The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 258: A Debt To Be Claimed ()

The air pulsed with a malevolent energy as Morden raised his hand high, chanting in a guttural, ancient tongue.

The arena darkened, the air growing heavy with the weight of his magic. Runes etched themselves into the air around him, glowing a sickly green, and from the runes erupted tendrils that shot for Zariah.

Zariah braced herself, her narrowed eyes exuding a dim glow. Her element surged wildly around her, a living inferno that danced with both beauty and terror.

Zariah slammed her foot into the ground, summoning a wall of flame to intercept the chaotic tendrils. They collided with a deafening crack, sparks flying and setting random places on fire.

"You’ve really lost yourself, haven’t you, Morden?" Zariah hissed, her voice steady despite the storm around her.

"Using forbidden witch magic before so many eyes? Everyone sees through you now." Zariah said in a dark tone.

Morden scoffed, glaring at Zariah hatefully.

"And what of it? I don’t care what they think. They will all be at my mercy... right after I put you down." Morden asserted

With a sweeping gesture, Morden’s runes flared once again and the ground beneath Zariah began cracking, the crack spreading rapidly.

Jagged spikes of corrupted magic lined the cracks, forcing Zariah to leap into the air. She twisted gracefully, her movements fluid as she avoided the assault, her entire form alight with flames.

As she landed, Zariah extended her hands, her flames came together, forming a massive sphere above her that grew increasingly larger as Zariah let her element surge unrestrained.

It had been too long since she had wielded her flame element for battle, depending mostly on the Crimson Flame, Zariah had let herself forget just how powerful a flame wolf was, even without the Creator’s flame.

The heat from the sphere was unbearable, even for the spectators, who shielded their eyes as the orb grew larger and more intense. With a cry, Zariah hurled it at Morden, the attack tore through the air like a comet.

Morden’s runes shimmered once more, and his lips moved quickly, chanting inaudible spells.

A protective barrier formed around him, just in time to meet Zariah’s attack. The orb smashed into the shield, exploding in a blinding burst of light and fire.

The force of the blast sent Morden skidding back, his boots digging into the cracked ground while Zariah barely took a step back, holding her ground. When the smoke cleared, Morden’s shield was cracked but intact, and his eyes glowed with a deadly light.

The disparity in their strengths were obvious. Morden’s witch magic could perform marvellous acts, including manipulating flames, but he did not have expert control of any of them.

Whereas Zariah’s flame was a part of her as surely as her soul was, it was the only power she had ever known, she did not have to understand it, it was already hers.

Whilst Morden was swiftly draining his magic with the forbidden spells he wielded, Zariah was still unfazed.

Morden growled in frustration, activating the runes once again and Zariah heaved a sigh.

"You do not know when to give up, do you?" Zariah said in a dark tone. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"I will not lose to you!" Morden roared, pouring even more of his magic to activate all the floating runes.

Zariah shook her head slightly, Morden was completely obsessed with his purpose, there was no dissuading him and Zariah had no intentions to dissuade him either, she had stepped forward to put an end to it all.

Zariah clenched her right hand into a fist, her flames burned out and was swiftly replaced by the gleaming blue Crimson Flame.

With a twirl of her hand, Zariah released a torrent of the glowing blue flames on Morden’s floating runes,

The Crimson Flame burned through the floating runes, and Morden’s barrier in a blink of an eye, completely banishing his spell and Morden was tossed back as his barrier crashed, he crashed to the ground a short distance away.

"You’re strong," Zariah admitted as she watched Morden struggle to rise to his feet.

Zariah acknowledged that had things been different, the Ethereal Domain would have been blessed to have another royal, nearly as strong as Askel was.

"But you’re out of your depth." Zariah said as she lifted a fist, intent on putting a final end to it.

However Zariah’s eyes widened in horror when Morden reached into his robes and pulled out an all too familiar item... the shard of the eye of chaos, not one but two shards.

Zariah could tell what Morden was going to do even before he actually did it.

"Morden, you fool!" Zariah shouted, her voice laced with both rage and disbelief.

"You do not understand what you’re unleashing! You’re out of your mind!!!" Zariah hissed.

Morden ignored her, plunging both shards into his chest.

The effect was instantaneous...horrifying.

A sickening howl tore through the arena as Morden’s body contorted before all eyes, growing larger, more monstrous. His skin rippled with dark veins, and his eyes glowed with unnatural fury.

The transformation was swift, Zariah lunged, hoping to cut it short before it could be complete but a blast of dark energy slammed into her, tossing her back through the air.

And as Zariah landed in a crouch, steadying herself, it was too late, the transformation was completed.

The beast Morden had become was terrifying—a grotesque fusion of wolf and man, pulsing with pure dark energy of chaos.

And then, Morden roared, the sound shaking the very foundation of the arena.

The spectators shrank back, pandemonium broke out all around, the panic that had begun with the transformation rapidly spreading.

Zariah could hear howls in the distance. Somewhere in the crowd, a voice roared.

"We’re under attack! Rogues!!!"

Zariah could smell them too, and a horrid stench carried through the air, more than the stench of rogues as grotesque beings of darkness rose from the Earth...forsaken.

They advanced on Zariah, and whoever else they set eyes on but Zariah had her own sights set on the center of all the pandemonium.

Zariah could hear the Crimson wolves calling for her desperately, rushing to her aid but she could not take her eyes off of the horrid monster Morden had become and equally, Morden’s savage, animalistic eyes were fixed on Zariah.

"All to satiate your greed for the supreme power, you have massacred Crimson Moon, you have made I and my pack traitors to all the realms, you have turned me into a monster, the very disgusting creature I have fought all my life..."

"For these crimes, even if my soul were to be vanquished from existence, I Zariah Toran Moonstone shall return as a vengeful spirit and execute justice... this debt owed to me and my pack must be repaid in blood and agony... Just you wait!"

Zariah recalled the blood vow she had made on her last breath.

Everything else faded into the background, Zariah clenched her fist, and stood her ground.

Her flames flickered, then surged.

"You’ve made your choice, Morden. This blood feud of two lifetimes...ends here or may the Creator do with my life as he pleases." Zariah vowed solemnly.

A vengeful spirit returned...a debt of blood to be claimed.