Asher got worried since if Rowena died, then he was good as dead too. He saw how the dragon named Mevnir was still breathing fire where Rowena stood with the same resentful look Iryna had. The sheer heat from its flames was enough to even make most of the vampires in the hall collapse, unable to endure the heat.
It was also using its long barbed twin tails to swat away and crush some of the nobles in the hall. It was shedding blood and wrecking chaos, becoming a being of nightmare to these people in the hall.
This only allowed Iryna's men to gain the advantage again as they were able to resist the heat.
But suddenly, the entire floor shook, and the entire hall was painted with a dark crimson light as if the whole place was drowning in blood.
Not only Asher but everyone else felt as if their own blood was suffocating them and getting hotter from within.
He saw a powerful burst of crimson flames suddenly flaring up from where Rowena stood before these flames, which completely overwhelmed Mevnir's flames to the point it stumbled back with a roar.
But that was not even the end of it as a whip, blazing with crimson flames, shot out and wrapped around Mevnir's neck.
"Mevnir!" Iryna cried out in shock upon seeing Mevnir's iron-like scales melting under the flames of the whip wrapped around it.
*GROAARR!!* Mevnir roared in pain and rage as it tried to shake off the whip, but the more it tried to shake it off, the more the whip tightened around its neck.
"Mevnir, calm down!" Iryna was losing her balance as Mevnir was going mad from the pain of its neck melting slowly under the blazing whip.
She tried to cut off the whip but another whip made of crimson flames wrapped around her body firmly, making her grimace in pain.
The next moment she knew she was thrown off her dragon and sent crashing to the floor, breaking the floor upon impact.
Everyone felt as if the world was blurring between red and black. The last time they felt like this was exactly a year ago when Iryna's family and some of the houses tried to lead a mutiny. But even at that time, it didn't felt this intense at all.
Asher raised his brows as he saw jet black scythe-shaped wings unfurling as a slender figure covered by rose into the air, her entire body blazing with crimson flames.
The inner sides of her wing were crimson in color, contrasting the black color on the outside. There were tendril-like growths growing from many parts of the bottom sides of her wings. With just a single glance, Asher was able to tell that these wings looked similar to that of a dragon, allowing her to fly!
He was shocked to see her entire body in such hellish flames since not even her hair or an inch of her skin was singed, despite being a vampire. Any other vampire in her shoes would have turned into ashes within just a second.
Her body grew brighter yet darker than any fire he had ever seen. And the Devourer's crown on her head was glowing red-hot, making it stand out in its full glory. Her face was contorted in cold fury at Iryna and her followers for destroying not only her peace but including that of her kingdom.
With just a tug from her right hand, the blazing whip which was wrapped around Mevnir's neck pulled its entire body down, making it stumble and fall on the floor, causing the earth to shake upon impact.
"You followed the wrong Master," Rowena coldly said as she looked at the dying face of Mevnir, and the next moment she pulled back her whip as it decapitated its head, making everyone blink in shock and disbelief.
It was not every day they saw a dragon getting killed. Hell, they had never seen anybody kill a dragon in their lives.
They also had never seen someone decapitate a dragon with such ease, yet their queen used her whip to melt through its steel-like skin and sever its flesh completely.
The sound of the head of such a legendary beast melting and snapping right off its body sent chills down their spines.
"NOO!!!" Iryna cried out as she coughed out blood and fell on the floor, her face pale and sickly. Her eyes were shaking in horror upon seeing the decapitated body of her dragon with whom she had formed a bond since she was a child. It felt as painful as losing a part of her soul.
The hall, which was previously bright and filled with life, was now dark as a raging abyss, with the smell of blood and death pervading the air.
The queen's aura felt suffocating under the crushing weight of her presence for most nobles standing in the hall, even though she wasn't even targeting them.
And as for Iryna's followers, they were already squirming on the floor, clutching their throats.
It took effort just to breathe, and the pain in their heads was unbearable, pulsing with every beat of their hearts, threatening to burst free at any moment. They knew this was the queen's doing, prolonging their suffering instead of killing them immediately.
Lord Thorin and Lord Vernon, along with their families, didn't even bother to finish them off, knowing that the queen wanted them to suffer. All they did was simply stand afar with an unblinking gaze upon seeing the cold rage of their queen.
"What in the name of the devils am I witnessing…" Lord Vernon Valentine mumbled as his bright red eyes flickered.
"How could her power increase by so much within a year? Is she already a Soul Devourer?" Prince Seron mumbled with a shaken look.
"The past year…She wasn't staying still and mourning at all as we thought…She must have been busy assimilating the ancestral power of her bloodline," Lord Thorin Thorne mumbled with a narrowed gaze.
Sabina firmly pressed her lips together, hearing his words.
"You brought this upon yourself," Rowena said as she descended down towards Iryna, who was still in a shaken state.
Her bones creaked with strain as they fought to keep themselves from collapsing under Rowena's scorching aura.
Her skin and hair were getting singed just by lying near her feet. But she gritted her teeth as she raised her head to look at Rowena with a horrified look, "Y-You…fully assimilated…the power of the Bloodburn Stone?" Iryna asked as if she couldn't dare to believe it. It cannot be possible, especially since it only has been a year since Rowena came to power. Even her father took almost a century to absorb the ancient power from the stone, and absorbing it was no easy task since it was life-threatening.
"I know you were out there and that one day you will come back to try and take what never was yours. I did what was necessary to protect my kingdom and its people. But if anyone stands in my way of doing that, even if it's you, I will have them burned before all," Rowena said as her red hot crimson eyes glowed, and the next moment whips of glowing crimson blood wrapped around all of Iryna's followers, pulling them up into the air, their feet dangling.
Iryna's expression fell as she realized her efforts to take back the stone were in vain. Rowena had already absorbed it, "Impossible…You can't be that worthy…It should have been my husband or even me…"
"Wrong. Forget about the crown. You are unworthy of the blood that flows through your veins. Now burn along with the other traitors," Rowena said in a frigid tone as she snapped her fingers together and a tendril of blood wrapped around Iryna, pulling her up into the air just like the others.
"NOO!!" Iryna tried to resist, but suddenly the entire tendril became red hot and blazed up in crimson flames, vaporizing even her blood from within…slowly yet steadily.
Her followers also began to burn at the same time as their horrifying screams filled the entire hall.
"AAARGHHH!!!"
Asher's eyes were reflecting the entire burning scene as he looked at the burning bodies dangling in the air, all of them getting burned alive, while Rowena continued to watch without a flicker in her eyes.
Everyone else had terrified looks and felt awe upon witnessing such a scene since this reminded them once again that the late Demon King hadn't chosen the wrong successor, as Iryna claimed.
"All hail the queen!" With looks of reverence they all kneeled on the floor, truly feeling that this kingdom was no longer crippled by the loss of the Demon King.
However, Asher's lips slowly curved into a smile as he felt that he might have gotten married to the right person.
