Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 111: Rely on me

Chapter 111: Rely on me

As Rhea uttered those words to Oriana, everyone reacted with astonishment. In reality, they were all aware of the ongoing conflict between the two ever since Rhea publicly disrespected Oriana by throwing her into a dirty pond. However, they hadn’t anticipated her daring to insult her once again.

Oriana’s expression turned dark as she glared at Rhea with hatred. She hadn’t yet recovered from the humiliation Rhea had subjected her to last year, and now she dared to call her a bitch in front of her subordinates. If she didn’t teach this ill-mannered girl a lesson, wouldn’t it further tarnish her reputation? She pondered.

With this new disrespect and the unresolved grudges, Oriana’s anger intensified. If Rhea was so determined to protect the man she claimed was her husband, then she would teach them both a lesson. She would ensure they regretted ever crossing her in this lifetime. Oriana chuckled darkly.

"Rhea, you are audacious enough to harm your own sister. You’ve lost your humanity. Could it be that you’ve transformed your human bones into those of an outcast and change your race?" She accused.

In ancient times, it was not considered taboo for humans to attempt to change their race. However, in the present, it was forbidden for humans to have any connection with dragons, let alone attempt to change their race. Furthermore, it was life-threatening if done incorrectly. Oriana’s intentions were to accuse Rhea of changing her human nature, hoping to label her as an enemy to humanity so that the fire controllers could eliminate her. Oriana wanted Rhea to be seen as a traitor and treated like an outcast, eventually leading to her death.

Rhea, fully aware of Oriana’s intentions, tightened her fists and responded, "These are baseless lies! Do you truly believe I would risk my life to change my race?" Rhea spat, "You’re good at accusing others without any evidence. I have had enough of you, Oriana!" With these words, Rhea angrily threw the bloodstained dagger in her hand towards Oriana.

The dagger soared towards Oriana, but she had anticipated the attack and swiftly raised her leg, kicking the dagger away from her. It flew in the opposite direction and landed with a thud against the wall.

Rhea looked slightly surprised by Oriana’s ability to swiftly kick the dagger. In their previous encounter, Oriana had lacked any skill in martial arts, which led to her defeat and being forcibly shoved into the filthy pond by Rhea, but now...

Upon seeing the astonishment on Rhea’s face, Oriana couldn’t help but smirk and confidently remarked, "Did you honestly believe you could best me again, just as you did before? Ha! I was unprepared back then, but let me warn you, I have since undergone rigorous training. You will never win over me again!" She chuckled with satisfaction.

Following the events of last year, where Rhea had defeated Oriana, she had felt disheartened and embarrassed. She then sought out the personal guardian of her aunt, Alina, to acquire the necessary strength to overcome her enemies. Oriana believed after the training, she had now become half as formidable as Alina, leaving no chance for this mannerless girl to ever defeat her again.

Oriana raised her hand, an invisible heat consumed the atmosphere before she summoned a flame sword that looked bigger and stronger than the rest. The sword’s flame blazed brightly, she then said to Rhea, "Let’s see if your newfound powers can stand a chance against my flames!"

Saying those words, Oriana disappeared from the spot she stood. Alarmed bells immediately started to ring in Rhea’s mind, she had no idea where the bitch disappeared to or where she’d appear next. However, she began to retreat backwards so she could stand more protectively in front of Draven, he was her biggest concern at this moment, she didn’t want him to get hurt.

However, in that moment Rhea was moving backwards, Draven quickly sensed a sharp gust of air. He then swiftly pushed her away, shouting, "Watch out!" Rhea stumbled forward and narrowly avoided a flame blade that came hurtling towards her.

Oriana reappeared a few steps behind Rhea, but instead of attacking her, she turned back to Draven. "You will also suffer the consequences of her mistake!" she rebuked.

Suddenly, without warning, she magically elongated the sword in her hand, transforming it into the exact same sword Alina had possessed decades ago during her time together with Draven, the same weapon she had used to stab him on their wedding day.

Although Draven’s powers had not fully mended with his current body yet, he could still muster enough strength to dodge her sword and send her flying out of his line of sight. However, he froze as he stared at the approaching weapon. Those memories that he had tried so hard to forget had already become deep wounds etched into his very soul.

The heated air the sword brought with it was like a blade stabbing into his old wounds, into his damaged soul, it reminded him of those memories he never wanted to remember, it reminded him of the betrayal.

Snow mountain, Alina walking down the hills in her wedding dress, the feeling of joy as she walked towards him, then the feeling of betrayal as she heartlessly stabbed him. Everything started to replay in his mind, the memories filled his vision and made him immobile. His pupils contracted. For a moment, he couldn’t move any of his limbs, bitterness consumed him as he watched the sword approach his chest, where his dead heart resided.

Draven didn’t move away, in that moment between life and death, where his past wounds were hunting him, he saw a figure move to his side, a hand shot out and fiercely grabbed the approaching flame sword that was an inch from piecing his heart. The blazing air was completely blocked by a gust of chilling wind, it was like a safe barrier protecting his heart.

Rhea. She tightly grabbed the edge of the blazing sword with her ice covered palm, she pulled back the tip of the sword that was only an inch from Draven’s heart. Despite that it was burning her through the ice barrier in her palm, she didn’t release the sword. Her eyes, dark and intense, mirrored the flames that enveloped the sword. With a fierce glare, she addressed Oriana, her voice strained and teeth clenched.

