Chapter 299 What matters

Chapter 299 What matters　　Julie's eyes widened hearing what Avice had just said to her. She looked back and forth at Roman and at the creature that initially belonged to Joaquin. The creature looked at Roman in a trance. 

"I thought the creature made a deal to attach itself to only one person," said Julie, her heartbeat increasing in worry. 

"The creatures from the forbidden door thrive on stronger and more agile bodies. Something it can serve and call home, finding the right purpose," replied Avice, and then she said, "Keep continuing to keep the dome strong. The higher the pressure, the more the creature will try to break away from Joaquin completely. "It will make it easier to kill him with the creature no more on his side."

"You knew this would happen?" asked Julie, "Roman already has enough darkness in him."

"That only makes him that much of a feasible host compared to the rest of the people who are standing on these grounds. If it weren't for the darkness that now resides in the boy, which I believe is the dark stone that is manipulating the creature, making it obey him, then it would have by now trampled on the Elder vampires." 

Back in the triangular dome, Joaquin's eyes had narrowed considerably, and he couldn't believe what was going on here. He ordered the creature, "Accord! Kill them all!" 

But the creature didn't move from its spot, nor did it listen to Joaquin's orders. Donovan couldn't help himself from letting out a hearty laugh. He said, "Looks like your little pet doesn't care to stay next to you anymore."

Joaquin ignored Donovan and instead raised his hand, causing pain to the creature, and it growled. The vampire tried to make the creature bend and bow to him so that it would continue listening to his orders. 

"I think this is the end for you, Joaquin," shouted Roman, with a smirk on his lips as he watched the slight panic that had started to appear in the person's eyes which he covered in a sneer. "Accord, was it?" he called the creature. 

The creature made a gurgling noise as if it was already listening to Roman even though it hadn't fused itself with him. "Why don't you kill this man? I am sure he's tortured it enough," he ordered calmly. 

The creature turned to look at Joaquin, who shouted in frustration, "You cannot betray me! I am the one who brought you out of that forbidden place, I am the one who has been looking after you. I am your master!"

But the creature didn't listen to Joaquin. The very next moment, it raised its hand and tried to trample him. Spikes appeared behind the creature's back like a dragon, but its face was distorted. It opened its mouth and started breathing fire at Joaquin. Unable to contain the heat and pressure, the dome that the witches had raised started to crack due to pressure. 

"The dome is going to break!" informed Cillian, as all of them were using their full ability to keep it intact. 

Inside the dome, the three Elders quickly jumped away from the spot to avoid turning into charred vampires because of the burning fire. 

"What the fuck is your son doing, Donovan? Planning to kill us all in here?" complained Luciano. 

"It is getting hot in here," responded Donovan, who couldn't handle the fire even though his ability was close to Roman's ability. It seemed like the creature took in the ability of its master before wielding it with a much higher force. He said, "Come on, seems like we need some fresh air," The Elder vampire placed his hands on both Castiel and Luciano's shoulders before disappearing from the inside of the dome to end up outside it. 

"Will he be alright by himself?" questioned Castiel, not wanting Roman to end up fighting Joaquin alone. 

"He is my son, he will be able to handle it just fine. Watch how Joaquin begs his life in the next," Donovan paused to check his watch, "Three minutes should be good," he smiled as if he was enjoying this. 

Joaquin dodged the fire directed at him while he tried to attack Roman relentlessly. Though Joaquin had other abilities of death that could strike Roman to fall on his knees, at the moment, nothing was working in his favour. 

He said, "Seems like I have underestimated you. You have more than your father's abilities."

"Took you long enough to figure it out, didn't you?" Roman mocked the vampire, using his hands, he grabbed Joaquin and threw him to the ground with force. 

Joaquin's body rolled before hitting one side of the dome wall, dust raising itself while the creature had crawled slowly to come and stand behind Roman. "You have a dark stone. This is why nothing is affecting you..." whispered Joaquin, not liking how things had turned out to be.

