Chapter 61

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“YOUR HIGHNESS, evacuate the people!” I shouted over the noise.

Crown Prince Lumine nodded, his expression grim but focused. He carefully cradled Lady Cecelia, her unconscious form limp in his arms, before dashing toward the protective barrier where Darious stood, his shield shimmering like a dome of safety.

I turned my attention back to Arthemice, gripping my twin daggers tightly. Her blazing eyes locked onto mine, hatred radiating from her every movement.

“You wanted a fight, Arthemice?” I growled, stepping forward. “Then let’s end this, here and now.”

Her lips twisted into a snarl, her body trembling with unrestrained fury. “Damn you!” she spat, her voice sharp and venomous.

I didn’t wait for her next move. In one fluid motion, I mounted Chewy, who let out a deep, guttural growl. His massive claws tore into the crumbling ground, ready to pounce.

Suddenly, the familiar hologram of the system appeared before me.

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The ability [Evoke] has been activated.

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The daggers in my hands began to glow, pulsing with radiant golden energy that sent a hum through the air. I flipped one into the air, the dagger spinning before streaking toward Arthemice like a bolt of light.

She deflected it with a wave of her hand, but the dagger didn’t fall—it hovered midair, spinning like a living thing, waiting for my command.

“Mire,” I whispered, channeling the power of Evoke.

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The ability [Evoke] has been activated.

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The floating dagger carved glowing symbols into the air, forming a circle that pulsed with energy. A surge of light erupted from the center, and from the radiance stepped Mire, a massive spectral wolf with shimmering silver fur and piercing, ethereal eyes.

“Mire,” I called, pointing toward the onslaught of monsters. “Protect the people and clear the palace grounds!”

“Yes, master.” The beast let out a deep, resounding howl that sent chills through the battlefield. With a powerful leap, Mire charged into the chaos, tearing through the monstrous horde with savage precision.

“Still playing hero?” Arthemice taunted, her voice dripping with venom. “Let’s see how long you last.”

She raised her hand, conjuring black spikes from the ground that shot toward me like spears. I deflected them with my second dagger, spinning it in my hand to create a shield of golden light.

“Your tricks won’t save you, Arthemice,” I said, throwing the dagger. It curved through the air, aiming for her exposed side.

She dodged with a sharp movement, her lips curling into a sneer. “You’ve made me miserable for the last time!” she hissed, summoning a torrent of dark fire.

The flames surged toward me, wild and untamed. I leapt from Chewy’s back just in time, landing in a crouch as the fire consumed the ground where I had been.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” I said, gripping the hilt of my remaining dagger tightly.

She growled, her aura flaring as she shot forward. Her fists crackled with dark energy as she swung at me, her movements erratic yet powerful. I dodged, countering with a sharp slash that grazed her side.

“You think you’re clever?” she snarled, her eyes blazing. “I’ll destroy everything you’ve ever built!”

I met her gaze, unwavering. “You already destroyed yourself.”

Our daggers clashed, light meeting darkness in a shower of sparks. Each swing, each strike, felt like the culmination of every battle we’d fought before.

Arthemice’s power surged again, shaking the ground beneath us. Cracks spidered out from where she stood, and a dark aura began to engulf her.

“Oh no, you don’t!” I shouted, throwing my second dagger into the air. It spun above us, forming another circle of light. Channeling the last of my energy, I commanded it to release a blinding wave of golden radiance that shattered her aura and sent her staggering back.

I stood tall amidst the ruined palace grounds, the air thick with tension. The real Arthemice faced me, her breaths ragged and uneven. Despite her bravado, I could see the cracks in her composure—the strain of her stolen power.

I smirked, tilting my head slightly. “What’s the matter, Arthemice? Feeling a bit... tired? Entering a body that’s been lifeless for years must be taking its toll,” I taunted, circling her slowly.

Her fiery gaze snapped to mine, defiant but flickering.

I chuckled, savoring the visible frustration on her face. “That’s Artemisia’s body, isn’t it? The former High Priestess. A powerful vessel, no doubt. But it’s not yours. Her strength, her abilities—they don’t belong to you, and you know it. It’s no wonder you’re struggling to control it.”

“You talk too much!” she spat, raising a trembling hand to summon dark tendrils of energy. They lashed out at me, wild and unstable. I dodged easily, her attacks lacking the precision they once had.

“You’re exhausted,” I pressed, my voice calm yet cutting. “That body may have been preserved for years, but preservation isn’t restoration. You’ve barely had time to adjust to it, let alone use its full potential. Face it, Arthemice—you’re running out of time.”

“Shut up!” she screamed, her voice raw with anger. She lunged at me, summoning a wave of black fire that surged toward me like a beast unleashed.

