"What are we going to do now?" Hector's face was ugly as he asked.
"Since your son has decided he could offer the best protection, then I don't care about his life." Heald growled. "It's just that my sacrifice to get the Registro might now go down the drain if Akotal gets the girl."
"Don't you dare tell me that!" Caius snapped back. "My son's life is in danger now and you are saying you don't care?"
"You can't tell me what to do anymore, Caius. I'm no longer in your coven!" Heald snarled. Then he scoffed. "Not like there's any Casal coven anymore. It's gone, and you will soon be, because of your son's foolishness."
"Graaaa." Caius growled and made to attack Heald but Sarai stepped up.
"You don't do that." Sarai warned. "Your son has done enough damage already."
"You want to kill me for telling you the truth. Well, for your information, Kylian has been trying to be good all this years and it's because of the guilt of what he's done, but let me tell you something. Kylian will never forgive you and our son if anything happens to his only chance at happiness," Heald's eyes was venomous as he said.
Caius' forehead bulged with vein as he breathed heavily.
"You shouldn't even be caring about all this now, Caius." Bellerin coughed and a thin streak of blood slid down the side of his lips. "Adrian can't take on Akotal, we need to go help him."
Bones-the-old stood beside Bellerin and supported him with his shoulder.
Caius' turned his fierce face to Bellerin. "I will go."
"There's another problem, Caius," Bones-the-old said with a worried face as he glanced at the streak of blood that's sliding down Bellerin's lip. "If Bellerin isn't given Adrian's blood soon, he will die."
"I'll get it here in time. Just don't step out of the protection of this place." Caius muttered with a serious look that's etched with concern.
Bellerin's life is in danger.
Things are getting rough for Caius. And his son is mostly the reason. Why he took Christa away was something Caius couldn't even think about, talkless of poisoning Bellerin so as to get away without being stopped.
Caius couldn't be more disappointed. All he could wish for right now is that he gets to the factory in time before Akotal could kill Adrian.
Caius turned to Sarai, his eyes were almost teary as he pleaded. "Sarai, please tell me you will find a way to get what we need from the Registro."
"I will try." Sarai pursed her lips.
Caius stared at Sarai for a while, then he nodded firmly. He can only trust the heavens and Sarai's capability as a witch right now.
With a last glance, Caius sped off.
"I need to go there too, something might happen to Kylian or his soulmate," Heald said as he turned to Sarai.
Sarai stared at him for a while. Her eyes glinted with tenderness never seen before in her eyes and all of a sudden, she stepped closer to Heald, stood on her toe and kissed his lips.
Heald's eyes flashed with surprise. His breath hung in his throat, his brain seemed to shut down for several seconds and his muscles failed him.
Sarai pulled back after almost a minutes as she muttered. "Please get back here safely. Please."
Heald was so shocked that he didn't know what to say as he stared at Sarai's eyes and felt lost in it glittering.
He had never thought of it or for a second ever since he knew Sarai that she had something for him, not until now. And he couldn't help but sigh bitterly in his heart because this is very bad timing. He's going to stand beside Kylian now, in a fight against a foe so powerful than them that a swing of his arm could take their lives. But now there's a chance he wouldn't want to miss right in front of him.
The bitterness he felt almost quenched the excitement in his heart.
After a while, he pulled together himself as he muttered with emphasis and glittering eyes. "I will come back here, safely. I promise."
"I will go with you," Benzo said to Heald.
Heald's face contorted in concern. "You need to rest, you just work up from two days comatose."
"No, I don't need to rest. There's a fire we all have to quench out there." Benzo sprung to his feets and faced Heald.
Heald was silent for a while. His eyes flashing with complex emotion as he gazed at Benzo. After a few seconds, he nodded. "Alright."
Casting Sarai a last glance, Heald headed out of the place, heading to the abandoned factory, with Benzo by his side.
"Go with him." Sarai said to Mei Li with a pleading look.
Mei Li nodded and grabbed her sword as she went after Heald.
Mac, already in his half wolf form, let out a low growl and zoomed after Heald too.
Under Sarai's anxious gaze, they all disappeared from sight.
"Let's get back to work. The stakes just rose higher." Sarai muttered, talking to Melissa and Hector specifically.
Bones-the-old supported Bellerin and helped him seat down on a heap of rubbles that reach their knee easily, as the latter struggled with the poison that ran through his veins.
