Free and Unfettered 155 Ritual Formation

Was there something deeper at play here?

How was it that of all people that was behind the world's catastrophe, they were able to find two out of three that looked exactly like Nine and Nocturne?

The more she thought about it, the more it felt like something wasn't right. Was there something deeper to this, or was she just overthinking it?

Although the two Elves looked the same on the outside (other than their colouring), while she couldn't tell how the High Elf's personality was, based on their short interaction with Helce, she could see that the Elf had no regard for anyone else, but upon meeting her King, she was almost fanatical.

Nine didn't like to think about it, but hadn't she acted somewhat similarly in her past life? As Acadia? Granted, that Elf seemed to be taking extremes to a whole new level, with the acidic things she was spewing, but Nine could have seen herself going insane like that if it was years upon years.

Helce shouted at the Vampire King, only to be snarled at by the High Elf, who was then scolded by the Vampire King.

It was truly a special kind of vicious cycle that was taking place right in front of their very eyes. Usually, people talked about vicious cycles in more abstract terms, but here, it was very physically present.

Helce's expression morphed continuously from hurt and pain to anger and resentment. The more His Majesty scolded her, taking the side of her subordinate the Vampire King, the more she felt the resentment and wronged feelings fester within her.

It reached the point where she even imagined that if she just killed off the Vampire King, His Majesty would be free of his control. The moment the thought appeared in her head; she could no longer hold back the rush of negative feelings directed towards the Vampire King.

As if the presence of their fakes standing near them supported Helce's theory, she couldn't help but feel that she might have been able to have a reciprocal and consensual relationship with His Majesty had the Vampire King never existed.

The thought nearly drove her insane. Her emotional wounds festered rapidly at the sight of the two Vampires still holding interlaced hands in the midst of the chaos that surrounded the throne room.

Could she and His Majesty have been like that too? In the face of the many years that already passed, surely some feelings would have developed by now, if not for the blasted Vampire King!

Helce gripped her hand tightly, unable to fight off the anger that boiled within. Her nails pierced the palm of her hand, which was one of the taboos of this world. No matter how angry someone was, they usually would subconsciously avoid hurting themselves to prevent a loss of blood.

Helce's blood dripped on the floor, soon forming a sizable, red puddle.

Nine's eyes sharpened as she spotted the blood staining the previously pristine floor. If it was just that, it would have been fine, but a magic circle was starting to form from the blood that dripped down the Elf's pale skin.

Nine made a move to intercept her, but the Vampire King blocked her attempt to end things early before it got any worse.

She felt like cursing the Vampire King. Honestly, he had lost all of his remaining brain cells, with how he was defending a woman who was likely about to try and kill him. But she couldn't blame him, for within the Vampire King, only the presence of the Elf remained, wiping out everything else that might have been precious to him.

"Bastard," Helce cursed, her eyes red. As she saw the Vampire King block the attempt on her life that might have killed her to end her suffering, her mind couldn't help but break down further. "Bastard!" she cursed again, forgoing any previous elegance that her appearance might have painted.

At this moment, Helce looked slightly deranged, with the way the whites of her eyes reddened, bloodshot. The Elf was torn between wanting to die and wanting to kill the Vampire King.

However, her attempt at courting death had failed, so then she would redirect all of her efforts to kill the Vampire King.

Although His Majesty might hate her after she did so, as long as enough time passed, he would be free from the Vampire King's influence over his life, allowing him to begin anew.

Similarly, should Helce die, the Vampire King would have been freed from her influence, ending the triangle in another way.

Lost, Helce couldn't help but vent all her frustrations. "Lousy fakes! If only I had never laid an eye on you, I would have been at least satisfied for the rest of my life serving His Majesty but seeing you together so happily makes me want to damn the entire world!"

As she spoke, tears of blood dripped down from her eyes, her soft laughter descending into something maniacal.

Nocturne couldn't say that he was comfortable watching someone with Nine's face descend into what seemed like madness but couldn't help but imagine Nine's presence overlapping the Elf instead. The thought that Nine would go crazy for him like that, utterly deranged, but at the core of it, the love that had sustained their relationship, caused him to squirm.

Just as he was in the middle of flushing, he caught sight of the High Elf moving to help the Vampire King, who was now steadily facing off with Nine. His eyes flashed.

Within half a second, Nocturne had moved himself in front of the High Elf, launching an attack at his unguarded flank, just as the High Elf reached forward. The result of such tunnel-vision was that he neglected Nocturne's presence in the room.

The silver gleam of a dagger cut through the air, burying itself in the High Elf's side. Swiftly pulling it out, Nocturne gave the Elf King a hard kick just below where the large wound had been made, sending him across the room.

Nocturne had no qualms whatsoever at hurting another being who had the same face as himself. Seeing as he had the audacity to try and obstruct Nine's fun, who was he to interrupt? Although he suspected that Nine had no idea, she always had a small grin on her face when she battled someone new. He wouldn't allow anyone to interfere.

Helce let out a piercing scream. "Zephyr!" So concerned and nearly out of her mind with worry, the Elf had no second thoughts about using the first name of the High Elf, struggling. The speed of the crafting magic circle on the floor increased by a fold as she stressed her mind and her body.

Although the ropes that had been used to bind her cut off magic from circulating, if the person who was bound knew how to do it, they could burn their own lifeforce to 'create' magic so to speak.

What Helce was doing was effectively cutting short her remaining lifespan desperately in her shock and despair. She wanted out of these ropes. She wanted to kill the Vampire King, and she wanted to pour all of her magic to heal what was undoubtedly a fatal wound in the High Elf's side.

The Vampire King's expression changed upon hearing the Elf's heart wrenching scream. Although he didn't care a single whit for the High Elf, he couldn't stand the fact that his Lady was in pain.

The High Elf was important to his Lady, which was part of the reason why his subconscious had always screamed at him not to meet the High Elf in the presence of his Lady.

The blood that was pouring out of the bound Elf had similarly increased by a fold to match the speed the circle was being crafted.

She had changed her mind when she witnessed Zephyr mercilessly stabbed in his flank. She would be able to rest until everyone in the room was dead besides Zephyr! Instead of crafting the magic spell that she was previously about to use to free herself, she started a ritual.

It was a ritual that she had only used once, all those years ago.

The name of the ritual was 'Life Sacrificial'.

This was a ritual that was hardly ever used. Classified as a dark ritual, it involved the sacrifice of lifeforce of the user's own. There was no surprise why it was hardly ever used. Only in the direst of situations would one need to use it, sacrificing their own life for power. There were usually many other options that one could take to avoid using this spell, and even Helce herself had only ever used it once. To save His Majesty all those years ago.

This time, she would use it again, to once again save her King.

The blood forming on the floor burned bright, and a sudden realization dawned in the Vampire King's eyes as he saw the ritual slowly forming.

"No!"

Chapter end