Chapter 255: Demonic Heart

Maria’s heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of her chest. Fear surged through her veins with every beat ..cold, uncontrollable. She had no idea what Razeal was going to do next, but the possibilities running through her head weren’t pleasant. Bad thoughts.. dark, intrusive ones swirled endlessly. She didn’t even want to look at him. Instead, she turned her face to the side, refusing to meet his gaze, her entire body tense as if any sudden move might seal her fate.

Razeal stood silently above her for a moment. His upper clothes were already stripped away, his body a map of scars. He looked down at her, quiet and unreadable, his expression a strange mixture of focus and something almost... human. Then, finally, he spoke

"Look," he said calmly, "this is going to be scary for you. Painful, too. But you’ll have to endure it. Trust me.. I’m not trying to kill you. And yes..." his eyes flickered briefly, "you won’t die."

"Alright! Just do it already, idiot!" Maria snapped, her voice rising in panic and irritation. "Whatever you’re going to do, just do it! Why are you trying to scare me even more!?"

"Umm... alright then. Just don’t scream," Razeal said quietly, his voice steady, almost too calm for what he was about to do.

Without another word, he took the golden-tipped arrow from his hand, holding it delicately like a pen between his fingers. He drew in a slow breath, eyes narrowing in concentration. Then, lowering the arrow toward her exposed chest where he’d already torn through her dress, he moved with precise intent.

The air seemed to tighten around them.

In one swift motion, the sharp edge of the arrow traced down across Maria’s skin. A line of pain seared through her chest clean, deep, and deliberate right over her heart, just slightly to the left. It was fast, a single breath of motion, but the pain was enough to tear through every thought in her head.

"Arghhhhhh! What the hell are you doing, you asshole!?" Maria screamed, her voice breaking with agony and disbelief. "You wannaaa kill meeeeee or whatttt!?"

Her body jerked upward instinctively, panic taking over reason. The pain was unbearable blinding and raw, like fire pressed against her skin. Since she ofcourse never had felt much of pain before. Being born a noble, she’d been shielded from most of stuff that gives pain. But now, with a wound this deep, this raw she could barely breathe. Her body curled in on itself, instinctively trying to protect the pain. but Razeal’s hand pressed down on her shoulder, holding her steady.

"Don’t move," he said sharply, his tone suddenly strict. "You’ll just make it worse. And didn’t I tell you? Don’t scream. And also.. Well No crying either."

Razeal’s lips twitched as he saw tears starting to spill from Maria’s eyes. It can’t be that painful, right? he wondered, genuinely confused as he glanced down at her.

Just a single cut. That was all it took.

Razeal ran a hand through his hair, frowning. She’s crying like a child, he thought.

"Alright, alright, it’s fine. Don’t worry.. I’ll be done soon," Razeal said, his lips still twitching as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her still as he leaned closer, his focus already locked on the next step.

Maria hearing his words clenched her jaw, pressing one trembling arm over her eyes. She didn’t want him to see her like this teary, frightened, weak. Like a child.

What did that brute know about pain anyway? He acted so calm, so collected, as if what she was feeling didn’t matter. But it did hurt more than anything she’d ever felt in her sheltered, pampered life.

She’d grown up with comfort and privilege, never knowing what true pain or fear felt like. This.. this burning, cutting agony was her first real taste of it. And to make it worse, her mind wouldn’t stop screaming. What if he’s lying? What if he’s actually trying to hurt me?

Her heart pounded with dread, and a single thought clawed its way through the chaos: What if the scar never goes away? The idea horrified her almost as much as the pain itself.

Razeal looked down at her, her arm hiding her face as silent tears streaked down her cheeks. He exhaled softly, half in pity, half in frustration.

"Maybe I should just do it faster," he muttered under his breath, deciding that dragging it out would only make things worse for her.

Neptunia, who had been watching everything from a distance, felt her jaw drop. First, she was already confused what was he even trying to do? Cutting parts of her dress, Even ripping his own shirt off, standing there half-naked.. it made no sense. But what truly horrified her were the scars covering his body. How? Why? What happened to him?

