Dragon King's Harem Chapter 582. Less Painful Death

Dragon King's Harem Chapter 582. Less Painful Death

I leaned closer to Elowen one last time.

“Now,” I said softly, “you have two choices.”

Her jaw clenched.

“Write an apology letter to both the Nymph and Dwarven Tribes,” I said, voice calm enough to make the entire hall feel colder. “Confess every crime. Poisoning. Manipulation. Regicide. Attempted coup. Attempted framing of my wives. Step down from your crown and appoint someone more capable than you to take over.”

I tilted Nightmare slightly, letting the dark edge kiss the air near her throat.

“Do that, and I’ll give you a less painful death.”

The hall went silent again.

Not shocked silent.

No.

Everyone had passed shock about five disasters ago.

This was the kind of silence people made when they realized judgment had arrived wearing a royal coat and holding a cursed sword.

Elowen stared at me.

Then her lips curled.

“There is no way I will do that.”

Ah.

Pride.

The most renewable resource among royalty.

“Don’t ever think just because you are the Dragon King, you have authority to do this!” she snapped. Her voice was sharp now, stripped of elegance, stripped of poetry. “You meddle in others’ business too much!”

I laughed.

Low.

Slow.

Condescending enough that even Al glanced at me like, ‘Your Majesty, perhaps reduce the villain energy a bit’.

No.

She deserved the full package.

“That’s literally in my job description,” I said.

Elowen froze.

I stepped closer, Nightmare still raised.

“You messed with this world’s balance. You poisoned a city. You murdered a king during his own wedding. You tried to take a throne through manipulation and roots.” My smile faded. “And I don’t mind taking your life along with your family if that’s what it takes to stop this.”

Seranaya screamed from near the throne steps. “Mother!”

Elowen’s gaze flickered.

There.

A hesitation.

Small.

Almost human.

For one second, she looked at Seranaya not as an accomplice, not as a piece on the board, but as her daughter.

Then her eyes hardened again.

Yeah.

That was her answer.

Evelina stepped forward quietly, light gathering around her fingertips. Somehow, despite the battle smoke, broken furniture, frost, blood, vines, and general wedding catastrophe, she still moved gracefully. She held out a parchment.

“I prepared one,” she said softly.

I took the parchment and held it out toward Elowen.

“Sign it.”

The queen’s eyes dropped to the letter.

For a moment, she looked like she might.

Her wooden fingers twitched. Her lips pressed into a thin line. She saw the projections still floating above us, courts and rulers watching. She saw the dwarven nobles rising again, eyes clearing, anger hardening. She saw Seraphel standing with fire licking around her shoulders. She saw the Fairy Queen watching coldly.

She saw the end of her story.

And for half a heartbeat, she considered choosing the cleaner death.

Then her ego did what royal ego always did.

It ruined everything.

Elowen’s root hand snapped upward.

Fast.

Too fast for most eyes.

Not mine.

Nightmare moved.

-CLANG!

The poisoned wooden blade she formed from her palm crashed against my sword, splintering black-green sap across the frozen floor. The Healer barrier flashed, absorbing the venom spray before it could reach Evelina.

My eyes went cold.

Elowen smiled wickedly. “There is no way I will give up just like that.”

Then her body changed.

Not slightly.

Completely.

Her skin split into bark.

Her hair rose around her like living vines, brown strands thickening, lengthening, twisting into root-crowns. Her arms stretched, elegant fingers becoming thorned branches. Her gown tore apart as her body grew upward, wood and flesh merging into something ancient and monstrous.

Her face remained beautiful.

That made it worse.

Beauty carved into bark. Lips green and dark. Eyes glowing gold like poison under sunlight.

Seranaya screamed too.

Not from fear.

From fury.

Her restraints cracked as her body bloomed outward. Bridal silk shredded as vines erupted from beneath her skin, twisting around her limbs like armor. Flowers burst across her shoulders, but these weren’t soft wedding flowers. Their centers pulsed black. Their petals dripped venom. Her brown hair became a massive halo of thorn-vines, and her beautiful face stretched into something half-woman, half-nightmare.

[Enemy Transformation Detected]

The guests ran.

Finally!

About time.

Dwarven nobles dragged wounded servants away. Fairy attendants lifted the weaker ones with fluttering wings. The Phoenix soldiers formed a burning corridor toward the exit while dragon soldiers shielded the retreat.

The Fairy Queen grabbed her daughter’s shoulder. “Go. Help evacuate our people.”

Her daughter looked like she wanted to argue.

The Fairy Queen’s eyes sharpened. “Now.”

The princess swallowed, then flew toward the fleeing fairy delegation, magic scattering from her wings like pale dust.

I huffed and rolled Nightmare once in my grip. “Well,” I muttered. “I guess she chose the painful way to die.”

Elowen roared.

The sound shook the hall.

Roots exploded from the floor, massive as pillars, tearing through stone, tables, and ceremonial decorations. Frost shattered beneath them. The throne platform cracked as Seranaya raised both hands, sending thorn-vines sweeping outward like whips.

“Mother!” Seranaya shrieked. “Kill them!”

I almost snorted.

The gigantic root slammed down toward me.

[Shadow Walk Activated]

I vanished before impact.

The root hit the floor where I stood and detonated stone into the air. Shockwave rolled across the hall, blasting chairs and shattered dishes aside. I emerged from the shadow along its side and swung Nightmare.

[Spell Breaker Activated]

My blade cut through the root’s mana core.

The entire branch exploded into frozen fragments and dead wood.

Elowen screamed, not pain, not fully, but anger.

Sela moved next.

The floor beneath Seranaya split open, stone jaws snapping upward around her lower vines. Seranaya shrieked and tried to tear free, but Marissa appeared beside Sela, one palm pressed to the ground.

“Rot.”

Flowers bloomed around Seranaya’s roots.

Beautiful white flowers.

Then they released pale blue mist.

Seranaya’s poison vines recoiled instantly, losing their black sheen. Sela took the opening and slammed her heel down.

Stone spikes burst upward, pinning the softened roots in place.

Seranaya’s eyes went wide. “You filthy traitor!”

Marissa smiled. “Still better than being a failed bride.”

Oof!

That one hit.