Chapter 45: The Victor

Merrick smirked as he said, "Fine. I will stab you to death again."

Aries had confirmed with those words that his Pieffer already told Celestial Knight Sunrei the connection they had with each other.

"I thought back then, at that world, that you only looked like the Zodiac Knight I despised," Merrick went on as he walked in circles without taking his eyes away from Aries. "I nearly killed you once in this world. I successfully assassinated you in the alternate world. I will gladly kill you all over again."

"Kill me all you want. I will always rise up," Aries dashed towards Merrick and aimed for the throat but the latter parried the blow and his dual blades had been shoved aside.

Merrick took a swift stride forward to pierce the golden sword at the chest of his opponent. Aries hopped backward at a blinding speed that he momentarily disappeared and reappeared a few feet away from Merrick. He was able to dodge that quickly because Prince Sunrei had helped.

Aries was glad that the prince had given him assistance but it appeared that evading the attack was unnecessary. Merrick swayed as his knees buckled when he tried to pierce the chest of his enemy and it took him a few seconds to steady his legs.

Aries grinned and told Merrick something obvious, "Your vessel is crumbling."

Merrick only glared at him and attacked. His movements were getting slower. Aries simply had to sidestep a little then spin rapidly and kick his opponent on the back. The possessed vessel nearly dropped on his knees but still managed to recover his balance and dashed away from his foe.

"Back then, when you tried to kill me in this world, I survived and you are the one who died and had been sent at a young age to that alternate world," Aries reminded the Celestial Knight possessing Merrick.

His memories of that day had returned just as they were fighting. He could not remember everything, just glimpses of it. In those flashes of images, Celestial Knight Sunrei was still in his princely body. They looked like they were no older than ten years old but they were already fighting to the death. He could not recall the reason. He could not even sense any intense emotion from his younger self. He was not fearful even though he was filled with serious stab wounds. He was not angry at his opponent either. He was already like an assassin, cold and fierce. He was always aiming to land a fatal blow at his enemy. That was how he nearly killed Celestial Knight Sunrei. He probably made the heart of his opponent stopped beating for a while and ejected the soul out of the body and to an alternate world.

Aries suddenly wondered if sending souls to other worlds was a skill he knew or just mere coincidences. But then again, he never believed in coincidences. Maybe the answer to that will come to him on time or he could ask the Beast Tamer once he was ready to return to that exhausting dungeon.

"When we met in the alternate world, you killed my vessel but failed to eliminate my soul," Aries dashed towards Merrick. "Now, I can see who will win this battle."

The possessed vessel managed to catch his dual blades with the golden sword but his arms were already trembling with the intensity of the blow. Aries disappeared in front of his enemy and reappeared not far from his back. He swung his dual blades with more intensity. Merrick quickly turned around and deflected the attack. Aries momentarily leaned away from his opponent to give more power on his next attacks. Merrick was forced to take backward steps as Aries relentlessly swung his dual blades with a speed that made his opponent struggle even further. He only stopped attacking when the vessel was finally compelled to drop the weapon he was gripping. As the golden sword whirled in mid-air, Aries aimed for the throat of his opponent and succeeded at long last in cutting it.

Aries was not yet done. He raised his dual swords one more time and stabbed both bloody blades at the heart of the vessel. He began absorbing the two corrupted souls in there but failed again as bolts of electricity hit him hard enough and pushed him out from the body of Prince Sunrei.

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Aries jerked awake and realized that he was back in his own body. Though he could not see any wound, he felt exhausted and severely beaten. He was not expecting that the connection he had made with the soul of Prince Sunrei would terribly hurt.

"You are finally awake."

Aries sat up and realized that he was lying on a queen-sized four-poster bed. The translucent blue curtains hanging from the frame had been laid down as if to partially conceal him together with the comfortable blanket over his body.

He was not entirely hallucinating from the pain when he had seen the spitting image of Lira. The woman who had spoken did look like the future house leader. The only difference was with their age and their eyes.

The beautiful woman sitting on the bed not far from him had hazel-brown eyes and she appeared to be in her early fifties. She was also sharing the same blanket with Aries.

"Don't worry. I didn't do anything to you. I just needed to hide you and your scent," the woman was almost whispering as if she was afraid that someone would overhear.

Aries had so many questions in his mind but he remembered Prince Sunrei.

"Thank you. I'll be back," he quietly moved out of the bed and disappeared through a nearby shadow.

When he returned to the quadrangle, Prince Sunrei was on his knees. Two guards were standing beside him and pointing swords at his neck. Merrick was lying lifeless on the ground behind him.

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"For winning the battle to the death, I hereby declare that you, Prince Sunrei, is the only owner of that vessel. You are the prince and always will be," the old man loudly stated all over the quadrangle. "But winning against your opponent doesn't mean that you will be excused from your other offense.

Aries knew it would not end the way they wanted it to. He had to get Prince Sunrei out of there.

"You are a trespasser," the old man went on as Aries passed through the shadows. It would be a lighter sentence if you did not escape with the rebels. But you did and for that, you will be…"

The verdict had not been finished because Aries released multiple smoke bombs and fireworks at the perimeter of the quadrangle. Even at the balcony where another four guards and the house leader were standing.

Once more, the courtyard was filled with smoke and explosions. Aries reappeared from the shadow behind one of the guards that were dragging Prince Sunrei inside the manor. He aimed for the throat then disappeared and reappeared at the back of the remaining guard and instantly went for the kill. Prince Sunrei dropped to the ground and Aries quickly picked him up.

"Merrick…" the prince was barely holding on to his consciousness. "We cannot... leave him here."

Aries understood and went to fetch Merrick while he was gripping Prince Sunrei by his torso. The shadows around that place were well used by Aries on that single day. It allowed him to bring two bodies back to the hideout.

He moved out of the shadow cast by the four-poster bed in the room provided to him and his comrades by the future house leader. He collapsed face down on the cold stone floor together with Prince Sunrei and Merrick.

Princess Pieffer was waiting in the room and she quickly checked on Merrick.

"I'm sorry," Aries breathed as he noticed the dread in the face of the princess. "I cannot save your cousin," he pointed at the prince and said, "You should heal your brother."

The princess knelt beside her nearly unconscious sibling and magically mended his wounds. After an hour, most of his injuries had been cured and he could finally lift his back from the floor. He sat up and leaned on the four-poster bed.

"I'm okay now," he said and glanced at the lifeless body of their cousin. "Can you close up his wounds? I will clean his body afterward then we will bring him back to the House of Bull."

Princess Pieffer nodded and quietly obeyed.

"What happened to the souls of Celestial Knights Sunrei and Mercielle?" Aries curiously asked the silent prince.

"They hovered away through the same portal. They tried but failed to kidnap me because it is a crime and the house leader would not allow sin to be committed in front of him," he glanced seriously at Aries. "I think you should return to the manor and guard the house leader. We will follow you as soon as we are done returning Merrick to his home."

"No need," Aries contested. "I can monitor the manor and the people in it on my own. You take your time at the House of Bull."

"But…"

"I will immediately call for you if I cannot handle the situation alone," Aries glared at Prince Sunrei before saying, "I will keep my promise."

Prince Sunrei looked away from him and glanced at the princess, "Let's clean him up."

His sister nodded as she finished closing up the wounds of their cousin.

"I will inform Lira and Siorre of what happened at the quadrangle," Aries got up on his feet and walked out of the guest room.

Aries quietly marched through long hallways before he reached a stone door with a scale carving at the center. He tapped on it five times then stopped for a heartbeat before tapping it again three times.

The heavy door swung open and Aries saw Siorre and Lira kissing each other on the lips.

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