Chapter 124 The Fall of Maui

Chapter 124 The Fall of Maui
“MAUI!”

Viktor's scream tore through the square as he rushed toward the platform, shoving past anyone who stood in his way. He nearly stumbled as he reached Maui, but he caught himself and immediately dropped to his knees beside him, his hands shaking violently as he grabbed the rope around his neck. “Maui… Maui, wake up,” he pleaded, his voice already breaking as he desperately tore the rope away from him.

Maui's body fell heavily against him, completely limp.

“No, no, no…” Viktor whispered, staring at his face as if refusing to believe what he was seeing. He shook Maui gently at first, then harder when there was no response, his voice rising with every second that passed. “Maui! Open your eyes! Come on, look at me!”

Nothing.

Viktor pressed his trembling fingers against Maui's chest, searching for a heartbeat even though he already knew what he should have found. His eyes widened when there was nothing, and he immediately checked again, pressing harder as though his hands could somehow force Maui's heart to beat. “You're a vampire,” he whispered desperately, his voice cracking. “You don't just die like this. You don't… Maui, please.”

Still nothing.

Tears finally spilled down Viktor's face as he pulled Maui closer, his fingers moving frantically over his body in search of any sign that he was still alive. Then his gaze fell on Maui's hand, and he froze when he noticed the strange mark etched into his skin. He grabbed the hand and stared at it, his breathing becoming uneven as realization slowly settled over him.

Caius had drained him.

He had not simply killed Maui by hanging him. He had used his power to sap away his strength, his energy, and the supernatural power that kept him alive, leaving his body weak and defenseless before the rope ever touched his neck. Viktor stared at the mark in disbelief, his tears falling onto Maui's hand as his lips trembled.

“You took everything from him,” he whispered.

His voice was so quiet that only those closest to him could hear it, but the grief behind it was unmistakable. Viktor lowered his head against Maui's chest, gripping his clothes in both fists as a broken sob escaped him, and for several seconds he seemed completely unaware of the crowd surrounding him. Elara stood frozen a short distance away, her eyes filling with tears as she watched Viktor crumble over the body of the man who had risked his life to help them.

Then Viktor screamed.

It was not a cry of sadness anymore.

It was a roar filled with such raw fury that several people in the square instinctively stepped backward. Viktor released Maui and shot to his feet, his eyes burning fiercely as he turned toward Caius, and before anyone could react, he disappeared from where he stood.

“Caius!”

Viktor crossed the distance between them with terrifying speed.

Caius barely had time to turn before Viktor's hand closed around his throat and slammed him backward. The force sent Caius crashing against the stone steps, and Viktor tightened his grip immediately, lifting him partly from the ground as Caius struggled beneath his hand. “How dare you!” Viktor roared, his voice shaking with fury. “How dare you kill him!”

Caius grabbed Viktor's wrist, trying to break his grip, but Viktor only squeezed harder. His face was wet with tears, his breathing ragged, and the anger in his eyes made him look almost unrecognizable. “He trusted me,” Viktor shouted. “He stood with me when you were hunting us, and you killed him!”

Caius coughed, but instead of looking afraid, he started laughing.

The sound made Viktor's expression twist with disbelief.

“You think this changes anything?” Caius managed to say between strained breaths, a cruel smile slowly spreading across his face. “You think killing me will bring him back?” He laughed again, his voice rough beneath Viktor's grip. “I'll kill every single person who matters to you, Viktor. Every one of them.”

Viktor's fingers tightened around his throat.

“No…”

“I'll watch you lose them one by one,” Caius continued, almost enjoying the pain on Viktor's face. “And when there is nobody left, maybe then you'll finally understand that nobody questions me.”

A group of guards suddenly rushed toward Viktor.

“CAPTURE THEM!” Caius shouted.

The first guard swung his weapon toward Viktor, forcing him to release Caius and turn just in time to block the attack. More guards flooded toward him from every direction, and within seconds the square erupted into chaos as steel clashed against steel and screams broke through the crowd.

Elara immediately moved.

She grabbed the nearest guard before he could reach Joyce, twisted his arm behind his back, and sent him crashing to the ground. Ellie joined her without hesitation, striking another guard across the face before Joyce stepped in and kicked his legs from beneath him. “Stay together!” Elara shouted, barely able to hear herself over the chaos.

But then Caius raised both hands.
The air around him seemed to shift into something mysterious.

One army became two.

Then three.

