Chapter 657 - Start

It was looking that it would be a dark and depressing day. Not only was the sunlight not peeking through the horizon, but there was also not even a trace of the sun. Heavy dark clouds quickly covered the sky and by daylight, it had already started to drizzle, with the hints of it getting even heavier.

At the tower, Zeke and all the rest of his comrades finally gathered with the only exception of Alex who was still missing.

"Put me down," Alicia said in a hoarse whisper, feeling that not only her throat was parched but also her entire being. It was as if there was a great desert where her body used to be – dry and dead. Though she was not looking, she could feel the others appearing one after another.

Zeke glanced at her but Alicia had her eyes closed. She was too weak to even keep her eyes opened. She had been losing energy and powers continuously since earlier and there was no Zeres here this time to help her replenish it anymore. Zeke's gaze on her was unfathomable. No one could tell what those deep dark eyes hold.

"Alexander isn't here yet, Your Highness. He strayed from us a little while ago." Lucas reported as Zeke settled Alicia down. She creased her brows thinking that Alexander must have already made his way over to Zeres's hideout. She could not help it, but her heart skipped a couple of beats.

"How's the rest of the city? Is that taken care of already? Are you certain no one had been left behind?" Zeke asked, ignoring the report of what Lucas had about Alexander. Alex was Alex. There was no need to worry too much about him.

"Yes, Your Highness. I have just double checked before coming to report. The city's 95% cleared as of now. There are still a few human stragglers out in the western most part of the city because of the traffic but they too should be able to clear out within the hour, I believe."

While Zeke was speaking with Lucas, Kyle was only partially listening to the report. His gaze was fixed more on Alicia. He was truly concerned for her. She had gone even weaker than previously when she had left them yesterday. No, weaker, might not even the right word. She looked as if like she was already at her last breaths. He was frightened at how haggard she looked and at how much she had deteriorated. There was almost nothing left of her former grandeur that he had remembered when he first knew her as the powerful witch queen she was.

Clenching his fists tight, Kyle looked at his brother.

"What happened to her? Did Zeres… what did Zeres do to her?" Kyle asked in a tormented whisper. She was nowhere near like this when she left! Something must have happened to her while she was with Zeres.

Even though he could not believe that Zeres would do anything to Alicia, the young prince was angered at the pitiful sight of Alicia and the only person available for him to blame for Alicia's situation right now was Zeres.

Zeke did not deign to respond. His somber gaze fell to the city below them that was slowly turning into a ghost town. The sirens could still be heard from afar and the sounds of people moving, and noises of slight chaos were slowly getting farther and farther away.

"Everyone, get ready. It's about to start." Zeke said, not responding to Kyle's question. Everyone looked at him with grave expressions.

"But the humans are still..." Lucas paused. "Aren't we going to wait until all of them are completely gone? Wasn't this the plan at the beginning?"

"We cannot afford to wait for that to happen anymore." Zeke moved towards the edge of the tower and everyone followed him, leaving Alicia and the prophetess under the shade. The fat and heavy raindrops fell on the three men as they all stared down the city, totally ignoring the weather around them.

At that moment, Alex finally decided to join them. He went towards the trio and stood silently next to Zeke for a few seconds.

"Zeres's about to release his minions and he's expecting us to stop the undead vampires from reaching those few humans who are still trying to get out of the city." Zeke added quietly and Kyle widened his eyes. Though the statement made was soft, there was no doubt the vampires heard it loud and clear. The tension in the air was becoming heavier and the wind too began to come at them, stronger. It seemed as if even the weather was trying to conspire against them.

Kyle looked at the sky and thought that it was as if the heavens itself were bracing themselves for the battle that would soon erupt.

"You met him didn't you?" Alex asked, his tone still calm but there was a hint of sadness and an anger that was directed not towards Zeres but towards something else.

"Yes." Zeke replied. "He's definitely going to fight us… to the death."

A heavy silence followed Zeke's words. Alex's calm was slowly unravelling. Everyone could feel it happening. Just like the howling wind, the waves of his aura was becoming more and more violent.

Gritting his teeth, Alex faced Zeke. "All of you deal with the minions. I'll go after Zeres. I'll try …whatever I can." Everyone knew Alex was referring to him stopping Zeres from going down this suicidal route. However, getting it done was not an easy feat knowing it was Zeres they were dealing with. In fact, Zeke looked like he was certain that Alex will fail.

Before Zeke could respond, Alex was already gone.

Sighing, Zeke looked at Kyle and Lucas. "You two go ahead. I'll follow after you in a bit." He said and the two became blurs and disappeared from the tower as well.

Zeke didn't move for a while. His gaze gleaming as he stared towards the direction of Zeres' hideout. There was something in his gaze that was moving like a phantom shadow.

After a while, he finally whipped around and approached the prophetess and Alicia who was now seated on the floor, leaning weakly against the wall. He stared down at Alicia who still had her eyes closed and was breathing ever so weakly.

"You will stay here with Alicia." Zeke informed the prophetess and the woman obediently nodded.

"I will keep trying," she said, talking about her prophetic visions.

"If you see something, however irrelevant it seems, send me a distress signal immediately and I'll come."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Zeke stared down at Alicia again for a few moments and after he finally nodded at the prophetess, he too, was gone.

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A\N: I'm going to make an announcement about Hellbound Heart on my Instagram account soon so make sure to follow me there ???? @kazzenlx.x