SPELLBOUND

Outside the wall of darkness, King Belial was already prepared to move out when a strong wind blew towards their encampment from the wall of darkness. It was such a strong gust that the wind managed to blow and reach all the way into the capital.

"Beatrice..." he uttered in a tight voice. However, though whispered just below his breath, if anyone were to be close enough to hear, they would have picked up the trace of worry and fear King Belial had for his beloved wife's safety lacing his words. Drawing in a deep breath and holding it in for a couple of seconds, King Belial took that time to contemplate and single-mindedly made up his mind. Following that decision, he then finally entered the wall, unable to put off taking action any longer.

Upon passing through the wall of darkness, to his surprise, he could feel that the darkness was no longer like it was before. He clearly remembered how oppressive and dense that wall of darkness was when the armies had first crossed over into it. At the time, even he had serious misgivings and doubts on whether their allied forces together with Evie and Vera's visions would be able to overcome it. But currently, it had felt as though the height of the storm was now over and the darkness that was so thick and heavy had reduced its severity and turned into mere smoke that could be waved away with just a couple of flaps from the dragons' wings.

And with such an encouraging occurrence, King Belial hastened forward as his army followed behind him. Some of the lords who had been so adamant in stopping the king from rushing towards the darkness were now silent as they could also feel the immense change. They even actually felt that the war was over and many of them could hardly believe it!

When they reached a little deeper, they saw the soldiers. Everyone was standing still, facing towards the source of the explosion that had happened far away from them.

One look and Belial could tell that the soldiers had managed to escape.

The king's heart raced within his ribcage as he rallied on ahead with his army hot on his heels. He did not bother to ask any questions regarding Beatrice's condition or safety because, knowing his wife for as long as he already had, she would most probably be one of the very last ones to retreat! She had always been like that. Even in the many battles and wars she had previously fought together with him, she had always been in the thick of things, never expecting to be protected behind defensive lines. It is more probable that she would be right at the frontlines, fighting alongside those who face the threats of direct attacks from their enemies. And he was quite sure it was no different this time - more so when it involves his two daughters-in-law, especially with one of them pregnant with their future grandchild!

Soon, he spotted the vampires along with the fire dragons who were all now on the ground. They are all pretty battered. The damages on the dragons were more than enough for everyone to know the severity of the battle.

He noticed one of them was crying. And that sight had his worry escalate. He prayed in his heart that everyone was alright. His wife and his daughters-in-law and also his son.

King Belial was not made aware that the reason behind the vampire's tears was because one of their comrades had fallen in battle.

Luc was weeping silently, furiously wiping his tears away every time a new stream trickled from the corners of his eyes and down his cheeks as he stood there, shaking his head in disbelief and denial. He still did not want to accept the fact that Levy was gone, just like that.

"That dumbass..." he kept whispering hoarsely as tremors shook his entire frame, while Samuel was squeezing his shoulder, hoping that it might lend some support.

Reed and Leon were also there with them. They were quiet but sorrow was also gleaming in their eyes. They had personally witnessed with their own extraordinary vision how that dark explosion had literally incinerated the few soldiers who were unlucky and did not manage to run off far enough from the central area where the explosion had detonated. The moment the explosion occurred, they had been turned into dust.

It was then that they knew they had really and truly lost their comrade Levy. That the usually silly fellow who would laugh and joke around would no longer be coming out of that crisis anymore. There would not be any clownish person appearing so dramatically before them no matter how long they stayed put there and waited for him to emerge. It was... devastating... losing a friend, a brother... It was heartbreakingly unbearable.

And Luc, who had always been the one who was bantering and fighting with Levy, was unable to hold himself back anymore and just wept right there. They were not so delusional to think that there would be another miracle happening like how Zolan had 'come back' from the dead. As much as they wished with all their hearts that Levy would reappear like how Zolan did, they knew better this time. They had personally witnessed his demise.

Unfortunately, this was what war is like. There is bound to be loss of lives. They had been lucky that they had not met any irreparable losses to their core group so far. But... now, when the war is reaching its climax, a life has been claimed from amongst them. It was the most insane war they had been through. Even they actually felt that it was such a miracle that not half or even a third of them had already fallen. They knew that it would be too unrealistic of them to expect for no one to lose their lives in such a merciless and brutal war.

So, no matter how much it pained all of them at the loss of Levy, all they could do was to accept it as a fact and move on. There would always be battles needed to be fought even if this war did end. Lives need to be protected and later on, life still would go on. That was the cruel reality of life for warriors like them.