Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 311: Cage of Fire II

Chapter 311: Cage of Fire II

Upon hearing his words, Nereus’s face contorted into a deep frown. He pursed his lips into a thin line, eyebrows furrowing as his eyes narrowed at the unwanted visitor.

"Have you taken up vampirism, Prince Alistair?" Nereus asked. "However, I seem to recall that you aren’t exactly fond of dark creatures."

"I do want them dead, yes," Alistair agreed, nodding. "But I still need that heart of yours pumping for my experiments to reap results." His grin then broadened. "But just barely."

Without another word or warning, he leaped forward, swiping mercilessly across the air. Nereus sidestepped and easily evaded the attack, backing away from Alistair immediately. He eyed the lake’s waters― it wasn’t that far away and he could easily make it over in a few seconds.

However, his line of sight had been easily caught by Alistair, who growled in anger.

"You’re not escaping so easily this time, demon scum."

With his good hand, Alistair swiped forward with a roar, sending a huge blast of fire soaring through the air. Nereus raised a hand and countered it, a wall of water appearing to instantly extinguish the flame that Alistair had just conjured.

However, the angered prince was relentless. He sent balls of fire one after another, and even though Nereus had easily set up the wall of water, it was starting to heat up his surroundings. He needed to get to the lake quickly. If not, his powers would be quickly expended due to the heat.

Nereus moved again, causing the wall of water to rise higher and thicken up, increasing its effectiveness in blocking Alistair’s attacks. However, his opponent quickly learned from his mistakes.

Alistair started to shoot curveballs, each ball of fire bigger and hotter than the last― the last one that shot towards Nereus was even a blue flame, no longer a bright orange like before.

Nereus barely dodged out of the way, heaving. The air had started to heat up and the grass around had caught fire. Looking up at the sky, Nereus focused his energy. He needed to make it rain.

"Oh ho ho, not so fast, dark creature!" Alistair yelled. He looked behind Nereus, prompting the kelpie to turn back.

That was when the latter noticed a woman standing there, a short distance away from the dead body. He recognized this lady― it was Daphne’s insufferable younger sister.

"Now, Drusilla!" Alistair screamed. And with that, both siblings raised their hands and the air around them swirled. Their crystals glowed brightly in the dark of the night, paired with the blinding light of the flames.

Within moments, a wall of fire had encircled the three of them, trapping Nereus within the ring with nowhere to run.

The searing flames encircled Nereus, creating a scorching barrier that seemed to pulsate with malevolence. The intense heat bore down upon every inch of his body, scalding the skin and filling the air with the acrid scent of burning.

As a creature of water, the heat was even more sensitive to him than it would others. The puny flames from the floats that had caught on fire could barely even compare to having a ring surrounding him, scorching the very air and suffocating Nereus. Every breath felt even more choked up than before. Even his perspiration had stopped forming, immediately evaporating from the heat.

The fiery wall danced and crackled, a nightmarish haze as the flames roared with an uncontrollable ferocity. In the flames, Nereus could spot a mixture of blue and orange, weaving together into a beautiful but deadly work of art.

If he had been watching from a safe distance away, he might’ve even marveled at the extreme display of magic. However, it was a cage that kept him prisoner, unable to summon magic that he normally so easily could.

"You’re wonderful, Brother Alistair!" Drusilla cooed from where she stood, matching the smile on Alistair’s face. "Even with―" She stopped herself short, then corrected and continued, "Just with one swipe of your hand you can create a wall of flames!"

"Not good enough," Alistair said. "I still require your help. If I had both my hands with me..." He trailed off, shaking his head and swiping the grim expression off his lips. "No matter, I just need this monster’s blood. With it, I will finally reach my goal."

"Get away from me," Nereus lowly growled. He stretched out his hand and instantly, a steady jet of water shot towards Alistair.

The prince dodged, just in time too as the water blasted right past him, forming a hole in the wall of flames for a brief second. With that, there were a few seconds of reprieve― just the small hole allowed Nereus to breathe again. It felt like a window had been opened to allow the cool outside air in.

However, as soon as the stream of water ended, the flames immediately mended itself, leaving it just as before.

"To think I thought you were hard to deal with," Alistair commented.

Nereus breathed out heavily, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as the prince continued to speak. The heat was slowly getting to him; if he used his magic any further, he could easily collapse from heat exhaustion. Thus, he instead chose to focus water magic on himself, creating a thin layer to cool his skin.

Even that didn’t work as well as it should’ve. Whatever water Nereus generated was quickly turned to steam. If anything, it merely mimicked the sensation of him being boiled alive.

"Walls of water, commanding rain, flooding an entire town," Alistair began to list, "I don’t see you any capable of doing that now."

"Perhaps they’re just exaggerated rumors," Drusilla suggested. "It did come from the mouth of Vramidians. Those people couldn’t be trusted."

"Oh, don’t be so quick to speak, my darling sister," Alistair said, his eyes still trained keenly on Nereus, whose breath was turning ragged. "You might soon become their queen."

"Vramid already has a queen," Nereus choked out. His voice sounded as though he had just swallowed a mouthful of gravel.

"Why, of course."

Even though Alistair verbally agreed with him, Nereus didn’t like the way he said it so plainly. He didn’t know what Alistair needed his blood for but whatever it was, Nereus was sure it wouldn’t be good.

After all, Alistair Molinero was not capable of ’good’.

"In fact," Alistair continued to say, "you will be helping me ensure that Vramid’s queen stays looking the same."

He stepped closer to Nereus, and with every step Alistair and Drusilla advanced in, so did the ring of fire that surrounded them.

Nereus’s vision blurred and he collapsed to the floor. It was getting insanely difficult to breathe. It felt as though an invisible hand was choking him, leaving him with nowhere to escape.

If he had run faster, would he have been safe? No, he wouldn’t put it past Prince Alistair to dry up the entire lake just to find him. He would’ve just boiled the water to force him out.

If Nereus had been on the offensive, could he have escaped? He wasn’t sure. He hadn’t known that Princess Drusilla had been hiding a safe distance away, ready to back her brother up at any time. It could’ve gone badly.

But how much worse could it get than now?

"You will be remembered for your contributions," Alistair promised when he finally stopped in front of the collapsed kelpie, who could barely even keep his eyes open.

Consciousness was starting to slip away from Nereus’s grasp.

"A new dawn will soon rise," Alistair said. "Too bad you won’t be there to see it."

’Daphne must be disappointed,’ Nereus thought to himself. He wouldn’t be able to bring her fresh flowers this time.

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