Morticia

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

"What... What do you mean?!" I ask snappily, demanding what he meant. Mistress of Light's beloved child..? Someone who caught my elder brother's attention and earned the wariness of my father..? Is he saying my father is going on a killing spree?! I glared at him and strengthened the protective spell I cast around me and the Archduke threefold while I continued to heal him. The man-turned-demonic creature languidly walked around us and laughed sinisterly sounding like a painful screech.

"I told you. Your father's going to kill that girl!" His voice, still hard to hear, echoed in the mansion's ruins. Walking as if in an amusement park, he casually launched several mana bursts toward us, each stronger than the other, destroying the remaining intact walls. "You know how your father is. He wants Solaria and then he wants the world. And to do that, he needed your capabilities as the goddesses' beloved child! Don't you know how much trouble I had to go through to be able to extract her power? It was annoying!" He laughed like a broken record, screeching painfully in my ears.  My nose bled. I felt my mana rapidly depleting and I had to cut off the healing process for the Archduke. I gritted my teeth and focused on preventing the barrier from collapsing.

"But, well... "

"You're just as much of a nuisance as that brat." Suddenly stopping in his tracks, he crouched down, eyeing me coldly with his black bead-like eyes. " How dare you make me go through all this trouble..." He tilted his head twisting gorily as his red, swollen eyes stared angrily at me. Fear trapped me as if a hand wrapped tightly around my neck. This overwhelming force... I can't breathe..! I stood frozen on the ground, eyes staring wildly at the creature in front of me. I watched helplessly as the barrier that I cast cracked bit by bit at the force exuded by that monster.   This annoyingly familiar feeling gnawed at my being again... As each crack appeared in the protective barrier I tried to maintain with all my might, what can I do..?

... I'm going to die.

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Swords clashed fiercely between me and Darren. the Holy order, the knight order I had thought had my trust, stood idly at the side, ignoring the betrayal their Captain suffered. My heart felt like it was broken to pieces and stabbed with a sharp knife a hundredfold. It hurts. This whole ordeal hurts. Why..? Why must it come to this..?

"Let's stop now, Nevan... I'm tired..." Darren pleaded as he gritted his teeth holding his sword staggeringly. Wounds were visible in his armor-clad self. His eyes appeared tired and helpless. Desperation and agony filled his pitiful demeanor. 

Well, I'm not one to talk. Wounds filled my body like an excessive decoration. My stamina and mana are decreasing at a fast rate by the second. Everything around me was destroyed to pieces caused by the battle between us. And yet, I can't just stop because I know that if I do, I'll be letting them hurt the people I love. I stayed silent as I readied my sword, infusing it again with mana. 

Our fight has been going on for a while now. Seeing that I had no intention of stopping, he readied to attack. His whole form lacked the gentlemanliness his name suggested. Only laced with a firm resolve caused by desperation. A resolve that I can barely understand why he'd do. I reminisced about our childhood. How many times have we gone through ordeals no less harsh than this? I haven't kept count... and yet why..? 

"Tell me, Darren. Was our friendship this easy to betray?"  I asked time and again seeking a reason. He only pursed his lips and held his head down. Seeing his actions were frustrating. I don't understand... "Answer me!!! Was the years we spent together and the hurdles we got by nothing to you?!!!" Venting my anger, tears rushed out of my eyes like a broken dam. I sobbed uncontrollably, donning a picture unfit for a man. My vision clouded due to the tears and I only heard him mumble a faint "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." 

"... Don't tell me you're sorry and answer the question, Goddamit!!!" I tightly held my sword and attacked him. He blocked my attack and countered it. I stabilized myself and then positioned my sword skillfully. We're at a stalemate. Both are tired yet unwilling to give up. 

"I'm sorry, Nevan... I had no choice... I had no choice..." He kept mumbling those words as he launched himself at me. I countered and shouted angrily at him "Why in the world do you have no choice?!! You have a choice!!! WHY ARE YOU CHOOSING TO IGNORE IT?!!!" 

"BECAUSE MY SISTER'S LIFE IS AT STAKE!!!" Screaming at the top of his lungs, Darren broke down, stating the reason he was doing this. Everything stilled as what Darren said dawned upon me. He looked wretched as he sobbingly repeated his reason. "Because Soleia's life is at stake, Nevan... I'm doing this because he's going to kill her if I don't..." I looked at him realizing the gravity of his predicament. 

"He held her captive, Nevan... My precious sister's life is at the mercy of that damned imperial family!!! What am I supposed to do in a situation like this..?! I had no choice but to follow the Emperor's orders..." Darren completely broke down crying. He collapsed as he tried to wipe his continuously flowing tears. I stood silently for a while before opening my mouth.

"... And you think he would keep his word..? You know how the Emperor is. You're holding onto a rotten rope..." I stated in a strained voice. Finding it hard to say these harsh words.

"But it's always like that, isn't it?" He smiled weakly as he raised his head and looked at me. " Even if it's a rotten rope I'm holding onto, I won't let go if it means it could save my loved ones... I'm sure you would do the same." I had nothing to retort. It's as he said. I would be the same if it were my loved ones...

"... I--"

BOOM!!!

I paused and abruptly looked in the direction of the explosion. The Duchy...! The barrier... It's slowly fading... No way. That can't be happening... The barrier is cast by my brother and should not fade as long as my brother is alive... Right, as long as he's alive...

I hurriedly rode my horse and went for the Duchy as fast as I could.