Harsh Truth

Anger was burning into his core to find him sitting near his fiancée.

He knew one wrong move and would result in a bloodbath so he remained still, waiting for him to do something first.

 "Such a miserable condition, don't you think? Tsk, tsk, tsk,"

Exhaling, Zirkos turned his head towards Azura.

He gulped hard, tightening his grip on the sword to hide the shaking sensation. 

Freezing his whole being, praying he won't do something unbearable.

"Let me check-"

The second Zirkos touched Azura, he doubled her ache, making her scream painfully at the unexpected sensation.

"AHH!"

"Don't fucking hurt her, dammit!" 

Panicking, Zephyr was about to run and attack but stopped by Zirkos's stern warning. 

"Lower that tone unless you want me to disintegrate her existence,"

His mouth closed up immediately at the warning.

He stopped. Tears began to roll down her cheek miserably, sobbing silently when he magnified her pain.

Her whimper made his heart constricted. 

He hated how powerless he felt… again.

"What the hell is happening?"

"What sound-"

Soon everyone was present, they could feel the dominant aura. They knew one wrong move would result in death in his presence.

Smirking after indulging in their horror, Zirkos placed his attention towards Zephyr. 

"What do you want now? Don't you have your damn slave back huh?" He growled.

"Ah, bad boy, don't use such foul words for your aunt."

The fear of losing someone he cherished again was frightening him. He couldn't take it anymore. 

He needed a break from death.

And the fact how close he was sitting right next to her with a challenging gaze. Knowing exactly what he was doing.

One snap and she could die. 

"You and that woman can go to hell," Zephyr hissed, disturbance stealing his ability to perceive straight.

Zirkos hummed, "For your information, Young Prince, I have come from it." 

Taking a deep breath, he gradually regained his posture. 

"...What do you want, Zirkos?" 

"How about I kill her too, just like your beloved Yor?"

"No! I won't let you." Zephyr hissed, getting up again to fight him but he only folded his arms at his chest. 

'Don't break, Zephyr, don't,' 

It was hard. The anxiety enhanced the palpitation, almost releasing a whimper. 

"Really? How?" 

The ruthless beast informed between his chuckles. 

Releasing a long exhale to regain his nonchalant posture and rising from the seat.

"Do you think you are anywhere near me? Look. Your hands are trembling." 

Zirkos continued, mocking him and his people who were nothing compared to him.

"All of you are not near my dust." He enunciated. 

He was the king of the abyss, the deadliest dragon, the savage one.

 "I won't let you hurt her, Zirkos!" Zephyr yelled, he was working with his fear, he refused to fall weak before him. 

But the fact that anything wrong could result in Azura's death was refraining him and his tongue.

"What can you possibly do- or this useless man?" 

Zirkos smirked, glancing at Delvin who gritted his teeth and tried to attack Zirkos too but it was too late. 

"Stop hurting him continuously, asshole!" 

Zirkos grabbed his elbow and grabbed his throat, lifting him from the ground, choking him with a strict order. 

"Shut up," 

"Delvin, no!!" 

Terror gleaming his face to find his friend- which he won't accept as his friend- near death. 

"Let them go, Zirkos,"

'Dammit. What should I do? What should I fucking do to stop him!?'

He hated how pathetic he was feeling, what a ravaging point he had reached where his actions would result in further devastation.

"Bow and say please and I will." Zirkos smirked, challenging his pride. 

"Like hell!"

Zirkos laughed wickedly before throwing Delvin away who coughed due to the lack of oxygen and harsh grip.

"D-Delvin!" 

Janessa rushed, rubbing his back. Zephyr also glanced worriedly, praying he was alright.

"I- I am okay," 

Hearing it made him sigh internally out of relief. 

"No matter how much I throw you to the ground, your pride just doesn't shatter. How bold of you," 

Zirkos praised, placing his hand over his waist, smirk widening when he declared furiously.

"Because I am the future King of Delphia,"

"Well, your Delphia is in my grasp. Let's see how you will take it from me," 

"I will," 

To his resolve, Zirkos came closer. Zephyr remained stoic, bearing with the fatality he emitted strongly. He stared dead into his eyes. 

Zirkos observed his posture, his eyes, all of his features intensely before placing his hand over his heart, almost hopelessly.

 "Ah, the same eyes, the same fire. You are her blood after all," 

"Let my people go, Zirkos," 

"How about no?" 

"Then I-" Chuckling Zirkos cut him, waving his hand at him to relax.

"Just kidding. So how is your bride doing?" 

Zephyr paused, not trusting his words or intentions in the slightest, sitting beside Azura again.

"N-No-"

Taking a strand of her hair between his fingers, revealing the harsh truth.

"Look what he did, sweetheart, you could have been married but now you are not,"

"Wh-What?" 

"What?" 

He continued to fake blinking, faking sorrow, faking surprising, faking every damn thing to make things worse.

"Haven't you told them who summoned me in the first place, Young Lord?"

Terror halted his functioning, 'No, no, no, don't say this,'

A numbness took over along with misery when everyone came to know that it was him who summoned Zirkos.

And then he lost hopes, he lost himself in the clasping of regrets.

"Didn't you tell them whose fault it was that the King died, that you lost your kingdom. The reason for your fall?" 

Zirkos continued to make him feel horrible. Coming closer, he leaned forward to stare at his guilty eyes. 

Those gave him the entertainment he came for.

"What is he saying, Zephyr?" 

"Ah, Vanity. His ego drowned him, he was the one who summoned and look what gained in return," 

Zirkos laughed after unveiling his secret and causing him to fall lower in the eyes of others but then gradually it died down.

Pushing his hair behind, he glanced heartlessly at the boy standing ashamed accompanied by a growl.

"This damn human summoned me, thinking he could make me his slave,"

Zephyr looked away from shame as Zirkos raised his hand, creating a deadly slash attack to give irrecoverable damage to Zephyr. 

"For such a grave mistake, you shouldn't live-"

But before he could release the attack, the ground began to shake. 

Staggered, they failed to understand what happened as a lance appeared out of nowhere before Zephyr.

"What the-" 

There stood a man with pure white hair and white eyes.

The features were similar to an angel, holding a delicately made lance that stopped Zirkos' attack.

"Maintain your distance, Zirkos," He warned in a low yet arduous voice.

Absolutely displeased with the presence of the unwanted man, Zirkos released another attack which clashed with his lance.

"Damn you," 

Creating a spark that put the tent on fire, Zirkos leaned forward towards the white-eyed man outrageously, hissing at him. 

"So now you have become his dog, Ryu?"