The sky was red before the screaming began.
Not sunset red.
Blood red.
The human capital burned like a funeral pyre, towers collapsing beneath claws and flame.
The scent of iron filled the air—so thick it clung to the tongue.
Prince Lucien ran.
His boots slipped on wet stone. Not rain.
Blood.
"Protect the prince!" A soldier shouted behind him.
Then the voice cut off.
A sickening crack. A roar that did not belong to any human throat.
Lucien did not look back.
If he looked back, he would become the part of the terrifying scene.
The palace gates shattered as something massive landed beyond them. The earth trembled. Demonic war horns split the night.
They had breached the inner walls
.
Impossible.
Lucien's older brother's sword clashed against something unseen in the smoke. His mother's scream echoed once—and stopped. "No, NO!"
Lucien forced his trembling hands to stay steady. He pressed glowing fingers to a dying soldier's chest as he ran past, sealing a mortal wound with a whisper of healing energy.
Even now. Even now.
That was who he was.
A healer.
A useless healer in a war of monsters.
The scent hit them before the soldiers did.
Burnt metal.
Sulfur.
Dominant alpha pheromones so suffocating they made his knees weaken.
Demons.
"Your Highness—this way!"
A knight grabbed his arm, dragging him toward the forest escape route beyond the rear battlements.
The trees loomed dark and endless.
Safer than flames of empire.
They ran.
Branches tore at hissilk robes. Arrows whistled past them. Something heavy crashed through the forest behind them.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
The knight shoved Lucien forward.
"Your highness Run!"
A shadow dropped between them.
Tall.
Horned.
Eyes like molten gold.
The knight didn't even have time to scream before claws pierced through his armor.
Blood sprayed across Caelum's face.
The world went silent.
The demon tilted its head, studying him.
Then it smiled.
Lucien ran again.
He didn't know how long. Minutes. Hours. His lungs burned. His side throbbed where something had grazed him.
The forest blurred.
He tripped.
Fell.
Pain exploded through his leg. He tasted dirt and blood
When he tried to stand, his body refused.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Not rushing.
Not hunting.
Approaching.
A shadow stretched over him.
"Pathetic," a deep voice murmured.
Not a soldier. Nor a human
Something worse.
Lucien lifted his head.
And the world seemed to tilt.
The man standing before him was taller than any demon he had seen. Black armor streaked with drying blood. Curved obsidian horns rising from silver-white hair. Eyes—gods, those eyes—were not molten like the others.
They were crimson.
Ancient.
Intelligent.
And utterly merciless.
The Demon Emperor.
Caelum Valerius Draven.
Even wounded, even half-conscious, Lucien recognized him. Every surviving human did. The war itself wore his face.
The emperor looked down at him as if assessing livestock.
Then his gaze shifted.
Paused.
Lower.
Lucien realized too late what the demon had sensed.
His suppressed omega scent was leaking.
Fear had weakened his control.
The emperor's nostrils flared almost imperceptibly.
The air changed.
Thicker.
Heavier.
A predator catching something rare.
"A human omega?" the emperor murmured.
His voice was not loud. It did not need to be.
Lucien's heart pounded. He just thought one thing. "Kill me ,Please just kill me. And end this for me"
The emperor crouched.
A gauntleted hand gripped lucien's chin, forcing his face upward.
Their eyes locked.
For a brief, horrifying second—
The emperor did not look cruel.
He looked… intrigued.
"Such a face" Caelum said softly.
Not admiration
Desire.
Lucien's stomach twisted.
He understood then.
He was not spared because of mercy.
He was spared because of desire.
And something inside him—something cold and calculating—awoke.
So even demons kneel before instinct.
His lashes lowered.
His voice trembled—deliberately.
"…Will Your Majesty kill me?"
The emperor's thumb brushed the blood from Lucien's cheek. Too gentle.
"Kill you?" he repeated.
A faint smile curved his lips.
"No."
He stood, lifting Lucien effortlessly into his arms as if he weighed nothing.
"You are too precious to be killed"
The forest seemed to go silent in response.
In the distance, the last human war horn died.
The kingdom had fallen.
And the Demon Emperor carried the human prince into the darkness.
As the wind shifted, lucien let his head rest against the emperor's chest
He inhaled slowly.
Memorizing the scent.
Memorizing the heartbeat.
Memorizing the monster who had destroyed everything.
You should have killed me.
Because I will not be your captive.
I will be your ruin.
The emperor paused mid-step.
His grip tightened.
"…Interesting," . Caelum murmured
As if he had sensed something dangerous.
Their eyes met again.
Not prey and predator.
Not yet.
Something far more volatile.
And somewhere deep within the demon capital—
A war far more intimate had just begun.
Behind them, unseen in the forest shadows,
a pair of demon generals watched.
"He brought the human omega alive?" one hissed.
The other's expression darkened.
"If the court learns what he is…"
The capital gates loomed ahead.
And inside them—
Demons who would not tolerate a human breathing in their emperor's chambers.