Chapter 66 - The Grimstone: Part II

LUNA ASTERBELLE'S POV

My hands trembled when I thought of Dawn, Shin, and Nero, completely dominating the Blood Moon Pack where my adoptive parents live. I shouldn't be worrying about them now that I've cut ties with Mr. Asterbelle, but I still have a faint sense of affection for them for raising me after they claimed me from the orphanage. Since if it weren't for them, I would've still been eating the flesh of my friends.

I couldn't think straight; my mind was stuck in a haze.

"Dawn has yet to reveal his real identity, Luna. As a token of apology, at least let me tell you this: you shouldn't trust him for the sake of your mentality. But if you're prepared to experience betrayal by those you had faith in, then do as you please."

Althea walked to stand in front of me, which made each and every breath that I took feel massive. Her red eyes looked down upon me with such ferocity, the same ones that I've seen from Jerome during the days that we were still considering each other as enemies.

The dimension's scenery changed to a world filled with darkness. Screams from women unseen resonated all throughout the vast space, as if they had to endure their intestines being pulled out of their bodies. Tears immediately blurred my vision in fear that I might go through the same.

The moon goddess suddenly played with a few strands of my hair as she leaned her forehead close to mine. "I'd like to acknowledge your resolve to come here empty-handed, so I'll give you a chance to make your desire come true," she mumbled, letting her fingers roam the temple of my head down to my chin, holding it up to make our lips only an inch away. "Fight me, Luna Asterbelle. Your scent is overflowing with the intent to strike me when I'm not paying attention, hmm?"

She probably has the ability to read through the minds of anyone inside her realm. I can't choose to run away to wait for Eman's arrival. Who knows if she could also block the entrance of her portals, even if she's not the one who summoned them?

“And what would I gain if you lost against me?” I asked as if I had such a strong will.

Althea held out her laughter, stepping back from her position. “You can hope to land a blow on me, but don’t even start dreaming that you can defeat me, Luna. I can kill you in a split second if I actually wanted to, and that goes for everyone else living in Grimstone,” she mumbled, placing one of her hands behind her back while her left hand held some piece of glowing stone. “Do you know what this is for?” She stretched it out to my side for me to have a clearer view.

It made my tears disappear, as it was literally shining. For some reason, I could see some moving shadows inside it.

“No…” I uttered.

She pulled her arm back after I answered. “This is Grimstone,” she shortly said at the same time that the stone she held had gone invisible.

I tilted my head to the right in confusion. “Grimstone? As in the world that we live in?”

Althea nodded once in response to my query, then explained what she meant.

The Grimstone that she possessed could only affect the real world for about fifty percent. If it breaks, then that would be the start of the world’s collapse, but it wouldn’t exactly be the end. Everything would still depend on how the packs moved. It also has a unique trait wherein it would give me divine power that would allow me to be superior against any other creature, as long as I kept on feeding the stone with my blood. I can even tell it anything I want, and it will abide by my command.

Maybe that was what everyone was after. Althea mentioned that when my blood gets combined with the glowing stone’s power, it can entirely make anyone suffer to the brink of death.

“You’re going to give me something dangerous to me?” I uttered in disbelief that she’d simply let it go.

“If you’re worthy, I don’t see why not?” Althea smirked as she placed the glowing stone inside a transparent container that floated mid-air. “This glass would break the instant that you successfully attacked me, and the glowing stone would automatically find its way to you afterwards. If you die in the middle of our duel, then I’ll take it with me and find someone else to give it to.”

I agreed to everything she said, initiating the duel that should end in the span of sixty minutes. Althea probably knew that Eman would come here after an hour passed by. The ground began to get unstable, and it transformed back to the flesh of humans that I’ve seen before. I didn’t want to step on it for the second time, so I decided to bring out my wings.

“You’re not struggling with shifting from any of your forms, huh? That’s new to me,” Althea complimented me as she flew alongside me.

I didn’t listen to her; I focused as much as possible so that I could release my strength to its maximum capacity. I almost forgot to breathe when I began to bring out the flames from my palm, then pushed it to the moon goddess, which she effortlessly avoided.

I hissed in irritation, thinking that she’s not going to have mercy on me. “Why are you trying to set Grimstone to its end when you’re the one who wished for it to be rebuilt?” I asked while I continuously flew backwards to keep myself protected from her reach.

“It’s for the sake of my son; who else?” Althea answered, which only added to my curiosity. “Jerome never returned to me after the first time that I brought you here in my dimension. Destroying his world was the only solution I could come up with to force him to go back and stay with me like he did when he was a kid,” she further explained.

“But Jerome said that the two of you weren’t even related!”

I flapped my wings to cover my entire body when Althea shot me with her own flames. I could sense a surge of heat that touched my wings. Fortunately, she lacked the force to make it pass through my thick feathers.

“Jerome just hates the fact that I cursed you; that’s the main reason why he refuses to recognize me as his mother,” Althea replied, stopping her fireballs. “Don’t you notice how similar we were? He can summon the portal and release the same or greater amount of heat, and he could also fly without wings, even though he doesn’t have the genes of a vampire. Have you ever wondered why he could do those?”

I was directly hit in the knee as I stopped flying because of how stunned I was by Althea’s revelation. I couldn’t fight back anymore—I've given up. She simultaneously shot me with her flames while she endlessly scratched through my limbs. Before I even knew it, I was already screaming loudly in pain, just like I heard it from the other women here earlier, as if it served as a premonition that I should’ve been ready for.