Author's Note: Sharing this beautiful fanart from @sansan_sanae on IG this week. They both look so beautiful here!

The Bone King

Victoria turned to glare at me, malice burning her gaze. "You wouldn't dare," she hissed.

"Now don't worry, I won't let Vandel drain himself to death," I replied with a chuckle. "I need Ridley to kill him. He's taken enough lives that he's almost ready...but there's still far too much humanity left in him. With the connection the two of them share, Vandel's life will be worth that of at least five thousand others." I smirked at her. "But you already knew how it worked, didn't you, Victoria?"

She stiffened, eyes narrowing. "What are you implying?"

"You were by my side during all my studies," I replied, fingers lacing casually behind my back. "You were there when I learned one could become the Bone King simply by killing the previous one. And you were also there...when I discovered the Bone King could create the most powerful weapon in the universe with simply the perfect soul."

Victoria's expression never changed. "I had it all burned. The second you left, I destroyed your research. I imagined no fate could be worse than becoming as power hungry as you." She sighed heavily, her gaze flickering away. "And yet...I too found myself still falling for that sweet allure of power. I could sense the power Ridley had and began to suspect he was the weapon you'd been looking for. I decided to test out my theory, luring Percival to our side and forcing him to fight Ridley. I wanted to see if your power would take over and make that little knight kill his best friend." She swallowed hard, still refusing to look at me. "I thought I could use Ridley for my own agenda, to be my own weapon. But...I began seeking power so relentlessly I ended up hurting our son in the process." As she spoke, she slowly lifted her head, her gaze at last meeting mine once more. "That made me realize....I was becoming someone like you." Her lips curved coldly upward, her eyes boring into me. "And I can't imagine anything more horrible."

I arched a brow. "So you originally planned to help me turn Ridley into a weapon, kill me, and then take him for yourself."

She nodded. "That's right. But now...I think I can settle with just killing you." And with those words, she flung herself at me.

That fucking bitch.

A ball of fire had accumulated in her clawed hands and she hurled it at me. I narrowly avoided it, barely managing to dodge as it shattered the glass of the window.

My gaze frantically darted about, taking in my surroundings. I could create a monster, but the observatory would be far too small to contain it. Rapidly running out of options, my attention flickered to the glass. Victoria had at least had given me an opportunity by taking out the window. I raised one hand, the bones from the chamber's floor bellow rising up into the air as I flung them towards her.

Victoria noticed them a moment before they struck. Quickly she threw up an arm, creating an invisible shield before hurtling another fireball towards me. This one slammed into my shoulder, searing mercilessly into the flesh there.

I glared at Victoria with a hiss, hurtling yet another onslaught of bones at her. Once again she managed to easily block my attack, fling a massive ball of fire from her palm. Desperately I flung myself to the side, just barely managing to avoid having my face scorched off.

Shit...I had seriously underestimated that woman.

I had to kill her.

She could ruin everything.

"Getting tired?" Victoria sneered.

"You wish," I growled back.

Victoria smirked, the expression so obnoxious that I wanted to punch it off her face. "Good, because fire isn't even my specialty."

"You think I don't know that?" I snapped, rolling my eyes. "I was your lover, Victoria. Obviously I know your true power lies in illusion--"

FUCK.

The moment the words left my mouth, I realized the bullshit she was about to pull.

My head whipped around, taking in the sight that now surrounded me. Standing in a circle around me were fifteen Victorias, each mirroring each other's movements. There was absolutely no way of telling which was the real one.

Suddenly I felt heat beginning to radiate against my skin. I frantically looked down, finding a ring of fire rising up from the floor around me.

In unison, the Victorias all smiled coldly.

"I've always wondered..." Victoria said slowly, "why our life together wasn't enough for you. You were the lover of the Demon Queen. You had everything you could have possibly wanted. Why did you give it all up to live in a palace of bones?"

"Because that's all I was ever going to be," I snapped. "The 'lover' of the Demon Queen. And if we'd gotten married, I would've just become the 'husband' of the Demon Queen. I wanted something more. I wanted to be a king, Victoria. A real king, with a weapon powerful enough to take over the entire world."

