I won't fall for the queen who burned my world-Chapter 283: We’re going to break her

Malvoria didn’t remember hitting Lucindra.

Her body had moved before her mind caught up—one moment she was sprinting down the corridor toward the flickering sounds of battle, the next she was flying across the ruined gallery and crashing into the woman who dared to hurt her sister.

The impact cracked the floor.

Lucindra went down hard, crimson robes tearing as she rolled, dust and ash billowing around her.

Malvoria landed in a low crouch, sword in hand, flames licking across her knuckles.

She straightened slowly, eyes locked on the figure groaning in the debris.

Lucindra’s form was crumpled against the wall, one hand gripping her ribs, eyes wide with disbelief.

"You look surprised," Malvoria said coldly. "Didn’t expect me to arrive in time?"

Lucindra stood, slower now. Her lip was bleeding. Her hair, always perfectly coiled, hung loose and wild.

"I heard the stories," she said, voice rough. "But seeing you in person... You’ve grown into something monstrous."

"Thank you." Malvoria smiled without warmth. "Takes one to know one."

Behind her, Elysia helped Lara to her feet, the younger demon’s neck still red from where Lucindra’s hand had gripped her. Rage surged again, curling hot in Malvoria’s chest.

"You should have stayed gone," she said. "You should’ve rotted in whatever hole you crawled into."

Lucindra chuckled, low and bitter. "I made you, Malvoria. Everything you are—that fire, that fury—it came from me."

Malvoria didn’t reply.

She lunged.

Lucindra met her with a wall of raw shadow magic, but Malvoria’s blade cleaved through it, flames exploding from the steel’s edge.

The two women clashed again, power against power, steel against spell, each strike echoing like thunder through the war-torn hall.

Lucindra struck with sharp, jagged magic, runes twisting mid-air, dark tendrils coiling to grasp and bind—but Malvoria was faster.

She spun low, dodging a curse, and drove her elbow into Lucindra’s jaw. Blood sprayed. A follow-up slash cut Lucindra’s shoulder, the wound sizzling from the fire-wreathed blade.

But Lucindra retaliated.

With a snarl, she unleashed a pulse of pure kinetic force that hurled Malvoria backward, slamming her into a column.

Pain lanced through her spine but she pushed off the stone and surged forward again, rage overriding agony.

A red flame shot past her shoulder.

Lucindra flinched as it struck her side.

Malvoria glanced back.

Elysia stood at her side, eyes blazing, both hands wreathed in red fire. Her silver hair billowed behind her like smoke.

"You looked like you could use a hand," she said.

"Always," Malvoria growled.

They moved together—queen and queen, fire and fury.

Elysia swept her arms wide, twin arcs of fire lashing out. Lucindra tried to block with a barrier of void magic, but the red flames pierced through, leaving her cloak burning at the edges.

Malvoria took the opening. She rushed in, blade slashing down hard. Lucindra deflected it with a summoned shield of obsidian magic, but she couldn’t hide the tremble in her stance.

"You’re slowing," Malvoria hissed.

"You’re overconfident."

Lucindra stabbed her hand forward, a spike of black energy erupting from the floor. Malvoria leapt sideways, narrowly avoiding it, landing beside Elysia.

"She’s toying with corruption," Elysia murmured. "That’s not regular shadow magic. It’s ancient."

"She’s still bleeding like the rest of us."

Together, they attacked again.

Elysia launched a wave of red fire—scorching, radiant, forged in raw fury.

Malvoria followed, her blade glowing white-hot, flames licking down the steel like a living thing.

Lucindra vanished into a shadowstep, reappearing above them on a balcony—and dropped three orbs of unstable void energy down on their heads.

Elysia grabbed Malvoria by the waist and leapt, flipping them both backward as the floor exploded.

Flames and stone erupted around them.

They rolled, separated by the blast, smoke curling between them.

Malvoria coughed, pushing to her feet. Across the chamber, Lucindra descended like a vulture, blood running down her temple now.

"You’ve brought her into my home," Lucindra said, pointing to Elysia. "The human. The fire-born pretender."

Elysia rose slowly, her fire flickering brighter.

"This isn’t your home," she said. "It’s just where your shame lives."

Lucindra howled.

Dark magic erupted from her in a cyclone, tearing across the gallery. Bookshelves splintered, stone cracked, everything shaking under the weight of her unleashed fury.

Malvoria held steady, bracing herself.

But the magic wasn’t just power—it was targeted.

The cyclone split in two—one stream heading for Malvoria, the other toward Elysia.

Too fast.

Too strong.

Malvoria lifted her blade to block—but she was too far from Elysia. She saw the blast bearing down on her wife like a tidal wave of void.

And Elysia?

