Dragon Monarch System Chapter 1297:- The Heart that Lost All Emotions

"Love, happiness, kindness, compassion, and even the ability to feel sympathy for others slowly begin disappearing. The more corrupted Mana the practitioner absorbs, the harder it becomes to experience those emotions. Eventually, all that remains is hatred, resentment, anger, and the desire to destroy everything."

Eventually, the user becomes a mindless monster who wants to destroy everything. When that happens, the Heavens react and send down Heavenly Tribulation to destroy this taboo of all taboos.

Serena felt her heart sink upon hearing those words. She finally understood why Ren had become so different from the man she had known for so many years.

It was not simply because he was angry about losing the war or because Leo had abandoned him. The forbidden technique itself was changing him from the inside, slowly destroying the emotions that had once made him the person she loved.

"Ren, please..." Serena whispered while looking at him with pleading eyes.

"If this technique is doing something so terrible to you, then please stop cultivating it. We can still find another way. You don’t have to destroy yourself just to defeat Aditya."

However, Ren did not respond to her desperate request. Instead, he continued looking at her with the same cold expression. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke, and the only sounds inside the tent were Serena’s uneven breathing and the faint movements of the fabric surrounding them.

Then, Ren suddenly smiled. "My love, there is one last thing that I need to ask of you." His voice remained gentle, but the expression on his face slowly began changing.

The corners of his lips curved upward into a strange smile that contained none of the warmth Serena remembered. His eyes, which had once looked at her with affection, now seemed completely empty of emotion.

Seeing that expression, Serena suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of danger. Her body instinctively stiffened, and she tried to move backwards in her chair. However, before she could stand up, Ren calmly continued speaking.

"I need your Mana heart." For a moment, Serena thought that she had misheard him. She stared at Ren in complete disbelief, unable to understand what he had just said. However, the cold expression on his face made it painfully clear that he was completely serious.

"You see, my love, absorbing the corrupted Mana from dead cultivators is only one part of mastering the Abyssal Heart Devouring Art." Ren explained as though he were discussing something perfectly ordinary.

"There is one final condition that I must fulfil before I can completely master this technique. I need the Mana heart of a living cultivator. Unlike the hearts of dead cultivators, a living Mana heart still contains pure, active Mana. By absorbing it alongside the corrupted Mana that I’ve already gathered, I can complete the final stage of this forbidden art."

Serena’s face instantly turned pale. She had already been frightened by Ren’s transformation, but hearing him calmly explain that he needed her heart made her feel as though the entire world had suddenly stopped moving. She wanted to believe that he was joking or that she had misunderstood his words. However, the terrifying expression on his face left her with little hope.

"Ren... what are you saying?" She asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes were already beginning to fill with tears as she desperately searched his face for even the slightest sign of the man she once knew.

"My love, I know that you will be lonely and sad without me." Ren replied with a strange smile.

"After all, we’ve been together for so many years, and I know how much you love me. So rather than leaving you behind to suffer alone, why don’t we die together today? You can go ahead first. Don’t worry, I will be joining you in a little while." His fate was already sealed. Regardless of whether he won today or not, he was going to die in merciless agony death because he had comitted the Taboo of All Taboos.

The moment those words left his mouth, Serena felt something inside her break. She had been willing to abandon the throne, her position as Empress, and everything else just to remain beside him.

She had even been willing to spend the rest of her life hiding in some remote corner of the world, as long as they could continue living together. Yet the very man she had loved so deeply was now calmly telling her that he intended to kill her.

Serena desperately tried to speak, but she never managed to finish her sentence.

Before she could react, Ren’s right hand suddenly transformed into a sharp dragon claw. In the next instant, his claw shot forward with terrifying speed, piercing straight through her chest before she had any chance to defend herself.

Everything happened so quickly that Serena did not even have time to understand what was happening. Her body suddenly stiffened, and a terrible pain spread through her chest. When she slowly lowered her gaze, she was horrified to discover that Ren had already pulled his claw out of her body.

And in his palm was her own heart.

The heart was still faintly pulsing, with the remaining Mana inside it continuing to circulate for a few brief moments. Serena stared at it in disbelief before slowly raising her eyes toward Ren. The man she loved was standing directly before her, holding her heart in his hand while looking at it with a cold and emotionless gaze.

There was no hesitation in his expression. No shock, no fear, and not even the slightest sign of guilt over what he had just done. It was almost as though he had simply collected another cultivation resource rather than taken the life of the woman who had loved him for so many years.

Serena’s lips trembled as she tried to say something, but no words came out. Her strength was rapidly disappearing, and she could feel her consciousness beginning to fade. Even in her final moments, she could not understand how things had reached this point.

Just a short while ago, she had been begging Ren to abandon the war so that they could escape together and start a family. Yet now, the future she had dreamed of had been destroyed by the very person she wanted to share it with.

As Ren continued staring at the heart in his palm, something unexpected happened. A single tear slowly formed in his left eye before rolling down his cheek.

Despite the corruption that had nearly destroyed his ability to feel positive emotions, a tiny part of the old Ren still remained somewhere deep inside him. That small part of him understood what he had just done.

It remembered the woman who had stood beside him for years, who had loved him when he was nothing more than an ambitious member of the Imperial Family, and who had remained loyal to him even when everything around him was falling apart.

However, that remaining trace of affection was far too weak to overcome the hatred and obsession that had taken control of him. The corrupted Mana had already changed him so much that even the sight of Serena dying before his eyes was no longer enough to make him regret his decision.

"I’m sorry, my love, but this is the only way." Ren finally whispered while looking at her.

Those were the last words Serena heard before the remaining strength left her body. Her eyes slowly lost their light, and her body fell lifelessly against the chair. Even in her final moments, she had continued looking at the man she loved, unable to understand why he had chosen to do something so terrible.

Meanwhile, Ren remained standing before her, holding her Mana heart in his dragon claw. The single tear that had rolled down his cheek was the only sign that some part of him still remembered the love they had once shared.

After his one and only lover had taken her last breath, Ren remained standing beside her lifeless body for a few moments. He looked at Serena one last time before slowly turning his attention toward the corpses of the fallen Sixth and Seventh Order cultivators that had been gathered inside his tent.

"Now, it’s time to absorb the remaining corrupted Mana inside these Mana hearts." Ren murmured while looking at the corpses lying before him.

With Serena’s Mana heart in his possession, he had finally fulfilled one of the most important conditions required to master the Abyssal Heart Devouring Art. All that remained was to absorb enough corrupted Mana from the fallen cultivators to complete his preparations.

While her heart was still pulsing, Ren started absorbing the Mana inside her heart into his body. ’It’s warm like her!’

There was a little bit of regret, but within seconds, those emotions very quickly disappeared as he started his emotions. Instead of his partner’s heart getting colder, its was his heart that was getting cold.

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