Duchess Valimos gets on her feet, fighting against the Imperial and Emperor's knights, trying to go to where Ares and Natalie are now. Consequently, Duchess Valimos claws her way with a fiery determination.
In the Imperial Palace, Natalie strikes back, creating a wind storm blurring Ares' vision, blowing up fire to roast him. However, the man is lucky to get away with his power, but Natalie smirks when she sees some burn on his flesh. She emerges the ice between his feet, but he is quick enough to dodge it and glance at a specific figure that he knows Natalie cared enough about.
And that's Lord Apollo.
At the same time, Natalie doesn't know how long she can hold on to the barrier at the Temple. Her physical power is depleted; she cannot handle how much the magical power releases and soars inside the body.
"Valienth! Strengthen the invisible barrier for a moment while they are still convincing the people now!" her mind linked to her dragon, sticking up to the plan.
At that moment, Ares seizes the opportunity giving some unbelievable news for her, as always. He will break anyone's mind with his manipulation.
"Do you want to know something, Natalie?" he asks amusedly while exchanging attack and defence with the Duchess.
"Why would I?" the blonde replies, creating an ice barrier among him to trap the Emperor, but Ares is mighty to break it with his power, surrounding her with the same attack instead.
The Duchess of Light teleports right through his back, hitting on him with her new crystal power. Ares feels he is bleeding at his back as the pain shoots throughout his body, but he couldn't care less. He knows this woman at the point of breaking down.
"All your life, you thought that Jonathan, Lucinius and Harren killed your parents, right? You are wrong. The one who killed him is the Pope, the most holiness in the Temple!" he laughs maniacally, throwing off Natalie with such a fact.
He takes advantage of Natalie's crumbled wall, extending his power to use Apollo by hurting him, intensifying the ma's pain. The man roars in pain, but Natalie uses her magical power to stop it, while Ares fools her again with her instinct, knocking her out to the wall out of the cold.
"What a pain," the Emperor approaches Duchess Smith, swirling his hand to end him with his power.
Medea throws the dagger, landing directly on his shoulder to stop it. Ares stops, glances at his shoulder, and then puts his hand to reach out for the blade before pulling it out. The wound immediately heals from the divinity power. Only Natalie's attack wounded him since magic and divinity don't work. So each of them lands on their bodies, intensifying their pain.
"Medea! What a pleasant surprise!" he rotates his arms, trying to feel any pain in his shoulder, but it isn't there.
"Oh? Are you mad?" his smile turns to a frown, watching the woman that continues to spark his wrath.
Her amethyst eyes land on the blonde lying on the cold ground, her rage pulsating through her veins. The sapphire eyes follow her gaze, wondering what the woman actually feels when she wears her stoic face. Although Medea tries to hide it, there is a visible wrinkle on her forehead while her lips curl inward, watching Duchess Smith.
"You keep disappointing me, Medea. When I give a finger, you'll take an arm. And look at you now, keep losing your people left and right," Ares grabs the sword from the table, holding his stance, undirectly asks for a sword fight with Medea.
Duchess Valimos keeps her head cool, watching Natalie's body move as her chest rises up and down. She clutches her hand on the sword handle, marching to the Emperor with blazing eyes. As they are two experienced people in swordsmanship, they fight well with each other. Every blow can be stopped with every defence.
"Are you talking with a mirror when you said that?" Medea said, swinging her swords on Ares' side, but he dodged it well when Medea's real purpose was to kick him down at his wound.
The man falls backwards, holding his stomach where Natalie had attacked earlier. Ares spits blood from his mouth, smirking at Duchess Valimos. This is sure fun to begin with.
"Aren't we the same? You and I are always hungry for power, quenching our thirst for small things to get our ultimate goal. That's why you sold Lucinius in the first place, rose up to be a Duchess, right?" Ares strikes back, tripping over Medea, but she is quick on her feet, hitting with the same intensity.
"We are the same?" Medea chuckles lowly over the absurd idea.
"I admit we are devils, but I hate when someone is eviler than me. Yet, it takes a devil to drive out another devil. Isn't that you're attracted to me?" Medea taunts him, hinting she knows about his feeling for her.
The one that the Duchesses and the Emperor hate the most is when their feelings display a vulnerability. Medea gains the upper hand in the fight when she starts to show her skills when Ares keeps backing down from her blow. Knowing he has little chance against her in a sword fight, Ares wants to finish this quickly. So he uses his power to amplify his attack and blow. Now, it is Medea's turn to get back off from it.
Once, his swords slash a bit on her side, as his attacks are swift, almost too fast, being seen by bare naked eyes.
"That's what I like about you. You can even read even the smallest thing in the room. But, for a God like me, feelings come to nothing when it is my vision that you disrupted. You are nothing but a pebble in my way," Ares said, landing another blow on Medea that she struggled to par.
