Hellbound With You (WN)

Zeres' long, silver hair glowed as it floated around him on a nonexistent breeze. His silver eyes widening at the same time as though he had seen or sensed something shocking. And then, without warning, he disappeared from the room.

He materialized in the forest where he and Lucas just fought this morning. It was already dark, but the intense sparks coming from clashing swords like series of small lightning strikes ahead of him had made the forest bright.

Without hesitation, Zeres jumped in the middle of the heated clash between Alicia and Lucas. The silver glow in his eyes began to be replaced by a vivid gold hue.

Lucas and Alicia were too focused on their opponent, knowing that one moment of distraction will cost them a major injury that it was too late when they realized that someone had dared jump in the midst of a serious fight. Alicia's eyes widened, knowing that the foolish someone was no other than Zeres. She knew it was too late to stop her swing, so she dissolved her sword at the very last moment. Her blade barely missed Zeres, but she knew the red-head man's sword got him.

The scent of blood filled the air as the three finally stood still. Lucas had his eyes circled at the sight of his sword buried deep in Zeres' body. The cut started from the blade of Zeres' shoulder down to his chest. If Lucas didn't force himself to stop at the very last moment, his blade would've cut the man in half!

Shock registered in Lucas's eyes, but before he could even take a breath, Zeres grabbed his collar and yelled at him.

"You ginger head! Are you an idiot? Why are you attacking a woman so fiercely like that?!" the words that came out of Zeres' mouth seemed to have made even the crickets in the forest fall speechless. Lucas could only blink at the fuming man who still didn't seem to know that he was cut.

The next moment, someone grabbed Zeres' collar. It was the silver-haired woman.

"You are the idiot one, you stupid! How could you just mindlessly jump amid a fight like that?!!!" Another frustrated yell echoed in the dark.

It was Zeres' turn to simply blink and couldn't speak as he stared down at Alicia's angry face. Though, he still didn't let go of Lucas' collar.

Alicia was so angry she was about to yell at him again when Zeres coughed. Blood came out from his lips. Alicia gritted her teeth while Zeres casually looked down and looked at the blade in his body.

"Oh, I got cut," he said simply before he shot a glare towards Lucas, ignoring Alicia. "Look what you did, you ginger-head!"

"Your fault for..." Lucas finally spoke, but Zeres quickly cut him off.

"It's because you're attacking a woman so fiercely. You aren't that fierce when you attacked me this morning." Zeres' said, his voice grave and his expression darker. "Were you trying to kill her?"

Lucas had quickly regained his composure, and he stared back at Zeres without faltering, despite seeing those golden eyes – the eyes of an immortal. "You didn't take me seriously this morning, so how could you expect me to attack you seriously?" Lucas replied calmly. "And no, I am not trying to kill her. She's not that easy to kill and more thing… she was the one who attacked me first."

Those words rendered Zeres speechless he could almost hear the sound of a crow cawing from above. He tilted his head and finally glanced at Alicia again. "Is he telling the truth? You attacked him first?" he asked once he found his voice.

"Yes. Because he's blocking my way, and he refused to let me pass," Alicia replied. Her gaze was serious, and she still looked angry.

Zeres finally let go of Lucas's collar. He took a step back, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You can't do that, Queen, especially when you're alone," he sighed. "There's no way you didn't feel that this man is more than dangerous. What if he –"

"Shut up." Alicia's voice was cold and hard. The glare she threw at him made Zeres's eyes slightly widened in surprise. But after the first shock passed, Zeres's expression became unfathomable before he looked away from Alicia.

Without saying anything, Zeres grabbed the hilt of the sword in his body, and he winced in pain the moment he pulled it out. More blood gushed out, painting his white clothes scarlet.

No one spoke while Zeres underwent the painful process of immediate healing. He didn't make any sound, though.

Once his wound healed, he threw the sword back to Lucas.

"So you two are the king and queen of witches," Lucas suddenly said.

The question made the two witches whipped their gazes towards Lucas. "Witches only have one ruler, and it's the queen. You know witches don't have kings." Zeres was the one who answered. There was no hint of uncertainty in his voice. He said those words as if he was stating a fact and reality that no one could question. The way Zeres said it wasn't enough to stop the red-haired man from lingering on the topic.

"But I heard witches' rulers all have silver eyes and hair, and you certainly have that quality."

Alicia bit the inside of her lower lip. She tried to avoid this topic because even she didn't really know what to call Zeres. Lucas was right. Zeres was just like her, and he had the quality that was only bestowed to queens. Moreover, he was an immortal and now the most powerful witch. Yet the witches couldn't call him one of their rulers, and even Zeres himself never consider himself as one. Alicia had already planned to address this matter, but when she mentioned this to Zeres just the other day, the man firmly refused to cooperate, saying that there was no need to discuss such a trivial matter. Alicia, of course, disagrees. This wasn't a trivial matter at all, and Alicia knew that the witches were thinking the same. And as the queen, it was her job to deal with this.

Before any of the two witches could respond to Lucas, a familiar voice yanked their attention away from the topic. "Lucas…" Zeke called out, and immediately, Lucas faced the man who had appeared like a phantom or probably had been there for a while now, concealing his presence.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I advise you not to stick your nose in the witches' business."

"Yes."

Alicia finally turned around to look at Zeke, and the moment she saw the man leaning against a tree trunk, her brows creased in confusion and then, shock and terror flashed in her eyes. That face…

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*unedited chapter