Sebastian did not hesitate the moment Evangeline and the boys were safely beyond the fortress walls.

He turned to Sir Marcus, his eyes blazing with determination and fury like wildfire spreading through a drought-stricken forest.

“We are returning to that accursed place,” he declared, his voice firm and resolute as steel.

Sir Marcus nodded in perfect unison, his weathered expression just as fierce, like two seasoned warriors ready to charge into the very gates of hell. “Prince Maximilian and Princess Georgina remain trapped within those walls. We end this nightmare tonight, once and for all.”

Evangeline, still weak and exhausted from her ordeal, gripped Sebastian’s armored forearm with desperate intensity, her emerald eyes pleading with him to exercise caution.

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but it overflowed with worry and a deeper, more primal maternal fear.

Sebastian gave her a sharp nod of acknowledgment, his gauntleted thumb brushing over her knuckles for a fleeting moment, like a sacred promise of protection.

“I shall be careful. Prince Maximilian’s wife and his twins have been with her. We need to rescue them. Guard our sons with your life, we will return before dawn.”

And with that solemn vow, he and Sir Marcus vanished into the night, leaving Evangeline to protect Marcus and Adrian like a lioness guarding her precious cubs.

The fortress still reeked of blood and battle, the metallic stench heavy in the air like a suffocating fog.

Sebastian and Sir Marcus moved swiftly through the shadowy corridors, their senses on high alert, every step calculated and precise, like soldiers on a mission of utmost importance.

They knew Lady Cordelia would not surrender Prince Maximilian or Princess Georgina without a vicious fight to the death.

And they were prepared to give her exactly that—to hunt her down like the predator she had become.

They descended to the lower dungeons, the air thick with the oppressive stench of iron and dark magic, heavy with the weight of accumulated despair.

Prince Maximilian was chained against the damp stone wall, his noble body battered and bruised, his golden eyes glazed over with exhaustion, like a man teetering on the very brink of collapse.

Beside him, Princess Georgina sat hunched protectively, shielding two small, trembling figures behind her silk skirts like a human shield.

The twin daughters.

Sebastian’s chest tightened like a crushing vise, his heart pounding violently against his ribs.

The little princesses were so small and fragile, their innocent eyes wide with terror, clutching onto their mother like precious lifelines.

Prince Maximilian’s head snapped up alertly when he spotted them, his eyes flashing with desperate relief like a beacon piercing the darkness.

“Sebastian,” his voice was rough and hoarse, like a man who had endured hell itself and somehow survived.

Sebastian moved with urgent efficiency, drawing his blade and slashing through the iron chains binding Prince Maximilian’s wrists like a heated sword through butter.

Prince Maximilian collapsed forward, but Sebastian caught him before he struck the cold stone, holding him upright like an anchor.

“Can you still fight?” Sebastian asked, his voice urgent and commanding, like a general rallying his exhausted troops.

Prince Maximilian released a sharp exhale, nodding despite his visibly shaking body, like a man summoning his final reserves of strength.

“Yes, I can. She found out I was pretending. I had no idea how.”

Sir Marcus knelt respectfully beside Princess Georgina, checking her condition with practiced concern.

“Are you injured, Your Highness?” he asked, his voice gentle and protective.

She shook her head firmly, clutching her daughters close like a mother hen protecting her precious brood.

“I am unharmed. But we must escape immediately. Lady Cordelia—she approaches even now,” she warned, her voice low and deadly serious.

The very moment she spoke those words, a low, bone-chilling growl echoed through the stone chamber, like thunder rumbling ominously in the distance.

The air itself shifted dramatically, turning thick and oppressive—utterly unnatural.

A dark, malevolent presence loomed behind them, like a demon emerging from the very bowels of hell.

Lady Cordelia.

Or rather, the monstrous abomination she had become.

The creature that emerged from the shadows bore only a passing resemblance to the woman who had once been Princess Celeste.

Dark sorcery had consumed her humanity entirely, transforming her into a nightmarish fusion of ancient, forbidden powers.

Her porcelain skin rippled like a storm-tossed sea, and her eyes blazed with an unnatural silver fire that seemed to burn from within.

