My Wives Are Seven Beautiful Demonesses-Chapter 123 - No. Erebus is THE BOSS!

[Location: Dungeon—Vampire King’s Castle]

"You are a BLASPHEMY."

Veyrath spat the word like a hymn of worship and hatred fused together. His wings flared, feathers trembling with golden-crimson mania, eyes glowing too brightly for a sane creature.

I rolled my shoulder, wiping a smear of blood down my ribs.

"Well," I lifted Muramasa, "it’s all natural—"

Veyrath vanished.

No buildup.

No aura flare.

Just nothingness.

The marble behind me exploded—

BAAAAAAAAAAM!

I turned—too slow.

A claw the size of a shortsword tore through the space where my heart had been half a second earlier. The shockwave alone ripped my coat and left three smoking lines of cut air behind me.

"Faster than before..." Veyrath whispered behind my ear. "GOOD."

Erebus appeared between us in a blur of shadow.

KLANG!!!

His obsidian spear caught Veyrath’s second claw mid-swing.

The collision blasted both me and Veyrath back a few meters—

Except that Erebus didn’t move an inch.

Erebus looked down at Veyrath’s claw, contempt dripping from his tone.

"You attack without rhythm," he said. "Predictable."

Veyrath hissed, eyes widening. "YOU—! You dare—!"

Erebus flicked his wrist.

Just a flick.

Veyrath’s entire body went flying sideways—

CRASH—BOOOOM!

He smashed through a dead wall torch, two stone pillars, and an old tapestry depicting some ancient vampire war. Dust plumed in a storm cloud.

My eyebrows shot up.

"Erebus."

The giant shadow knight didn’t turn.

"Yes, my King?"

"You just... ragdolled a Noble Elder."

"Correct, my King."

I blinked.

Repeatedly.

"...Holy shit."

Erebus bowed his head.

"It is inadequate. I apologize for not ripping his arm off."

"That wasn’t a complaint!"

Erebus straightened.

"Should I rip it off now, then?"

"NO—wait—"

Amber dust swirled in the hole Veyrath’s body created.

Too late.

Because Veyrath stepped out of the rubble.

Slowly.

Silently.

Manically.

His head was tilted at an unnatural angle, hair dishevelled, wings trembling like he was trying very, very hard not to drool.

He stared at Erebus.

Then at me.

Then at Erebus.

Then back at me.

Then—

A terrifying smile split his face.

"Dominic..." he whispered. "Oh... ohhh Dominic..."

Uh oh.

"I underestimated you."

His aura flared outward in a spiralling vortex, ripping the marble beneath him into dust, cracking the ceiling, and tearing engravings from the walls.

"I thought you were merely a prodigy. A curiosity. A warrior worth killing."

He pointed a trembling claw toward Erebus.

"But you—"

His voice cracked in giddy ecstasy.

"You STOLEN A NOBLE ELDER."

Erebus stepped forward, shadows coiling around him like storm clouds.

"Correction," he said calmly. "My King claimed me. Your former master simply tasked to guard the gate."

Veyrath stared.

Silent. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Still.

Then—

HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

The cathedral shook. Dust rained from the ceiling. A gargoyle on the rafters cracked in half.

Veyrath wiped a tear of laughter with a trembling claw.

"Dominic..."

His tone dropped into a velvety whisper.

"You are a heretic of the highest calibre."

He spread his wings wide.

"AND I LOVE IT."

His aura detonated—

FWOOOM!

Golden-crimson energy spiralled into the air in violent arcs, buzzing like a swarm of enraged wasps. The walls twisted from the pressure.

Erebus moved.

"Fall," he said simply.

He appeared behind Veyrath.

No sound.

No warning.

His spear swung in a backhand—

FWOOOM–BLAST!

Veyrath barely blocked with both forearms crossed—

CRACK—CRUNCH!!

His arms bent at a grotesque angle as he was sent flying—Ricocheting through another floor and exploding downward into the lower hall.

I whistled.

"Erebus... you’re terrifying."

Erebus lowered his head.

"I exist to terrify your enemies, my King."

The floor below groaned...Then detonated.

WHOOOOOOOM—!!!

