Devil Lords

In a split second, Bai Rong froze. It was as if all that grief was wiped from her face and replaced with cold indifference, making her look like another person.

Anyone who wasn't there would have thought the crying, heartbroken woman earlier on was just an act or a figment of their imagination, and that this was the real her.

Cold. Heartless. Merciless.

Everyone knew her. Everyone feared her. Most people avoided her like the plague. Those who didn't died.

Devil.

Bai Rong didn't ask to be born that way, but three people every generation were fated to be them: the Devil Lords.

Three Devil Lords were destined to play the game of evil until only one was left to rule the Dark Dynasty in Heavenly Realm, the strongest of the three realms. The status and power of the ruler of the Dark Dynasty would be on par with the royal family of Heavenly Realm—the Celestial Tribe.

When a new Devil Lord was chosen, he or she would have to overthrow the current ruler of the Dark Dynasty. Failure meant death, success meant a new reign.

Now, only two Devil Lords were left, and even though Bai Rong did not want things to go down to a life or death situation, it was her only choice. 

The worlds were cruel that way—there was no room for the weak, and the strong reigned supreme. Power spoke louder than words; the weak could not speak at all.

So what if she ruled the Dark Dynasty? She would just have to deal with more evil people, and the almighty, oh-so-magnanimous people up there knew how much she had gone through. 

'Alone.' A voice in her heart whispered. 'You would rule it alone, until the next generation kills you.'

Bai Rong steeled her heart and that small flicker of pain in her eyes was replaced with cold rage. She turned around to look at the newcomer.

"Lin Jun, you bastard," she snarled. "We forfeited. Why did you have to kill him?"

The man in the sky looked down at her like a king looked down on the world, his black hair and purple robes vaguely swaying in the wind. He was as perfect as a deity, but only two people knew what kind of person lay underneath that mask of elegance because he had killed everyone else who saw the real him.

Lin Jun smiled, and although it only served to highlight his wicked beauty, Bai Rong had seen that smile enough times to know that there was more to it than met the eye. It wasn't like Chu Yuan's rare and warm smile for her; it was a smile that meant death was near, and he would watch on without blinking because he thrived on it, liked it.

Cold. Heartless. Merciless.

Everyone was wrong. If Lin Jun claimed to be everything above, no one else was qualified to say the same. 

Devil.

That evil man was a devil through and through. Bai Rong and Chu Yuan fought that curse every day, but Lin Jun accepted it, and embraced that darkness until he became one with it.

They did not choose to be born this way, but was a devil truly evil? Nobody believed they could be otherwise.

Lin Jun's smile widened. "I once told you that if I can't have something, then nobody can have it, even if it means I have to destroy it myself."

Bai Rong really, really wanted to slap that smile off his face, then cut said smile's owner up into a thousand pieces, but she forced herself to calm down. "He did nothing wrong. Have you no heart?"

Lin Jun landed in front of her and tilted up her chin to face him. "No, I do not need one to rule the Dark Dynasty. And he was wrong. Wrong for taking you away from me."

She slapped him, and even though it barely decreased years' worth of hatred and disgust, it brought a little satisfaction to see that glaringly red handprint on his face. "I was never yours to begin with!"

That smile vanished. Lin Jun seethed, "I met you first, I knew you first. You loved me first, until he showed up and ruined our relationship. Why do you still care for a dead person? Just how is that man better than me?"

Again, her heart hurt, and she finally let go of those raw emotions she had been locking up for so long. "I was blind until he came along! Yes, I loved you, a long time ago, but you never loved me! Chu Yuan... He is better than you because he cares, and he would choose me over power and riches and other women."

"If you come back to me, I will make you my empress. We will rule the Dark Dynasty together, and one day, we will overthrow the heavens!"

Bai Rong looked into his triumphant eyes. No doubt he would bring hell to Heavenly Realm, but he would never understand. "Do you know why I chose Yuan over you? It's because I would rather be a traitor with someone I love, than an empress of someone I hate."

The wind grew harsher, and small blossoms were ripped from the trees. Her hair whipped around her, covering her sight until all she could see of Lin Jun was a purple blur. The sky changed from blue to gray, and thunder rumbled in the distance.

"One last chance, Bai Rong. Be my empress, or die." Lin Jun's voice sounded as loud as the thunder, being amplified by spiritual energy.

Bai Rong's head hurt under the pressure he emanated. There was a coppery tang in her mouth, but she swallowed it.

She smiled, and a trail of crimson blood flowed from the corner of her lips, making her look like a real demon. She summoned her spiritual weapon, a black sword, and said, "I will choose a third option."