Elara stared in horror as more soldiers appeared around the square, filling every open space until they were surrounded on all sides. “What the hell…” Joyce breathed, staring at the growing number of guards. “He can multiply them.”

“He's using his power,” Elara said, her chest rising rapidly as she looked around. “We're getting surrounded.”

Viktor didn't hear her.

He was still fighting his way toward Caius, striking down guard after guard as he screamed the same words over and over. “You killed Maui! You killed him!” Every time another soldier came between them, Viktor threw them aside and kept moving, completely consumed by rage.

“Viktor!” Elara screamed.

He ignored her.

Another wave of soldiers rushed toward them, forcing Ellie and Joyce backward. Elara looked around and realized they were losing ground, and the realization sent a cold fear through her chest. There were simply too many of them now, and if they stayed, Caius would eventually overwhelm every one of them.

“We need to retreat!” she shouted.

“No!”

Viktor swung at another guard.

“Viktor, listen to me!”

“I am not leaving him!”

Elara's heart clenched.

She knew exactly who he meant.

Maui's body was still lying on the platform behind them, and Viktor could not bring himself to walk away from the man who had just died because of him. But Elara also knew that staying there would mean losing Viktor too, and she refused to stand by and watch Caius take everything from them.

She fought her way toward Viktor.

Guards surrounded her from every direction, forcing her to duck beneath one attack and block another. She shoved one soldier aside, spun away from another, and kept pushing forward despite the exhaustion burning through her body. “Viktor!” she screamed again, finally reaching him.

She grabbed his arm.

“Come with me!”

“No!”

“Viktor, please!”

He ripped his arm away and tried to move toward Caius again, but Elara caught him around the waist. He struggled violently against her, still reaching toward Caius as though sheer determination could carry him through the army.

“I can't leave Maui!” he shouted.

“We have to!”

“He killed him!”

“I know!”

Elara's voice cracked as tears finally spilled down her face. “I know he killed him, Viktor, but if you stay here, he'll kill you too!”

Viktor stopped for half a second.

That was all Elara needed.

She tightened her arms around him and began pulling him backward, but Viktor immediately fought against her again. “No! Let me go!” he screamed, twisting desperately in her grasp. “Elara, let me go!”

Ellie rushed over and grabbed Viktor's other arm.

“Help me!” Elara shouted.

“I've got him!”

Together, the both of them began dragging Viktor away while Joyce fought behind them, keeping the guards from closing in. Viktor fought them every step of the way, his boots scraping against the ground as he desperately tried to turn back toward the platform.

Then he saw Caius.

Caius stood near the platform, looking completely calm amid the chaos.

He turned toward Maui's body.

Viktor's eyes widened.

“No…”

Caius gave a small gesture.

Several enormous beasts were brought forward, snarling and pacing hungrily as they approached the platform. Guards seized Maui's body and dragged him toward them without the slightest hesitation.

“Maui!”

Viktor's scream echoed across the square.

He stopped fighting Elara and Ellie for a moment, staring helplessly as the beasts surrounded Maui. One of them lowered its head toward his body, and Viktor's entire face crumpled.

“No! NO!”

He reached out with one hand.

“Maui!”

Elara and Ellie pulled harder, tears streaming down their faces as Viktor stretched his arm toward the platform. His fingers opened and closed desperately, as though he could somehow reach Maui from that distance. “Please!” he screamed. “Don't touch him! CAIUS, DON'T YOU DARE!”

Caius simply watched.

There was no remorse in his face.

No hesitation.

Only satisfaction.

Viktor's knees almost gave way beneath him as he watched the beasts surround the body of the man he had failed to save. His chest heaved violently, and a broken sound escaped his throat as Elara wrapped both arms around him and Ellie continued pulling him backward.

“Maui…” Viktor whispered.

Then his grief turned into another scream.

“NOOOOOOOOO!”

His voice cracked as he clutched his chest, bending forward as though something inside him had been torn apart. He kept his hand stretched toward Maui until the last possible second, his eyes fixed on the platform while Elara and Ellie dragged him farther and farther away.

He could no longer see Maui clearly.

But he could still see Caius.

And Caius was smiling.

Viktor's tears blurred everything around him as the square disappeared behind the moving crowd. The sounds of fighting, shouting, and snarling beasts slowly faded, but Maui's name remained trapped inside his mind.

For the first time since they had begun their fight against Caius, Viktor felt completely helpless.

And beneath the grief, beneath the tears and the unbearable pain twisting through his chest, something darker began to take shape.

A hatred he knew would not disappear. Not now. Not ever.