For years, he had been preparing to conquer these lands, and it was finally his time to take it as his own. But he had never expected this boy to have a dark stone because it was impossible for anyone to hold it. He had been looking for one all this while, but he hadn't been able to find it. 

"How do you get the witch to make a stone?" questioned Joaquin while he continued to attack Roman, but the creature didn't let Joaquin come too close to Roman. 

"It was all thanks to you," replied Roman, and Joaquin's eyes narrowed at Roman's words. 

"What do you mean?" because from what Joaquin knew, Donovan never possessed the dark stone, and there was no way Roman could own one. 

"You might not know me, but you must have known my mother. She came from Blackburn's family. The ones whom you got to make the dark stone, but were never able to acquire it," stated Roman, and Joaquin tried to remember the family before annoyance appeared in his eyes. 

"That little witch," rage appeared in Joaquin's eyes. He remembered how angry the family had made him, and he had killed every one of them because they told him they had lost it. But he didn't know someone had escaped from there. "That only means the dark stone rightfully belongs to me. You seem to have a lot of potential in you, why now join hands with me." 

"Do you think I really have time for such measly plans of yours?" Roman's blunt words struck a nerve in Joaquin. "I do not work for anyone, but for myself. And I don't think you are even worth keeping as a subordinate of mine." 

Joaquin's face twisted in sheer anger, and he ran towards Roman in speed, ready to attack him. But Joaquin's concentration was lost, when the creature slithered from behind, and he picked on it. For a moment he turned to tackle it, but Roman took the opportunity to move quicker and he ran his hand through the vampire's chest, creating a hollow in the vampire's chest. 

"You could have lived a longer life, but look what greed brings," remarked Roman, pushing the vampire away from him, and Joaquin could feel the life leaving his body. The vampire's eyes shifted to look at Roman in shock before it moved to look at the creature, hoping for it to return back to him. 

The Dome around them suddenly cracked more until it broke and fell on the ground, turning  into little fragments of dust. The vampires who were working for Joaquin suddenly started to panic seeing their master, who fell on his knees and the creature siding against another vampire. 

"How dare you..." Joaquin cursed Roman even during the last seconds of his life. "This is not over... I will come back for you." 

Roman's bright red eyes looked back at Joaquin, and he said, "I look forward to it."

As seconds passed, Joaquin's body started to turn stiff, and it turned paler until it looked like a dried being. When he fell to the ground, his body was nothing less than a glass that broke into pieces, leaving nothing but dust behind. 

"It worked!" shouted one of the vampire students. 

"The leader of the enemy has fallen!" shouted another student in glee, feeling victorious. 

Roman turned to look at the creature that looked back at him, waiting for his next order. He raised his hand for the creature to bow its head, and the next moment, the creature disappeared as if getting into Roman and fusing into him.

Some of Joaquin's men died in the hands of the hunters or the vampires, while some fled from the scene, knowing they couldn't defeat the Elder vampires and would need to flee from there if they loved their lives. 

"Is it over?" asked Luciano, still a little suspicious as he looked at the trees with the thought that something would appear. 

"It looks like it," replied Castiel, and he sighed. "Feels surreal that it happened and is over now." 

"Did you think we were going to lose, Castiel?" questioned Donovan. "My team never loses. We always emerge victorious." 

"And what about that thing? That creature?" questioned Dante, who had seen the dangerous creature attack the Elder vampires earlier. Though she knew Roman was good by heart, he was still corrupted by the ripper side. 

Luciano nodded, not liking a creature like that thing to haunt them or Donovan using it to kill him. He said, "We should get rid of it immediately." 

"I will be keeping it with me. It is mine," came the blunt response from Roman, and Luciano gritted his teeth. 

"You—" Luciano began to speak, only to be interrupted by Donovan, who placed his hand on his shoulder and said,

"The boy just killed Joaquin and saved us all from trouble. Are you really going to nag him right now, Lucy? Give him a break already. Unless you want to go one round with the creature?"