All Chapters of LIROIDS: SNAKE: Chapter 71
- Chapter 80
163 chapters
The Ways of Love
The air inside the obsidian throne room of Cellok was still as stone, heavy with centuries of memory. The walls glowed faintly with the pulse of the black tree at the city’s heart, Evilside’s essence weaving through the roots, the veins, the very bones of her realm.From the open terrace, the faint clang of steel drifted upward, Snake and Dragon sparring in the weapons hall below. Their laughter, distant but clear, reached even here, breaking through the ancient quiet.Evilside stood by the great window, her raven dark hair falling like a river of nightlight down her dark robes. Chains of rusted steel hung loosely around her wrists, old symbols of grief she had never removed. Her gaze lingered on the courtyard, on the faint outlines of her assassins, her children, moving beneath the glow of torchlight.“You still watch him,” came a voice from behind, soft yet edged with iron.Evilside did not turn. “He carries what I no longer can.”The roots parted, and Queen Doom of Doomsany stepped
The Scroll of the Isle
Snake stood just outside the throne chamber, his head bowed beneath the low arch of blackstone, listening. He hadn’t meant to overhear, but his mother’s voice, calm, distant, yet threaded with ache, froze him where he stood.Doom’s fading words lingered in the air like smoke:“That is all I ask … for them to understand, not forgive.”He closed his eyes, feeling the weight of centuries between them, of pain unspoken, of love buried beneath duty. When Doom’s footsteps faded, he stepped inside.Evilside was alone again, her back turned to him, gazing into the endless dark. The chains around her wrist shimmered faintly, alive with memory.“Were you listening, Snake?” she asked without turning.He didn’t bother to lie. “I was.”“Then you know why I cannot afford sentiment.”Snake walked closer, his serpents long across the marble floor. “I know that’s what you tell yourself,” he said quietly. “But even you bleed, my goddess.”A small smile ghosted across her lips, rare and fleeting. “And y
The Hound at the Gate
The gates of Cellok loomed like jagged teeth, veined with silver roots that pulsed faintly under the moonless sky. The air there always carried a taste of ash and prophecy, a place where whispers became truth and death was only ever delayed.Snake and Dragon approached on foot, the echo of their boots swallowed by fog. They both halted as a figure emerged from the darkness, his steps too quiet for a man his size.Slice Liroid.The stories never did him justice.He was tall, unnervingly beautiful, the kind of beauty that seemed deliberately cruel. His sky blue hair was cut short, his sharp features carved with surgical precision, and his eyes, dark as obsidian, glowed faintly with a predatory calm. Every movement he made was measured, perfect, like a weapon built by the gods and sharpened by silence.Snake’s serpents stirred restlessly beneath his cloak. Dragon just whistled. “Still the same cursed perfection,” he muttered. “Makes the rest of us look like barn rats.”Slice smirked fain
The Origin of the Hunting Dogs
Slice Liroid was not merely feared; he was crafted for fear.His lineage ran deep into the veins of Liroid history, flowing from the shadowed grace of Void Liroid, the Voiceless Healer of the clans.Void had been the daughter of War Liroid, and granddaughter of Brightwrath, the first healer and the second-ranked assassin beneath the ancient Blood himself.Void’s name was whispered with reverence. Her silence could heal or condemn, she who served Evilside not with blades, but with roots and mending darkness.Yet even the quiet ones bear storms. Void bore three children, two sons and one daughter, each of them marked by destiny’s cruel hand.Her firstborn, Center Liroid, rose to found the order that would come to be known as the Hunting Dogs. He built their city in Freya, a place shrouded in dusk and iron mist, with Evilside’s personal blessing. There, beneath the black moons, the first Dogs were forged.Their creed was written in blood:Emotion is weakness. Obedience is purity. Death i
The Isle of Darkness
The sea was black that night, no stars, no moon, only the whisper of waves like dying prayers. Their vessel cut through the gloom like a shadow on the edge of memory. Three figures stood upon its deck: Snake, cloaked in silence; Dragon, restless and muttering; and Slice, the immortal hunting dog whose presence bent the air around him.The journey to the Isle of Darkness was not one of distance, but of descent. The waters themselves seemed to thicken the closer they drew, as if reluctant to reveal what lay beyond. A faint glow rose from beneath the waves, pale and cold, as though the ocean carried the light of the dead.Slice stood at the bow, unmoving. His silver eyes reflected the distant shoreline, a black expanse crowned with citadels of bone-white stone. His voice, when it came, was steady and low.“Evilside built this place as a sanctuary and a snare. The Divine Liroids call it paradise. But we, who serve her, know it for what it is.”Snake looked at him from beneath his hood. “A
