824 THE WAR OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT （9）
The light that surrounded Iris and Cane dimmed and allowed Lou and Zale to see Iris and Cane when the whirl of the harsh wind gradually calmed down.
Decratic narrowed his eyes to see Iris was kneeling down next to Cane’s body. A dagger was on his chest and Iris was still holding on it tightly. She was staring at her mate, whose eyes closed and there was no sign of movement at all from him.
Cane looked like he was sleeping, but you might think the worst of this situation.
And that thought crossed Decratic’s mind, as he smirked and approached Iris. Her auburn hair softly fluttered in the wind, her expression remained stoic. You wouldn’t be able to tell what was in her mind at this moment.
"Well done, Iris. Well done. You have done a great job!" Decratic clapped his hands and guffawed. "You have gotten rid the main problem in your life, you have gotten rid the person that caused you so much pain! WELL DONE!"
However, suddenly Decratic waved his hand to ward off an attack from his left side. He was not happy with this, but he was in a very good mood, so he didn’t mind to entertain his opponent for a while, before he took Iris with him.
With Iris in his arms, there was nothing, no one could stop him. Everything would be within his grip and moved according to what he wished.
"Zale! Take them out of here!" Lou roared, he attacked Decratic with magic, but his style to fight with magic was not really great. His protection shield, his defense magic could be passed as amazing, but his offensive magic lack of fatality.
Yet, Lou was furious, he was in hurry to get Iris and Cane away from this devil.
Kneeling beside Iris, Zale tried to talk with her and coaxed her to move. He grimaced when he saw the dagger in the alpha’s chest and wondered whether he had died, since he didn’t move.
"Luna, let’s get out of here. You need to go!" Zale tugged her sleeves to make her move, but she didn’t budge, she kept staring at Cane and the young boy moved to check on the alpha.
Zale had started to like this alpha, therefore, he dreaded what he might find out when he checked on him.
But thankfully, the alpha was still breathing, the dagger missed his heart, but because it made of silver, the wound was fatal for the alpha, maybe that was why he was still unconscious right now.
"Luna, the alpha is still alive!" Zale announced, hoping the luna would snap out of her own world and returned to her senses.
Meanwhile, behind him, Lou was fighting Decratic.
Yet, from the look of it, even a young boy like Zale could tell Lou was having a hard time to take down the devil and Decratic only played with him, since the difference in strength between them was very real.
Lou wouldn’t be able to stand against Decratic, once the devil decided to become serious.
"ZALE! GET THEM OUT OF HERE!" Lou roared. If Zale could tell that Decratic was not serious with this fight, let alone Lou. He was mad because this shitty creature looked down on him, but what else he could do when that was the fact. He couldn’t one up him.
"Luna! Hurry! We need to go now!" Zale tugged her sleeves once again and this time he was not being polite, as he grabbed her arm and tried to make her move.
However, before Zale could succeed with his task, there was this shrill scream that came from Lou when Decratic clawed his stomach!
Zale whipped his head and watched in horror when Decratic’s hand penetrated Lou’s stomach and when he retracted his hand, he got a good chunk of the merchant’s flesh.
"NO! LOU!" Zale shouted when the merchant’s body fell on the ground, blood oozed out from a big hole on his stomach, smeared the ground with dark color of blood.
Decratic laughed when he watched the merchant was still alive, writhing in pain. He wouldn’t kill him though. It was better to let him lived in pain than to kill him right away. Where was the fun of it.
He brought his fingers to his lips and lick the blood. The sight of it was very disgusting. His eyes filled with malice when he stepped on Lou’s leg and broke it.
Again, Lou wailed in pain. He had never been in so much pain like this before, death would be a mercy for him if he could get it now.
But, unfortunately, he had to endure this agony because that was what Decratic wanted, that was what made him happy.
The devil walked toward Iris. His eyes fixed on his woman. Yes. She was his woman now. A perfect woman to sit on the throne with him. He had imagined and waited this moment for centuries and now, this was the time to rule the whole realm, starting with this continent.
"Luna! Please! We need to go!" Zale became panic because the luna was still not moving an inch, while Decratic came closer to them. "LUNA!"
Iris blinked her eyes, she tilted her head and stared at Zale’s frenzy expression, but it was not enough and it was too late to do something because Decratic was only a step away from them and when he stretched out his hand to get Iris into his arm, Zale bit down his hand so hard, he might as well get a good chunk of his flesh.
Zale was about to shift into his beast form and fight Decratic with whatever that was left in him, but he felt Iris’s hand on his shoulder and she pushed him back before Decratic could do something deadly to this young boy.