A column of golden-crimson light erupted upward as Veyrath shot back through the hole like a ballistic missile fired by a deranged deity. His wings were half-unfurled, one bent, his arms visibly cracked from Erebus’s strike—

—but his smile?

His smile was bigger.

Wider.

More unhinged.

More delighted.

"YES—YES!!" Veyrath shrieked like a joyful lunatic. "BREAK ME MORE!!"

Erebus tilted his helm.

"...No."

Veyrath’s eye twitched.

"...No?"

Erebus pointed his spear downward slightly.

"You are not worthy of breaking."

The silence that followed was so heavy even the shadows paused.

Then—

Veyrath exploded.

Not physically—

Emotionally.

Spiritually.

Existentially.

"Y-YOU—" His voice cracked into static. "—INSOLENT—SHADOW—THING—!!"

Erebus stepped forward as calmly as a man approaching a grocery aisle.

"My King stands. You do not."

"Haaah... haaah..." Veins bulged across Veyrath’s temples as he trembled with enough fury to collapse a small moon. "Dominic... Dominic... Dominic..."

Why does he say my name like he’s about to write poetry in my blood?

"Do you not understand the magnitude," Veyrath said, voice vibrating with barely constrained mania, "of what you have done?"

I shrugged.

"No. I tend to ruin people’s days on accident."

"You—!" Veyrath pointed a shaking claw at me. "You stole an Elder! You ripped a Noble Warrior’s very SOUL into your own Dominion!"

He took one staggering step toward me.

"This makes you... makes you..."

He inhaled sharply—

Eyes dilating—

And whispered like he was falling in forbidden love:

"DIVINE BLASPHEMY."

"Hey," I said, raising a finger, "blasphemy implies some level of effort. I’m naturally disappointing."

"MY KING IS NOT DISAPPOINTING," Erebus said instantly, and with violence.

"Wow," I whispered. "Thanks, buddy."

"My King," Erebus rumbled, "you are perfection."

"Stop flattering me while we’re fighting a deranged peacock demon!"

"Yes, my King."

We stared at each other for a moment.

Veyrath stared too, but with the face of a man watching a married couple flirt mid-apocalypse.

"STOP IGNORING ME!!"

He lunged.

The entire throne hall bent inward from the pressure of his movement—

—but Erebus stepped forward.

His spear met Veyrath’s claw.

KAAAAAANG—!!!

A shockwave blew out every window in a three-mile radius.

The marble floor fractured like eggshells.

A chandelier plummeted and shattered.

Erebus didn’t budge.

Veyrath was forced back a full meter, heels scraping in disbelief.

"You..." Veyrath’s voice trembled. "You should NOT EXIST."

"My King commands my existence," Erebus answered calmly, "therefore it is absolute."

I rubbed my jaw.

"Erebus, you’re gonna make me blush through the blood loss."

Veyrath snapped his gaze to me.

"You created a monster," he snarled.

I blinked.

"No. I turned your monster into my employee."

Erebus nodded solemnly.

"I have excellent work ethic."

"YOU—!!" Veyrath lunged again.

Erebus’s spear swept out in a clean arc—

SLAAAASH—!!!

A black crescent of shadow carved through the air and slammed into Veyrath’s chest.

Veyrath folded backward—

Hit the ground—

Skidded forty meters across the broken marble—

And crashed through a statue of some ancient vampire lady holding a sword.

Her head rolled off with a comedic bonk.

I scratched my cheek.

"...He’s getting bullied."

Erebus lowered his weapon.

"It is deserved."

Veyrath slowly—

Painfully—

Stood up again.

Half his torso was smoking.

Blood—golden and shimmering—spilled down his front.

His wings twitched with epileptic rage.

Yet—

His grin?

Bigger.

"YESSS... YESSSSS..."

He began laughing softly—

Then louder—

Until it turned into a shrieking crescendo of madness.

"You two... this rhythm... this dance... THIS IS WORTHY—THIS IS WORTHY OF AN ELDER—!!!"

He snapped his head toward me.

"SHOW ME MORE, DOMINIC!"

I opened my mouth—

—but Erebus stepped between us.

"You will speak to my King," Erebus said, "with respect."

Veyrath blinked.

Then tilted his head.

Then blinked again.

Then his eye twitched.