"He used his power against me!"
Nevertheless, Medea had another idea to attack him. Once Ares strikes her with no breaks for her to think about a counterattack, she dodges the pattern, sneaking by sliding behind him and stabbing the man with another dagger. The red liquid oozes out from his shoulder as his eyes widen, watching the blood on his hand when pulling the blade.
"Use this dagger if you have a chance to fight with Ares. It is forged with the dragon's breath. Any sorcery or power figure should be fatal when it hits the blow," Natalie said, handing the dagger to Duchess Valimos.
"He who does evil is never short of an excuse," Medea finishes, but the pain from the blade thumps Ares' shoulder, causing him to realise one thing.
"You and Natalie aren't friends in the past, especially at this moment, right? So that's why you divert my attention from her to you," Ares looks at Duchess Smith with her eyes shut from the impact.
Without hesitation, he flicks his hand upward, causing Medea to rise and hit on the wall while his other hand controls Natalie. The blonde's body rises up while he maintains his gaze from Natalie to Medea. For once in his life, he sees the amethyst eyes filled with so much fear that it is exhilarating to see what lies more beneath that eyes.
"No!" before Medea even finishes, Ares watches her with a sinister smile.
"Watch this," he said before flickering his hand, holding Natalie, throwing the blonde out of the windows as the amethyst eyes coated in tears of rage watched the scene.
"When the devil caresses you, it is because it wants your soul, Medea," he laughs maniacally, but something suddenly has gone wrong.
Strangely enough, Medea could feel his power depleted now. The dragon's breath must accelerate the effects of Hera's power consumed on him. Regardless, he must pay for the blood he spills. Medea exhales a shaky breath, calming down the storm over her body that is itching to end this man's life. She can feel it. She can move now with her might after making up her mind.
Medea doesn't know why, but Ares' power doesn't affect her now, yet it is the last thing on her mind to figure out now.
Holding the sword in her hand, she sprints over to Ares while the man leaves with no intention of playing around anymore. His hand extends to use his power, but to no avail against Medea. He is caught off guard by that, thinking his power suddenly weakened and will be gone soon. Yet, Duchess Valimos arrives in no time, swinging her sword forward. If Ares didn't have a fast reflex, he would be lost a hand from that blow.
However, Medea is just like a vampire this time. She craves for his blood to be spilt. She sees nothing but his head separate from his body. Thus, Ares continues to use the sword to fight against her. Like himself, Medea has no intention of letting him go. With just a few movements, Duchess Valimos manages to let the sword fly through Ares' grasp and her blade lands on his neck. It stops there, and it takes everything in Medea not to slice it herself.
Duchess Valimos then knocked him to the stomach, penetrating the dagger with her other hand through his Achilles tendon, so he wouldn't be able to stand on his feet. She drags the man up to the balcony, but the sounds of people running to the chamber, approaching them. It is Ares' shadow knights.
"My accompany is here," the sapphire eyes challenge the amethyst eyes when the shadow knights hold their stance against them.
"You sure?" Medea lands a punch on him when the shadow knights lower their swords, creating confusion in Ares' face.
At that time, Valienth caught Ares' shadow knights in the Southeast region and used them to tempt Ares with multiple pieces of information about Duchess Smith. When Ares sees rage that people betrayed him, he will do everything he can to crush them. That's their real purpose.
It is a risky move, but it's the only way to make it believable. Since the beginning, the Duchesses have planned it according to their practice, although some unexpected things come their way.
"What does it feels like when your words earlier eat you back? You lose your people left and right?" Duchess Valimos waits for no answer, gripping Ares' hair while still mourning over Natalie.
As they wanted to meet the young Emperor, the sounds of people marching to the Imperial Palace gave Ares to hang on the last thread of hope, only to be crushed by Medea.
"You may get the shadow knights, but people are on my side. Even if you got the throne, people would never support your reign," Medea watches him jubilantly.
When she grabs his face again, she makes sure his sapphire eyes land on a specific figure, Emperor Atticus. His eyes dilate on the image alone as the other sapphire eyes watch him, complete with disappointment and sadness. No, it is not impossible!
"Old sins have long shadows, Ares," Medea gasps, laughing demonly at his face, while he tries to land a punch on her, but she dodges that quickly, then gives a kick on his face.
"Don't count your chicken before the eggs have hatched, Medea. Then, if I don't get what I want, so will you," Ares smiles, matching Medea's voice.
With that words alone, the skies turn greys almost too dark, with lightning strikes here and there. Once it reaches the woods, where another piece of traps Ares started, Ares uses the last part of his power, using the lightning to light up the heart of the Empire. The explosions began gradually, moving from more extensive to a smaller radius, approaching them inside.
