Madison's eyes suddenly shifted from that familiar "What did Tyler do now?" confusion. Her pupils turned into molten gold, just like Astaroth's, but a much darker, ancient shade of gold. Her memories began to flood her mind like a high-definition film on fast-forward.
"I remember..." Madison said. Her voice suddenly dropped three octaves, the hysterical teenage tone replaced by an ancient authority. "1692... Salem. When that idiot Thomas left me standing at the church and ran away, I didn't cry. But as the wood began to burn beneath my feet, I made a vow."
Madison took a step forward, the bones on the floor darkening slightly with every stride. Even Gabriel instinctively took a step back.
"1840... London. When Sir William ran off with the bearded lady from the circus on our wedding day, I wrote it on that stone wall with my own blood: 'If I ever fall in love with a human soul and suffer again, I shall either marry the Lord of Hell or burn this world to ashes!'"
"Asti, I Think We Have a Deal!"
Madison suddenly snapped out of her ancient gravity and returned to her cheerful (but now much more dangerous) self. She reached out and gave Astaroth's stunned face a playful "tap-tap."
"Asti, just think about it! Tyler was the final link in a curse I've been carrying for centuries. By ghosting me, Tyler actually lit the biggest fuse in the universe. So technically, I'm either going to marry you and become the 'First Lady' of this place, or I'm turning the world into a literal barbecue party. Let's be honest, the world doesn't have much going for it anyway—everyone is just a fake filter and an 'I need space' seeker. What do you say? Gabriel can be our witness; he's already dressed in white, totally giving off wedding vibes!"
Gabriel gripped his staff in horror. "This cannot be! The blood-curse of a mortal witch cannot bind universal laws!"
"Oh, it binds them, darling, and how!" Madison said, inspecting her nails. "That vow must have gone straight to the 'Sealed Contracts' department in the deepest layer of Hell. Right, Asti?"
Astaroth's Choice: A Wedding or the Apocalypse?
Astaroth had worked on many apocalypse scenarios in his life. He had planned for cities to burn, souls to scream, and darkness to fall. But his plans never included a "Witch Wife" who would ask every morning, "Asti, should you wear your cape today or your leather armor?", give love advice to demons, and probably decorate Hell with pink ribbons.
"Madison..." Astaroth said, his voice sounding truly exhausted for the first time. "Burning the world... actually doesn't sound that bad. At least it would be quiet."
"Oh, come on!" Madison said, touching Gabriel's wing. "Look, Mr. Angel, if we don't get married, the world burns. If we do, only Astaroth's head will burn. I think we can sacrifice Asti for the public good. And just imagine Tyler's face when he sees the wedding invitation... 'My Ex-Girlfriend is Marrying the Lord of Hell' would trend even on Webnovel!"
Gabriel looked up at the sky and sighed. "I need to ask the 'Higher Board' about this. But Madison... if you sit on that throne again, there will be no turning back."
Madison smiled. This time, it wasn't the smile of the girl stalking Tyler; it was the victory smile of a powerful witch who had been waiting centuries for revenge. "Who wants to go back? Once we fix the Wi-Fi issues here, everything will be fabulous."
Astaroth's golden eyes suddenly went dark; the molten gold glare was replaced by a bottomless, light-swallowing black hole. The weary, "patience-tested" version of him that had been dealing with Madison's chatter vanished, and the Ancient Darkness itself took its place.
"Enough!" Astaroth roared. This time, his voice didn't just shake the room; it vibrated through the seven levels of Hell and the tectonic plates of Earth simultaneously. "Your little blood-curse isn't just ruining my peace, mortal—it's tearing the very fabric of existence!"
As Astaroth slammed his staff in fury, massive purple screens in the square began to display images from Earth. Madison watched in horror as the street where Tyler lived began to dissolve like a cloud of dust.
Tyler, along with those fingers that had sent her so many "Seen" receipts, was being erased from history. But it wasn't just about an "ex" disappearing.
"Look!" Astaroth pointed at the screen, his voice now a hurricane's howl. "Because Tyler is being erased, that taxi driver who argued with him last night and got into a bad mood started his shift early today. Because he started early, he crashed into a bus at the intersection. Do you know who was on that bus? The genius surgeon who was supposed to find the cure for cancer in ten years! And that surgeon is dying right now!"
The images blurred past the kid Tyler gave answers to in high school was now failing his classes; the depression from failing caused a fire in a lab, and that fire plunged an entire continent into darkness.
Madison's vow—"If I ever fall in love with a mortal and suffer, I shall burn the world"—was erasing Tyler's existence like a virus in the universe's code. No Tyler meant thousands of lives were now off-course.
Gabriel dropped his "Charismatic Angel in a White Suit" persona and grabbed Madison's arm. "Madison, stop this! Because of your obsessive curse, Nobel prizes are being canceled, medical history is rewinding, and humanity is returning to the Dark Ages all because of a stalker's pride!"
Gabriel looked up to the sky, as if listening to a divine frequency. His eyes widened in terror. "The order has come! Madison, you must return to Earth immediately. If you don't find that Tyler guy in the same dimension and revoke this vow of your own free will, there won't even be a world left for you to marry Astaroth in—because the world is turning to ash!"
Astaroth loomed over Madison like a dark tower. His wings filled the hall, and his heat reached levels that would boil sulfur pits. For the first time, Madison felt the true terror of the being she had been mocking.
"Go," Astaroth said, his voice cold as an executioner's sentence. "Return to Earth, find that fading mortal, and break your vow. Or else..." Astaroth leaned in, his face inches from hers. "Or else you will truly have to marry me. And believe me, Madison, my 'honeymoon' will be much more burning than those medieval wood piles of yours."
Madison swallowed hard. She looked at Tyler's fading image, then at Astaroth's terrifying authority. "So... we aren't going to the Maldives for the honeymoon, Asti?" she whispered with one last hope.
"GABRIEL! SEND HER BACK!" Astaroth screamed.
Gabriel struck his staff, and a whirlwind of white and purple light swirled around Madison. In her final second, she shouted to Astaroth:
"I'm keeping the cape as a souvenir! I'll convince Tyler and come back for you, my sexy Lord!"
Madison suddenly found herself in her bed, clutching the Ouija board. But there was a problem: in every photo of Tyler in her room, his face was a blank void. The butterfly effect had begun, and Madison had only a few hours to save the world.