The Dragon King and His Fallen Star novel Chapter 161

Chapter 161: The Reaping Begins

KIERYGAN’S POV

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We stayed there a moment longer, bodies pressed close. Her light bleeding faintly onto my skin, our breaths tangling in the cold air.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I committed everything to memory, as if imprinting her into my soul: her warmth, the tremor in her chest, the rhythm of her heart against mine. The faint, sweet scent of her hair. The way her fingers curled slightly against my back, as if she, too, didn’t want to let go.

For a fleeting moment, there was no war. No Light Reaper. No fate waiting to tear her from me. Just her. Just us.

Then she shifted slightly, her breath brushing my throat as she whispered my name. I forced my eyes open. Her gaze met mine-calm, resolute, luminous with that strength that both awed and terrified me.

Eirlys gently pulled away, but her hand never left mine. Her fingers tightened as she rose to her feet.

“Then let’s do this together,” she said softly.

I looked at her-really looked-and nodded. “Together,” I whispered, my grip tightening around her hand.

Hand in hand, we walked through the chaos. Her light flared brighter with each step, wrapping us in a shimmering veil that no blighted soldier dared to cross.

When we reached the heart of the battlefield, she stopped. I turned to her, her face calm. Yet her eyes burned with sorrow and unshakable resolve.

Then she raised her voice.

“You want my light?” she cried, her words echoing through the ruined valley. “Take it. Just make this all stop.”

Her glow surged outward, a wave of brilliance that rippled across the field. The undead shrieked- then vanished into dust and shadow. The blight’s stench burned away, leaving only the broken remnants of the living.

Our warriors stumbled to their feet, dazed, wounded, trembling.

Callum was the first to approach, his breath ragged disbelief etched across his blood-smeared face. “What in the hells?” he rasped, staggering closer. His armor hung in tatters, streaked with soot and crimson. “What is the meaning of this? Why are we giving up now?”

Orryx appeared beside him, sword still raised, eyes burning with the stubborn fire of defiance. “We

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Chapter 161 The Reaping Begins

can still fight,” he said, his voice hoarse. “We should fight.”

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I met their gazes, then swept my eyes over the field-our fallen, our fading strength, the ruin that surrounded us. When I finally spoke, my voice came quiet, final.

“It’s over,” I said. “And you know it.”

Their jaws tightened, fury and grief warring behind their eyes. But neither spoke. They knew the

truth as well as I did. Our numbers had withered to a fraction of what they once were, while the

enemy only grew-each fallen comrade reborn in the blight’s image, twisted into a weapon against

Suddenly, a sound split the air. Low. Guttural. Cold enough to still every breath. It slithered through the valley like smoke.

Then came the laughter. A laugh steeped in mockery.

The ground shuddered and cracked open. Acrid fumes hissed from below as smoke billowed

upward, and from its depths, the Light Reaper emerged.

He rose tall and terrible, cloaked in shadow, his eyes two molten orbs of ruin. The air itself trembled beneath his presence.

“Well, well,” he said, his voice echoing like a thousand whispers layered atop one another. “I’m

impressed. You’ve lasted far longer than I anticipated.”

His form bent forward, sinuous and unnatural. “A shame it was all for nothing,” he hissed. “In the

end, I still win.”

Beside me, Eirlys lifted her chin, her glow soft but unwavering. She turned, her gaze sweeping over the remaining warriors-those who had bled, burned, and refused to yield.

“Go,” she said, her voice trembling but firm. “Find somewhere safe. Please.”

The Light Reaper’s laughter deepened, the sound scraping bone. “Safe?” he hissed. “No one, and

nowhere is safe from me.”

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He stepped forward, and the earth blackened beneath his feet. “But perhaps…” he drawled, “I’ll let some of you live. Swear loyalty to me, and you may serve instead of vanish.”

No one moved. No one fled.

Then, one by one, they stepped forward. Callum. Oryx. Ulyanna. Evander, Scylla. Even King Lucius and Prince Draven joined them-Chief Rhaanzel too

And then, they all dropped to their knees. Swords fell from their hands, clattering against the dirt.

Evander raised his head, blood running down his face, fangs glinting through the grime. His eyes blazed red. “Then we’ll burn with you,” he rasped.

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Chapter 161 The Reaping Begins

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A lump rose in my throat, sharp and unrelenting. These people-my council, my allies, my friends- were choosing to stand in the fire rather than kneel to the dark.

I forced down the ache, straightened, and looked at each of them in turn.

“Ladies,” I said quietly. “Gentlemen.”

I drew in a steadying breath. “It’s been an honor.”

The Light Reaper’s laugh rolled across the field. “Foolish loyalty,” he purred. “Then you shall all die tonight.”

He raised both hands. Shadow peeled from him like smoke, and two figures stepped through the black-Morwenna and Mirael. From the ash behind them, Malric crawled up like a rot-made king, and three other shapes slithered into being. I recognized the witches who had taken Evander.

Mirael’s fingers glittered as she wove shackles from that familiar humming dark metal. One moment they lay in her palms-then, with a soft, echoing snap, they had closed around Eirlys’ wrists. The metal bit into her skin; the jolt traveled through the bond as if iron had been driven into my own chest.

Heat surged through me, wild and blinding. My scales flared along my arms, talons bursting

through my skin, ready to tear them apart. I lunged only to be hurled backward as if I’d struck an invisible wall.

Snarling, I charged again. My fists and claws slammed into the unseen barrier, each blow reverberating through the air with the force of my rage. I didn’t stop. Couldn’t. Not until Eirlys’ wrapped around me. Soft. Trembling. Steady.

“Don’t,” she breathed through the bond.

All I could do was clench my jaw until it ached. The helplessness-the agony of knowing I couldn’t save her was unbearable. So I stayed still, trapped in her trembling hold. Because at this moment, holding her back was all I had left to give.

Mirael chuckled, eyes like knives. “Enjoy your moment together, Eirlys,” she crooned. “Soon you’ll be gone. And he”-she tilted her head toward me-will be tethered to me forever.”

A bright, single laugh cut through the field. Eirlys and I turned toward the sound. It was Scylla.

“Didn’t I warn you about this?” she said, stepping forward, that mischievous grin playing on her lips -the one that always meant trouble. The mockery in her voice was delicious. “That’s not how soulbounds work.”

Mirael’s smile faltered. Scylla’s eyes glittered with challenge. “You’re being lied to, witch,” she continued. “Your dark lord can make someone who looks like Kierygan, but he cannot forge a true bond. Not even the gods can force a mate.”

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Chapter 161: The Reaping Begins

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She jabbed a finger at Eirlys, and the name in her mouth twisted something tight in my chest. “A soul always seeks its true match. Its real mate.”

Mirael snarled, teeth bared. “You insolent-” She lunged, claws flexing, venom in every movement.

first.”

“I will see you gone

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