Chapter 530

We descended deeper into the mountain. The air grew warmer and thicker, and that familiar sulfuric stench started to fill my nostrils. It burned pleasantly. Far more pleasantly than it had before.

"My head feels clear," I thought.

"You think I would let my disciple succumb to the fumes?” the Lord laughed. “Worry not, Andrei. They can't affect you now."

Ellen led me through narrow passages and down makeshift ladders. The rock walls were scarred and blackened in places, evidence of the explosion that had buried this place.

"I found the Winter King's throne room, too," Ellen said as we walked. "Or what's left of it. Most of the structure collapsed, but some of the foundations are still intact. And there were artifacts. Lots of them. Rubies, mostly. I've been cataloging everything."

"Where are the rubies now?"

"Locked up in the aboveground castle. Safe." She glanced back at me. "Why?"

"Just curious."

We reached the chamber a few minutes later. It was just as massive as I recalled. The ceiling stretched into darkness, and in the center, green and steaming, was the water.

"This is it," Ellen said, her voice muffled by the respirator. "I believe this hot spring is the main source of the fumes. According to what the others told me, this is where the Winter King claimed to speak to demons. He claimed it was some kind of portal."

I nodded. "Thank you, Ellen."

My hands moved before I could stop them.

I grabbed Ellen by the throat.

Her eyes went wide. She tried to scream, but my grip was too tight. She clawed at my hands, kicking, thrashing. I could hear her choking. Could feel her pulse racing beneath my fingers.

No. No, stop. Don't do this.

I knew it was wrong. The last scrap of Andrei that existed in this body wanted to

stop. But I couldn't. A bigger, more terrifying part of me didn't want to.

I lifted her off the ground and watched her face turn red, then purple. I watched the light start to fade from her eyes.

Slowly, Ellen's struggles grew weaker. Her hands fell to her sides. Her eyes rolled back.

And then, finally, she went limp.

I held her for another moment, ensuring it was done, before dropping her to the ground. She landed in a heap, her neck already purple and bruised. Her lips were blue, and her eyes, were bulging they stared lifelessly at the steaming pool beside her.

Dead.

I stared at her body for a long time. Then, I looked down at my hands.

What had I done?

The clarity hit me like a punch to the gut. For a brief, agonizing moment, I was myself again. Fully myself. And I could see exactly what I'd become.

A monster. A killer.

Just like the Winter King.

I stumbled backward. My legs gave out and I hit the ground hard.

Ellen. I'd killed Ellen. She'd been helping me. Helping all of us. She'd been one of

Natalia's friends. An ally. And I'd strangled her with my bare hands.

"No," I whispered. "No, no, no."

"Stop whining. You did what needed to be done."

"She didn't deserve this."

"She was in the way."

The demon foreed me to stand. Then, he forced me to walk back through the tunnels. With each step, my guilt faded, replaced by my mission Right. The ritual. Why was I so upset to begin with? Everyone would die soon.

Really, it had been a mercy to kill Ellen like that instead of letting it wait until what was to come. It would be much more brutal then. Much bloodier. I'd done her a

favor.

I retrieved isaac's body from where

I'd hidden it, taking an alternate

route to avoid having to walk

through the camp. I dragged it back down into the mountain. Back to the chamber with the sulfuric pool.

Ellen's corpse was still there. Still warm. She'd be useful in the ritual.

I laid Isaac's body on the ground near the edge of the pool. Then I started arranging

the limbs. Just like I'd done with the deer.

East, west, north, south.