They didn't expect this. People widen their eyes, shrieking in fear, pushing among themselves to survive, crying to save them. Some of them even embrace themselves, especially the elders who know there is no way for them to run in time, protecting themselves from the blast. It comes like a storm, waiting to swallow all of them while Ares watches this in amusement.
Before it could even reach them, as the child of Guardian Deity, Hera steps up, trying to make the impossible to be possible with her divinity power. The woman summons her might to make a giant sphere surrounding them with the residence, with the divine to heal the people inside and from the upcoming explosion. However, it is still like a massacre from outside, forcing Hera to make a more extensive and sturdier radius.
That's until Hera had an idea to fight back against the resource, stopping the lightning from above.
Fortunately, it stops, causing her to be weak afterwards. Eryx in time, to hold her, for Hera to stabilise herself.
Finally, people could let out her relief and the other allies.
"Lady Hera had saved us!"
Medea squeezes her hand where her dagger lands on Ares' shoulder tightly, letting the man groan in pain. She doesn't even care about his pain, as if it could compensate for everything he had done before. Her hand slips inside, reaching for the dagger before piercing the same flesh, twisting the blade to Ares while gritting her teeth.
"Behold the people of Angelos Empire. This is the mastermind of the massacre that happened in the past! As well as the things we just experienced," Medea's voice penetrates through the air, where she pushes on the small gemstone on her side when it suddenly displays all of the hideous things Ares had done in the past.
From the moment at the birthday banquet that he tried to assassinate his ex-fiancée, Countess Hera, to the point he killed multiple people on the Ordination Days, to the attempt assassination against Duchess Smith thrice, to the kidnapping incident of the Crown Princess of the Crassore Empire. Not only that, but he also tried to frame the Duchess of Light regarding what happened. He also annihilated his parents, Empress Ophelia and Emperor Atticus, in the same seasons, followed by herself, Duchess Valimos.
Then, he used torture, almost killed Hera, and created a massacre by lighting up the residence with a fire. Ares also killed countless people that they didn't even know. They are lucky for the wishes they used with Princess Isis to make the illustration to people. Medea signals to the people, where Julius and the mercenaries that used to kidnap Hera come forward, giving an honest statement in front of the people. Some people begin to condemn Ares for what he has done.
"Moreover, this curse can be lifted up by our Empire a hundred years ago through a prophecy, while the Imperial Family covers this up, letting us be in this misery. With that, the real perpetrator shall behead at this moment, while the close relatives who cooperate on this mission shall be granted life, but betrothed from their position," Medea roars again to the people.
Medea closes her mouth to Ares, who knows there's no way of turning back anymore. She breathes out, whispering her last words for Ares to hear in this world.
"When there is no temptation, there is no glory. Rest assured, little devil. Ultimately, I am the devil who caresses your soul in the taste of hell."
She takes her dagger, and when the man is on his knees, she watches nothing but death to Ares until the motion from the blade slashing through Ares's neck from side to side, as his excruciating wails fill in the air, and the red liquid flowing from his neck. Then, Duchess Valimos discards the dagger and cuts off his head entirely in front of the people.
"That's for every pain you caused us. For Nana, Natalie, Hera and everyone."
All pairs of eyes watch on the woman, who just beheaded their Emperor merciless, looking lifelessly with nothing in her heart. She feels numb, with no one by her side in her glory moment, and people look up to her, including her allies. But, her heart started to beat wildly again when a familiar voice came from behind.
"Medz," the appealing sound, causing her amethyst eyes to lit up again.
Duchess Smith walks, looking at Ares' head on the floor Medea, before pulling her into a hug. Hera looks at them, feeling somewhat proud and relieved. It is in time that she arrives and uses her power to save Natalie. She wipes her tears with the back of her hand, but it wouldn't stop until the Cardinal squeezes her shoulder, giving her a handkerchief.
Lord Eli, Lord Apollo and Marquess Hector let down their swords when the enemies forfeit against them. So, likewise, the Imperial and Private Knights drop their sword, knowing it is no longer needed to fight, preventing bloodshed.
"We made it," Natalie softly said, stroking the woman's back before pulling back, thinking it was time to rejoice for Medea.
As a custom, the highest noble would greet a new monarch, and this time it was Medea, another bloodline other than Angelos.
"Greetings to the new sun of the Empire, Empress Medea Andreas Valimos. Glory to the Angelos Empire! Long live the Empress!" Natalie goes on her knee, leading the chant with the people following her behind.
"Greetings to the new sun of the Empire, Empress Medea Andreas Valimos. Glory to the Angelos Empire! Long live the Empress!"
With that, her allies, including Medea herself, well up in tears, for it really comes to an end. However, that moment is also when the Duchesses let out their genuine smile, building up happiness in their heart. Medea slips her hand around Natalie's waist, bringing her closer after almost losing her again.
The darkness of the night almost consumed the day as the revolts ended. Finally, the revenge has come to an end.