The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 160: His Power

Chapter 160: His Power

With Nikolai taking the lead, Mineah couldn’t help but chuckle as she directed her husband to their destination. With each instruction that she gave, he all followed them, his legs acting as her own as they traversed the mountain brush.

Eventually, the trail they were following finally reached its conclusion.

"Put me down here, Lai," she quickly instructed him as her eyes quickly scanned the area. "We’re here."

Feeling her husband crouch back down, Mineah felt her feet touch the ground once more as she looked around at where they currently at. Somehow, they were in the middle of a clearing in the middle of the mountain’s forest, a small circular patch of grass illuminated by the sun above as it stood isolated in a sea of trees.

And sure enough, in the middle of all the grass was the source of the connection that she felt using the spell.

"Where is Ezekiel?" Nikolai asked as they roamed towards the middle of the clearing.

"I feel that he’s close," Mineah hummed aloud as she kept her eyes peeled for the source of the energy she was feeling. "Let’s just keep looking."

Eventually, they reached the center of the clearing, and Mineah felt bad as she watched her husband looking for something that wasn’t here. With the strength of her connection now at its peak, she made sure that her husband’s attention was elsewhere before she stared at the vague mist floating in front of her. With a hushed chant, the mist quickly coalesced down beneath her into a glowing object, one that she then picked up and immediately hid from him.

"Do you see anything?" she casually asked even as she already picked up the glowing flower containing Ezekiel’s spirit.

"Nothing so far, Mine," he spoke aloud.

Narrowing her eyes, Mineah took a breath as she gingerly held the glowing flower that contained her brother’s spirit. With a breath, it sank into her skin, allowing her to keep it safe and hidden inside her body.

"Where could he be?" she sighed for effect as she stood back up to keep up with appearances. "I was sure that he was just here..."

"Did you lose track of him again?"

"It would appear so," Mineah smoothly lied. "I lost the connection-"

"I finally found you!"

Mineah’s eyes widened as a vast shadow suddenly descended upon the clearing. The sun of before quickly seemingly turned to night as she felt Nikolai sweep her off her feet, their previous position quickly being engulfed by shadowy flames as their enemy finally announced himself.

"Did you really have to move away from that, Nikolai?" Zoran taunted as he emerged from the black flames, his hand still on fire with power as he smirked.

"Did you expect us to just lay down and die?" Nikolai grunted as he shielded Mineah behind him. "I can’t just make it that easy for you, Zoran."

"Ah, but it would at least be as easy as how you killed Dahlia, yes?" Zoran taunted back, his scowl getting deeper as the flame in his hands burned blacker and hotter. "You just had to do it, didn’t you? You couldn’t control yourself, and she paid the price!"

"Lai, will you be alright?" Mineah asked as she did her best to prepare herself. "I can fight if I-"

"No, Mine," he quickly insisted. "You’re too tired. I can’t let you take that risk for me."

She frowned even as she understood where he was coming from. Despite her current look, she was indeed far too exhausted to put up a decent fight at the moment. It simply wasn’t in the cards for her no matter how hard she tried.

"Oh? Going to fight, are we?" Zoran laughed as Nikolai stepped forward to meet him in the clearing. "I’m glad you’re finally owning up to your mistakes."

"The only mistake here is you showing up here," Nikolai growled in anger. "You’ll regret showing your face here."

Wordlessly, he gestured for Mineah to hide herself behind the nearest tree, to which she quickly did as she anxiously watched from the sidelines. She knew that she shouldn’t but she still prepared herself to help just in case she was needed.

From where she stood, she watched as the two men stared at each other in silence, both of them seemingly sizing each other up before their clash inevitably happened. She knew that her husband was stronger. He himself told that to her, but she couldn’t help but still be worried about him.

For a brief second, nothing seemed to happen. Mineah could feel the tension building in front of her, and somehow, she knew that this exchange would only last for a couple of seconds at most. Power was everything, but she knew Nikolai wouldn’t bother allowing his opponent a chance to-

*BOOM!*

Before she could even finish her thought, an explosion rocked the clearing, causing her to hide behind her tree as the resulting shockwave threatened to sweep her off her feet. Shielding her eyes, she saw the speed and power that her husband displayed. Nikolai was all but flying across the field, his fists flying at his opponent even as the man did his best to dodge. Of course, that didn’t mean that he was overpowering him. In fact, Zoran was somehow keeping up with Nikolai’s speed, throwing out dark blasts of flame at Nikolai’s feet which her husband thankfully dodged.

"You can do this..."

Her thoughts escaped her lips as she watched it all unfold. Nikolai was right on top of Zoran just as the man was about to launch yet another dark blast at him. There was no escaping his fists now, her husband’s attacks firmly landing on their enemy’s face as it all exploded into a cacophony of violence and magical power.

’He’s shielding himself from any potential close-ranged blasts,’ she inwardly noted with pride as she felt the various spells being thrown at her husband. ’Lai’s really making sure he won’t be blasted apart.’

For a good few seconds, Lai cast one crude shielding spell after another, using his superior stamina to keep himself from being blasted away from his enemy. His fists hit their mark constantly, his power overwhelming his foe to the point that blood was starting to spew from the man.