Survive As The Brute’s Wife - Chapter 149

Closing her eyes, Alexandra thought of what she should do. Arioch, right now, is where she wants him to be. And the next steps she takes… are tricky, but important.

Ever since she killed Morfan, she knew what Arioch’s next steps are going to be. In their previous life, Arioch tried to release Inanis but she stopped him. This life, with the hatred he has for Maximus, she knew Arioch would come for the Orb.

It was why she trapped the Dark Mage in the Temple to make it easier for Arioch to reach here.

Regarding Maximus, the darkness in him is burning him out from the inside using his hatred for Arioch. If she has to heal Maximus, she has to deal with Arioch first. That dumb guy stopped listening to her.

And so, she decided to give Maximus what he wants—revenge on Arioch.

But she cannot tell Maximus her plans. He won’t listen to her even if she tries to talk to him anyway.

She brought Marcus down the stairs. “Stay here, Marcus,” she kept him safe inside a little room at the end of the tower. Just to be safe, she put a protective spell on him so that no one who intends harm on him will be able to see him.

But then she knew the boy won’t listen to her. And she had another idea.

“Sir Marcus, will you do something for me?” she asked the boy and the boy bowed to her with his usual enthusiasm.

“I will follow your orders with my last breath, Your Royal Highness,” he said with a bow.

“Pass this message then, my Noble Paladin,” Alexandra whispered her commands in Marcus’ ears.

Marcus accepted her orders.

“Get back to the tower and ask Kefir to drop you,” she said. “Don’t worry, he won’t drop you. You’ll be safe,” she added.

Marcus nodded with his boyish smile and climbed up the stairs.

The situation in the Capital city is going to be terrible throughout the night. And in this chaos, certain things can be done without any hindrance.

Alexandra then left the tower. She couldn’t figure out the entrance to the tunnels. But she needed to find it since she was hearing the spells Arioch’s chanting is coming from underground. Throughout the hallways, the stench of blood was suffocating. She felt sad seeing the dead guards on the floor. They all were wearing the coat of arms of the Zoros family.

[This could not have happened in the worse time!]

“Sekwi, find the entrance for me,” she asked for the Phoenix’s presence. She didn’t know if he would answer her. She talked to Kefir about her plans and he was down with it. But she didn’t know if Sekwi has the same opinion.

She could have used spells to get there, but she wanted to be covert.

The translucent bird appeared. And it led the way.

“This way, Arimelda…” the bird said, its blue eyes shimmering.  “And… I serve you,” he said and disappeared in front of Alexandra.

Alexandra smiled. [What a proud bird! He could have said that he agrees with my plans.]

Alexandra entered through the small hatch on the floor. She didn’t even pull out her sword and walked through the intrinsic tunnel systems that led underground. She would have gotten lost if not for she is following the scent of the darkness. The tunnel was made like a labyrinth so that only those who know the way can safely pass through. She bet there would be traps lying around.

At the end of the tunnel, there was a big hall. The floor was made of mosaic marble and Alexandra recogninsed the spells of containment on them. But sadly the floor was broken, weakening the spells.

She looked at the roof. If there are spells on the floor, there would be spells on the roof too. And as she suspected the roof was damaged deliberately. The big crack on the ceiling was widening and Alexandra knew that it won’t be long before the roof collapses.

And if the roof collapses, the foundation of the temple will collapse, and… destruction is awaiting. She cast some spells to repair the roof, but she knew this temple is done for. She didn’t sense her father’s presence in this temple and she was not very interested in saving this temple either.

This temple is not built for the god. It was built to show off the might and wealth of the Emperor of Lethusia. This temple is the pride of the ones with the Lukyan blood. And she loves destroying pride.

She made sure no life would be lost when the building collapses. If her father cared enough about this temple, he can descent and save his house. She was not going to waste her energy in saving a building made of stone.

Alexandra passed through the hall that contained dead mages and with a sigh walked to the next room. The strength of the darkness was the maximum in there and she knew that Arioch and Inanis are there.

She passed the thick pillars that were covered from the top to bottom with runes that were glowing black. They were reacting against the spells getting recited by Arioch. And the black glow did surprise her. She sensed powerful magic from the pilars and they were the ones keeping Inanis’ power in check. And oddly it drained her power too.

[That’s odd! Why is it draining my power? I have light attributes! This should be diminishing the darkness, shouldn’t it?]

She was confused. She thought that her father’s light and Inanis’ darkness were opposites. So the magic that affects the darkness should not be affecting the light.

She wondered if the mages who engraved these spells thought the same too. Otherwise, in a place where they would want the presence of the light, they won’t be casting spells to drain the light.

She drew her sword and slashed along the length of the pillars. The runes got damaged and the spell got ineffective.

She heard the roar of Inanis. He must have felt the binding around him getting released. She put back her sword around her fingers and concealed it with a spell. The Hashomer cannot be taken by Inanis at any cost. This sword is the single great weapon in the universe, probably next to her father’s lance.

“Arioch?” Alexandra walked in. “Arioch! How are you? I missed you,” she ran to him and hugged him around his arms tightly rendering him unable to move.

While at it, she looked at the Orb. For others, it may look like a glass sphere without any distortion, but for her, she saw destruction, and desolation inside. And the surface was cracked.

Inanis was trying to ooze out through the little cracks formed. Little crackling noises were heard as Inanis tried to break free. Alexandra saw the dark mage trying to shout to arioch to warn him and she closed his mouth with a spell.

His voice got swallowed into nether while she cried to Arioch that she missed her friend so much.

Alexandra hugging Arioch tightly used some of his mana to close the cracks with her spells.

Inanis retreated as if he was getting stabbed by Arioch’s mana. Alexandra knew Inanis cannot handle any other mana after he got a taste of Maximus’ mana. Lukyan blood does make the mana more powerful and dark, while other mana will have different qualities.

Arioch tried to break free from Alexandra’s death grip but failed. Alexandra even added the sound effects of sniffing as she contained the darkness back inside the Orb. She only could do patchworks and it won’t be strong enough to hold Inanis for long.

And her attention turned towards the Dark Mage who was still screaming for no one to hear. She needs to keep him mute. And so she took his voice.

“Arioch!” she let go of him, with her eyes and face wet with tears. “Why did you take this long? And what are you doing here? These are not something we can touch, right? What is this Orb? Oh, no, Arioch, is this the Choshech Orb? Goodness, Arioch! What are you doing? The spells..?” she plucked the ancient-looking book from his hands.

Arioch was too stunned to make a move.

“What..?” Alexandra shook her head. “Spider!” she jumped and the book fell on the floor. She then jumped on the book again and again and then picked the book and hit it on the floor until it became loose and got damaged.

“What have you done!” Arioch shouted. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up. “That’s an important book! You’ve ruined it!” he shouted, his eyes were red.

“Important?” Alexandra’s big eyes widened more. But then her lips started to tremble. “But Tubby….” she sniffed. A tear drop hung on the rims of her eye raring to fall down her cheek. “Why are you shouting at me?”

She saw the green eyes of Arioch flickering for a moment. After that, his eyes started to soften. His hold on her shoulders loosened and he blinked his eyes letting out a sigh.

[That’s right, Arioch… I am thinking of you as Tubby, remember? And in your own words, I love Tubby more than anything, right? And that means…. You are thinking that you can use me this life to further your ambitions too, right? Right, Arioch?]