Emerging from the temple's deep recesses, Flora stepped into the hall, gripping the radiant Tearstone. The fire in her eyes melted into dark satisfaction, her eyelids heavy with twisted euphoria.

  Number 4, one of the losers of the recent bloody dance, leaned against a pillar. He clutched his torn left leg, his eyes locked onto Number 25, who was slumped in the corner.

  "Oh! My precious 4... What happened to you?"

  The Princess rushed to his side, dropping to her knees and clutching the Tearstone in her right hand. Pooling green magic in her left, she pressed the spell against his mangled leg with a sickening, counterfeit tenderness.

  "Prin... Princess, you did it."

  "Shh!"

  "Agh!"

  Flora's magic seeped into 4's body, forcefully knitting the torn flesh together. The agonizing process made the veins in his neck bulge, but he couldn't tear his gaze away from those intoxicating green eyes.

  "You did a wonderful job, my sweet 4."

  As the wound violently sealed itself, Flora cupped his cheek.

  The residual pain and the magic surging through his blood left 4 gasping for air. His face flushed crimson, warm beads of sweat rolling down onto Flora's hand.

  "Flora... I failed... to eliminate her..."

  A sharp, metallic creak behind Flora broke her attention away from her needy companion.

  Fighting her own failing body, 25 had somehow forced herself upright. She drew her bow, notching a black arrow. The heavy toll of her injuries showed in her trembling fingers, making the dark shaft dance drunkenly on the string.

  "Your lies end here..."

  "You think so? Traitor."

  Flora hauled Number 4 to his feet, using her wounded comrade as a shield as she turned to face 25. A venomous smile reached her calm eyes. She looked down at her agonizing rival.

  "Tell me, traitor... Do you honestly believe you can hit me in that state?"

  Flora's eyes never left the trembling black arrow.

  "You lost... Traitor! Haha... Even holding his corrupted power, you are... weak. Your pathetic state must have cracked 99's stone heart, driving him to share a piece of his power with you. Isn't that right?"

  The poisonous words seeped into her ears. Unable to steady the arrow, 25 couldn't voice the screams tearing through her mind.

  "I can feel your anger, 25. But don't worry, I am a very merciful princess... I will let you live just long enough to witness the fall of Kirola. How does that sound?"

  Delivering her final verdict, Flora supported 4 and headed for the temple exit, leaving 25 to her fate without a backward glance.

  Powerless against Flora, 25 let hot tears of rage spill from her eyes as she slammed her fist into the cold marble.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  ***

  Outside, the structural decay of Kirola had interrupted the clash between Number 1 and 99. As they fought off the surging horde of undead, they used every brief opening to catch their breath and hurl lethal strikes at each other.

  Clearing the mob with a sweep of his silver spear, 1 spotted his comrades at the temple entrance. Flora stood there, supporting 4, her grip tight on the radiant stone as she surveyed the chaotic courtyard.

  Confirming Flora had the stone, Number 1 unfurled his wings. A blinding radiance erupted from him, blasting the undead away. Simultaneously, a poisonous question pierced 99's chest—one he dreaded the answer to: Where is 25?

  99 tried to isolate her fragile soul amidst the corrupted frequencies, swatting away the relentless ghouls. Meanwhile, 1 spread his wings and lunged toward his allies at the entrance, wrapping his arms securely around them as he stared up at Kirola's fractured sky.

  99 surged through the monsters, lashing out at 1 with dark chains. But Flora’s green magic deflected the iron links with an ear-piercing shriek.

  "25!"

  Fueled by the loss of the Tearstone and the gnawing uncertainty of his comrade’s fate, 99 charged the temple. He gutted any ghoul brave enough to stand in his path with his black sword, leaving nothing but drifting motes of dust in his wake.

  Just as he tried to silence the filthy noise nesting in his mind and focus on a single soul, a woman appeared at the temple threshold, barely able to support her own weight.

  Refusing to bow to her disobedient legs, Number 25 had forced her last ounce of willpower to drag herself out of that tomb.

  "I..."

  Despite walking side by side for so long, the only thing he knew about this woman was her first initial. Yet, seeing her this battered made the fury pooled in 99’s chest overflow.

  He stopped his advance. Dark mist began to dance mockingly around him, spiraling toward the sky.

  The legs of the charging undead locked up. Kirola's dead denizens learned what it meant to anger this dark creature through the sheer terror trembling in their pathetic souls.

  Gorging on its master's wrath, the black sword began to vibrate, craving more.

  Then, death himself pointed the blade at the sky. The gathering mist was sucked into the steel. Without a moment's hesitation, 99 dropped to his right knee and plunged the sword into the marble floor.

  Kirola tried to resist the plague stabbed into its heart, shaking its earth in a desperate bid to expel the blade.

  But the black sword awakened, its runes glowing with malice. Using the black fissure that split the ground before it, the blade began to suck the inhabitants of Kirola into its stomach.

  The wretched, pale souls hiding behind the trees were the first to go. The river of spirits was pulled into the sword one by one, forming a massive blue vortex at the epicenter.

  Then, the rotting flesh of the ghouls crumbled into grains of sand, unable to withstand the blade's relentless gravity.

  Unable to tear her eyes from this banquet of horrors, 25 was forced to witness the slow emptying of Kirola. She drowned in helplessness as she watched her friend suffer more with every passing second.

  99 struggled to control the sword. Behind the heavy mist descending over his eyes, a brilliant purple glow began to manifest.

  Just as the blood flowing in his neck veins darkened and bulged, the sword swallowed Kirola's last remaining denizens—and expelled its master with a violent shockwave.

  The black sword's hilt glowed red-hot as its runes silently powered down, leaving its owner wrapped in a profound silence on the marble floor.

  ***

  "99!"

  Her voice was the only sound echoing through the breathless cemetery. Ignoring the burning agony in her legs, Number 25 forced herself toward him.

  Every step felt like walking through invisible blades, but she didn't care. Exhausting the very last drops of her strength, she reached the dull-faced man and collapsed to her knees. Ignoring the crushing pressure in her own chest, she wrapped her arms around 99.

  Pressing her head against his chest, the faint, sluggish heartbeat she felt finally allowed her to control her own frantic lungs.

  "Please... Wake up... Please!"

  Supporting him with her right arm, she traced the warmth of her left hand over his ice-cold face.

  "Open your eyes... Please, open them!"

  Her words slowly broke apart, giving way to ragged sobs. Lacking the strength to speak anymore, 25 buried her face in 99's chest, trying to hide her utter helplessness.

  "Please..."

  She sank into silence, desperately trying to swallow the screams tearing at her throat, though she couldn't stop the broken sobs slipping past her lips.

  High above, the fractures in Kirola's sky deepened, raining down on the earth like stardust. It was then that a dull, emotionless voice—straining to wear a mask of perfect courtesy—bled into the graveyard.

  "Oh! My dear son... What happened to you?"

  ?? 40K Words Milestone & What's Next!

  40,000 words! A huge thank you to every single one of you reading, commenting, and walking this bloody path with Number 99.

  Chapter 22 is dropping very soon!