"How do we translate this weird Registro now." Melissa groaned.
"I don't care about how I get to know what's in this book. We need to crack whatever is useful in it." Sarai sounded desperate. Bet she would be since the life of the person she loves is now in the range of death.
"I have an idea." Hector muttered.
***********
The abandoned factory.
"I know how you feel, child. Having to bear the burden of not making sure I was dead is not something you can handle." Akotal's voice echoed across the hall.
The resounding echoe was all he got for an answer.
He continued. "You decided to clear away all your undoing, by bringing the Descendant to me and then, kill me, I guess. Despite knowing the risk if you fail. That Skull will never forgive you for risking his Soulmate. Your fight will be everlasting and the blood and pain will be historical."
There was silence for a while.
But soon, Adrian's voice boomed in the hall.
"I now see why despite having a powerful hunter and a powerful dark witch by your side, you still couldn't fight and defeat Lead Skull completely. You suffered a backlash that costs you a sacrifice every three hundred years."
Akotal's face tightened with a frown. "What is it?"
"Because you are a fool whose only drive is darkness."
Slowly, a candle lit up at a far end of the dark hall, bringing along with it a bit of illumination. But despite the poor illumination, one could still see the darkened face of the Primordial lord as he heard what Adrian just said.
"And apparently, darkness is never on your side considering how much you have lost to it."
Another candle lit up at the far right end of the hall illuminating the place too.
"You lost her… Ava. You lost them… your family, the Tribunals."
Another candle lit up at the left corner of the side the door is located, right behind Akotal.
"You lost your minions… the warthogs, the vampires, Adama."
Another candle burned with red flames at the right corner behind Akotal again. And now there's four candles, burning with flames at the four cardinal points of the hall.
"You lost the dark witches, forever. And finally, you lost your friend… Aro."
Akotal finally couldn't hold it any longer as he growled very hard that the walls of the hall shook.
"Come close to me child and let me tell you all about it!"
"No, you are going to kill and give me the worst death possible." Adrian's voice came again. "Be truthful for once in your life. I am not even sure if you trully loved her because considering her dessicating body locked up in a coffin right now, it didn't feel loved by a Primordial named Akotal."
"You are so dead!!!" Akotal roared and his dark ancient fangs erupted.
Bang!
The spot he was standing on before shattered into a thousand pieces as his body became a blur.
Adrian watched with narrowed eyes as Akotal approached him and Christa.
Akotal growled and lunged his dark claws forward at them at a speed impossible to follow even for Adrian.
However,
Bang!
Akotal was brought to a halt by an invisible force exactly ten meters away from Adrian and Christa.
A mini shockwave erupted from the collision and the rogue wind blew Christa's red hair anf her lips trembled slightly in shock. She didn't know Akotal moved from where he was before, not until now that he appeared before them.
Adrian had taken her against her will but when he got to tell her his plan, she decided to play along, something Kylian might not be pleased with because it entails risking her life. Kylian would never do that.
But Adrian thinks it's the best.
Thankfully, an invisible force stopped him.
Akotal's eyes flashed with surprise. His eyes were narrowed as he lifted his palm and tried to push it forward only for it to stop exactly ten meters from the duo.
He looked down and his eyes narrowed when he saw the black sand on the ground. The black sand formed a circle around Adrian and Christa.
He could feel the energy pulsing off the black sand but he doesn't know what it is. "What is this?"
"The habit of not coming out for your Primordials doesn't let you know a lot of things. This should be Interesting." Adrian narrowed his eyes. "It's called the Sabari Salt. I created the circle so I'm in charge here. So if you want Christa or me, then you will have to step in, gently."
Akotal's eyes narrowed in a calculative way. His fists clenched beside him and his red eyes glinted as he moved forward to step into the circle.
Just at that very moment, Adrian nodded towards Christa and she stepped out of the circle.
"What are you doing?!" Akotal growled and lunged towards Christa to get her but-
Bang!
He was slammed back into the middle of the circle.
Akotal growled in anger as he turned to Adrian.
The latter grinned. "I'm afraid, you can't go out there, old man. We are stuck here together. Now it's time to settle our score."
"Humph!" Akotal's eyes brimmed with murderous intent as he growled. "You are so dead, Caius' boy."
Christa watched from outside the circle with her eyes filled with anticipation and her fingers fidgeting with anxiety.
