"Even if you are right and everything is my fault," Aurelia gritted her teeth. "I can't undo any of it until you are gone. So, I will begin with that."

Aurelia made a swirling motion with her hand, conjuring up a storm blowing sand up, launching it towards Insidian. She stomped the ground deliberately, causing the unruly vegetation to sprout up even if the sandy substrate had no business supporting their growth. They sprang up like coil like contraptions which intertwined together with interlocked branches, aiming to constrict Insidian's movements and rooting him to the place. 

Aurelia didn't know for how long it would hold him, but she needed to buy some time. She tried casting a magical shield around the organic prison, in hopes of making an escape difficult. If the buzz in her ring was anything go buy, reinforcements were arriving. She just needed to last till then even if she had only a vague idea on what to do next.

Aurelia focused her strength to keep the shield intact, pouring energy into it as she screamed to ignore her protesting body. Her reserves were getting depleted in a faster rate than ever, with the magic devoid realm proving to be quite the challenge. Insidian collided with the enchanted dome making waves he attempted to break through by sheer force. 

The more Aurelia tried to contain him, the more futile it became as malice spread throughout the dome. The sprightly trees were pummelled into submission by Insidian's offensive shield. The leaves gradually turned to a paler green before ending up brown and the vegetation stopped pursuing him altogether as the waned and contracted out of his way. The tentacles ripped through the remaining one after the other and Insidian focused an energy blast which threatened to blow the shield apart.

Aurelia focused an energy blast, constantly towards the opening forming in her crumbling defensive structure, but it was too late. Insidian clenched his fist, gathering enough power, as two beams of dark energy made contact with the shield. As he moved his hands apart in a forceful motion with his facial muscles twitching with the effort, he carved out an opening and blast through her shield heading straight toward Aurelia like a smoky projectile. 

Aurelia was speechless as her eyes widened, with Insidian having a clear advantage in terms of mobility. She braced for impact as she cast a shield around herself. The subsequent blast of energy she let out was being pushed back towards her as Insidian gained momentum, readying himself for an imminent victory against an apparent minnow. A minnow who was prophesied to thwart his reign. He couldn't let an upset like that to happen again.

Just before Insidian could taste victory, he felt fire burn his skin as Insidian changed course expertly. His current assailants taking cover against blinding light that he couldn't see across. He struggled a bit to control his momentum as he sped straight into a gargantuan torrent of water which walloped him and thrashed him about for longer than he liked. Sand sizzled as water dropped, with puddles forming on some places.

"Even I don't preach this much, and she is my daughter," Justin eyed Insidian with contempt even if he was uncertain in the back of his mind. Ignatius focused on the incoming whisperers as fiery centipedes breathed embers into the atmosphere.

"Look who it is," Insidian smirked. "Two kings and a sorry troop. Can't help yourself from failing. Could you? Fascinating. As they say, misery loves company. Kind of you to offer to die with your daughter. Can be a heartwarming legend in the future, if there is one."

Insidian raised his arm upwards again. In the distance where none of the current battlers could observe, Melody let out a sigh as the crystals lining the branches of the central tree in the town hall turned an inert grey. Amy gasped, eyeing her oxygen cylinder with concern. The women zoomed ahead with the supplies as they resumed their tireless work to get things back working.

Puddles of water which had formed in the ground slowly started seeping and flowing down the terrain. Some of the flow percolated through while some of the residual water proceeded slowly forming a trail. Kelvin was just starting to open his eyes, seemingly awakening from a sleep which he didn't remember having. He was laying on sand. He looked along frantically, He wept the water off of his face, lifting his head from the sand as he struggled to breathe. The sight before him was horrifying.

Kelvin saw somebody drowning. While he was still adjusting his eyes, he saw an outstretched arm above the water level. He couldn't make out who was the potential victim amidst all the chaos but he did see who was causing it. And there was no mistaking it. As soon as he laid eyes upon Justin, even thoughts about Lee took a backseat. His eyesight started turning scarlet and his only aim was that man. Even if technically asleep, he was fully awake, and he charged.

Kelvin intended to stab the monster from behind. An end befitting the stature of the man before him. But Justin had reacted just soon enough. As he swerved away from an assassination attempt that he was blindsided from, he was quick to reorient himself and get ready for battle.

"Your magic barely tickled me, oh wise King," Insidian taunted. "But it had the effect I intended for it. Now, before you two get carried away," He seriously considered Aurelia and Cerebrus, the other King of the four magical provinces, "Don't even bother about an escape."