And now this. He had just cut open his own chest with the arrow she had given him.

What the hell was going on?

She couldn’t understand. Should she step in and stop him? The thought raced through her mind as she hesitated. After a few seconds, she made up her mind to go ask him directly but just as she took a step forward, another scene unfolded before her eyes. It froze her in place, leaving her completely stunned.

Neptunia’s breath caught in her throat as she saw Razeal lower the arrow, setting it gently on Maria’s stomach as if being careful not to hurt her further. For a fleeting second, she thought maybe finally he was stopping. But then, before she could even process what was happening, he did something that made her blood run cold.

Without hesitation, Razeal drove his own hand into his chest.

Not beside it.. But into it.

Neptunia’s eyes widened in horror as his fingers vanished beneath his skin, his expression completely calm even as blood burst forth in sharp droplets. The motion was rough, desperate, and the red spray that followed splattered across Maria’s face.

She froze.. utterly paralyzed her mind refusing to believe what her eyes were seeing.

Maria, too, went still. The sudden, wet sound of something tearing followed by the sensation of warmth splashing against her cheek snapped her out of her daze. Her eyes shot open, and she turned her head sharply upward.

What she saw made her pupils quiver.

There, above her, stood Razeal his chest gaping open, blood flowing freely and in his hand, he held something alive.

A dark, pulsing shape. Black as ink. Its surface shimmered like liquid shadow, and with every beat, it moved thumped as if it still belonged inside a living body.

Maria couldn’t even scream. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

Her mind reeled, stuttering over the only thought she could form. Is that... his heart?

It was beating... Moving and Alive.

Her breath hitched, trembling violently as her vision swam.

Did he just pull his heart out of his own body?

Every instinct screamed that it was impossible no one should be able to live after doing something like that. But there he was, standing over her, calm and steady, as if tearing his own chest open was nothing more than a small inconvenience.

Neptunia could barely think. Her brain scrambled to find sense in the madness, but nothing fit.

How... how is he still alive? she thought, shaking her head slightly.

The world around them seemed to still completely.. the only sound left was the steady, terrible thump of that black heart pulsing in Razeal’s hand.

Razeal though ignored the wide eyed, silent panic of the two women and focused entirely on his own hands.

In his palm, the object pulsed faintly a heart unlike anything that should exist in the world of the living. It was utterly black, darker than ink, darker than shadow itself. A depthless black that seemed to devour light, as if it were a tiny piece of the void.

His Shadow Heart.

It twitched faintly between his fingers, a slow, rhythmic thump... thump... thump that didn’t sound like a heartbeat so much as an echo through an abyss. The dark veins trailing from it shimmered with oily iridescence. It looked alive, yet unnatural something not born of flesh.

"Good," Razeal murmured, expression calm and focused, as if pulling one’s own heart from their chest was a daily routine. He shifted his posture slightly and raised his other hand toward the black organ.

"Don’t waste time," he whispered to himself, voice steady. "Let’s get this done."

Without hesitation, he pushed his left hand straight into the Shadow Heart.

The inky surface rippled like liquid, welcoming him in. The organ did not resist. It stretched, shimmered, and swallowed his entire forearm as though it were made of living shadow. In an instant, his arm had vanished inside it.

WTF Neptunia and Maria could only stare, their minds struggling to even form thoughts... Question mark’s flying all around there heads

Razeal’s expression remained completely unbothered, his tone low as he muttered to himself, half-focused and half-annoyed, "I know it’s here somewhere... I put it away last time after.. ah, damn it, where did I stash that thing..."

His voice trailed into low grumbles as if he were searching through a cluttered drawer, not a cosmic abyss hidden within his own heart.

Both women just stood frozen.

Neptunia’s thoughts were a storm.

What... what even is that?

She couldn’t decide what terrified her more the black, living heart pulsing in his hand, or the way his entire arm had disappeared inside it like it was some kind of dimensional gateway.