"No one will harm this man ever again in this lifetime. I swear, I will eliminate anyone who dares to stab him!" Her resolute words echoed, shocking onlookers as she positioned herself in front of Draven, still holding the flaming sword from reaching him.

Draven, who had been frozen from the memories hunting him looked down at the girl in front of him. Again, it was still her, the last time he had been in such situation, she had appeared out of nowhere and stopped the shadow stalkers sword from reaching him, and yet again now, she stopped another sword from reaching him. His weakness from destroying him again.

She was always there for him. Even though they weren’t touching, or their fingers weren’t interlocked, he could still miraculously feel a warmth from the girl in front of him reach his heart. It bubbled up from the depths of his heart and overflowed his being. It was as if she had awoken something in him that had been dead for so long, something he hadn’t experienced after the betrayal. He knew that she probably had no idea of how big of an effect her actions had on him, but she was affecting him more than he could imagine as well.

Rhea focused her attention on Oriana, completely oblivious to the gaze of the man behind her. She angrily flung the flame sword away from her, her palm had a deep burn mark, but she didn’t seem to care and started to attack Oriana with her ice magic.

Their fight got intense as the two forces clashed together, fire and ice. The tables and chairs began to shatter around the eatery as they dodged each other’s attack. Even the walls started to collapse as they fought.

Upon seeing that Rhea was winning the fight, and Oriana was finding it hard to dodge, the rest of the fire controllers moved forward to help her, but Cal acted fast and stopped them. "Let her be, lady Credan is strong enough to fight for herself, you don’t have to step in for her or you will make her appear weak to her opponent." He reasoned with the others, who quickly agreed with him and stepped back, as they were aware of how much Oriana valued her image.

Cal turned to Oriana and yelled, "My lady, we should leave and continue our business!"

Oriana ignored him as all she wanted was revenge. She didn’t care, but today she was determined to end this mannerless girl no matter what. However, Rhea’s attack wasn’t a child’s play, she was fiercely throwing huge ice balls. Oriana gritted her teeth, "Do you think I will let you win again? Impossible!"

Rhea’s eyes widened as she saw Oriana suddenly summon her sword again, with a swish, she aimed right at Rhea’s heart. Her eyes widened even more in alarm, but before she could react, she felt Draven’s arm wrap around her waist from behind and he yanked her away from the sword’s direction.

However, despite the fact that he’d yanked her away from the sword, the sword was on its owner’s command, and instead of missing it’s target, it ripped off a chunk of flesh from her right cheek.

The cut wasn’t small, it cut off a big part of the flesh on her plump cheek. Blood immediately started to flow from the cut, it dripped on Rhea’s clothes and on the floor. Some of it landed on Draven’s arm that was still wrapped around her waist.

Time seemed to freeze as everyone watched the blood drip, Draven also froze as his eyes fell on the blood that soaked into his light blue sleeve, the blood felt cold on his skin, however the sight of it burned deep into his heart, it was like something was clutching tightly to his heart as his eyes slowly moved to Rhea’s cheek.

She seemed surprised herself, her eyes widened, but she didn’t move to touch her face nor cry. She only stared at Oriana’s smug face in disbelief.

To women, their face was the most important part of their body, but Rhea had always seemed different from the other women. She actually didn’t seem to care that much about her face. However, what even surprised Draven was that she didn’t seemed to be in much pain, but he...

He felt pain clutched at his heart and anger boil in his blood. It swelled in him like a rising storm. This wound was inflicted with a magical flaming sword, not even his core would heal that deep cut on her face, and Oriana dared to hurt her in his presence...

He wasn’t the type to let people go free after hurting something of his, that was his rule before as a king, nobody could take or inflict pain on people close to him. And Rhea was more than any other people to him, and this woman dared to do this to her?

Draven’s eyes chilled up, his arm around Rhea’s waist tightened even more. He glared at Oriana who still had a smug smile on her face.

Oriana attempted to suppress a shudder as she locked eyes with Draven, maintaining her arrogant demeanor as she toyed with her flaming sword, its blade still coated with Rhea’s blood. With a sneer, she declared, "I warned you not to cross me. You’re nothing more than an insignificant ant compared to me." Amused, she laughed mockingly.

Rhea, who had been fixated on Oriana, suddenly experienced a sharp, agonizing pain in her cheeks. The sensation was so intense that her face felt detached from her body. The sword’s magic was like a venom once it cut into flesh, causing an excruciating pain and blurring her vision. She suppressed the urge to cry out.

Rhea strained to see through her blurred sight and noticed Oriana’s smug expression. Despite her suffering, Rhea refused to accept defeat and struggled to break free from Draven’s grip. But surprisingly his hold was firm around her waist.

When Rhea glanced up and met Draven’s gaze, she noticed that his expression was completely different from his usual self. It was cold and incredibly intimidating, and he appeared to be angry.

"Do you still intend to fight that woman in your current state?" he asked in a cold tone.

Rhea was taken aback by his sudden anger and the icy quality of his voice. She furrowed her brow, wondering why he was angry when she hadn’t done anything to provoke him.

As Draven saw the frown on her face, his eyes softened. "Don’t you realize that you can rely on someone else to fight on your behalf?"

Rhea was speechless. "Who...who will fight for me?"

Draven’s gaze fell on her bleeding cheeks once again, and his eyes darkened dangerously. "Who else but me? Depend on me to seek vengeance for you this time. Let me show them the consequences of messing with someone important to me." With that, he didn’t wait for Rhea’s response before gently pushing her behind him and closing his eyes.