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The Archdemon of Lust

Prince Luxen from the 2nd Circle of Hell

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Luxen heard loud screeches and roars along with the resounding horn of the infernal trumpets.

He glanced up.

The clear blue-grey skies were now tarnished by the flashes of lightning, signalling the arrival of--

Luxen saw his Satan had arrived at the scene along with Ravin followed by hundreds of legions from their Kingdom from a far distance.

Ravin's legion had ridden using their fiery griffins while his uncle and the rest of his henchmen rode their Cerberus.

They drew their bowstrings and arrows and aimed fiery darts of Hellfire into the lotus flower.

Luxen and the henchmen departed before they were caught in the line of fire before and got killed by one of their own.

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The Empress Luna

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Luna couldn't move her body.

She was one of those states where she couldn't wake up and open her eyes, unconscious and trapped in her mind.

Her hands tremble with the effort to lift a finger, but she couldn't.

She exhaled a breath, letting go of trying to force her soul to do something when it wasn't ready.

Luna let her limbs relax.

This was the first time in a long while where she had felt something like this.

Normally, when she was unconscious in the Realm of Hell, she would just blackout and nothing else and then she woke up into the new dawn, making new memories with a sight that would sore eyes to a vampire like her.

She hated the sight of an Archdemon the first thing in the morning.

It never failed to remind her every day of the man she had lost.

A few minutes later, Luna could see a tiny sliver of light from a waning crescent moon until it disappeared into the darkness, signalling into a new moon.

The pitch-blackness brought by the new moon felt like as if it was a void absorbing all the light, and she found herself grasping at the last straws of that silver crescent.

A sudden coldness hit her core when she sensed someone's hand waving in front of her.

She couldn't see it, but she could make shadowy outlines moving... or was it her imagination?

'Was it Apollyon?' Luna thought.

Her mind must have filled in images where there weren't any.

Her awareness was trapped in a sleeping body.

Heart beating faster in fear and anticipation, Luna could hear a high-pitched ringing in her ears.

Luna wondered if she was back in her body at the Vampire Realm where her time in Hell as an Archdemon and meeting with them was nothing but a dream.

She didn't want it to be wishful thinking. Luna wanted to wake up in Apollyon's arms and declare the good news to him face-to-face that they were having a baby whether he wanted it or not.

Heat radiated in her chest.

She was looking forward far into the future, and she didn't care.

Luna felt it deep in her gut that her husband would be ecstatic even if he might try to hide it first.

He didn't tell her anything about his past but based on how Apollyon had twisted beliefs about the world, about women, about himself and his family, especially to her mother whom he had refused to talk about, Apollyon was a broken child, and there were parts of him that hadn't healed yet.

She wasn't going to do anything about it yet if her husband wasn't ready.

She would not force or control the healing of his husband's heart.

He would heal these dark emotions in his own pace and transmute it without her interference.

Luna will respect her husband in that way while she showed her support by being with him but how can she show her support when she wasn't---

She stopped herself from assuming the worst.

When scheming Archdemons surrounded one left, and right for weeks, Luna should have room to think positively about her situation, and that was the hope to return to the Vampire Realm.

Luna would be back to her body and be with Apollyon soon.

If she wouldn't be back to her body right now despite the signs---

Luna would probably die of melancholy and a lifetime of regret.

She didn't tell Apollyon enough how much she loved him.

She had missed a lot of her chances to express how much she appreciated their time together, how fun it was to tease his husband and be comfortable around his presence.

The precious memories had given her warmth in times of longing and anguish she felt as she obsessed every night how to get out of Hell.

She came up with nothing and Sloth was right.

There was nothing she could do.

Luna could still feel Apollyon's heart when she placed one palm over his chest while their fingers were intertwined, dancing at the balcony in a moonlit night.

Every time they kissed, their sighs matched as their tongues danced, sending shivers down her spine.

Luna was wrong that she could survive without her blood mate.

It had been so long since she had heard the sound of Apollyon's voice and if she could kill an Archdemon for it, then she wouldn't hesitate.

Looking back at her stupid actions in the past, Luna recalled how she had fought so hard for her freedom so stubbornly when she didn't even need to because Apollyon was home.

If his heart was a house, then Luna was home.

As the Vampire King caressed his stomach protectively, there was no doubt that Apollyon would cry tears of joy if he found out about the baby because he secretly wanted it.

Luna knew deep in her gut that he wanted an heir.

He was just afraid and hesitant to have a family because he didn't want his past—his relationship with his own family--to interfere with their happiness.

That scenario would probably make her cry because she had never seen her husband being emotional—archaic Vampire King and all that.

Luna also wanted the baby because there was a part of Apollyon's presence that would always be with her.

She wasn't alone in this battle.