Chapter 49

49 Blood Duel

Within the next half an hour, a fighting space had been created in the Nightcastle’s garden.

The King, as well as the Lords, were sitting in the shaded area of that garden. They were going to observe the duel to ensure that the blood duel would take place fairly.

The Royal Guards were closely standing behind Lord Bartholomew so that they could apprehend him if he tried to interfere in the duel.

The servants and maids weren’t allowed to stay in the periphery of the fighting arena.

Caspian didn’t want to give the chance to those from the Turner house to interfere in any way.

After Beth and Elias stood in front of each other, Caspian dictated the rules, “You two are not allowed to keep any weapons with you. Same with the poisons. You are only allowed to fight with the other person using your own strength and your blood ability if you have any.”

Beth glowered at Elias and murmured, “Too bad you don’t have noble blood in you. You invited your own death.”

Elias gave a cold smirk and said, “We will see who will get to live to tell the tale.”

Caspian glanced at the both of them and asked, “Are you two ready?”

.....

Both of them gave a nod without taking their eyes off their opponent.

And Caspian gave out the order, “You may begin the duel.”

The moment Caspian opened the floor for the duel, Elias sprinted towards Beth while Beth snatched the bracelets from her wrists and turned them into spiky four-finger knuckle rings.

The noble blood in her allowed her to change the shapes of any metal as per her desire.

Elias went straight for Beth’s heart.

But Beth wasn’t some human lady who only knew how to act lady-like. She knew how to defend herself in a fight. And also attack if her life was in danger.

She stopped Elias’ attack with her wrist, and at the same time, she punched Elias in the throat with her sharp and pointy rings.

Elias instantly retreated and put some distance in between them. He had holes in his neck, and he was bleeding as well.

Bartholomew smirked and proudly slammed his fist on his armrest. He wasn’t allowed to carry his cane after what he had done earlier.

‘Argh! Both father and daughter go for the neck!’ Elias thought to himself as he held his neck.

Thankfully, the spikes weren’t that thick. Also, Beth had just punched his throat and didn’t slash his throat as her father did. Else it would have taken quite a while for Elias to heal. And in a blood duel, it could very well mean that he would never get to heal.

Without caring about the holes in his neck, Elias went in to try and strike Beth again.

‘Predictable move, idiot!’ Beth thought of using the same trick again since Elias was aiming to punch through her chest this time as well.

However, when he was close enough, Elias changed his attack. He kicked her leg instead of punching her.

Beth tripped and fell to the ground.

Taking advantage of the situation, Elias kicked her in the gut to keep her down.

“You bitch! You tricked me into poisoning our Queen, and yet you act as if you are innocent! Bitches like you need to die!” Elias was shouting as he repeatedly kicked Beth in the gut.

Caspian smirked. Not because Elias was kicking Beth. But because Bartholomew was getting worked up by the second.

‘Keep it up, Elias. Keep on disrespecting Beth and also the Turner family. That will invite your death sooner,’ Caspian thought to himself as he enjoyed two of the perpetrators fighting to kill each other.

Caspian had promised Elias a short period in prison if he killed Beth today. However, Caspian didn’t have any intention to keep his word, not to the one who tried to kill his wife.

He wanted both of them to die. And by looking at how things were going right now, it looked like he would be killing both the birds with a single stone.

After kicking Beth multiple times and disrespecting a lady with foul words, Elias finally leaned down to rip out Beth’s heart.

“Beth! Get up! Now!” Bartholomew suddenly got up from his seat and shouted.

That distracted Elias for a second, and right at that time, Beth pushed Elias away from her. She immediately got up and straddled Elias. She sat on his chest and began to repeatedly beat his face with her knuckle rings.

After making sure that he would not move for some time, Beth snatched the thick necklace from her neck and turned it into a sharp blade.

She grabbed Elias by his hair and pointed the blade at his neck. And she screamed, “A peasant like you dared to mock me and kill me? Now, look where that got you!”

Elias gave an evil smirk and mumbled, “It got me right where I wanted.”

Instead of beheading him instantly, Beth frowned and was confused by what he meant.

And that was her next big mistake in her life after trying to kill Anastasia. In that short moment of confusion, Elias flipped Beth down and sat on top of her.

Beth tried to attack him with her blade, but it wasn’t in her hand anymore. Elias had already stolen it.

“Thanks for the blade, sweetheart,” Elias mockingly winked at Beth.

And before she could even react, he grabbed her by her hair. And with one single slash of the blade, Elias separated Beth’s gorgeous head from her body.

“Nooooooooooo...”

The whole Nightcastle was filled with the gut-wrenching scream of Lord Bartholomew. He sprung up from his seat and ran towards the fighting ground.

The Royal Guards immediately tried to restrain the Lord, but Caspian gestured not to do anything. They bowed and stayed put in their original place.

Before Bartholomew reached the fighting ground, Elias punched through Beth’s chest and crushed her heart so that she wouldn’t be revived even if someone reattached her head correctly.

“You bastard! Leave her body alone!” Bartholomew punched Elias and sent him flying.

Before he landed, Bartholomew was already below him. He kicked Elias down to the ground with a smash.

Elias coughed blood and pleaded to the King as he received a barrage of punches from Bartholomew, “Your Majesty, please stop him.”

Bartholomew was far too strong than Beth. In fact, the two of them couldn’t even be compared.

“Your Majesty... He’ll k-kill me...” Elias pleaded to the King again.

However, Caspian couldn’t care less.

He spoke in a cold voice, “You asked for a trial by blood duel when things could have been resolved with some more investigation. You even killed my childhood friend. Do you expect me to take your side?”

A sudden realization hit Elias. He felt as if his heart dropped from its place.

Bartholomew stopped beating Elias as he already looked like a pulp. But he did kick him down to the ground and stepped on his chest.

The lord glanced at the King and said, “Your Majesty, I’m avenging the death of my daughter. I will gladly receive the punishment after I kill this bastard.”

Caspian gave a nod and permitted Bartholomew to act as he pleased.

Elias felt Bartholomew tugging his hair. He tried to look at the King, but his sharp vision had turned blurry due to bleeding in his eyes.

He scoffed and thought to himself, ‘He never had the intention to let me live, did he? And I fell right into his trap.’

A smile appeared on his face. A smile of pity towards himself.

‘I was too greedy,’ he chastised himself.

Elias felt Bartholomew pulling his head with great force. His whole body, especially his neck, was in extreme pain. He screamed in agony as he felt his head being separated from his body. He had never imagined that he could go through this much pain ever.

He felt dizzy as if he was rolling on the ground. And suddenly, he felt his consciousness slipping away.

‘Ah! So this is it. This is how my life ends...’