Elysia didn’t run.

Didn’t flinch.

She stepped forward.

And her fire roared.

It burst from her in a massive, radiant wave deep red, pulsing with heartfire.

The flames expanded outward, swirling up and around like a dome, folding over both her and Malvoria just as Lucindra’s dark magic slammed into it.

The impact sent shockwaves across the floor.

But the fire held.

Elysia’s shield brilliant, glowing red held.

Lucindra reeled back, snarling.

Inside the dome, Malvoria turned to Elysia, eyes wide.

"That was—"

"Everything I had," Elysia said, trembling slightly, but standing tall. "But it’ll hold long enough."

Malvoria stepped beside her.

Their flames flickered, side by side.

And outside the dome, Lucindra was already preparing to strike again.

Malvoria could feel the heat bleeding into her armor as Elysia’s shield held firm around them, flames forming a crimson dome that pulsed with raw energy.

The world beyond it was ash and smoke Lucindra pacing like a predator, dark magic crackling at her fingertips.

"How long will it hold?" Malvoria asked, her voice low.

Elysia didn’t look at her. Her hands were raised, fingers trembling slightly as they fed the fire. "Not long. I can feel her pressing against it."

Malvoria stepped to the edge of the shield, eyes fixed on the woman outside. "She’s getting desperate."

"No," Elysia said. "She’s getting serious."

Outside, Lucindra stood still now, one hand lifted, drawing symbols in the air with practiced grace. Her expression had shifted no longer furious, no longer taunting.

Focused.

"Brace yourself," Elysia warned. "She’s going to try to unravel it."

Malvoria raised her blade, fire coiling tighter around her arms. "Then let her try."

The first strike came without sound.

A bolt of obsidian light tore through the air and slammed against the red flames, flaring the shield outward in a ripple of searing energy.

Elysia gritted her teeth, forcing her magic tighter, keeping the structure intact.

Lucindra sent another. Then another.

Each impact drove the temperature higher. The fire hissed, shrieked like it was alive.

Malvoria watched Elysia’s stance begin to falter. Sweat dripped from her brow, her shoulders tight with strain.

This wasn’t ordinary fire. This was willpower incarnate, shaped into flame by sheer determination.

Lucindra knew it, too.

She circled slowly, watching for weakness.

"Don’t overextend," Malvoria said, stepping closer. "Drop the shield when I say, not before."

Elysia didn’t answer, but nodded tightly.

Lucindra raised both hands now. Dark runes bloomed in the air above her—layered magic, thick and ancient.

Her voice rang out, low and melodic, weaving incantation into power. The sky above the castle cracked with distant thunder.

"She’s pulling energy from the foundation," Malvoria realized aloud. "She bound the palace itself to her magic."

"That’s why it feels like it’s breathing," Elysia whispered.

Cracks began to form in the red dome. Spiderweb lines of black magic etched across the shield like veins. One snapped inward, striking the ground near their feet.

"She’s going to break it," Elysia said through clenched teeth.

"No," Malvoria said. "We’re going to break her."

She stepped forward, hand resting briefly over Elysia’s on the flame. "Drop it on my signal."

Lucindra’s magic swelled into a black sun above her head, pulsing with power.

Malvoria exhaled.

"Now."

Elysia released the shield.

The red fire vanished in an instant, collapsing inwards like shattered glass into smoke.

Lucindra was already hurling the sun downward.

Malvoria leapt.

The explosion swallowed everything.

Heat. Light. Pressure.

Malvoria crashed through the center of it with her blade glowing molten, fire shielding her body as she dove toward Lucindra in a streak of crimson and gold.

Lucindra’s eyes widened but she didn’t dodge.

She caught the blade with her bare hands, dark magic coiling around her palms, resisting the steel like hardened bone.

They stood locked in place, strength against strength.

Malvoria shoved forward.

Lucindra growled, twisting, deflecting the blade and slamming her fist into Malvoria’s gut.

Malvoria grunted, staggered but didn’t fall.

She spun, elbowed Lucindra in the jaw, then sent a jet of flame from her palm that scorched the former queen across the face.

Lucindra screamed and lashed out with a whip of shadow that coiled around Malvoria’s legs and yanked.

Malvoria hit the ground hard.

Before she could rise, Lucindra pounced, pinning her with a foot to the chest.

"Your not that strong after all," she sneered.

Malvoria bared her teeth, flames already building in her clenched fists even as Lucindra pressed her down.

"Try saying that again," she hissed, "after I’ve turned you to ash."

Lucindra leaned in, eyes glowing with triumph until a searing bolt of red fire slammed into her side, sending her stumbling back with a scream.

Elysia stood behind, smoke rising from her palm.

"Get off my wife," she growled.