Chapter 10: Chapter 10: The Great Chaos

Silence.

The air seemed to freeze. The grand hall fell into a deathly stillness. Every noble, every foreign prince and princess, held their breath.

“What are you doing?”

The King shot to his feet in fury.

“Why? Why!

“I invited you to this grand banquet, served you a lavish meal! And yet you curse Princess Aurora, curse my kingdom?”

The King shouted for the guards:n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Seize her! Arrest this insolent Black Witch!”

Armed soldiers raised their gleaming weapons, surrounding Maleficent. The other twelve witches, their expressions solemn, raised their wands and aimed at the dark sorceress.

“Hahahaha!” Maleficent threw back her head and laughed, wild and unrestrained.

“Oh, Your Majesty, you honored me with an invitation, treated me to a splendid feast. And have I not repaid you with the finest of blessings?”

Crash!

With a flick of her finger, a bolt of lightning struck the table, shattering her golden plate. The ornate plate, once so grand, revealed its cheap silvery metal core beneath the gilded exterior.

“Oh, Your Majesty, I see! Like the rest of your kingdom, you couldn’t bear to treat me the same as the other twelve witches!

“But truthfully, I don’t need your recognition. What is a king to me? Even your entire army is nothing more than insects in my eyes!”

The King froze as he stared at the broken plate, realization dawning in the next moment.

“No! This is a misunderstanding! The plate should have been pure gold—this must be the fault of the craftsman, cutting corners!”

Maleficent sneered.

“A misunderstanding, you say? Hah! What a perfect misunderstanding.

“I’ve been waiting for a chance like this!”

Her cold gaze swept over the twelve witches.

“I am the strongest among you all, greater than all of you combined.

“And yet you fear me, slander me in the shadows, simply because I am more powerful, because I wield the darker forces you cannot comprehend!

“Now, as I leave this kingdom, I give you my parting gift. The curse is in place, unbreakable unless I die!”

Watching her twisted expression and unhinged laughter, Rhine sighed inwardly.

She’s just a hypersensitive, neurotic lunatic. Even if the plate hadn’t been faulty, she would have found some other excuse to unleash her madness.

The twelve witches had reached their limit. Unable to bear her arrogance any longer, they stepped forward.

“Don’t think you’re the only one who knows magic! No matter how powerful you are, you’re still just one person!”

Violet Fairy, the eldest and leader of the twelve, pointed her wand at Maleficent and declared:

“If your death will lift the curse, then let your sins be judged here and now!”

The King echoed her call, commanding his soldiers to close in around the Black Witch.

But Maleficent stood unflinching in the face of twelve witches and the army that crashed the banquet.

“Feel honored. You shall witness my ultimate form!”

Her words rang out as eerie green flames engulfed her black cloak. Her thin, pale figure expanded rapidly, her body erupting with raw power.

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, Maleficent had transformed into a massive black dragon. Her head reached the ceiling, her wings beat with such force that the palace quaked, sending dust and rubble cascading down. ŖΑN𝐨BƐȘ

Foreign dignitaries and nobles screamed. Some fled in every direction, while others scrambled to hide beneath the banquet tables.

Without hesitation, Rhine stepped in front of the terrified King and Queen.

“Stay back! It’s too dangerous—leave this to me!”

The soldiers launched arrows at the dragon, but they clattered uselessly off her obsidian scales, as futile as eggs striking steel.

The twelve witches began casting their spells.

One held up a gleaming mirror aimed at the dragon, its surface capable of drawing out the soul of anyone who looked into it.

Another pointed her wand, attempting to turn Maleficent into a toad.

Yet another sang a haunting melody, seeking to twist and enchant the dragon’s mind.

But all their efforts were in vain.

The dragon shrugged off their magic as though brushing away dust, her resilience shaking the witches to their cores. Pale-faced, their lips quivered as they grasped the unbridgeable gulf between themselves and their former peer.

Before them stood a true master of magic—a legendary sorceress capable of erasing a kingdom on a whim.

Maleficent unleashed a torrent of sickly green flames, engulfing the hall. Soldiers turned to ash before they could even scream. The twelve good witches barely managed to shield themselves with magic, retreating in disarray, their faces smudged with soot. They looked nothing like their once-elegant, aloof selves.

“Oh, my dear King, did you truly believe this pitiful rabble could harm me?”

The dragon’s booming laughter reverberated through the hall.

“Foolish king! You could have lived out your days quietly, awaiting the curse’s fruition. But since you insist, allow me to make you my next meal!”

With a powerful beat of her wings, the dragon lunged toward the throne, spewing another wave of blazing green fire.

“Disaster!”

Violet Fairy, horrified, saw the inferno surging toward the throne. In her mind, she already envisioned the next moment: the King, Queen, and the young Rhine consumed by the flames.

The Queen, nearly fainting from terror, clung to her chair, helpless. The King, usually stoic, turned pale, closing his eyes as he awaited the inevitable.

But the scorching heat never came.