Bride To His Darkness-Chapter 332: Where’s Alistair?

Going up the never ending staircase, the echoes of his footsteps mingled with the distant sounds of clashing steels and demonic roar. His eyes burned with a mixture of apprehension and foreboding, whilst he failed to fathom why his cousin would dare face Marius alone.

The thought of Alistair confronting Marius physically only made his heart pound faster, his mind wrestling with conflicting emotions after what Alistair had done. He was angered by his cousin’s reckless bravery, despite his unforgiving actions, but the fear that he might be too late to save the nuisance of a vampire made him dash past the endless stairs with a speed of light, the flickering candle lights casting long blurry shadows of his figure on the wall.

"You better be alive!" Ivan murmured under his breath, a growl of frustration escaping his lips.

He halted upon making it to the balcony where he sensed the fight happening, and a scene of devastation greeted him. Shattered stone and scorched tapestries bore witness to the supernatural struggle that had transpired, but no matter where he looked, he could not find Marius or his cousin.

The backdrop of the crumbling walls framed the sun’s descent over the balcony, painting the ruined structure in hues of orange and pink.

"Alistair–" the rest of his words stopped at his throat, and his pupils dilated when Marius emerged from behind one of the pillars, dragging Alistair with him by his foot. A malicious smile curved Marius’s lips upon witnessing the horrific reaction on Ivan’s visuals, and he released the vampire’s foot. His deep wounds, which the wild vampire had inflicted on him during their fight were starting to heal, and he sighed with content when his healing process was completed.

"Ah, the noble vampire Lord has arrived just in time to witness the demise of his kin." He chuckled softly, the sound echoing through the desolate space. In front of him lay the battered Alistair who struggled to rise, but Marius was quick to hold the vampire in a vice-like grip, whilst threatening to extinguish the spark of life that remained. With his crystal still embedded in the wild vampire’s chest, he had the upper-hand to ruin his soul, and to justify his success in ending a vampire, his powers would be upgraded once more.

"Alistair?"

"Sigh... what are you doing here?" Despite being presently tortured with wounds, marks and his blood painting his pale skin, Alistair’s eyes weakly moved to settle on his cousin who was frozen at the spot. Obviously, Ivan had never seen him in such a state, and that was because getting past Alistair’s strength was an attainment no one could achieve, it was nearly impossible but seeing him like this, all vulnerable and defeated– Ivan’s rage only intensified, and he could feel the primal thirst for revenge coursing through his veins.

"Let him go, Marius." His fist clenched, feeling a primal urge to tear Marius apart for laying a hand on his cousin. "It’s me you want isn’t it? Let him go and we can both end–"

"It’s too late." Alistair’s voice, which could be compared to that of a whisper, made Ivan stop mid-sentence. Desperation clawed at him as his gaze flickered between Alistair and Marius, torn between the desire to obliterate the demon and the need to ensure his cousin survives.

"I think it’s only fair that your cousin pays the price for your action." Marius tightened his grip on Alistair, so much so that his clawed hands were starting to bury themselves inside Alistair’s back, eliciting a pained groan from the vampire. "You took something of mine that matters to me, you took away the only gem capable of dominating this existence, and now that you have succeeded in coming in the way of my plans, I shall take something of yours."

"NO! LISTEN!!–"

"Hey Ivan," Alistair’s voice, a fragile echo in the vastness of the space made Ivan gaze down at his cousin, feeling utterly helpless and unable to make an attack. A smile reached Alistair’s lips when he saw the regretful tears swimming in Ivan’s eyes, and it reminded him of what he once said to Ivan when they were still tender. Knowing he didn’t have much time left before he departed from the world, he pushed himself to speak.

"Forgive me." Managing a fragile smile, he forced himself to speak, ignoring the blood that escaped his lips incessantly. He tilted his head slightly, eyes, once vibrant, dimmed as he closed them with content.

"I hope you can take it from here."

"No wait, don’t you dare! This isn’t all you have to say to me, you–" and Ivan froze when Marius’s clawed hand penetrated to Alistair’s front, ripping out his heart and separating it from the body. Alistair gasped at the agonizing penetration, a final breath escaping his lips.

"ALISTAIR!!" Ivan’s voice thundered through the room, cutting through the chaos. Alistair’s eyes met his in that heart-stopping moment, a mixture of pain and relief flickering within them before his life force slipped away like sand through an hourglass.

Marius pulled his hand out, and Alistair’s body crumpled to the ground, unmoving.

"He was such a worthy opponent," Marius curled his bloody hand into fist and spat, "what a waste! He chose family over power. I could have given him everything, but I guess the saying is true, the bond of a family can jinx one’s fate." He turned to face Ivan whose eyes hadn’t shifted from the lifeless body of his cousin.

The world seemed to slow down for Ivan, and with a speed that blurred the line between shadows and substance, he lunged forward with a guttural growl, eyes burning brighter than a kindling flame. The sudden clash sent shockwaves through the balcony, leading the already struggling pillars to crumble to the ground, but what Marius hadn’t foreseen was the decisive blow that landed on his face, whilst it sent him sprawling towards a pillar and breaking through five of them. His back met the wall, and with a vicious snarl, he tried to retaliate at the vampire only for his movement to stop short...

"What tha... ARGH!!" He growled in pain when something sharp went through his system, whilst his pupils dilated when he looked down at his chest to see his arms pierced with what looked familiar to his spears, except they were attached to chains wielded by someone. Another one targeted both his legs, penetrating through the back of his limbs and pinning him to the wall.

Turning his head to see who was controlling such a dangerous weapon, another vampire he wasn’t familiar with emerged from the dissipating dust. Before he could find the time to react, the chains sliced through him, dismembering his body in one swoop. However, being a demon who had regained his power, he did not die, but that didn’t save him from experiencing the pain that came with being dismembered.

"The book of history has it that you won’t be able to regenerate until your body is somehow joined together again." Duncan walked past the bloody mess he had created, and out of everyone, he was the only one whose outfit remained untouched and in place. "I shall keep this with me, to ensure that never happens."

And he took Marius’s head.

"Hmm?" Turning his head to where Ivan knelt, Duncan approached the vampire, but he never expected that the lifeless body Ivan was kneeling close to was the body of Alistair.

"Alistair?"

There was no time for grief as the building shook relentlessly, and that was a signal for the two of them to leave immediately.

"Ivan, get up, we need to go now! The bombs will destroy everything, including everyone in it! Come with me!" He helped Ivan up to his feet, and going downstairs was no longer advisable, because when they eventually made it down, the building would have been blown to bits.

"We can’t leave his body behind." Ivan shook his head at the thought of leaving Alistair’s body behind, but Duncan knew there was absolutely no way to retrieve his body without one of them slowing down.

"We... we have to." He hesitated, even if he wasn’t happy with it. "There’s no time to decide, jump! Now!" And with that, he pushed Ivan off the balcony, following behind, and as if timed, the bomb went off, and the fortress exploded into bits.

Ivan’s black wings had spread out involuntarily, saving him from a fall, and Duncan clung onto the vampire whose massive wings flew them away from the chaos.

The sound of the building exploding sent shockwaves through the land, and Samantha, who was being looked after by Lucy in a sheltered land close to a shore, rose to her feet at the sight of the fire and smoke that permeated the air from afar.

Her restless heart immediately eased when she saw Ivan and Duncan approaching, and when they both dropped close to the shore, Samantha didn’t hesitate to run towards Ivan, enveloping him in a hug he responded to.

"I’m so glad you’re safe." She whispered in their embrace, but soon regained herself at Alistair’s absence.

"Where’s... where’s Alistair?"

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