The Isle Beneath the Stars
The sun never truly shone on the Isle of Darkness; only a pale shimmer lingered, like memory caught between dusk and dawn. It was a place where Liroids were gold, and beauty wore the mask of sin.Flavor Liroid, grand patriarch of the Divine Line, led Snake through the winding halls of obsidian and pearl. Their boots echoed across mosaic floors that depicted the rise of Evilside herself, her hands birthing roots of life and death entwined. Every step was a hymn, every corridor a prayer carved in silence.“Welcome to perfection, Snake,” Flavor said with quiet pride. “A kingdom where no one ages, and no heart ever beats without purpose.”Snake’s gaze moved across the chamber. The Divine Liroids walked among silk-draped colonnades, men and women of such exquisite beauty they seemed carved from the moon’s own sorrow. The Hunting Dogs trained nearby in disciplined silence, their bodies glinting like blades. The air smelled of blood, perfume, and sanctity.“This,” Flavor continued, “is the h
The Laughing Shadows of the Isle
Bioluminescent lilies rippling across black waters. The island pulsed with life, its people flawless as carved obsidian, their laughter as sharp as daggers.Inside the grand hall, Snake leaned lazily against a marble column as Flavor Liroid poured him a goblet of blood-wine. The scent of lilac and iron filled the air, faint and intoxicating. The atmosphere was almost light, a reprieve from the heaviness of the goddess’s will.The peace didn’t last long.A tall, golden-eyed man swept into the room, his long crimson cloak trailing behind him like fire. He bore the same unnerving beauty as Flavor, but his smile carried mischief, too smooth, too sure.“Ah, if it isn’t my grandfather hosting guests without me,” he said, bowing with exaggerated grace. “Tell me, Lord Flavor, where has Slice disappeared to this time? Shouldn’t our leader be training the young dogs instead of roaming off with assassins?”Flavor didn’t look up from his cup. “Go play among your fifty concubines, Forbidden. Leave
The Secrets beneath the Isle
The air beneath the Isle of Darkness was thick with salt and memory.Serpentine tunnels wound through obsidian stone, lit by dim blue torches that burned without flame.It was a place of secrets, the bones of the island’s truth buried deeper than any vault of gold.Slice Liroid led the descent, silent as a shadow. His sky blue hair clung to his temples, his expression unreadable. Behind him, Dragon followed, the faint scrape of his boots echoing softly off the stone. The corridors were wide enough for three men, yet the weight of what they sought pressed the air thin.“Still think this is just a political check-in?” Dragon muttered, his tone a mix of humor and unease.Slice didn’t answer. He carried himself like a blade, silent, precise, and lethal when unsheathed.They reached an iron door, etched with the sigil of Evilside’s lilies, half-buried in black moss.Slice pressed his hand to the lock. It hissed open, exhaling the stench of old blood.The chamber inside was circular, its wa
The God of Trouble Smiles
The halls of Mogro’s High Court shimmered with golden light, polished marble floors reflecting the radiance of a thousand eternal torches. The air was perfumed with incense and tension. Musicians played softly, plucking at silver strings, though not one dared look toward the throne.For on it sat Tan, the Crane God, radiant, cruel, beautiful. His brown hair spilled over his shoulders like molten sunlight, his eyes bright with a mirth only the wicked could love. Around him stood his council, silent, rigid, awaiting his word.At the foot of the throne knelt Branch, the god of Obedience, clad in robes of ash and silver. His tone was even, but his jaw was tight.“My lord… what you have done defies even your own boundaries.”Tan laughed, the sound bright and cutting. “Boundaries? I am the god of trouble, Branch. I do not obey boundaries. I make them bleed.”Branch lowered his gaze. “The child you conceived with Deem Liroid was no ordinary trespass. She was the blood of Evilside’s house. Yo
The Gathering Storm
The chamber of the Divine Liroids was built of black glass and silver bone, its walls alive with faint, pulsing veins of light, the lifeblood of Cellok running through its stone. The air was heavy with incense and fear, and even the torches burned low, their flames flickering like whispers of dread.At the center of the chamber stood Snake, Dragon, Flavor, and Slice, gathered before the obsidian table that bore Evilside’s crest, the blooming lily of darkness.A messenger, breathless and pale, had just finished speaking. His words hung in the air like blades.Evilside knew.“Tan has done the unthinkable. Deem… bore his child.”The room trembled with quiet. Flavor’s face, usually calm and courtly, twisted in disbelief. “Deem?” he breathed. “She isn’t even of the official Liroid line. Why would Tan stoop to that? He could have used Darkness instead.”Slice’s eyes, sharp as blades, glinted beneath his hood. “Because he wanted Evilside’s heart. And Deem, to her, was another daughter, too mu