As soon as the doors to the main hall of the palace opened, a cold wave rushed out that made Elena's golden magic halo tremble for a moment. This cold was not of ice, but of 'Nothingness'—the place where feelings and life cease.
Elena's feet were no longer touching the floor; she was floating a few inches above the ground under the influence of golden magic. Her golden dress was waving in the air like molten gold, making waves. The glow of this dress was so intense that the black blood running inside the transparent bone-like walls of the palace could be clearly seen.
Seraph was gripping his sword, 'Light of the Dragon', with all his strength. "Elena, remember, this palace will play with your mind. The walls here are made of your suffering, do not believe them."
Elena turned and looked at Seraph. His eyes were now completely golden, with human emotion replaced by cosmic power. "Sorrow is only for those who have memories, Seraph. I have only one purpose, and that purpose is imprisoned behind these walls."
As they advanced into the hall, the black carpet beneath their feet softened like a swamp. Suddenly, thousands of black hands emerged from the carpet and gripped Seraph's feet. They were the souls of soldiers who had come here centuries ago and lost their way.
"Seraphim!" Elena shouted, but her voice held more command than sympathy. She waved her hand in the air and created a circle of golden fire around Seraph that burned the black hands to ashes.
At the end of the hall, the black serpent on the great throne made of blood was now visible in the form of smoke. Two magical mirrors shimmered beneath its shadow. In these mirrors, Elena's parents stood motionless, as if in an eternal sleep. The white smoke emanating from their bodies was increasing the power of this black serpent.
Seeing Elena's parents filled the seraph's heart, but Elena's face had a strange hardness. She snapped her fingers and prepared an entire army of golden daggers in the air.
"Black serpent!" Elena's voice echoed throughout the palace. "Your time is up. I am the light you tried to extinguish centuries ago."
A horrible laugh echoed from the throne, causing blood to seep from the palace walls. "Light? You are just an empty vessel, Elena. The memory you sacrificed was the shield of your power. Now you are just a machine built for destruction. Look! Your own guardian no longer believes in you."
Seraph angrily slammed his sword on the floor, sending out a white light and pushing back the shadow of the black serpent. "Shut up, you bastard! Elena may forget me, but she will always remember the wound from my sword that is responsible for taking away her memories."
The battle had now begun in earnest. An army of dead soldiers emerging from the walls surrounded Seraph. Seraph was beheading them with his sword, while Elena advanced towards the throne with her golden power. With each step, she faced a new obstacle. Sometimes fountains of blood rose from the ground, and sometimes magical ash fell from the ceiling that turned lungs to stone.
Elena let out a powerful golden explosion that shattered the protective shield around the throne. She was now very close to her parents' mirrors. But as she stretched out her hand, a black light came out of the mirrors and threw Elena back.
The seraph watched from a distance and shouted, "Elena! Magic alone will not work. You must listen to the call of your heart! To break these mirrors, you need the love that is hidden somewhere inside you!"
Elena rose from the ground, golden blood flowing from her forehead. She looked at the seraph. For a moment, a wave of pain flashed in her cold eyes. Will she be able to find again the love that she herself sacrificed? Or will this palace become the final resting place for both of them?
The golden blood dripping from Elena's forehead was creating a fog before her eyes. The seraph's voice seemed to come from a distant island, but the yearning in that voice had torn a hole in her stone heart.
"The call of the heart?" Elena whispered. She placed her trembling hand on her chest, where the seraph's name had once been heard. There was now only emptiness, a cavern filled with the golden glow of magic.
Suddenly, the great shadow of the black serpent descended from the throne. Its form had now changed from smoke to a giant humanoid skeleton, its body covered in black snakes. It waved its bony hand in the air and released a wave of black venom towards the seraph.
The seraph tried to block the blow with its sword, but the force was so great that the 'Light of the Dragon' slipped from its grasp and flew away. The seraph crashed into the wall, and blood spurted from its mouth. The soldiers who had already surrounded it now moved forward to scratch its body.
"Seraph!" A scream that was not human escaped from Elena's throat.
As soon as she saw the seraph helpless, the magical chains worn by the Star Guard began to crack in her mind. The memories hidden in the depths of her soul, which had been suppressed by magic, now began to boil like lava. She remembered... that rain, that seraph's embrace, that promise that 'we will live together or die together'.
The golden colour of Elena's eyes suddenly changed to a combination of deep red and gold. It was a combination of magic and love that is rare in the universe.