At the same time, Iris pulled the dagger that had penetrated Cane’s chest. Her bright blue eyes filled with killing intent.
In one hand, Iris pulled Zale back, but in the other she held the dagger.
Something happened and no one noticed this, not even Iris when her mind was occupied with a lot of things, but nothing at the same time.
She moved her body out of instinct and the darkness in her eyes faded away, as if the fog was being lifted.
The birthmark on Zale’s back gleamed under his shirt, emphasizing the shape of it.
Simultaneously, there was this gentle light when Iris pulled the dagger from Cane’s chest. The light extended the shape of the dagger, making it looked like a sword instead.
The sixth sword.
Swiftly, Iris drove the sword against Decratic’s chest, who didn’t expect this to happen at all. He didn’t have time to react with this unexpected turn of event, this also happened very fast and he didn’t have time to process everything when the sword stabbed his chest.
The soft light from the sword penetrated his body and spread like a firework. His eyes widened in disbelieve when he felt the divine power that rushed in his veins.
How could Iris still have divine power when all the swords had been broken? How could she regain her sanity when she had succumbed into a deep darkness with no way to return? Her heart had been tainted and the darkness had engulfed her, Decratic was certain about that.
But, what was this?!
The only explanation for this was; That night when Iris touched Zale’s birthmark and recognized him as her knight, she had given up some of her divine power, just like how Na left her divine power within the five swords, apparently, Iris had done the same without even her knowing it.
Yes, Iris didn’t even realize that by touching the birthmark on Zale’s back, she had sealed their fate together, recognizing him as her knight and gave him her divine power.
For the sixth sword, Na had told her about the existence of the sixth sword that she put on Lu, since the very beginning.
The world, the Holy Kingdom only knew about the five swords in the Great Shrine, where the previous Serafims used to cleanse themselves from all the negativity and revitalize their divine power, but they were not really aware of the sixth sword.
Na created the sixth sword in the last minute and put it within Lu, as if she could see something like this might happen.
Not like the other five swords, the sixth sword didn’t break even after the Serafim was tainted. This was the last resort.
Iris could feel the sword. It was not like a solid steel, but more like a pure energy, a divine power that was strong enough to break anything, to penetrate whatever it touched.
Zale widened his eyes, because everything happened in a flash and before he could comprehend what was going on, it had ended.
Decratic retreated hastily, but he spat a mouthful of blood. His skin turned dry and the place where the sword stabbed him left a hole with the gentle light around it. It almost looked like the light gnawed on his flesh.
However, before they could see the end of it, the devil had created a portal behind him, where he disappeared into it.
Iris stood up and watched the empty space, her eyes narrowed dangerously, while the light that surrounded the dagger diminished, turning it into its original shape.
"Lu... luna..." Zale blinked his eyes, he was not sure how to react, or what to say. He watched his luna from behind and felt this solemn adoration and a deep loyalty toward her.
"Check on Lu," Iris said, she turned around and threw away her dagger to check on Cane.
"Y- yes, luna... right away..." Zale said, he clambered to his feet and pick the dagger that Iris had thrown before he checked on the merchant.
Zale knew Lou was still alive, but he needed to see how bad his injury was.
While the young boy looked after Lou, Iris knelt down beside Cane again and stared at the stab wound on his chest. The silver did him bad. No matter what, silver was not good for shifter.
Iris’s eyes turned gentle, as she covered the wound with her palm and healed it. She did it easily, as if she had done this countless time.
After that, she retracted her hand and you could see the wound had closed in. She caressed his cheek, worriness in her beautiful eyes. "Wake up, Cane. I am sorry to stab you..." she was apologetic. She was drained and didn’t have the energy for more bad news. "I didn’t mean to stab you."
"You just did," Cane muttered softly before he opened his eyes and stared at his beautiful mate.
By any mean, dust had coated her cheeks, her dress was torn and her hair was messy, but seeing her beautiful bright blue eyes, was all Cane needed. How much he missed her.
"I am sorry..." Iris said. She caressed his cheek and lowered her head. "I am sorry..."
Her apology not only for how she had stabbed him, but for everything. She wanted to apologize for the way she had hurt her, for the way she had left him alone when he needed her the most. Iris wanted to apologize for everything.
She wanted Cane to know how much she was sorry, she wanted to explain to him that she didn’t mean to leave him alone to carry all the burden, the responsibility, the grief and everything in between. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him even when the mate bond between them had disappeared.
Cane grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. He was barely able to move when all he wanted was to kiss her and hug her.
"You are the one who is hurt, but also the one who is crying. You are the one who is scarred, bleeding. You are the one with wounds, Iris. I am sorry, I have failed you."