The Victorias smirked, their voices echoing around me, "And how did that end up working out for you?"

As she spoke, my vision moved past her and her mockery, looking through the shattered glass of the window behind her.

Ridley had finally managed to throw Vandel to the side, moving past him to cut down the knights he protected. As Vandel was still staggering to his feet, Ridley took out one of them in a single swift movement, then another...and the next. Just as he was about to strike down the final knight however, Vandel managed to throw up his shield between them once more. He'd used so much magic by now that the shield was a weak one, flickering and wavering like a dying flame. If the Demon Prince cast even one more spell, he'd quite possibly drop dead.

It took everything in me to bite back a smile.

Even if Ridley hadn't killed the final knight, those last three lives were all I needed to push Ridley to the next level of power. Once he killed Vandel, he'd be the perfect weapon of mass destruction. But for now...this would be good enough.

I kept Victoria's gaze on me so she'd stay distracted, all while raising one hand behind my back, allowing my own power to flow through Ridley.

"You're right," I said slowly. "You've cornered me. Decades of planning, all for nothing--"

And that's when Vandel's frantic scream sounded from below us.

Victoria's attention immediately snapped to the window, her face going deathly pale.

Ridley had grown into a monster. Yes, he looked like the knight in the faintest sense, the eyes and the face perhaps. But that's where the similarities ended. He had risen to the size of a giant, towering upwards till his face reached the height of the window. His eyes had gone completely white, emitting a pale blue glow. His skin was as pale as ivory, as if he'd become a giant statue sculpted from marble. In one hand he held Vandel, dangling him in the air.

Victoria was trembling. I'd never seen her tremble before.

I grinned.

"He wouldn't hurt him," Victoria breathed. Despite how level her voice was, I could hear the panic in it. "Ridley would never do anything to harm my son."

"You're right, Ridley wouldn't," I replied with a smirk. "Too bad he isn't there anymore. That boy is nothing but a monster now, made to do my bidding and my bidding alone, just as he was always intended to." I laughed coldly. "And in a moment...I'm going to have him drop your son. It's a shame, isn't it? With no magic left, Vandel's going to splat like a bug." My gaze tore into her, my smile growing. "So...what's it going to be, Victoria? Kill me or save your son."

Slowly, Ridley was beginning to let slip Vandel from his grasp. The Demon Queen's chest was rising and falling rapidly, her gaze frantic.

"Don't do it," Vandel called out, his voice hoarse and strained. "Mother, he'll kill me one way or another. Just...save yourself...please..."

And then he was falling.

Victoria didn't hesitate a second. Desperately she flung herself out the shattered window, massive wings springing from her back. As she moved, all her illusions came back together as one.

I snapped my fingers, the bones from the chamber's ground curling up into the air to create a stairwell for me. I made it to the ground just in time to see Victoria catch our son in her arms, gently landing amongst the bones to lay him down.

And that's when the claw of the massive bone monster I'd just created reached forward and ripped her head off.

Vandel screamed like a baby animal being crushed. It was guttural and helpless as he sat sobbing amongst the bones and bodies of his fallen comrades.

I stepped before him, looking down at the child I had brought into this world. "Hello, Vandel."

Slowly, Vandel raised his head. Despite being far too weak to respond, his gaze burned with a hatred I had never imagined possible.

"I hope you've learned an important lesson from your mother today." I kicked Victoria's head to the side, moving closer. "Love is only a weakness. If your mother hadn't loved you, she'd still be alive and I'd be dead." Vandel attempted to lower his head but I stuck my boot beneath his chin, forcing his head up once more to look at me. "In a moment, you're going to die at your lover's hands. But before he slaughters you, I just want to say..." I smirked, reaching down to ruffle his hair. Vandel flinched back at the contact. "You put up a good fight, kid."

"I'm...I'm going to save him..." Vandel choked out, hardly able to speak. "He's still in there somewhere. I'm going to reach him...I'll bring him back...even if it kills me."

I laughed dryly. "How cute. I suppose love doesn't just make you weak...but blind as well."