As she gazed at Adrian executing his so called suicide plan, all she could do was pray that it worked because if it doesn't, it would be disastrous.
Bang!
Akotal lunged at Adrian and snapped his fingers.
A boulder formed by a portion of the wall that teared apart plunged towards Adrian from outside the circle but-
Bang!
It rebounded off the invisible circle.
"I'm sorry, no interference from the outside, old man." Adrian grinned. Hus face flashed with fierceness as he swung his hands at Akotal and almost a thousand bees emerged from the thin air and swooped at Akotal.
The latter didn't even have the time to react when the bees slammed at his chest.
Bang!
Akotal was flung across the middle of the circle but he was able to maintain his stance and land on his feets as he held up his palms and the air between him and the bees trembled slightly.
Adrian fisted his hands and pushed it forward.
In response, the large bees formed a large fist in unison and plunged forward at Akotal with force, aiming to smash the Primordial vampire into pieces.
The space between Akotal and the bees trembled and rippled visibly making the Primordial Vampire grunt as his elbows were pushed back just as his body as he tried to stop the approaching bees with his telekinesis.
His eyes trembled with disbelief, he has never seen an ordinary vampire create such a powerful force with their special ability. His eyes blazed with frustration as he grunted very loud and pushed his palms forth with a strenuous effort.
The bees stopped on their tracks.
Adrian watched, confused and somewhat surprised at what's happening. He watched with thin eyes. His lips paled and his heart stopped beating for a while as he gazed at the tussle between the bees and Akotal.
All of a sudden,
Bang!
A force bursted outward and the bees spread out. Then all the bees were suspended in the air, like lifeless things.
The force sent Adrian slamming his back at the invisible circle and he dropped on his knee.
Akotal emerged from behind the spreading bees and his fiery red eyes flashed with anger.
Adrian tried to control the bees back to himself but he couldn't.
"You can't." Akotal growled. "I controlled them to slam against each other so hard. Seemed they couldn't withstand it and now they have lost their consciousness. They can't hurt me and they won't listen to you any longer. Now you are mine, child."
Bang!
Before Adrian could react, Akotal appeared right in front of him and flung him into the air.
Before Adrian could land, Akotal appeared beneath him. All Adrian could do was watch Akotal's power disconnected with his chest.
Several cracking sounds erupted and Adrian let out a loud scream of pain as he crashed down at the far end of the circle.
His right arm has bent into an impossible shape. He had used it to shield his chest at the last second. It didn't seem to be ready to heal as Adrian held it whilst grimacing in agony.
"You are weak. Just like your father. Caius, he couldn't fight me on his own. He couldn't face me. He preferred to hide behind Ava and she of course took him to Silvanus who marked him." Akotal stopped about a meter away from Adrian. "Caius thought he was safe with the mark. But in reality, it was because of Ava that I decided not to kill him."
"Still the same liar!" Adrian snapped. "You don't care about her."
"Well, you are not to tell, child."
"You never loved her. If you did, you wouldn't have cursed her. She did nothing wrong to you yet you cursed her and killed her for good."
Akotal boiled and his eyes burned the more Adrian talked.
Adrian's face was fierce as he continued. "Do you know what I used to think? Ever since my father told me about the story, I have always thought about it. Ava left you and chose Lead skull-"
"My family forced her!" Akotal growled back.
"Your family forced her? I wonder if they did the same with Caius de Casal, my father, too." Adrian grinned.
Akotal's eyes blazed with anger as he lunged his powerful fist at Adrian's head but the latter dodged and swept Akotal off his feet.
Akotal twisted in the air and landed on his feets.
Adrian sped across the room creating space between them both. Akotal jacked his cloak and faced Adrian again.
Adrian's lips pursed and twitched and his eyes glinted with calculation as he took a stance. "I know you are stronger than me, old man. But I'm not gonna stand by and watch you live."
"I welcome you to die, child." Akotal's mouth opened and he bared his dark thick fangs as he lunged at Adrian. "Graaaaa!"
As Christa watched from outside the Black Sand barrier, all she could do was pray that Adrian's so called deathly plan work, because if it doesn't, not only will Akotal kill him, Christa herself will die and Akotal will feet what he wants.
But if there's a slim chance that Adrian's plan works, then, Akotal will be defeated for good.
********