Kelvin was flailing around, trying to gain some balance as tides of unrelenting frequencies washed over him. He hated each time when he felt suffocated, but his creepy defences kept him alive and kicking. Slashing and swiping against the incoming force of nature was of little respite, the cocoon formed around him to ride out another wave. His helplessness in the fight that mattered to him the most drove him desperate. Darkness seeped in him from an unlikely source. Kelvin had begun to take energy from Insidian, his hands glowing. 

Kelvin remembered how his father tried to reason which ended up futile. How clinically the fire magic was shut down by his mortal foe. That could not happen again. A fiery wrath erupted in him as he let out a guttural roar. His hands burned with intent. He could do it. As he unleashed the fire blast, Kelvin held strong. Justin reevaluated the situation and retaliated with more force, which threatened to sweep him off the ground. But he did not budge. Plethora of additional appendages propped up from his back and dug into the substrate, anchoring him and providing him the balance he needed.

Kelvin couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the fear that he could sense emanating from his combatant. He relished it. The pain he wanted to inflict on him, made him create those scenarios in his mind. That fuelled him even further. The element which was supposed to be weak to water, was also his strength.

As temperature soared around the battle field, Justin's attacks started weakening. It wasn't long before super-heated steam began to rush Justin's way as the pushback from Kelvin's pushback was no longer manageable. Justin was scalding as the steam rushed past him. The skin on his body blanched and blisters begin to form. Before he was taken over by the might of the incoming attack, it stopped. But that was not of any solace. A tentacle wrapped around his neck and twisted both of his arms behind his back. Another one wrapped around his eyes as everything around him was void. A foot landed on his chest as he was placed in the mercy of his assailant.

"How does it feel now?" a raging voice asked him even cracking once in a while. Justin couldn't find the right words.

"Hope it feels like what my father did," Kelvin spat as he tightened the grip around the neck.

"You are Gladion's son?" Justin gasped, teary eyed. "It shouldn't have happened- "

"Oh, now you regret it?" Kelvin shouted as some more appendages twisted his legs in uncomfortable angles, with Kelvin's voice becoming more menacing. "People like me, people like us," Kelvin pointed to the general direction of the town even if the man at his mercy couldn't see it. "We go to jail, get tortured and eventually die of pain or old age if lucky. Any regret, doubling down or last wishes will be behind bars and within four walls. But people like you, get to be mopey about it and fail upwards. How is this remotely fair?" Kelvin commanded, further stomping down his heel into the man, "I will show you what's fair."

"It... It was unavoidable. Your... father... has... killed-" Justin struggled to hold his breath. But Kelvin had had enough as one appendage silenced Justin invasively.

"May be true, but he was punished for it in a way. Unlike you. Now, take me to those traitors. Summon a portal. Now." Justin let out yelps of pain as he gave up and surrendered. He wanted to survive for Aurelia. As a portal materialized around Justin, even though they were locked in battle with Insidian, Cerebrus signalled through his ring.

"Aurelia, now," Cerebrus instructed.

A surge of energy began to envelop Aurelia. Insidian may have been right about a lot of things. But he was wrong about one crucial fact. That the times had changed. Their ancestors might have used Flora, but what was surging within her, was support from everybody who held her in great regard. She could sense the powers of all the four province leaders within egging her to fight on their behalf. She could feel the anguish this realm was unintentionally subject to and intentionally abandoned. They deserved better.

Cerebrus cast a spell with one hand while trying his best to not get fatally injured by incoming energy blasts from Insidian. The air around them shone with a purple hue. When Cerebrus hit the ground from exhaustion, he only had enough to cast a momentary illusion spell, camouflaging with the environment, becoming invisible.

"A feline fought me head on; a King runs away. Ironic indeed," Insidian admonished.

"It's over Insidian. I won't let you defile this realm anymore." Aurelia said matter-of-factly before unleashing the power within her. As it neared Insidian, he felt the same humiliation that he suffered through centuries. The overwhelming might gave him goosebumps. He tried to outmanoeuvre it, teleported vast distances in second. But the attack pursued him. This couldn't be. As tears of sheer panic finally consumed him, he realized Cerebrus had outwitted him. He warped the dimensions physically so that the attack would never miss. But he had no regrets. He had a worthy fight. When he turned to Aurelia the last time before he parted with this world, he could've sworn it was Flora instead.

The powers within Insidian exploded outwards as the fiend succumbed once in for all, like a bomb throwing everyone back.

As Aurelia fell, passed out with exhaustion, Cerebrus escorted her to safety.

Kelvin eyed the surroundings where the traitors lived amidst abundance of nature with a primal glee, Justin was being dragged along for the journey, both literally and metaphorically.