The Elusive, Enigmatic Male Lead (39)

On the vast altar, two figures stood before the ancient magic circle, staring at the girl in red who had just been teleported there and was now bound within it.

“Hello again. What a surprise.”

The High Priest still wore his platinum-and-white vestments, the robe that symbolized sacred inviolability, yet not a trace of holiness remained on his face. Only greed shone in his eyes.

Beside him, the cloaked figure in black drew back his hood, revealing the face hidden beneath it: half living flesh, half skull. He was a necromancer.

“You surprise me even more,” said the High Priest, his gaze fixed on the girl in the array. “You were actually able to heal the black dragon’s injuries. That was a divine-level forbidden spell. No wonder the black dragon treasures you.”

“So the High Priest has finally lost patience? You mean to treat me as you treated Charles? As an experiment? As a vessel?”

The High Priest sighed. “Your Highness knows so much.”

Then his expression turned cold and grim. “But do you not understand that the more one knows, the sooner one dies?”

Before Si Jiu could answer, a thunderous dragon roar suddenly rang out.

“He came quickly enough.”

“No more nonsense. Hurry up. Fine—his heart is mine, his bones are yours.” On the necromancer’s horrifying face, a fanatical expression appeared. “I will refine the living him into my most powerful puppet.”

The High Priest stopped wasting words and chanted the incantation at once. The magic array was activated, and a frigid current of magical elements surrounded Si Jiu. Beside her, another array pattern gradually lit up. With a hum, a figure appeared in the circle to her left.

Charles stood with his eyes tightly shut, unconscious, suspended upright within the array.

A magical bond extended from his forehead and connected to Si Jiu’s.

Si Jiu felt a sharp pain in her fingertip. Blood began to drip down, pattering onto the runes beneath her feet. More and more of it flowed, winding slowly through the pattern carved into the floor.

Xiu’s speed was astonishing. In the blink of an eye he was above the altar, and when he saw the scene before him, he let out a furious roar and plunged straight down.

Buzz—

The magic array to Si Jiu’s right also flared to life, as if it were trying to drag Xiu over, but the magical elements that reached him vanished as though droplets sinking into the sea.

A flash of astonishment appeared in the High Priest’s eyes. “Impossible.”

Magic immunity.

Xiu saw at once that Si Jiu was bleeding heavily. Without hesitation, he rushed into the array, gathered her around the waist, and pulled her into his arms. Because of his interference, the bond between Si Jiu and Charles snapped with a crack. Charles’s body fell hard to the ground, and he slowly opened his eyes.

The rapid loss of blood made Si Jiu even paler.

What was most dangerous was not the blood itself, but the stabbing agony in her heart.

“Now!” shouted the necromancer.

The High Priest’s face went pale as he drove the spell onward. Si Jiu only felt as though a hand had suddenly closed around her heart and squeezed. The pain made her grunt softly, and even her pupils seemed to dilate.

A violent aura exploded from Xiu in an instant. Holding Si Jiu, he was about to charge toward the High Priest when, with a buzz, crimson light blazed across the array. The moment his body touched that red radiance, Si Jiu cried out. Xiu halted at once and looked down at her in some helpless confusion.

Charles was jolted awake from his dazed state. “Your Highness.”

The magic array binding him failed once he regained consciousness. He stepped out of it in a few strides and immediately saw the High Priest and the necromancer.

“It was you! What have you done to Her Highness?”

“My child, do not be so agitated. If you want her to die even faster, by all means remove your gloves and attack me.” The High Priest’s voice was cold and venomous.

“Stop. What do you want?”

“I want the black dragon’s heart and flesh. I want power and immortality.”

Xiu raised his eyes and looked over.

The High Priest smiled darkly. “But the black dragon’s scales are too hard. There is no blade in the world that can pierce them. At first I intended to use a long-lost forbidden art, but you two—why, you are completely immune to magic. You truly are an unexpected delight.”

It was delight, perhaps, but the displeasure on the High Priest’s face was plain to see.

“Still, I have a better idea now.” He looked straight at Xiu. “Do you want to keep her alive? Then cut open your own chest, and hand me your heart.”