Chapter 355 - All It Takes

"Killing me means killing your own child, Gavrael." Galleous continued taunting him. "Look around and see for yourself –"

"Shut up! Did you really think I would fall for your trick?" Gavrael narrowed his eyes, his hands were trembling with the hesitation on whether to slash this man's throat or not.

"Trick? You know I am not bluffing Gavrael." He countered in a sing-song voice.

"Even if you're not, what makes you think I will believe that you can do anything right now rather than spit out rubbish?"

Galleous laughed, causing Gavrael to gnash his teeth. His hands were now itching to just sever his head off and get this done and over with. "You are naïve, young Gavrael. You should know better than anyone else what dark magic can actually do. Well, you can argue that your woman is strong. Sure, she is.. I would be more generous in saying that she's stronger than all the other queens I've met previously. And I can already tell that she's going to become even more formidable in the future. But Gavrael… what can a tiny little heartbeat do against dark magic? Can't you see that your woman is pretty vulnerable now? She's channelling all her magic to you, giving her strength to you, protecting you… now look at her…" he smiled sardonically as Thundrann, a vessel under his control, waved his hand towards where Evie was standing.

Gavrael felt his heartbeat stop at the things Galleous had thrown at him. It had taken all the willpower within himself, not to throw everything aside and turn around to look at his beloved Evie.

"Turn around and see Gavrael…" his voice came creeping into his ears, like the devil luring him to his doom. "See for yourself –"

"Shut up!!" Gavrael shouted and mercilessly, he grabbed Thundrann's hair and turned him around, not pulling his sword away from his neck. Then both of them turned, facing Evie.

And Gavrael felt his entire being freeze at the sight of Evie standing in the middle of a thick and dark miasma that fully covered the ground and had now crept up her legs until mid-calf. She was just standing there, and her body was no longer glowing as it had been previously as her magic was all centred onto her palms, so as to be able to send all her powers to him.

"I'm pretty sure you've experienced it before, when your own darkness does something on its own will even without the vessel doing anything. Of course, it won't be as powerful and effective as the attack inflicted by a vessel himself, however… if it's just a tiny little pulse…" he drawled and a small wisp of dark smoke coming from the miasma around her began to rise, swirling around, circling Evie's hip.

Gavrael found his breath catching in fear and panic. His eyes were wide and dilated as he looked at Evie.

"You must be wondering how I even found it out, right?" Galleous continued talking, his voice now filled with triumph even though Gavrael's sword that was pressed close on his throat did not even loosen up at all yet. "Well, it's pretty simple. While she's focused on you and you are focused on me, my dark magic was busy looking for a weak spot – the weakest link in the chain, if you will. But so far, this badass queen was almost flawless… yes, almost… had she not gotten pregnant. Could she be one awful woman who wouldn't care about losing such a tiny little thing that barely called a life yet? I don't think so… Hahaha."

Something pulsed in Gavrael's eyes as he stared into Evie's. And she minutely shook her head at him, as though she had understood what he was about to do.

But Gavrael simply stared back at her as he spoke to Galleous. "Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Galleous' sardonic laugh echoed around them. "That's what I've been wanting to hear, Gavrael. You both are truly hilarious, such entertaining and powerful creatures. I can't believe this is all it takes to bring you both down." He drawled, though he still did not make any effort in freeing himself from Gavrael's hold.

Evie had quickly retracted her hands upon hearing what Gavrael said and the magic she had been pouring into Gavrael was then cut off.

"Oh, it's too late, young queen. You should think twice before trying to do something. The dark magic around your belly might do something you will regret." He smirked and Evie froze.

She could feel her heartbeat drumming in her ears. The news about her being pregnant – and coming from their enemy, more so – was such a shock she could not believe she was hearing such an overwhelming piece of news in a situation like this. News like this was something to be rejoiced over followed by a grand celebration. But in this situation, she was not sure if it would be a bliss or a bane to both her and Gav. And then there was the issue with Galleous saying that he was going to kill her child. Evie could barely hold herself from stumbling to the ground upon hearing that.

And now that she was seeing a dark wisp of smoke moving and curling around her lower body, her heart wavered. She could not help it. She knew this was not the time for her to waver and fear as this enemy might just be bluffing. But she had seen it in Gavrael's eyes, that the fact where she must really be pregnant was not a bluff. She did not know if Galleous was telling the truth, that she could take no other actions anymore and that if she only makes a single move, he really could kill her child. There was a possibility all that was just a bluff. But what if the things he said were all true? What if… something bad happens when she tries to fight off the darkness around her right now? Could she really take the risk and go all out in her fight?

Fear began to cloud her heart and mind and she knew Gav had to be experiencing the same.

"Now Gavrael…" Galleous' voice echoed once again. "Let's go back to the thing you had asked me… if you don't want me killing your child, give in… let your dark magic consume you Gavrael."

A/N: We fell from the rank guys and we are now rank 2 in golden ranking. If we get back to top 1 again before reset (6 hrs from this moment this chapter is updated), I will deliver the promised 10 chapters mass release. ^^

P.s. second chap will come later.