Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Chapter 73

Chapter 73

I cracked a dry laugh. Dad had given me the answer all this time.

"You kept chasing me when you ought to attract me," it said in my exact voice.

"The One Tree all this time had been me?"

"You are me, and I am you. Remember when we first met? I said these words to you," it reminded me. In another situation, I would have been smacking myself on the forehead.

"Why torment me then? For if I die, you would too. We both share the same pain, yet still inflict it on ourselves?"

"I am still not getting it. I am not us. You and I are one being," it corrected.

The lava was much closer now. "Then stop this madness," I rasped, breathless at this point. There was nothing left to inhale. My eyes might as well have bled from how scorched they felt.

I lunged forward with the last ounce of strength in me and grabbed the One Tree’s pants. My pants.

Peace was once again threatened. Fear had returned to the land. It was time for a dark change. It could be felt in the air.

In this moment, the Aetherblood and the One Tree fused as one. The being placed upon earth with a physical body and the entity born on a spiritual plane. Yet the two had found each other and resorted to restoring a fractured peace.

Just like that, they became the same. A single being, torn between evil and light. Like light and darkness, the Aetherblood attracted evil only to keep the balance in peace.

Then it destroyed that evil... and kept doing so. For that was what it was made for. What it had become.

I was a Peace-bearer. I was a Death-bringer. Both at once.

"This place was a cage. After my parents’ death, I was never meant to discover it. MoonBlade kept me caged all this time. They separated the human from the spirit. This was why I had never felt complete, and this was what being Aetherblood meant," I concluded. Finally, I understood it.

But... but I am not a destroyer, am I? I fix things. And with Nathan out there carrying a fragment of this power, I cannot lock myself away because I fear I could either be the reason people die or the reason they are saved.

What if I could be better than any Aetherblood they have known?

When I raised my face again, the One Tree had its hand stretched out for me to take, to accept the power. It wanted me to take it, and whatever I did with it was up to me.

I could either die here... or accept the full blast of the power. But could I truly control it when it became maddening, just like before?

The lava was close to my feet now, the rock beneath me already melting, and then I took the One Tree’s hand.

Power surged through me. It flooded my bloodstream within seconds, heightening my senses. The lava suddenly meant nothing as I commanded it to stop without even uttering a single Adamic word.

I simply stopped it by thought alone.

With a parting motion of my hands, the smoke dispersed and I saw the sky, where within it was a portal. My escape.

I thought of flying, and my body lifted into the air. I moved toward the thunder and passed through the portal, gravity shifting as light tunneled around me. The power continued to rise, deepening along my spine and taking root within me.

And when I emerged back into the world, I stood in a clearing where a battlefield stretched before me. I recognized this scene instantly, and when my eyes caught Kai drenched in blood, I knew immediately this was the first step in discovering whether I would become a Death-bringer Aetherblood or a Peace-bearer Aetherblood.

I simply had to choose.

KAI’s POV

I had just finished passing the Count title from Count Barry to Leo. Now, Leo was Count Leo.

I did not even spend another minute before leaving the throne and returning to my chambers.

"Count Leo..." I tasted the title on my tongue, and it was sour. Regardless, it was a reality I could no longer deny.

I settled before the table holding alcohol and cups. Pouring myself a drink, I looked out the window, but my attention soon shifted with the change in the air, followed by a familiar Omega scent.

There he was. Leo.

"Sire, can I have an audience with you?"

"Who let you in?"

Leo chuckled at my question as he swayed inward. He was still addictively bewitching, and it was clear why I had once chosen him when Alex had not given me the chance. But now, I felt nothing toward Leo.

Perhaps another Alpha would find his Omega scent enticing, something to indulge in.

"I suppose you’d forgotten you and I once dated. I know my way around your chambers," he replied, his tone soft, like a feather drifting gently to the ground.

"I’m listening, Count," I said bitterly. Leo noticed.

"Matters of my banquet. I’d like to host one in honour of your assistance in my becoming a Count," Leo said as he stepped closer. He was only inches away now, his breath brushing mine as I could feel his just as he felt mine.

"You can discuss that with the rest of the Counts. I only need to approve it."

"Yes, your approval..." he trailed off, his tone softer, almost teasing.

His hand slid down my abdomen toward my pants and closed around my bulge.

"How is this a matter of your banquet?"

"I’ve missed you. Truly. He is not here. You and I can share once again what we lost."

And when exactly did I lose anything?

But I said nothing. I let him continue, his palm rubbing firmly against my cock. I grabbed his head, fingers tangled in his hair, and made him bend the knee.

Once I was looking down at him, I unzipped my pants and through the opening, pulled out my soft meat. My length rested heavy in my hand as I slapped it against Leo’s face.

His lips were red and plump, just like his cheeks. His scent thickened, his hole beginning to slick. He was barely holding himself back now, and I watched him with a stern, deadpan expression.

My meat floppily rested across his face, covering one eye and stretching over his lips, while my balls grazed his jaw. He inhaled sharply as if trying to take in my scent.

"It’s not getting hard," I said, and Leo snapped back to reality.

"That’s your answer. You are nothing to me, no matter how much you try. You’re fucking nothing to me, and I know the game you’re playing. You don’t need me. You do not truly want me. You have a far more sinister motive. And you want to know mine?" I parted his lips and pushed my cock into his mouth until he gagged. "My shit isn’t even hard, and you’re already choking. That’s how I would destroy you without even using my full capability."

I shoved my cock back into my pants and left Leo in the room.

As I stepped outside, I met Clawface, who looked as though he had been running for miles before reaching the palace.

"Sire..."

"What now?" I asked, already bracing for whatever new mess awaited us.

"It’s your old friend, Marcellan. Alpha Frederick of MoonBlade is going to decapitate him." Clawface reported the news to me.