The attendants quietly withdrew from the hall, leaving only the two of them.

"My time is limited. Since you have no appetite, I can only proceed to the next step ahead of schedule." He pushed back his chair, his scarred face flashing with contemptuous anger as he walked slowly towards Aria, who was behind her. He bent down, his voice carrying a hint of indifference as he whispered in her ear, "I have never shown such hospitality to anyone before. Your performance tonight disappoints me. Like your father, you are arrogant and conceited."

Aria hung her head low, her entire body tense, the atmosphere thick with tension.

"You don't seem to fear me like my attendants do," he pretended to say gently. "As a descendant of royalty, you should understand better than anyone the fate that awaits defeated monarchs and their families."

"I... I don't know," Aria replied softly.

"Well, let me tell you. I will kill them, then drag their bodies behind my horse, parading them in front of those who refuse to submit to me," he chuckled lightly, a cold glint passing through his eyes. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to witness your own tragic ending, Aria? Actually, you don't have to follow your people to their deaths. As long as you..."

He took Aria's hand, placing it on the table. The scales on her hand shimmered with a cold light under the candlelight.

"What are you going to do?" Aria asked anxiously. She tried to break free, but his hand pressed down on hers even harder.

"It is said that King Magnus had a princess with scales on her hands. I didn't expect it to be true. These scales are truly unique, making me take notice of you," Thanatos said lazily. "When I saw you at the Echo Tower that day, I guessed you were the daughter he wanted to hide. It surprised me. Initially, I planned to kill all of his family. But now, your scales make me feel like I can't end your life immediately."

As the sharp dagger approached her body, Aria's fear reached its peak. Her body began to tremble, her breathing becoming rapid and irregular.

"Let go of me!" Aria suddenly shouted.

"Quiet, or I'll make a mistake."

Under the flickering candlelight, a dagger, entirely black, gleamed with a dark light, carved with a dragon's head and embedded with a translucent ruby.

Aria sat trembling, her hand resting on the table. She believed Thanatos could feel her fear and guessed his intentions. The agony began as the dagger pierced her scales, an indescribable pain flooding over her like a tide.

"Stop...," Aria muttered in pain after a scale was gouged out.

"Your scales are beautiful," he quipped after prying off a scale. "I understand you're in pain, so why don't you... beg me to stop..."

The silence disappointed Thanatos. He touched Aria's cheek and said, "You're so stubborn. But you must understand, survival comes at a cost, and sometimes admitting defeat isn't a bad thing."

With each painful extraction, Aria's hand bled profusely. Half-conscious, she leaned back in the chair, on the brink of fainting. With a thud, he tossed the dagger onto the table. Aria slowly opened her tear-filled eyes, her body weakly sinking into the chair. Her hand rested in the pool of blood, revealing a patch of pale red flesh.

Thanatos handed her a spoon, which Aria struggled to hold with her other hand. Tasteless, the food only carried the bitter taste of tears that slipped down her cheeks.

"I ordered a search of Echo Tower today," he said, putting away the dagger and returning to his seat.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Aria asked weakly.

"Nothing of value, just a routine search. But I thought returning empty-handed would be rude, so I caught your Skydornis and made this smoked meat."

"You're insane," Aria slammed the spoon on the table, the back of her other hand burning with pain. Suddenly nauseated, she retched and glared angrily at Thanatos. "You disgust me, using a flock of Skydornis to insult me."

Thanatos smirked, raising a golden goblet. "The best is yet to come. In a few days, I'll announce our engagement."

Aria was shocked, thinking she had misheard.

"You seem surprised," he mocked. "I had this idea the first time I saw you."

At that moment, his servant brought a clean sword, kneeling and offering it with both hands. He drew the sword, its silver blade gleaming with a cold light.

"How many people have you killed?" Aria asked.

"Many, too many, I've lost count," he said with a hint of annoyance. "I hate killing, but I have no choice. Fortunately, this slaughter is almost over."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"If you hate it, why do you kill them? They've surrendered. Killing unarmed soldiers, don't you feel guilty?"Aria asked angrily.

He sheathed the sword and turned to Aria solemnly. "I think you've misunderstood. I haven't killed soldiers. Your father didn't leave me enough soldiers. For over ten days, I've only had to slaughter civilians."

Aria stood up abruptly, unable to control her anger. She grabbed a wine glass and hurled it at Thanatos, the glass filled with fine wine smashing against his forehead with a loud crack. Aria was stunned at her accuracy. Then, a wound on his forehead began to bleed, dripping into the goblet of wine.

Burning with fury, Aria faced a murderer, indifferent to her own life. If it hadn't been a wine glass just now but a knife, it would have been deeply satisfying for her.

Thanatos wiped the blood from his forehead, his face turning ugly. As they glared angrily at each other, a soldier rushed into the hall in panic. Clearly, something important had happened, and Thanatos hurriedly left.

Aria slowly sat back down, her heart pounding violently. Her hand still trembled from throwing the wine glass.

On the table, a bright beam of light flickered, catching Aria's gaze. Thanatos hurriedly departed, forgetting to take his sword with him, leaving Aria alone in the hall. She walked over silently, a sudden thought flashing through her mind. Swiftly, she drew the sword.

