Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 24: Moonlit Flight

Oberyn's magic ran wild and the entire restaurant was blasted with searing heat. In moments, his chaotic mana created an intense explosion, and at the dead-center of his wrathful wave?

Demetrius.

The villainous Curse Master who had tried to cause Oberyn so much harm was undone. Merciless orange mana tore him to pieces as each chunk of Demetrius itself became charged up with energy and became a bomb.

And then the scattered remains of Demetrius exploded again, knocking man, woman, and noble to the ground from the sheer force of the explosions. They popped like fireworks - each one with the strength to shatter boulders. The guards who were charging Oberyn are smashed against a wall of power and repelled backward.

Oberyn exhaled, and for the first time in two months, his chest felt lighter. No fingers creeping along his spine. No voice slithering into his ear. No chain disguised as an outstretched hand.

He should have felt guilt. But instead, all he felt was the warmth of his own magic burning bright in his chest. He was free of his captor.

...But freedom came at a cost.

The king struggled to his feet, his face beet-red and shuddering. "Arrest him at once!"

Oberyn looked to the door of the restaurant. It was so far away, but he had no choice. There was no coming back from this - he was either dying in this restaurant, or escaping Asteria as a fugitive.

He'd have to figure out his curse mark later.

Oberyn charged for the door, blasting more guards out of the way but careful not to kill them. Demetrius was his only target - he didn't want to get anyone else caught up in this.

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But quickly his mind changed. He wasn't the only Magician present at dinner tonight. Another stepped in front of him - a woman with haunting, entrancing magic. He'd seen her before, and that terrifies him.

"I didn't mean to startle you," came her sweet, sing-song voice. Her skin was glowing, almost translucent, and her long hair was worn in a pink double braid. Her clothing revealed her as a sorceress, even if Oberyn hadn't already known - a wide-brimmed hat and matching short skirt ensemble.

She looked as if she'd just stepped in from a dream world.

The sorceress peeked out from under her hat playfully, her eyes glimmering in the dim light - most of the magical light fixtures had been destroyed in Oberyn's earlier explosion. She had the doe-eyed sparkle of someone who was in love.

She walked toward him, holding her right hand out in greeting. The wild cacophony within the restaurant came to a complete standstill, and all that could be heard was the hearty clacking of her heels on the stone floor.

Her smile was transfixing and hauntingly beautiful. The kind of look that is so inviting, so open...but with a hint of authority behind it. This woman was no ordinary human. She was powerful - incredibly so.

Oberyn felt the corner of his mouth twitch, unsure of whether to smile or scream.

"Marx Lovoux," she said, the 'x' sound harsh on her first name and soft on the second. Oh, but my friends call me Marxie. I'm the Magician of Crystal."

She needed no introduction - she was one of the most powerful Magicians in all Asteria. Oberyn had seen her many times, but never formally met her.

"Judging from your magic, you must be the new Nephilim Magician, hmm? The Magician of Explosions, Oberyn Omekia. Is that right?"

Everyone around them, even the guards, were backing off to the corners of the destroyed restaurant. Getting in the middle of these two was a death sentence. A Magician battle wasn't dangerous just to those fighting - everyone in a mile radius could be in danger if they went all-out.

"Oh!" Marxie exclaimed, her eyes going wide as she glanced around them. "It seems all eyes are on us, Oberyn Omekia."

He clenched his fists. "I have no quarrel with you, Marxie. Let me go."

She raised her arms up as if to question him. "Then what's all this? Did you get so excited you couldn't help but burst with joy?"

Her words were accompanied by a haunting giggle. She clasped her head with her hands and shifted her head sideways.

"Maybe I'll let you go," she winked, talking quietly so only Oberyn could hear. "But I'd get in some big trouble, wouldn't I? So many eyes on us - I think no matter what, we owe them a show, hm?"

She attacked first, a barrage of crystal darts manifesting from nowhere in an instant. They launched themselves at Oberyn in three waves, each larger than the last.

Oberyn's magic was limited by his curse mark - a handicap Marxie didn't have. If he fought her for real, she'd eviscerate him.

He used what remained of his power to blast her crystal darts out of the air, destroying her projectiles. And before she could attack again, he forced his power upward, blowing the roof of the restaurant completely off. Rubble rained down from above, crushing some who were too close.

Oberyn hated that he was causing unnecessary harm and death, but this was the path he decided to walk. He looked up through the gaping hole in the ceiling. The moon shined down on him.

'Tiana...' he thought to himself. His lost love on the moon - would she agree with him? Would she support the decision he'd just made?

It wasn't worth thinking about, not now. Marxie was already weaving magic, preparing another attack.

Oberyn grabbed the ribbon around his neck and tore it. His 'gift' from Demetrius fell away from his torso, ruined. And then, in a split second, his bright crimson wings erupted from his back.

Before Marxie could attack, he took to the sky, flying at impossible speed straight up into the cold, dark night. Marxie ran forward, looking at him from below.

She was happy to let him go, from a personal standpoint. She knew exactly what he did, and she knew why - Demetrius was a disgusting person. Still, she couldn't risk the king accusing her of being complicit. She readied a powerful dart, five times the size of her earlier attacks. Big enough that if it hit Oberyn, he'd be killed instantly.

"Good luck, little Nephilim," she purred, shooting the homing dart into the air as Oberyn sped away.

The dart hurtled toward him, ready to strike. He turned back and saw it gaining on him, faster and faster.

At the last second, he pumped his wings, giving him more air. The crystal dart flew under him just inches from his bare torso, so close he could feel the singe of its powerful magic on his skin.

He successfully dodged - the crystal dart exploded in the air in a shimmer of light.

As he flew into the night, he had no idea where he was going. The bells of Asteria rung out - an alarm. They would be hunting him. He was a fugitive, now, who threatened all of high society.

He had nowhere to be without Asteria...but that didn't mean he was aimless.

"Ezra..." he said to himself as he soared through the black sky. "I'll find you."