111: Power of the Snap

Power of the Snap

Anastasia continued to pant as she sat perched on the edge of the table, unable to meet Dante's eyes yet acutely aware of his gaze on her. She doubted things between them could ever return to the way they were before, with her body tingling with warmth and her legs still shaking, drained of energy. She finally managed to utter, 

"I should return to my room."

Her previous embarrassment, which had momentarily been overtaken by her craving and pleasure, had finally resurfaced, making its presence felt. 

Dante, staring at her all this while, responded, "Go on, if you need to." His eyes looked alive and filled with desire, as if ready to devour her whole, savouring the lingering taste of her on his lips and tongue. 

Anastasia slowly placed her feet back on the ground, and as she straightened up, she wobbled slightly, only to have Dante swiftly wrap his arm around her waist to steady her. She whispered softly, "Thank you."

"I have somewhere to be as well," Dante said, gently releasing his arm from around her waist once she regained her balance. He noticed how she looked shy, unable to look at him despite the earlier pleasure-filled moans and sighs that had escaped her delicate lips. 

Anastasia and Dante approached the double doors before opening them and stepping outside. She heard him say to her, "Go on," as if he intended to watch her walk until the end of the corridor. In response, she offered him a bow. 

Just as she was about to turn and depart, she heard a male voice call out, "Prince Dante, stay right there!"

Anastasia turned in the direction of the voice, and her eyes fell on a man with a peppered beard, dressed in attire befitting someone of high status. He wore a black cloak and appeared to be in his late forties, and he wasn't alone. He was accompanied by another man and four guards who didn't belong to the palace, and not far behind them, Princess Niyasa also made her presence known. 

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The bearded man was one of the Elder ministers residing in Versailles, responsible for ensuring adherence to rules and regulations. His voice was stern as he stated, 

"News about King Maxwell's death has reached my ears, and there are reports of treason involved in his untimely demise, suggesting foul play, and that Queen Maya is being held captive in the dungeon." 

Dante stared at the Elder minister, then briefly shifted his eyes behind the man to look at his youngest sister before he said, "Maxwell is being cleaned and changed and will soon be presented in the royal courtroom for you and everyone else to view. As for Queen Maya, she is under arrest for multiple rule violations." 

The Elder minister declared, "You are hereby ordered to release her right this instant, and you will accompany us for questioning." However, he frowned upon seeing the amused expression on the first prince's face. 

"What order?" Dante asked, cocking his head to the side, amusement still dancing in his eyes. 

The Elder minister's frown deepened, and he narrowed his eyes at Dante, emphasising, "The order mandates full compliance from every single person belonging to the royal families that fall under the care of the Elders. Princess Niyasa has reported an act of treason, hence you are required to follow me." 

"Unfortunately for you, Matthieu, you will have to return to the Elders' Court by yourself, without me, as I have no intention of following you," Dante stated, the amusement slightly fading in his red eyes. 

"Brother Dante, you have committed treason in this palace," Princess Niyasa declared, her hands clenched. "You and Grandmother have been up to something, and you cannot deny it." She then turned to the minister, pointing at Dante, "Look at his eyes! There's something possessing him!" 

Dante sighed before remarking, "If foolishness were a person, it would be you, Niyasa." 

Anastasia, who continued to stand there, watched the young princess gritting her teeth in anger. The rims of her eyes had turned red from grief, and she channelled the pain of her loss towards Dante by saying, 

"It is because of you that Maxwell is dead, and now you refuse to allow Mother to see him. How heartless can you be, you monster?!" 

Dante was unfazed by the name, as he had been called similar things many times in the past. Ignoring Niyasa, he turned to the Elder minister named Matthieu and calmly stated, "You can leave now, Minister." 

However, the man remained determined to complete his job here while also using this opportunity to assert the authority and control wielded by him and the rest of the other seven ministers. Like everyone else, he couldn't help but notice how the once-compliant first prince was now rebelling. He stated, 

"We need to ensure that you are alright and not a threat to the people."

Suddenly, Anastasia noticed a hand pointing in her direction, which belonged to Princess Niyasa, who accused, "It is because of this woman here that my brother is dead! Because Brother Dante wanted her and thought the king would take her first." 

The men glanced briefly at Anastasia before returning their attention back to Dante. She heard the man named Matthieu order, 

"This is your final warning, Prince Dante. Follow the order and come with me for your own good." 