"How did you touch him!" Elena's voice was now shaking the walls of the entire palace.
She turned to the other mirror, in which her mother's soul was taking its last breaths. This time, she did not use magic, but rather called upon the emotions that made her 'Elena'. She touched the mirror with her bloody hand.
"Mom... I am your daughter! I am the love that has learned to fight the darkness!"
With a loud crack, the second mirror also shattered. A white light spread throughout the hall, turning all those dead soldiers into dust in an instant. Elena's mother's soul, freed, began to swirl around Elena like a cold breeze.
The black serpent roared in pain. The source of its power, those souls, were now out of its grasp.
Elena moved towards the seraph with lightning speed. She placed the seraph's head in her lap. The seraph barely opened his eyes and placed his blood-stained hand on Elena's face. "Elena... are you... back?"
Elena's eyes were no longer golden, but real human tears. "Yes, Seraph! I'm back. I remember everything... your name, your scent, and everything we lost."
But this moment of joy was short-lived. The palace roof was now beginning to collapse. The black serpent was now taking on its final and most dangerous form. It had absorbed the black blood of the entire palace and had now become a monster that could destroy the entire valley with a single blow.
Elena stood up, her mother's magic in one hand and her father's power in the other. She drew the Seraph's sword, 'Light of the Dragon', towards her. The white light of the sword had now combined with Elena's golden magic to form a beam that could tear the sky apart.
"Seraph, this is not over yet. We must bury this palace forever," Elena said resolutely. He supported the seraph and stood up, and together they faced the black monster that now stood before them like a mountain. The black serpent's existence had now changed from an ordinary shadow to a terrifying scourge with hundreds of heads, each head seething with black venom. The walls of the palace were now falling like dried leaves, and a deep abyss was visible below, where only eternal darkness lay.
Elena supported Seraph with her left arm and raised the 'Light of the Dragon' in her right hand. The white light of the sword had now turned into pure golden fire as the liberated souls of Elena's parents poured their full power into it.
"Seraph, you must stay with me," Elena said loudly, her voice now carrying the divine terror that only a true queen could possess. "We will end this together."
Seraph gritted his teeth despite his injuries and placed his hand on Elena's hand. "Until my last breath, Elena."
As the black serpent launched its first major attack, Elena swung her sword in the air. A golden shield formed around them, and the black serpent's venom scattered like ordinary water upon impact. Elena was no longer going to stop. She rose into the air, her body now shining like a star. She spread both her hands and controlled the shattered pillars of the palace with her magic.
"You stole my memories, you traded my mother's tears, and you tormented my father's soul!" Elena's every word was thunderous. "Today I will send you back to the 'nothingness' from which you came!"
Elena threw all the heavy pillars at the black serpent at once. A series of explosions began that shattered the palace floor. The black serpent writhed in pain, several of its heads were severed and fell, and the black blood that flowed from them spread throughout the hall.
But the devil does not give up so easily. He aimed his final blow at Elena's heart—a black ray that directly destroys the soul. The seraph realized this. He gathered all his remaining strength and came in front of Elena.
"No!" Elena screamed.
The black ray hit the seraph's chest, but this time the seraph did not fall. Elena's love and her magic had created an impenetrable barrier around the seraph. Elena placed her hand on the seraph's shoulder and together they threw the sword towards the central heart of the black serpent.
The sword pierced the serpent's chest like a golden arrow, piercing it. A terrifying scream was heard that shook the mountains of the valley. The black serpent slowly began to turn into ash, and with it, the entire 'Palace of Nothingness' began to sit like a sand castle.
Elena held onto Seraph tightly as they fell from the palace ruins. But they didn't fall. Elena's parents' spirits held them like a cloud of light and slowly began to carry them towards the lake in the valley where it had all begun.
When they reached the ground, the first rays of the sun were rising. The darkness had lifted, and Elena's memories were now as clear as a crystal in her mind. She looked at Seraph, who was exhausted but had a triumphant smile on his lips.
"Dear Readers, we have reached the end of an era! The Black Serpent is no more, and the Palace of Nothingness has crumbled. But the journey of Elena and Seraph is far from over. What will they do now that they are free?
This was a massive chapter, and I hope you felt every emotion! Please vote with Power Stones to celebrate this victory! Your Comments are my fuel to write more. Let me know: What was your favourite part of this battle? Don't forget to keep this story in your Library for the grand aftermath in Chapter 39!"