I won't fall for the queen who burned my world-Chapter 281: Commander Veren

The west wing was carnage.

Lara kicked a collapsing door off its hinges and ducked under a falling beam, blades slick with blood, her breathing sharp and rhythmic.

Raveth was beside her, a force of nature wrapped in obsidian armor, her glaive spinning like a cyclone through enemy lines.

Controlled guards fell one by one.

Some screamed. Others didn’t even blink.

They weren’t themselves eyes glowing red, expressions vacant, movements too precise to be natural. They fought like they felt no pain, like they feared nothing. And they kept coming.

"How many does she have?" Lara grunted, cutting through the final guard in the hallway with a clean slash.

"Too many," Raveth answered, not even winded. "But not enough."

That, Lara knew, wasn’t confidence it was fury, barely contained beneath discipline.

They advanced into a wider chamber: an old war gallery repurposed into some kind of garrison post. Armor racks had been pushed aside.

Dust still clung to ancient weapons displayed behind shattered glass cases. And at the center stood—

A shape.

Massive.

Still.

Lara’s smile faded.

The figure stood easily over seven feet tall, shoulders broad as a warhorse, armored in dark violet steel lined with runes that shimmered faintly.

His helmet rested at his feet, revealing a scarred face with sun-darkened skin, angular jaw, and eyes that glowed red.

She recognized him instantly.

"Commander Veren," Raveth said, voice low. "He was one of Veylira’s top war captains."

"Was?" Lara asked.

"He died four years ago. Saving a border village from a celestial strike. I saw the flames myself. Burned everything down."

"Doesn’t look very dead to me," Lara murmured.

Veren’s head lifted.

His eyes locked on them.

And in a blink—he charged.

Raveth didn’t hesitate. Her glaive was already moving, intercepting him mid-leap with a clash of steel that cracked the air.

The force of the impact sent her sliding back across the floor, boots digging furrows into the stone.

"Definitely not dead," Lara muttered, rolling aside as Veren’s gauntleted fist smashed into where she’d just been standing.

The floor shattered.

"Eyes!" Raveth barked. "He’s not thinking—just reacting! Don’t hold back!"

"Wasn’t planning to!"

They split. Lara darted left, spinning her blades in twin arcs, trying to draw his focus. Veren turned with unnerving precision, catching her rhythm almost instantly.

He blocked her first blade with his forearm and swung a brutal kick that sent her flying into a pillar.

Pain exploded through her ribs.

"Ugh, gods above, that felt like getting kicked by a bull wearing steel pants," she groaned.

"Focus!" Raveth shouted.

The commander roared and rushed Raveth this time, swinging a massive greatsword that hadn’t been there a second ago.

Magic-infused, likely summoned from a pocket plane. The weapon screamed as it cut the air, striking sparks against Raveth’s glaive.

It was brute strength versus sheer technique now Raveth holding her ground with gritted teeth, pushing against the blade’s weight as her boots cracked stone beneath her.

"His strength’s doubled," Raveth growled. "That’s not just possession. That’s enhancement."

Lara stumbled up, wiping blood from her lip. "Fantastic. Lucindra gave the walking tank cheat codes."

She charged again, this time low. Her blades found openings tiny ones in the joints of his armor. She jabbed hard at his knee and thigh, slicing shallow cuts that would’ve hampered a normal man.

Veren didn’t even flinch.

Instead, he caught her by the throat and hurled her bodily across the room.

She hit the wall, hard.

Air vanished from her lungs.

"Lara!" Raveth shouted.

Lara coughed, rolled onto her stomach, and spat blood.

"Okay... okay, that one I felt."

Veren turned back to Raveth.

He moved faster now.

Too fast.

His blade came down with the force of a collapsing mountain, and Raveth barely deflected the strike, the ground beneath her feet cracking like glass. She shoved forward, kicked him in the chest, and launched herself back.

"We have to drop him together," she snapped, leaping beside Lara and pulling her up with one hand.

"Any brilliant ideas?"

Raveth’s eyes narrowed. "You move like wind. I move like stone. Let’s make a storm."

Lara grinned despite the pain. "Now you’re speaking my language."

They separated again—but this time, their movements were intentional.

Coordinated.

Raveth went high, leaping into the air with her glaive whirling like a deadly star.

Lara stayed low, zigzagging in tight, erratic bursts too fast for the commander to track both at once.

Veren faltered.

He blocked Raveth’s attack overhead—but missed Lara, who dove beneath his swing and stabbed one blade into his ankle joint.

He bellowed.

Raveth landed and swung her glaive across his chest—this time, it tore a line through his armor, black blood seeping through.

But he still didn’t fall.

Instead, he slammed the butt of his greatsword into the floor, releasing a shockwave of dark energy that blew both women back.

Lara hit a broken column.

Raveth slammed into a shield display that exploded on impact.

Dazed, ears ringing, Lara forced herself up again.

She could see Veren slowing. The damage was adding up—but his eyes were brighter now, as if whatever was controlling him had decided to override everything.

"Now," Raveth rasped, stumbling to her feet, blood streaking her temple.

Lara nodded.

They charged together.

Raveth swung wide and high, feinting left.

Veren raised his blade.

Too slow.

Because Lara vaulted off a wall, flipped over his shoulder, and jammed both blades down into the exposed back of his neck where the armor dipped beneath the collar.

Veren roared.

Staggered.

And Raveth seized the opening.

She spun with full force and smashed her glaive into his chest, channeling every ounce of her magic into the blow.

The rune-etched weapon flashed blindingly white—

—and then cracked his armor open in a thunderous explosion of magic and steel.

Veren dropped to his knees.

Then forward.

Motionless.

The red glow in his eyes flickered.

Then died.

Silence returned.

Lara dropped beside him, panting, knees shaking. "Is he...?"

Raveth knelt, checked his pulse.

"He’s alive. Barely."

Lara exhaled. "Good. Veylira would’ve been pissed if we broke one of her favorites."

Raveth didn’t smile.

She stared at Veren’s unconscious form, something unreadable in her eyes.

"This wasn’t just control," Raveth murmured, still crouched beside the fallen commander. Her gloved fingers hovered over the scorched runes on his armor.

"This was a test. Lucindra was seeing how far she could push a body. How far she could push us."

Lara opened her mouth to reply—when Raveth suddenly stiffened. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Completely.

Her body froze mid-motion, eyes wide, breath caught in her throat.

"Raveth?" Lara whispered, rising to her feet.

Then she felt it too—the shift in the air, sharp and wrong, like blood sliding down a blade. Magic, ancient and coiled like a viper, slithered into the chamber.

A shadow moved in the archway behind them.

Lara turned just in time to see her.

Lucindra.

She stepped into the room like royalty descending a staircase, robes trailing like spilled ink, her skin glowing in the low torchlight.

Her horns gleamed, her eyes brighter than firelight hungry and calm, like a predator that already knew the outcome.

She didn’t glance at Raveth, still paralyzed, nor at Veren’s broken form.

Her eyes locked on Lara.

Her lips curved into a smile both familiar and unforgivable.

"Hi, daughter," she purred.