Side Story Part III  

The man’s eyes narrowed a little when he heard that Ezekiel was specifically looking for him. "What do you want from me?"

"Pull down your cloak and tell me your name first." Zeke instructed.

The man gripped his sword, clearly not the type of a man who would abide to anyone’s order. He did not listen nor give any other responses, causing Zeke to arch a brow before tsking at him.

"I’ll advise you to stop being stubborn. Your pride won’t do you any good here, especially when you are this weak." Zeke said when a glaive whizzed towards the man’s head. Zeke used his power to deflect the glaive, causing the man’s hood to be blown off his head. "Also, don’t forget you owe me as I saved you."

The man did not even blink nor moved and just stared at Zeke with his jaws clenched tight. Now that his face was fully visible, Zeke could not help but question if this man was his long-lost brother. He had seen the other princes, and even the two that he had killed. None of them resembled him at all – not even in the slightest. But this man, despite the fact that his other eye is blue, Zeke could easily tell he was like him.

"You’re a half vampire." Zeke said in disbelief and the statement seemed to also shock the man. It was not even a question as his features could truly pass as one of the Reign princes.

"How... how did you know?"

"Tell me your name first." Zeke insisted on this. The man sighed but he eventually gave in. "Gavriel. But you can also call me Gavrael. Now answer my question." . 47 "Because I used to be a half-vampire myself." Zeke replied, causing Gavriel’s eyes to widen. "Where did you come from? You’re not originally from this world as well, right?" "You’re right. I just recently ended up here."Gavriel looked like he could not believe it. But so was Zeke. He was a hundred percent certain there was no other Reign men aside from his other four brothers. Could it be that... this Gavriel was from another world and not from his world? That was the only possible explanation! 17 Gavriel’s clothes were also not something a man who came from the modern era would wear. He wears what a prince would put on going into the battlefield during the olden times.

"Are you from Lirea...?" he asked, though he it seems he totally did not expect Zeke to say yes. 4 "No. I think, we come from different dimensions." Zeke answered rather coolly.

"What?"

"I know of no country that is called Lirea in my world. So that’s my conclusion. We come from different worlds."

Gavriel narrowed his eyes as he scanned Zeke from head to toe and understanding flashed in his twin-colored eyes as it quickly erased the confusion in his eyes. "So that’s why you are wearing such clothes that I’ve never seen before." He commented before he quickly switched gears and asked seriously. "Why are you looking for me?"

Zeke regarded him with a discerning look. "I will not beat around the bush anymore, Gavriel." Zeke started. "I am looking for you to help you win this game and ascend the throne." ~

Silence reigned and the atmosphere between the two turned somewhat heavy. Their gazes held each other’s intensely until Gavriel broke the silence. "Why? Because you know that I am going to end up becoming the king of darkness?"

It was Zeke’s turn to be surprised that Gavriel actually knew about this.

"I can easily win this game, but I’m not interested in the throne. So, I’m going to help you instead in exchange for one thing." Zeke informed him straightforwardly, cutting to the chase. "But did you forget that I can only sit on the throne if all other contenders are dead? I need to kill you too to win."

"You are right. But I have a plan for that already which we will discuss later."

Gavriel flashed him a disbelieving smile. "I was wondering how the hell will I ever get that throne with this weak body of mine right now. It seems you must be the answer to my problems."

"Why are you this weak anyway? I can’t even sense your vampiric strength." Zeke asked, genuinely curious while Gavriel regarded him with some kind of wonder.

Gavriel did not know why but he just felt like he could trust this man. And thus, he told him the truth. "Actually, this isn’t my real body. My body is not here in this world, it’s... trapped somewhere in the Underlands." His voice weakened at the end and Zeke clearly saw a wistful gleam in his eyes before it was quickly hidden away again. "This is just basically my soul. I had managed to solidify a form for myself. A vessel identical to my original appearance... but it resulted in me being so damned weak I could barely kill a knight demon." A derisive smile crossed his lips, as though mocking himself as he explained it to Zeke.

A short silence passed before Zeke spoke up. "The Underlands isn’t here in this world, right?"

"Yes. It’s different. The Underlands is the land of the dark faes, not demons."

"I see. So, in your world, magic is a normal thing..?" Zeke nodded like he had heard something interesting. Then his expression became serious again. "Tell me, Gavriel... do you want the throne?" Gavriel stared into Zeke’s eyes for a long while, not saying anything. "I don’t want it. But I need it."

"You need it..." Zeke echoed.

Gavriel looked away and stared at nothing. "I know that in order for me to become king, I need to lose myself to the darkness to become powerful enough. But I think my real body’s entrapment has changed the circumstances for me and I think I might never become the king anymore. But here you are..." he smiled again in disbelief..