Her elegant form twisted and elongated grotesquely, becoming a horrific parody of its former aristocratic beauty. It was as though reality itself had been torn asunder to allow this abomination to exist.

Her voice was no longer hers alone, but a chorus of echoing whispers layered with the voices of countless damned souls.

The heavy, oppressive air seemed to vibrate with their malevolent presence. Her words dripped with pure malice.

She snarled with inhuman fury, “You believed you could steal them from me?” The sound rattled the very walls of the ancient fortress.

Prince Maximilian stiffened beside Sebastian, his labored breathing revealing his absolute horror.

“She is no longer merely human,” he whispered, his voice heavy with dread and recognition. “The dark magic has consumed her completely.”

Sebastian’s jaw clenched with grim determination, his resolve evident in every line of his face. “Then we end this nightmare. Tonight.”

Lady Cordelia lunged forward as the final battle commenced, her claws flashing like curved daggers in the flickering torchlight.

Prince Maximilian barely dodged the deadly strike, rolling aside as her razor-sharp talons slashed deep gouges into the stone wall, sending deadly shrapnel flying through the air.

Sebastian drew his royal sword mid-movement, the blessed steel meeting Lady Cordelia’s supernatural form in a brutal, bone-jarring impact.

The two combatants tumbled across the blood-stained floor, their cries of fury echoing off the walls as they struck at each other with deadly precision.

Sir Marcus and Prince Maximilian flanked the creature, forcing her to defend against multiple attackers simultaneously.

But she was a force of pure supernatural destruction.

Her claws glowed with unnatural, hellish energy.

Every strike sent violent shockwaves through the chamber.

Despite their valiant efforts, Lady Cordelia’s power seemed limitless, fueled by dark, ancient forces that none could fully comprehend.

She knocked Sir Marcus backward, sending him crashing into the stone wall with tremendous force.

Then, she turned her burning gaze upon Prince Maximilian, her lips curling into a wicked, predatory snarl.

“You were always weak, dear brother,” she hissed, her voice dripping with venomous contempt. “Did you truly believe I would not foresee your pathetic betrayal?”

Prince Maximilian’s eyes darkened with steely resolve, his body steadying despite the excruciating pain. He looked upon the monstrous creature that had once been his beloved sister.

“You are no longer Princess Celeste,” he growled, his determination to end this horror fueling his remaining strength.

For a fleeting moment, something almost human flickered in Lady Cordelia’s twisted features. Then, it vanished completely, replaced by cold, calculated fury.

“No,” she whispered, her voice breaking for just an instant. “I am infinitely more.”

Lady Cordelia released a shrieking howl that seemed to come from the depths of hell itself, her form rippling once more, unstable and utterly unnatural.

Prince Maximilian saw his opportunity. He moved with desperate speed, grabbing the silver-blessed dagger from Sebastian’s belt.

The consecrated metal felt reassuringly solid in his grip. Lady Cordelia was too focused on Sebastian to notice the approaching threat, her twisted mind fixed entirely on her primary enemy.

Prince Maximilian did not hesitate. With a swift, deadly motion, he plunged the blessed blade deep into her chest, directly through her corrupted heart.

Lady Cordelia reacted instantly. Her body convulsed violently, and she released an otherworldly scream that shattered the very air.

The dark energy surrounding her began to fracture and dissipate; her monstrous form flickered like a dying flame, rapidly weakening.

Sebastian grasped her shoulders firmly, forcing her to meet his eyes, his gaze locked on hers with absolute authority.

“It is finished, Cordelia.”

For a moment, her lips trembled with something resembling humanity.

Her eyes flickered between supernatural silver and natural brown. In that brief instant, Prince Maximilian glimpsed a shadow of the sister he had once loved.

Then, her body began to crumble, dissolving into ash and shadow, the last traces of her dark power fading into nothingness.

It was over.

Lady Cordelia was dead.

But as the ashes settled on the dungeon floor, Sebastian noticed something that made his blood run cold—carved into the stone wall behind where she had stood, fresh symbols glowed with residual dark magic, spelling out a chilling message:

“The first seal is broken. Two remain.”