Dante brought his hand up to scratch the side of his face with his finger, and as he did so, the people's attention was drawn to his abnormal-looking nail. He stated, 

"For the earthlings to believe you can control the demon families, you must have quite an inflated opinion of yourselves. As if you are the king of kings. It is time for the Elder ministers' assembly to be disbanded. You can convene a meeting to inform them." 

After the three powerful demons fell from their thrones after reigning over their kingdoms and others, the Elder ministers took advantage of the situation and seized the opportunity to rise to power. In a nearby corridor, Prince Raylen maintained a serious expression as he idly dragged the end of the pipe in his mouth before blowing out the smoke. He had his own reasons for being here, waiting for the return of the other half of his power. 

Minister Matthieu declared, "You leave me no choice, Prince. According to the long-standing order followed throughout the generations, you will be captured and taken by force due to your refusal to come willingly." 

"I would advise you not to step any closer to me," Dante warned both the minister and the guards, who were ready to apprehend him.

Feeling provoked, Minister Matthieu turned to his guards and directed, "Seize Prince Dante!" 

"The Mother Queen is also involved in this conspiracy," Princess Niyasa asserted as she crossed her arms against her chest, ready to free her poor mother once her family members were interrogated. 

At first, two of the guards moved forward to escort Dante out of the palace. However, when one of them placed their hand on the prince's arm, he swiftly grabbed it and twisted the guard's wrist, causing him to yelp in pain. 

"You'll soon find yourself short of men, Minister Matthieu," Dante stated calmly. 

Startled by his fellow guard's yelp, the other guard quickly turned and drew his sword to intimidate the prince. Unfazed, Dante caught hold of the sword's blade with his bare hand while simultaneously pushing the other guard away. Blood soon began to drip from Dante's hand, but the guard struggled to wrench the sword from his grip, as if it were firmly stuck in place. 

The minister quickly realised the first prince wouldn't let them take him without a fight, so he commanded the other two guards standing behind him, "What are you doing standing there? Arrest him immediately!" 

As Dante held the sword, he effortlessly bent it before wrenching it away from the guard and throwing it aside. When the two other men jumped on him, his claws resurfaced once again. He savagely ripped one guard's chest open, digging his claws deep, and blood splattered in the fierce altercation.

One of the guards struggled to regain his balance, his feet wobbling backwards. Anastasia saw Dante catch hold of the other guard's neck, who had attempted to grab him by sneaking up from behind.

"Hm, I can smell the scent of lowly demon blood in here. Did you really think that would make a difference?" he remarked as he kicked the third guard in the front, which sent the guard's body flying to land at the Elder minister's feet. "For such grand ambitions, you bring weak weapons, Minister Matthieu." 

"You are only making matters worse for yourself, Prince Dante!" The Elder minister warned him once again, "You are making the Elders into your enemies." 

As Dante held the guard's neck, the man frantically searched for his daggers before pulling them out and wielding them against the prince. But the demon within Dante didn't take it kindly, causing him to tighten his grip on the man's neck before ramming the guard's head against a nearby pillar with force. The assault didn't end with a single move; Dante repeated the action thrice more before the guard collapsed on the ground, dead. 

The onlookers were taken aback, their eyes widening as they witnessed the guard's head smeared in his own blood, with crimson droplets dripping down the once pristine white pillar. Anastasia's stance staggered at the gruesome sight, leaving her previously hazy mind in a state of shock. Meanwhile, Princess Niyasa dropped her crossed hands, and her mouth hung wide open in astonishment as, unlike her family members, she had not received the notice from her grandmother regarding what was transpiring with Dante. 

"He is not going to come with us easily, Minister Mathieu!" the other man, who served as the Elder minister's assistant, stated the obvious.

Minister Mathieu's expression turned grim as he responded, "Then it is time I take care of the situation myself, as the prince seems to have lost his mind." 

During this time, Dante caught hold of the fourth guard's hand, who had successfully managed to stab him in the shoulder. He withdrew the blade with the same swiftness as it had been stabbed. With the same dagger, Dante ever so slowly slashed the struggling guard's neck.

Three guards lay lifeless, their blood splattered across the pillars, wall, and ground. Dante was not spared from the bloodstains on his clothes and face, and the bloodlust in his eyes only increased. 

