charm.

He casually raised his crimson-gloved hands, using his fingers to deliberately brush a few stray strands of his silver hair back into place.

He didn’t even bother to pull his torn doublet back over his exposed, snowy chest.

"Fascinating,"

Vilucious drawled, his voice dropping into a smooth, dangerous purr that dripped with arrogance.

"Truly... fascinating. Do you honestly believe that shaping a few liquid shadows and throwing a tantrum in my bathtub makes you a god?"

He chuckled like a psychopath and then continued:

"...Or are you just another ghost crawling back from the grave, begging for my attention?"

His light grey fluidly, slit-like eyes narrowed to a predator’s focus, instantly scanning the high rafters and the rippling water.

He wasn’t just talking; he was calculating.

He was throwing out bait, trying to analyze the magical signature of the voice to track the real enemy behind this trick.

"Let me guess,"

Vilucious continued, taking a slow, predatory step forward as his smirk widened, revealing the sharp glint of his fangs.

"Are you a remnant of the old bloodlines I crushed? A bitter soul from a house I wiped out?"

He paused.

Then he said the ultimate words which were targetting none other than Cassius Victus:

"Or are you something like challenging opponent, desperate to reclaim a world that already forgot you?"

From the corner, Florianthum knew she had to maintain her mask perfectly.

Seeing him so calm and calculating sent a jolt of real panic through her act. She couldn’t let him suspect she wanted the Lord’s opponent to survive.

"My Lord! Please!" Florianthum shrieked, her voice echoing frantically off the high walls.

She thrashed her upper body slightly, making a show of trying to break free from the paralyzing starlight armor.

"It’s trapping me! Save me, my sacred Lord! Don’t let it take me!"