Chapter 307 - The Most Triumphant Moment (1/2)

Carlisle did not hear anything that was said to him. It wasn’t just his hearing that failed to process—his eyes were open, but he couldn’t see, and his mind was numbly blank.

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He was left alone in a world without Elena. It was an intolerable pain beyond endurance itself. A terrible cry tore from his throat.

“Raaaaagh!”

An inhumane scream roared from deep within his body. Zenard, who was running towards them from nearby, widened his eyes when he saw Carlisle’s transformation. He turned towards the frozen form of Derek and yelled at him.

“Lord Derek, get out of the way!”

“What?”

Derek’s head jerked towards Zenard, and at the same time, a Lunen enemy soldier ran towards Carlisle with a sword.

“Emperor Ruford! Take this!”

The soldier did not make it far. Carlisle caught the man’s neck with his black-scaled arm.

“Kkkkg!”

The soldier uselessly scrabbled at Carlisle’s hand in an attempt to escape, but Carlisle squeezed the man’s throat. The man’s eyes bulged grotesquely as he choked. After a hideous sound, the Lunen soldier finally went limp and died.

The sheer ruthlessness of the display caused those in the vicinity to fall into horrified silence. There was a dramatic difference between Carlisle earlier and Carlisle now. Even the air around him seemed to sink from the dark aura around him.

Carlisle snarled, and his eyes hardened as he stared down his other potential victims. It was terrifying. Even Derek was stunned to the point of immobility, and Zenard was forced to grab him and drag him away.

“You’ll die if you’re near him. We have to get away as much as possible.”

“What the hell was that…?”

“I’ll explain later. Everyone, get away from the Emperor!”

Paas!

His warning came too late—Carlisle darted forward, and in a single slash, another Lunen soldier died before he had the chance to raise his sword.

Not a single creature could stand in front of Carlisle and live. His wild blue eyes had already lost their reason.

“Aaaah! S-save me!”

Carlisle’s clawed hand ran straight through the fleeing soldier’s torso. He wrenched out his hand again, and the soldier’s body tumbled to the ground.

Carlisle grinned and licked the enemy’s blood off his arm. It was as if he were—enjoying himself. He was there, and not there at the same time.

Zenard had only seen him like this once before, when Elena almost died of a poisoned arrow.

‘His Majesty has gone mad with bloodlust again. But it’s worse this time.’

Carlisle’s monstrous mutation was easily visible from a distance. From Zenard’s experience, the greater the transformation, the stronger the power. This very moment was the greatest power Zenard had ever witnessed.

‘…No one can stop him. We have to get away now.’

Zenard yelled at any of the Ruford soldiers that could hear him.

“Get away from the Emperor!”

But his cry did not reach everyone. The Ruford soldiers stood frozen in stunned awe at Carlisle’s dragon-like appearance. Carlisle’s eyes slid towards them, and he growled and charged towards them. It did not matter to him whether the people in front of him were from Ruford or Lunen. He was driven by a mad obsession to kill anyone who blocked his path.

But at that moment.

“Caril, stop it!”

Somewhere, a clear voice rang in the air.

It was a voice that Carlisle knew. A voice that his heart pined for. He could cry just from hearing the sound.

But his charge did not stop.

‘Elena is dead. They took Elena from me. I’ll kill them all.’

His only desire was to kill. Kill everyone.

Even if he killed all the soldiers here, his anger would not be satiated. No, even if he burned the whole world, the chasm in his heart could never be filled. He would never be able to wake up from this anger and despair. His blood pumped hotly in his veins, and if he didn’t do anything right now, his whole body would burn.

The violent emotion had awakened the cursed blood of the dragon.

From a distance, Zenard’s voice rang out as he tried to stop someone.

“Stay away from him! Getting near him is suicidal!”

Carlisle raised his hand to strike the Ruford soldiers, when suddenly—

Walak!

A small, warm body held his back.

His instincts told him to immediately kill whoever was holding him, but a familiar scent caused him to stop.

“I’m here, Caril. That’s enough.”

Carlisle slowly turned his head towards the voice. The first thing he saw were long, blonde locks fluttering in the wind. Then he saw fair skin, crimson lips, a straight nose, and thick lashes. Beneath them were jewel-like red eyes that looked up at him.

He thought he would never see her again.

It was Elena.

For the first time, recognition flickered behind Carlisle’s rage-filled eyes.

“…E….lena?”

“Yes. I’m back, Caril.”

Elena’s eyes filled with tears as she pressed herself more firmly against him.

Carlisle’s body stiffened. He was completely stunned. Derek clearly told him that she was dead. Was this an illusion? A dream?

His head swirled in confusion. But soon he thought, what did it matter? Elena could be a ghost or a fantasy, but he was happy that she showed up in front of him.

Perhaps the grim reaper that came for Carlisle would leave him one last happy moment.

Carlisle turned around, and held Elena’s body so tightly that there was not a gap between them. He leaned his head against her shoulder.

“…Why are you so late?”