"...Who trained you to speak like that? Does your King use honeyed tongues on you?"

I choked on air.

"WHAT—NO—WHY IS THIS ALWAYS HAPPENING TO ME?!"

Erebus looked confused.

"My King does not use honey. He uses sarcasm and commands."

Veyrath’s wings flared in pure indignation.

"I WILL ERASE YOU."

Erebus tilted his head again, expression unreadable beneath the helm.

"You may try."

Veyrath roared—

And vanished.

This time?

Fast.

Too fast.

Even with Observation Grid active, he was little more than a smear of crimson-gold motion warping the entire hall.

Erebus shifted his stance—

But Veyrath bypassed him.

Straight at me.

Fast enough that for the first time in minutes—

I felt danger.

REAL danger.

My muscles tensed.

Muramasa rose by instinct.

Veyrath’s claw came down—

—a blur of death.

"DIE—!!"

Something happened.

Something subtle.

Something... quiet.

A ripple in the shadow beneath me.

A whisper behind my ear.

A flicker of absolute darkness.

Erebus’s voice:

"Dodge."

My body moved before my brain processed the command—

I dropped backward—

And Erebus appeared in front of me, spear thrust upward.

THOOOM—!!!

He caught Veyrath’s killing blow an inch above my face.

The ceiling cracked from the force.

The floor caved in beneath Erebus’s feet.

The entire upper structure groaned.

Veyrath snarled, pushing harder.

Erebus counter-pushed.

Two unstoppable forces deadlocked in front of me.

Veyrath hissed, face inches from Erebus’s helm.

"MOVE—SHADOW."

"No."

Veyrath’s left wing lashed out—

A blade of hardened light slicing toward my throat—

Erebus WHIPPED his spear sideways—

KRAAANG—!!!

The wing-blade shattered into motes of dust.

Veyrath blinked.

"...what."

Erebus shoved him back.

Veyrath staggered.

I blinked too.

"...Erebus, you just stopped something without even turning."

Erebus nodded.

"My King was in danger. My body responds faster than thought."

I stared at him.

"That’s... actually insane."

"Yes, my King."

Veyrath’s eye twitched again—a little harder.

"You—You overshadow even OUR martial instincts?!"

Erebus tilted his head.

"My martial instincts belong to my King."

Veyrath trembled.

Then—

Then he SCREAMED.

"I HATE YOU SO MUCH—!!!"

Erebus replied calmly:

"You have poor emotional regulation."

"EREBUS," I said quickly, "STOP TAUNTING THE SUPER-ELDER-NUCLEAR-WARHEAD."

"Yes, my King."

Veyrath’s aura flared.

No—not flared.

ERUPTED.

Everything went white.

The entire throne hall vaporized in a sphere of light.

Marble melted.

Stone liquefied.

Air turned into roaring flame.

A pillar of golden-crimson annihilation surged outward—

—and ate the cathedral.

For a split second, only one thought crossed my mind:

Oh shit—

Then darkness enveloped me— Soft. warm. protective.

As Erebus wrapped both arms around me and shielded my body with his entire shadow.

The blast ended as suddenly as it began.

A smoking crater replaced the throne hall.

Half the upper cathedral was gone.

The sky above was exposed.

Ash rained like dark snow.

Erebus stood unmoved.

I was still in his arms.

"...uh," I said.

Erebus blinked slowly.

"My King. The threat has not ended."

"Yeah, but—uh—buddy."

"Yes, my King?"

"You can put me down."

Erebus froze, as if processing a mortal sin.

"Forgive me, my King."

Then realized.

Then gently set me on my feet.

"I apologize. Instinct."

"It’s fine," I coughed. "Better than dying."

"...and we will not speak of this."

A faint buzzing filled the air.

No—

Not buzzing.

Laughing.

Veyrath stood across the crater—

Arms limp

Torso smoking

Wings shredded

One horn cracked

—but grinning with pure ecstasy.

"Elders..." he whispered, "do not fall to shadows..."

He raised his head.

"...but I will admit—"

Lights pulsed through his veins.

"—this is the MOST FUN I have had in five thousand years."

Erebus lifted his spear again.

"You can perish."

"That’s it! Erebus is hereby my favourite!"

***

Stone me, I can take it!

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