Maria, on the other hand, could barely breathe. She could feel her own heart hammering in her chest, almost painfully fast, as she watched him casually reach into his own body. How is he alive? her mind screamed. How can anyone survive without their heart?

And the worst part?

The sight wasn’t killing him. If anything, he looked relaxed focused, yes, but completely unharmed.

It was madness.

The air around them seemed to grow heavier, darker, as Razeal continued feeling through whatever impossible dimension existed inside that heart. The sound of rushing liquid filled the silence.. like blood, but deeper, resonating like the hum of a living void.

Then suddenly

"Found it!" Razeal’s voice broke through the stillness, sharp and satisfied.

Neptunia flinched at the sudden sound. Maria, lying frozen on the ground, turned her head just enough to see.

Razeal pulled his arm free from the heart and as his hand emerged, it wasn’t empty.

Clutched in his palm was another heart.

This one was different.

Deep crimson in color, pulsing with a rich, steady beat, veins glowing faintly with dark energy that looked more alive than blood. The red heart throbbed in his hand, almost eagerly, its surface slick but vibrant radiating power.

Both women’s jaws fell open at the same time.

Razeal now held two hearts his own inky black one in his right hand, and this deep crimson one in his left. The contrast between them was almost symbolic: shadow and blood, death and life, void and vitality.

Razeal’s lips curved into a faint, satisfied smile. "The Greater Demon’s Heart," he murmured quietly, his tone laced with something that sounded dangerously close to pride. "Knew keeping you would come in handy one day."

He looked at the heart fondly, almost with nostalgia. He remembered the day he got it.. the accident that left him standing with a demon’s heart in his hand after leaving the System Space. At the time, he had stashed it away, not sure if it would ever be useful. But now? it was just perfect... Maybe his luck isn’t all bad. He smirked at his own thoughts

"Here," he said simply, and without warning, he extended his hand.. the one holding his black heart and placed it in Maria’s trembling hand.

She jerked as his cold, inky heart touched her palms, the thing pulsing faintly against her skin like a living creature.

"Wait.. what?" Maria gasped, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she stared at the pulsing, unnatural object she now held. "W-why are you.. what is whose heart is this?"

Razeal glanced at her, calm and almost casual. "Mine."

Her breath hitched. "Yours.. YESS I FUCKING SAW THAT?" she repeated, voice cracking. "And this.. this is your heart?!" She looked at it.. Dark black and nothing like how a human heart should be.

He nodded as if confirming something trivial.

"Then.. why the hell is it black?!" she demanded, panic rising in her voice. "And how are you even still alive after taking it out? You.. you shouldn’t even be able to stand right now! You don’t even have a heart right now!"

Her trembling gaze dropped to the other one in his hand. "And that.. what even is that? Another heart? Whose is it?"

Razeal paused for a heartbeat. He met her eyes with a calmness that only made it more unsettling. "My heart is black," he said softly, "because that’s what it’s supposed to be." His tone was serious, almost soothing. "It’s not made of stone atleast as what you whisper about me in your sleep."

He continued smoothly, his voice lowering. "As for the other one... it belonged to someone very powerful. That’s all you need to know for now." He adjusted his grip on the crimson heart, feeling its warmth pulse against his fingers. "And what I’m going to do next..." He gave a faint, crooked smile. "You’ll find out soon. So don’t worry about it."

Razeal turned his focus back to the tools he had the arrow lying against Maria’s stomach, still slick with blood from before. He picked it up again, rolling it between his fingers again.

"Wait.. what?" Her voice trembled as she blinked rapidly. "You... you heard my sleeping murmurs?" she asked, her fear briefly replaced by shock and embarrassment. "No, hold on.. wait, I talk in my sleep?! That’s.. no, that’s not the point!" Her voice cracked slightly as her gaze flickered from the hearts to his eyes. "Don’t tell me you’re... thinking of putting that heart inside me? To make me stronger?"

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