Dante's gaze locked with the furious eyes of the Elder minister, and in an eerie voice, he remarked, "For an earthling who scraped his abilities from demons, you seem a little too confident, Matthieu. Making an enemy of me is not a wise choice." 

"Do you think that just because you have found your Crux, it gives you the right to do as you please?" Matthieu questioned him. 

The last surviving guard, who had landed near the minister's feet earlier, hesitantly stood up, visibly lacking confidence. Dante taunted the guard by asking, "Want to switch teams?" He raised his bloodied claws, which only intimidated the guard further. 

"You have crossed all limits, and you leave me with no choice," the Elder minister said as he brought his hands together, preparing to clap them. 

Upon hearing the commotion taking place near the dining room, people had started to gather at the far end of the corridor, their mouths agape, and fear came to settle in their eyes. Mother Queen, Aiden, and Emily also arrived at the scene. 

"I should have come here sooner…" Princess Emily muttered, regretting her decision to stop and listen to the Storm Prince. 

Surprised, Prince Aiden questioned, "What is an Elder minister doing here??" His eyes landed on his second sister, who stood frozen in shock behind one of the pillars in the corridor. "Ugh, Niyasa…" 

"In hindsight, we should have locked up Princess Niyasa instead of Queen Maya, Mother Queen," Aziel said in a hushed tone, wary of the potential damage the princess could cause, especially considering she hadn't spared him in the past. 

Anastasia's feet grew cold as she looked at the bodies scattered like fallen flies and noticed blood dripping from Dante's hand. She heard Dante retort to the minister, 

"Naive of you to believe it's only a Crux." 

The minister wasn't there for chitchat, and with the clap of his hands, a sudden circle with intricate lines inside it formed around Dante. As white light emanated from the ground, it forced Dante to his knees, seemingly weakening his strength and abilities. 

"Do not underestimate the Elder ministers, boy. We are wiser and possess abilities to stop any mishaps before they have a chance to cause damage," Minister Mathieu stated with an air of authority. "It appears that the Blackthorn family is no longer fit to uphold the ruling line, given the number of deaths that have taken place under their watch. The Elder ministers will convene to make a decision on who shall take the throne from here on." 

"What?" Princess Niyasa whispered, as that was not the outcome she had wanted. Even though she didn't want Dante ruling Versailles, it didn't mean she wanted the entire Blackthorn family to be cast aside and stripped of their royal status.  0

Frustrated, the Mother Queen felt certain that she would have to lock up her granddaughter, Niyasa, for the trouble she had brought to their family. That was if Dante didn't get to her first. During the years that had passed, the Elder ministers had acquired some of the smaller kingdoms, and with each addition, their strength steadily grew, making them equal in size and power to the kingdoms of Versailles and Storm. 

And now, the Elder ministers had set their sights on the three kingdoms once ruled by the three powerful demons who had come from the underworld. 

Matthieu warned, "All you had to do was comply, but your actions will not go unreported once we present ourselves before the other Elder ministers." He watched the first prince struggling to get up, seeing him still on his knees. 

Dante's shoulders shook as he laughed before the ministers and the others present. He raised his head to meet Matthieu's eyes, who had stepped in front of him. 

"What is so funny?" Matthieu questioned, having never seen a prince behaving like this before. 

The conniving smile on Dante's lips vanished, and he said, "Everything. Every word that has left your mouth. Wiser and with abilities? You must be joking. Do you honestly believe something as childish as this can hold me here?" The look in his eyes turned serious, and he raised his hand forward. "Now watch closely," his voice fell. 

A hushed silence filled the corridor as everyone's eyes shifted between the first prince and the Elder minister. With a snap of Dante's finger, blue light began to materialise within the minister. The next moment, the man erupted, his body tearing apart into a gruesome mass of blood that splattered all over the surrounding area. 

An eerie chill swept through the place. 

Anastasia, standing not too far from where the fight was taking place, felt something wet splatter on her face. Her lips trembled, and her hands shook. When she touched her face and looked downward, her eyes fell on the blood staining her skin, which belonged to the dead minister. Her eyes then moved forward, taking in the scene of red, as the walls and floors were painted with blood. 

Dante wiped the blood from his face and rose to his feet before his eyes fell on the Elder minister's assistant, who trembled in fear, and he declared with conviction, 

"Go inform your superiors that Versailles no longer falls under their control, because I am here now." 

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