Kaden interceded, positioning himself between them, his voice steady, betraying none of the tension crackling in the air. "Calm yourself. We won't let anything happen to her... yet. Not until we have you right where we want you. She's merely suffered a ‘minor’ injury. She'll regain consciousness soon enough, but.."

"But what?" Lilah's patience was stretched thin, like a bowstring drawn too tight, ready to snap.

"But," Kaden continued, a cruel smirk playing on his lips, “we won't hand over the antidote until you voluntarily step into this cell. After all, your skills in combat are well-known, and no one is foolish enough to take that risk."

With a contemptuous snort, Lilah flung open the cell door and strode in without a hint of hesitation. She knelt beside Miranda, lifting her gently, and in that instant, she felt the faintest stir—Miranda's life force, though fragile, still flickered.

“Karol, you've gone too far." Lilah's voice trembled with barely contained wrath as she noticed the wounds marring Miranda's flesh.

Her heart plummeted, sinking into a chasm of despair.

"Gone too far?" Karol's laugh was sharp, grating, full of bitter malice. "Did you think you would escape retribution after leaving scars on my face? Today is the day of reckoning, and now, it's my turn to exact punishment!"

“Let's not waste time. Help her up, and I'll hand over the antidote now," Kaden said with a dismissive wave, his impatience seeping through.

Lilah didn't dignify him with a response. Her every move was deliberate, cautious, as she tended to Miranda with a gentleness that belied the storm raging within her.

"Look at you two-mirror images. At first glance, I could hardly tell you apart if not for the scar on her face," Karol boasted, her pride swelling like a peacock's display, her arrogance as grating as nails on a chalkboard.

Lilah ignored the taunt, focusing on settling Miranda onto the threadbare sofa in the corner before demanding the antidote from Kaden.

"You go back into the cell first," Kaden demanded, his tone dripping with smug superiority.

"Cut the crap!" Lilah's piercing gaze bored into Kaden, as if trying to peel away layers of deception.

For a moment, Kaden felt a chill crawl down his spine, like the icy touch of death itself.

Karol's laughter erupted once more, a cacophony of cruel mirth. “Oh, you foolish bitch! There is no antidote! She's been beaten within an inch of her life, her blood nearly spent. What antidote are you of? I've never met such a idiot in all dreaming gullible my days.."

Her words dissolved into hysterical laughter, the sound of a woman teetering on the edge of sanity.

At long last, she had ensnared her prey, and the sweetness of revenge was intoxicating.

The sweetest part? No one would be the wiser. Soon, they would be spirited away to a place where even shadows feared to tread, their screams silenced by eternal darkness.

“Karol, are you courting death?" Lilah's voice was a whisper of doom, as cold and unforgiving as a grave. Her gaze bored into Karol, a serpent's stare that sent shivers down her spine. Karol instinctively recoiled, seeking refuge behind Kaden.

"Me? Courting death?" Karol's voice dripped with venom. "You're about to die, you insufferable bitch. Soon, the world will be rid of your pestilence." The hatred in Karol's heart was a black, festering wound, her desire for vengeance a consuming inferno.

She longed to tear Lilah apart, to shred her piece by piece until nothing remained but a memory, a shadow that would never see the light again.

"And what's more, your family, your Loved ones, everything you hold dear will turn to dust.. Ah!"

Karol's threat was cut short as Lilah's hand shot out, like a viper striking, gripping her throat and lifting her effortlessly into the air. In that instant, Karol's breath was stolen, her voice silenced as her body dangled helplessly.

Lilah held Karol aloft with one hand, her strength unfathomable, her movements swift as the wind. Karol couldn't even process how it had happened, her mind reeling in shock.