Chapter 297: They Came for the Princesses—But Found Luke!

"What did you say?" Luke’s playful smile disappeared.

The amusement that had been present in his eyes was gone, replaced by a cold, steady gaze that made it clear Marrec had touched upon something Luke considered far more important than the man could have known.

Hearing those words, Marrec didn’t replied, instead. He reached up and removed the black robe that had concealed his face and body before throwing it onto the ground beside him. The robe fell in a heap, revealing the black leather armor covering his body.

However, it was his face that drew Isaria’s attention.

"This?"

Isaria’s hands immediately covered her mouth, and her eyes widened as she stared at him.

Marrec’s face had changed, but not completely.

Instead, it looked as though two different existences had been divided across it. One side remained human, with familiar facial features, while the other had taken on a distinctly demonic appearance.

Darker skin stretched across the corrupted side, following the sharply defined shape of his cheekbone and jaw. A crimson eye glowed from within it, while a short black horn curved upward from his forehead above the eye. Thin demonic markings extended outward from the crimson eye and spread across his cheek before disappearing beneath his neck.

The changes weren’t limited to his face either.

Demonic claws had appeared on his hands, while patches of black scales covered portions of his body.

It was a characteristic transformation of the Infernal Choir.

As their members advanced through the realms, their bodies gradually began to change alongside their increasing power, and the further they progressed, the more apparent those demonic characteristics became.

There was even a rumor that, at the highest levels, the members of the Infernal Choir would completely transform into demon species.

For Isaria, seeing such a transformation so close was naturally disturbing.

Ivar, however, barely reacted.

He had already seen several higher-ranking members of the organization, and some of their physical transformations had been far more severe than Marrec’s current appearance.

Luke was even less affected.

After becoming a Titan, there were very few things that could genuinely disturb him on a psychological level.

"Allow me to introduce myself, oh, Hero of Light."

Marrec’s voice remained calm as he looked toward Luke, apparently enjoying the opportunity to finally reveal himself.

"Marrec, a Black Chorus of the Infernal Choir."

Luke didn’t respond.

He simply listened, keeping the anger that had surfaced earlier under control.

Marrec continued without seeming bothered by Luke’s silence.

"Our god, Iveron, Demon God of Infernal Flame, wants your sacrifice."

His crimson eye flickered slightly as he spoke.

"Sadly, we failed last time in Stormveil County."

There was a strange confidence in his tone, as though the failure of their previous plan was nothing more than a minor setback.

"So, we tried another method."

He paused briefly.

"Or... another sacrifice."

A smile slowly spread across his face, making his already disturbing half-demonic appearance seem even more sinister.

"If not the hero, then a royal sacrifice will do."

Marrec let those words linger for a moment before glancing toward the surrounding dark walls.

"Which leads us here, where a Vampire Princess and two king-tier bloodline princesses are present."

His gaze returned to Luke, and the sinister smile on his face widened.

"But we never expected that you, a hero, would also come here by yourself."

He gave a quiet chuckle.

"It seems even our god’s will has brought you here."

"Hahaha!"

His laughter echoed through the dark passage, and the more he thought about the situation, the more pleased he became.

He had never expected Luke to appear here on his own, but his unexpected arrival only made the situation better for them. If everything went according to plan, the presence of the Hero of Light would only further accelerate their god’s awakening.

Marrec’s laughter continued for another moment before Luke’s voice cut through it.

"Are you done?"

The words were spoken without any particular force, yet they were enough to make Marrec’s laughter stop.

His smile remained on his face, although it became slightly stiff as he stared at Luke.

Ivar also looked toward Luke with a strange expression.

Marrec was a mid-B-rank, yet Luke was standing there and provoking him as though he didn’t understand the difference between them.

If Marrec truly became enraged, Luke’s death would only become more painful.

’Arrogance.’ Ivar mocked him inwardly.

---

Earlier...

Inside Luke’s mind, however, something entirely different was happening.

’They want to harm Selene.’

That single thought was enough to stir anger within him.

He wanted to tear Marrec apart.

He wanted to destroy everyone who had any intention of harming Selene.

The emotion was genuine, but Luke had already noticed something wrong with it.

The chains binding his hearts had begun contracting tightly around them.

The chains seemed to be responding to his emotions, attempting to influence his decision and push him toward a particular course of action.

Fortunately, his Titan bloodline reacted before that influence could grow stronger. The mysterious symbols surrounding the chains also moved, suppressing the contraction around his hearts and removing the unnatural pressure.

’This again.’ Luke sighed inwardly.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t been angry when Marrec threatened his wife.

He had.

That anger was his own.

What Luke didn’t want was for some goddess to interfere with his emotions and force them in a particular direction. If he became furious, he wanted that fury to come from himself rather than from an emotion that had been artificially intensified.

’Why did she do this?’ So, this question surfaced in his mind again.

Unfortunately, the system had never given him an answer, while he had no way of meeting the goddess herself and asking her directly.

At least, not now.

Luke had already considered several possibilities on his own, but he couldn’t be certain whether any of them were actually correct.

If Astron Stellara, Rhaenyra’s father, would here his thoughts. Then he would say only one thing.

"What’s going on in a god’s mind, a mortal could never find."

Current time...

"Are you done?"

The moment those words left Luke’s mouth, Marrec’s laughter stopped.

Ivar was still mocking Luke inwardly, but before that thought could continue more further, something changed.

His eyes widened.

The world seemed to spin around him.

His vision shifted, and when it finally settled, he saw something that his mind struggled to comprehend.

His own body was still standing.

But it had no head.

One hand remained raised, continuing to hold the dead star, which was roughly one meter in diameter.

And behind the headless body stood a figure that had appeared without warning.

It was twenty feet tall.

The figure looked unmistakably like Luke, dressed entirely in black, while a black sword rested casually above its shoulder.