I sidestepped, slashing through the flames with one of my daggers. The radiant energy of [Evoke] cut cleanly through her attack, leaving her staggering once more.

“You don’t understand anything!” she hissed, her voice trembling as she clutched her side.

“Oh, I understand perfectly,” I replied, my voice cold. “You’re desperate. You thought taking your mother’s body would give you an edge, but it’s only made you vulnerable. You can’t harness her power—not when your own soul is unstable. You’re fighting on borrowed time, Arthemice. And time has never been on your side.”

Her lips curled into a snarl, but I could see the faintest glimmer of doubt in her eyes. The truth was sinking in.

“You think you can stop me?” she rasped, her voice cracking under the weight of her exhaustion. “I’ll destroy everything you care about. This world will burn, and you’ll burn with it!”

I shrugged, flipping my dagger in my hand. “You can try. But first, you’ll have to survive me.”

The air around us crackled with energy as she pushed herself to unleash another attack. But her movements were slower, her power faltering. She was pushing her limits, and it was only a matter of time before she broke completely.

I took a step forward, daggers glowing with golden light. “You should have stayed in the grave where you belonged.”

Her scream of rage echoed across the ruins as she launched herself at me once more, but her attacks were no longer a threat—they were the desperate thrashings of someone who had already lost.

Behind me, Mire continued to tear through the remaining monsters, his spectral form a beacon of strength. Darious maintained his shield, his focus unwavering as he protected the people.

This was it—the final stand.

As the ground beneath us trembled violently, I turned to face Arthemice, her smirk a maddening taunt in the chaos. My grip on the daggers tightened, but my mind was elsewhere.

This world… it wasn’t my home, wasn’t my responsibility. Yet the sight of those people—broken, terrified, clinging to their lives—made something twist uncomfortably in my chest. I didn’t care about saving this world, but I refused to watch it fall apart before my eyes.

Just as I readied myself for another strike, a voice cut through the cacophony like a blade.

“I couldn’t stop the monsters,” Sebastian said, emerging from the shadows, his cloak tattered and streaked with ash. His emerald eyes burned with frustration as he approached me, his steps hurried. “They just keep swarming. If I try to stop them all, I’ll destroy everything in the process. And with innocent people still in this palace, I can’t afford to use my full strength.”

I didn’t look at him immediately, keeping my gaze locked on Arthemice, who was now laughing softly to herself, her head tilted back as if she were savoring the destruction.

“You’re late,” I said coldly, my tone void of gratitude.

Sebastian stepped closer, his voice low but sharp. “We don’t have time for this. If she breaks the seal completely, it won’t matter what happens to the people you just saved. Everything will be undone.”

Seal? Does he mean the colossal tree was sealed? But if that’s the case, why are the monsters still swarming? Huh.

I let out a hollow laugh, finally turning to him. “You think I care about what happens to this world? Let it rot for all I care. The only reason I saved them was because watching them die in front of me would’ve been a waste of my time.”

Sebastian’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing. His gaze flicked briefly to Arthemice, then back to me. “Even so, you’re the only one who can stop her.”

“Oh, don’t flatter me,” I said, sheathing one dagger while twirling the other in my hand. “I’ll stop her, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because I don’t enjoy losing to my own creation.”

Arthemice’s laughter ceased abruptly, her eyes narrowing at me. “Such arrogance,” she spat. “You think you can just waltz in here, play the savior, and walk away untouched?”

“No,” I said with a small, cold smile, “but I’ll make sure you regret ever thinking you could take me down.”

Before Arthemice could respond, a monstrous roar erupted from the distance, shaking the palace grounds. The swarm of beasts Sebastian had mentioned began spilling into the ruins, their shadows slithering across the crumbling walls.

Sebastian cursed under his breath, drawing his weapon. “Handle her. I’ll deal with the monsters.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” I snapped, though I didn’t stop him.

As Sebastian dashed off, I turned back to Arthemice, who was now levitating slightly above the ground, an ominous energy radiating from her.

“Come, then,” she said, her voice dark and mocking. “Let’s see how far your pride will take you.”

I smiled faintly, my fingers tightening around the dagger. “Oh, I’m not fighting for pride,” I said, taking a step forward. “I’m fighting because I’m tired of cleaning up your mess.”

With a sharp inhale, I lunged forward, my blade catching the fractured light as it descended in a deadly arc toward Arthemice’s heart. Every step, every motion carried the weight of inevitability. The only way to kill the High Priestess… to end this chaos… is to seize her heart.

But Arthemice wasn’t going to make it easy. Her dark eyes burned with hatred as she twisted her body, dodging my strike at the last possible second. She countered with a vicious blast of black energy, forcing me to leap back to avoid the searing heat. The air between us crackled with tension, her aura flaring wildly like a storm about to consume everything in its path.