Meanwhile, Thanatos concluded his conversation swiftly. As he returned to the hall, he caught sight of Aria holding the sword. A faint surprise flitted across his face, but he quickly regained his composure. "If you couldn't kill me with one stroke, have you thought about what you'll face?"

"I don't care, and I don't want to know," Aria replied, holding the heavy sword aloft.

"I could decimate the entire city overnight, as I have done before. But I've shown leniency to Sovereign Bastion. You wouldn't want to see me do that, would you?"

Aria found it amusing. "Leniency? This sword is stained with the blood of innocents, and you call that leniency?"

"Aria, why won't you learn? This sword is mine, and it cannot kill me. Besides, you've witnessed my power; you can't even get close to me."

Aria laughed louder. "I may not be able to kill you, but I can kill myself." She suddenly pointed the sword at her own neck, a thought she had entertained for a while. "Rather than marrying you, I might as well die."

Thanatos scowled, his scarred face contorted in anger. "Aria, do you really want to drag others down with you?" he warned sternly.

Aria remained unmoved.

Thanatos called forth a servant, the woman who looked after Aria's needs.

"Every life here is in my hands. I can let them live, or I can end them here and now." He drew a black dagger from his waist and handed it to the servant. "Cut off your fingers, one by one."

The servant knelt in terror, clutching the dagger and weeping. "Please, spare me..."

"You should plead to her; your fate now lies in her hands," Thanatos said coldly.

The servant turned to Aria, crying and bowing repeatedly, her forehead striking the cold stone floor. Facing the cries of an innocent woman, Aria felt herself crumbling. If her death demanded a price, then even choosing death was a luxury.

Throughout her life, she had never feared anyone to the point of being unable to confront her innermost fears.

Aria lifted her head to find Thanatos approaching. He seized the sword and, with feigned tenderness, caressed her cheek. "How could I bear to harm you? Even if you were to harm yourself, I could not tolerate it," he said, turning to his attendant. ""If your mistress intends to harm herself, you shall cut off one of your fingers to atone for her sins."

"Please don't hurt her. I won't harm myself, I promise you," Aria pleaded in terror. "You can cut off my finger, even my entire hand."

A gut-wrenching cry filled the air as Aria could only stare at his cold, harsh face, hoping to find a hint of mercy. She dared not look at the maid's severed finger, her heart almost torn apart by the screams. Thanatos gently wiped away her tears, and for a moment, a glimpse of genuine affection seemed to flicker across his cruel, grim visage.

Fear and death are far from over for a nation on the brink of extinction. Under the dark shadow of Sovereign Bastion, lives flicker like fragile candles in an unforgiving wind. Each day, countless souls fall beneath the scythe of death, their lamentations echoing through the night, composing a tragic elegy for the nation's demise.

As Aria is led to the slaughter grounds, she feels a deep-seated fear, as if the entire plaza is shrouded in the breath of death. Beside a patch of dried blood, she sees a man bound to a stake, his life seemingly slipped away. This man is to be today's sacrifice, offered up to Thanatos.

In front of the square, hundreds of condemned prisoners kneel, their heads bowed before the guards. Surrounding them are civilians imprisoned in cages, their cries silenced as Thanatos steps onto the platform at the forefront of the square. In his icy gaze, Aria senses endless despair and resignation. Sovereign Bastion seems submerged in a realm of darkness and death, from which there is no escape.

Moved by the scene, Aria knows she cannot stand idly by. She struggles to overcome her intense fear and speaks to Thanatos seated beside her:

"You have obtained Sovereign Bastion, so why punish them?"

"This is my ultimate purpose in coming to Sovereign Bastion, to judge one man whose crimes are unforgivable."

Suddenly, a wail pierces the silent air. Aria looks up to see a figure rising from the ground, rushing towards the platform. His voice trembles with desperate tears.

"Please spare my king, I beg of you!"

Aria is shocked to see the tortured man on the pyre once again; his once fine attire now obscured by grime. The wind tousles his hair, revealing two bloody sockets where King Magnus's eyes once were, tears of blood streaking down his cheeks.

Aria covers her mouth in horror, scarcely able to believe the sight before her. Is this truly her father, the king? She chokes out, cursing, "You madman, murderer, what do you intend?"

"Don't speak so loudly, or your king might hear you. Don't you want to know how he fell to this?" Thanatos twists into a mocking smile. "He thought sealing the portal would end it all? I want him back, to face my judgment personally. I'll ensure he finds no solace in duty or mercy. Hence, I slaughter his people. Every sunrise, I decapitate them until sunset. Do you see the blood on the ground? It's the bricks soaked with blood day after day."

Aria looks at her father in anguish, feeling as though the world is collapsing around her. Thanatos's grip on the chair's arm, scales shedding in pain, reminds her of his cruelty.

"I will never marry you, no matter your purpose. I will never..." Aria's voice rasps, tears welling in her eyes. "You executioner, murderer, you will be cursed, your sins will be punished."

"Cursed? Punished?" Thanatos scoffs, lips curling in mockery. "Who would curse me? Who would come to punish me? I have an army as strong as iron, power beyond compare, and Death itself shields me. And, Aria... you really don't understand me at all. I fear not death, what threat could death pose to me?"