The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 339: Keep Me Entertained

Chapter 339: Keep Me Entertained

"Zoran?"

Zoran’s eyes widened as Nikolai’s voice urged him forward. Unfortunately, it didn’t do anything as his spell died right in front of him. Slowly, a gnawing fear began to grow within him as he tried the teleportation spell again. This time, not only did it not work, it didn’t even manage to get started in the first place.

"What’s wrong?" Ezekiel asked.

"The spell died before I could even cast it," Zoran worriedly replied. "Something’s wrong. We might be-"

"Well well... It looks like you all actually had the balls to try and steal things from right under my nose."

The three of them all froze as a foreboding voice echoed from behind them. They all turned around, and sure enough, Devon was sitting on a chair that they didn’t even notice was there prior to their attempted escape.

"Frankly, I honestly thought you would all be smart enough not to take the bait," Devon mocked as he gave them all a slow clap. "Apparently, I was wrong. And you even took Zoran with you. For that, I thank you for removing the hassle of killing him remotely from me."

"Devon," Nikolai growled. "So you knew this whole time?"

"Of course, I did! What do you all think I am? Stupid?" Devon laughed as he stood up from his chair and slowly made his way to them. "I’m not going to leave my castle so blatantly undefended without having an ulterior motive to it. Thankfully, you idiots proved me right. In fact, I was almost tempted to put in fake copies of the books you all currently have with you, but since you’re all not going to escape anyway, why bother with all of that effort?"

Zoran didn’t know whether to fight or beg for mercy as he remained rooted where he currently stood. Beside him, Ezekiel looked ready for a fight while Nikolai already had his fists raised for the potential of a battle.

All he could do now was wait for things to happen, all while hoping that everything would turn out alright.

***

Nikolai took in a steady breath as he stared Devon right in the face. In truth, he already knew that this was going to happen. Tarah had told him about this vision, and for his wife to get rid of that dagger within her, it also meant that he had to follow those visions to the letter.

In the end, that also meant risking both his and Ezekiel’s life in this mission as the vision demanded that the two of them be caught during their mission for the arcane books.

"Zoran, I’ll distract him," Nikolai instructed the wizard. "Keep trying to cast the teleportation spell and escape with the books."

"But I just confirmed that I can’t," Zoran pointed out. "And I can’t just leave you and Ezekiel out here, Your Majesty."

"Zoran, this is an order," Nikolai insisted. "I know you can pierce through whatever it is that’s preventing us from escaping. Get the books and run. Mineah will know what to do with them."

For a few seconds, Zoran looked apprehensive before he took in another breath and nodded. Turning around, he began concentrating on his teleportation spell, attempting to pierce through the barrier that seemingly descended upon them during their attempted escape.

"Hah! Do you honestly think I’d let any one of you escape?" Devon laughed at them. "I’m not even going to leave any of you alive!"

"I’d like to see you try," Ezekiel ground out. "If there’s anybody that will die here, it’s you."

With a grunt of agreement, Nikolai positioned himself beside his fellow king, the two of them flanking Devon as they stopped him from approaching Zoran. This was a defensive battle, so all they had to do was stall for time until Zoran got away.

"Shall we kill this bjtch, King Nikolai?" Ezekiel nonchalantly asked.

"With pleasure, King Ezekiel," Nikolai eagerly replied.

With their minds made up, the two of them gave each other a nod before they quickly blitzed across the room. With their left and right fists respectively aimed at each of Devon’s cheeks, they braced for impact as they put their all into their blows.

However, both were for naught as a barrier materialized between their fists and Devon’s face just before they made contact.

"Seriously? Do you both need to learn that I’m untouchable before declaring that you’ll try to kill me?" Devon scoffed. "Clearly, a lesson needs to be learned here."

Before Nikolai could even reply, Devon snapped his fingers, making his barrier explode and pushing both him and Ezekiel back to where they came from. Their fists were both bloodied, but they were far from done as they stared him down.

Charging forth once more, the two kings coordinated their attacks, their blows coming in one after the other as they did their best to corner Devon into a corner. At first, it looked to be working as the demon eventually found his back against the wall. However...

"Smart, but not enough to beat me!"

Once more, Devon snapped his fingers, and a torrent of books flew off of their shelves and began pelting them at speeds that actually started to hurt. Left without cover, the two kings had no choice but to raise their arms in defense, all while making sure that their current positions were held to keep Devon pinned down.

"Come on, already! Give up!" Devon taunted. "It’s not that hard, right?!"

"I got it!"

Nikolai’s eyes widened at Zoran’s sudden outburst. Clearly, he managed to pierce through the barrier. "Get out of here, Zoran!"

He didn’t even manage to see what happened as Zoran quickly left the castle with all of the stolen books in tow. Still, at least that part of the vision still happened as intended.

"Bah! Zoran actually escaped," Devon clicked his tongue in annoyance. "No matter. Having two kings to play with should be more than enough to keep me entertained."

As the books eventually stopped their onslaught, Nikolai gave Ezekiel a look, one that told the other king that they were in this for the long haul with no immediate rescue in sight.

They were going to have to fight their way out of the castle. If they manage to kill Devon, then that was the greatest bonus they would ever get. But for now, they first had to survive.