“You think you can kill me, Faerie?” she sneered, her lips curling in disdain as shadows coiled around her like living serpents. “How laughable. The abyss bows to me, yet you expect to conquer it with a toy knife?”

I parried another strike, the force of her dark energy nearly numbing my arm. “For someone who commands the abyss, you seem awfully afraid of losing to this ‘toy,’” I retorted, slashing through the shadows that clawed toward me.

Arthemice’s laughter was sharp, cutting through the chaos like broken glass. “Losing? Oh, sweet, deluded Faerie. You mistake this fight for a game with rules. I’m not here to play fair—I’m here to watch you burn.”

Her next attack was ferocious, a wave of black fire that roared toward me. I dodged, rolling to the side and retaliating with a swift, glowing strike that left a jagged scar of light across her arm.

She hissed, clutching the wound as dark tendrils seeped from it, stitching the gash shut. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” she admitted, her grin widening into something feral. “But persistence doesn’t win wars. Power does. And I have more than you could dream of.”

I darted forward, feinting to the left before slashing upward, narrowly missing her neck. “Power?” I scoffed, spinning to avoid a retaliatory claw of shadow. “You’re just a parasite clinging to borrowed strength. Without the abyss, you’re nothing.”

Her eyes narrowed, glinting with fury. “And yet, it’s my nothingness that has you fighting for your life,” she snarled, sending a barrage of dark energy in my direction.

The ground shook beneath us, cracks spreading across the stone floor. I vaulted over a collapsing pillar, narrowing the distance between us. “Enough of your theatrics,” I snapped, my voice sharp as I swung the glowing blade. “If you want to end this, let’s end it.”

She smirked, her voice taunting. “How noble of you, playing the savior. Too bad no one’s left to save. Only ashes remain after I’m done.”

As she raised her hand for another attack, I surged forward, catching her off guard. With a burst of speed, I drove my dagger toward her chest.

Her eyes widened, shock flashing across her face as the blade pierced her heart.

For a moment, everything went still. Blood bubbled from Arthemice’s lips, painting them a dark, crimson red. Her hand trembled as though she intended to retaliate, but her strength had already abandoned her.

A low chuckle slipped past her bloodied lips, the sound faint yet dripping with malice. “You really thought this was victory, didn’t you?” she rasped, her voice jagged and broken.

I yanked the blade free, its golden glow now marred with her blood. “I did what had to be done,” I replied coldly, though unease clawed at the edges of my resolve.

Her eyes, though dulled by death’s approach, gleamed with a twisted satisfaction. “How delightfully naive,” she croaked, coughing violently as blood trickled down her chin. “Killing me... won’t grant you salvation. It’ll damn you.”

I gritted my teeth, the trembling ground beneath us mirroring the unease building in my chest. “More empty threats? You’re in no position to gloat.”

Her laugh was a wet, hollow sound, devoid of strength but laced with spite. “Threats? No, Faerie, this is truth. I made sure of it... I placed the seal of the abyss within my heart. A parting gift, for someone foolish enough to try what you’ve done.”

My heart stilled as her words settled in the air, heavy and oppressive. “What did you do?” I demanded, gripping the dagger tighter, its glow flickering as though sensing the gravity of her words.

Her head lolled back, and she grinned, a grotesque, blood-soaked expression. “I ensured... that if I couldn’t win, neither would you,” she whispered, her voice fading into the death rattle. “Now, we all fall together.”

Her body slumped as the light in her eyes extinguished, leaving behind an eerie stillness. For a single heartbeat, silence reigned.

And then it shattered.

A deafening explosion erupted beneath the Imperial Palace, the force of it shaking the world to its core. The stone floor cracked and buckled, releasing an ominous, otherworldly glow from below.

“No...” I whispered, stepping back as the realization hit me like a physical blow. The seal was broken.

The earth split apart, and from the abyss, they emerged.

Twisted, grotesque monsters clawed their way into the light, their deformed bodies radiating an aura of pure malice. Their guttural roars filled the air, sending chills down my spine. These weren’t mere beasts. They were high-ranked monsters, each one brimming with a power that could bring nations to their knees.

One of the creatures—a towering abomination with six glowing crimson eyes and jagged black claws—fixed its gaze on me. Its shadow loomed, suffocating, as it let out a blood-curdling screech that reverberated through the collapsing chamber.

My dagger, now dimmed and flickering, felt heavier in my hand. I tightened my grip, ignoring the exhaustion creeping into my limbs. My breaths were shallow, but I forced myself to stand firm.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered under my breath, glaring at the encroaching horde. There was no way out. No time to think.

The monster lunged, its claws descending like death itself.

fin.