Lyra’s heart was in turmoil as she followed behind Vyne and Mae.

What the hell was going on? Who was that man? There was no way he could have been that infamous dragon…

She swallowed thickly, wondering what she has gotten herself into this time. These people weren’t natural.

As a human, she was already technically on the bottom of the food chain. And she could tell that those surrounding her were definitely not human and extremely powerful.

Even her bones were shaking.

What was going to happen to her? Lyra had done horrible things for the sake of getting the strength that she had now, which turned out to be incredibly useless the second she needed it the most.

Part of her knew this was the end. The other part didn’t want to accept that.

She stepped into the room full of her followers, all of them wearing expressions of horror and focusing in on the single corpse on the ground.

The state of the body was if someone blasted a hole through their torso.

Her eyes shifted up to the woman standing above the corpse, wearing a chillingly beautiful smile. What was her name again… Tear of the Moon Goddess? Lyra swallowed thickly, unable to believe that someone who looked so lovely could create a wound like that.

Tear’s melodic voice said, “Does anyone else have anything they want to say?”

Silence met her answer.

Anything to say? Why would anyone do that! The poor fellow that had voiced an innocent question, asking what was going to happen to them, had been brutally murdered without any hesitation. She had no mercy! And the woman that was standing next to her didn’t voice any dissent, meaning that this type of treatment was allowed. Everyone swallowed and collectively moved away from her.

Her smile grew wider. “Then we will be taking our leave.” She threw a glance in the direction of the three that has just entered before quietly exiting with Lilian.

Upon their exit, the members of the cult swarmed Lyra.

“What’s happening?”

“Who did you meet?”

“What are they going to do to us?”

“How do we escape?”

All their questions came at once, making it impossible for Lyra to answer any of them. She held up her hand in signal for them to be silent. She hadn’t been in Erebus’ presence for long before she was kicked out of the room. She didn’t know what was going to happen to her or her brother, let alone any of her followers.“I… don’t know.”

With the delivery of those three words, the group exploded once again.

“Are we going to die?” one agonized voice cried.

Somberly, Lyra shook her head. “I don’t know,” she repeated. “The best we can do is stay together and fight if we need to.” She wouldn’t say this out loud, but the life that she cared about was her own. If surviving meant sacrificing everyone, she would gladly do that!

The others quieted. The look in all of their eyes had no confidence or valor. They had already accepted defeat after seeing Lyra be beat so easily. She was someone none of them could match up to. That meant that the one that had put her down was even worse.

The door opened once again.

Everyone whipped around to see who had just entered.

A terrified gasp was heard.

It was Mae, that tyrannical existence, and some man that they hadn’t met.

“Greetings,” the man said with a cool smile. He seemed ready to continue, but a voice rudely cut him off.

Mae spoke, “Don’t waste your breath on these worms.”

Vyne spared a glance at Mae, not used to her holding this type of attitude. Usually, she never took anything seriously. Her and Erebus were from the same flock. Being in the same room as the two of them always gave him a headache. They did whatever the hell that they wanted without a care in the world.

But her demeanor now was, frankly, out of character. It scared him slightly. Ever so slightly. Vyne had his own set of principles that he followed, but Mae? She was just as intelligent as he, but something was wrong with her.

This woman was far past the line of being insane, he thought. Currently, he was able to tell how cruel she was. It sent shivers up and down his spine. Actually, he felt a little sick.

That’s why, for one of the first times in his life, he felt pity for the group in front of him. If there was one thing that he knew, it was this: they were going to die horrible deaths.

“Stay back,” Mae told Vyne, her eyes beginning to glow with excitement. “If you get in my way, I’ll kill you with the rest.”

Not doubting her words or strength, Vyne’s back turned rigid and he pressed himself against the door. Getting into a battle with Mae was something that he was sure that he couldn't handle. On top of that, if he and Mae fought, Erebus would not be happy. It was a situation that Vyne could only wind up losing. So, he suppressed his pride and became a bystander. In a few seconds, he would thank himself for this decision.

With him out of the way, Mae’s body catapulted forward.