Chapter 486: The Long Lost Tale Part XXXII *

The sky roared, and then, rain fell, as if the heavens too began to mourn. Lexus continued his rampage, and the once formidable castle had turned into an inferno.

Alex was still there, kneeling as he held her in his arms. She was gone. His sun was no more. She would never shine again, leaving his world into total darkness forever.

He was broken, in and out. His complexion was ashen, so lifeless as if his heart and soul had died along with her.

The blazing furnace continued eating the castle, but the chaos didn't even bother Alex anymore. He couldn't hear anything. He would no longer care even if the world would crumble right then and there.

After staring at her face for an immeasurable amount of time, Alex's hands moved, and he gently brushed the strands of hair away from her pale face. And then, he pulled her up and hugged her. His body shook as he cried, calling her name over and over again.

Zeres, who had just escaped the fire after confronting his mother, landed behind Alexander. Zeres was still bleeding. The futile confrontation he had had with the witch queen finally made him realize that his very own mother had lied to him. And he saw it with his own two eyes, how Alexander gave his everything to save Abigail, that Alexander was never here to kill her.

Clenching his fists, Zeres walked closer to them, dragging his wounded body. His eyes filled with nothing but grief and guilt, knowing that Abigail was dead. This all happened because of him, because he believed his mother's words. The girl he loved had died because of his betrayal, and he would never forgive himself for that.

He looked at the raging beast in the sky before his gaze fell to Alexander's shaking body. He too, wanted to hug her one last time, just one more time. But he felt like he didn't even deserve to touch her anymore. His regret and guilt were killing him.

After just standing there and watching Alexander's agony, Zeres noticed that the color of Alexander's skin had become greenish, indicating that the poison had already spread in his body and that he was now beyond saving.

Zeres felt his throat constricted, and he clenched his fists even tighter. Knowing that Alexander would also die soon at this rate, Zeres looked down and stared at his hands. He moved one step closer but halted. He was hesitant if it was the right move for him to try and save Alexander. Wouldn't it better if he will die too? He had seen how much this man had loved Abigail. No matter how much he hated it, he couldn't deny the fact that Alexander's love for Abigail was greater than what he could ever offer. So he knew that his pain was something indescribable. He understood what Alexander was feeling right then. He could tell that living or dying didn't make any difference to him anymore. Because that was how he felt, and he knew this man must have had it worse. This was why he thought that saving Alexander might be a bad idea.

However, when Zeres thought about Abigail, he moved again and crouched behind Alexander. Thinking about Abigail made Zeres realize that Abigail would definitely wish for this man to stay alive. He knew that if Abigail was around, she would definitely beg him to save Alexander. Thus, he decided to do it. This way, he could at least do something even though this will never be enough to atone for his sin.

Zeres knew about this poison because witches originally created this. He knew that Alex couldn't even feel his body anymore, so Zeres didn't hesitate to touch him. He placed his hands on the huge wound in his back as he closed his eyes.

A chant began to roll out from his lips, and green and silver light began to glow from his palm to Alexander's wound. Zeres frowned as he gritted his teeth, as if he was in pain. Alexander was supposedly beyond saving, but there was a spell powerful enough to save him. But like all of the powerful spells, this would also require something huge in return - the life of the spellcaster.

The green and silver glow intensified. Alexander still didn't notice anything. He was still numbed, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

As the raging rain and fire fell around them, the green and silver glow from Zeres' hands seemed to have exploded before it slowly disappeared.

Alexander's skin was back to its normal pale color, but Zeres' skin turned greenish. The poison had been transferred to him.

Utterly weakened, Zeres' forced himself to stand and quickly left. He didn't want Alexander to see him. He hid behind a wall and fell on his knees. He sat and leaned on the wall, smiling bitterly as he clutched his chest. 'What a damn fate.' He murmured as he closed his eyes. 'I'm sorry, Abigail. But no... don't ever forgive me.'

Zeres didn't know that Alexander had seen him leave. Alexander could feel his body again, and he saw his wounds had healed. But that didn't even make him feel a little better. He just stared at the wall where Zeres had disappeared from for a long while before he looked at Abigail again.

He was swallowed entirely by nothing but pain and agony. His tears wouldn't roll down, and no sound could even escape from his lips anymore.

But his hands moved, and he began to stroke her hair with all the gentleness in the world. He did just that for an immeasurable amount of time until someone came and approached him.

"Alexander!" A woman's voice called out as she knelt before him; it was Dinah. He had escaped from the vampire King while they were occupied with the dragon because she realized that the dragon keeper's power wasn't transferred to her. She knew that Abigail was dead, and she knew that all of the dragon keepers received the dragon keeper's ability the moment the previous dragon keeper took his last breath. But nothing happened to her. She tried to call out for Lexus but the dragon didn't listen to her. That was why, she immediately ran away to find Alexander. "Alexander! Let's go. The dragon is coming!" she frantically told him.

When Alexander didn't even look at her, Dinah lifted her hands to hold his face and make him look at her. However, she was shocked when Alexander's hand suddenly gripped her neck. When he looked at her, his eyes were dark as an abyss. There was no warm emotion in them anymore. His beautiful eyes had become colorless and completely lifeless, like a sky with no stars, no moon, nor sun—just a completely black canvas.

He slowly placed Abigail down without letting go of Dinah's neck.

Dinah struggled to break free from his grip. She was scared of this man. This wasn't the Alexander she knew. The way he looked at her that moment sent shivers down her spine. As if he was scarier than the monster dragon from above. She never thought this man could become this terrifying.

"L-let go, Alexander." She begged, struggling. But Alexander didn't even loosen his grip. He stood up and dragged her a few steps away from Abigail's body.

Dinah began to tremble. The danger and ominous aura she was feeling from Alexander that moment was enough to freeze her soul. It was almost as if a demon had possessed him.

"Please... I'm... beg -"

Dinah couldn't even finish her words because Alexander's grip on her neck tightened as he lifted her in the air. Tears began to flow from her eyes as she struggled futilely with all he might. She never thought that she would die in this man's hand. No, this wasn't the Alexander she knew. This man was a monster!

Heartlessly, Alexander dropped the lifeless Dinah on the floor.

He didn't even look down at her. He simply looked up and watched the raging dragon in the sky before he turned and walked towards Abigail's body.

Slowly, he crouched down and gathered her in his arms, holding her so gently, like she was a fragile vase. He faced outside the castle. His legion was still there. Lexus hadn't attacked them yet as the beast was still busy burning the vampire palaces.

Alexander turned, and one last time, he looked at the wall where Zeres had disappeared from before he finally jumped down the gate. He landed gracefully on the ground with Abigail in his hand and approached his army.

The rain didn't stop falling as Alexander continued walking in the midst of his soldiers, heading back to Black Dragon Hills with Abigail in his arms.

.

[Sorry it's late T^T

P.s. this chap is unedited]