A blinding explosion tore through the chamber, swallowing everything in white. The sound shook stone from the ceiling, marble groaning under the force. When the light peeled back, the corrupted figure slammed against the far wall, cracks spidering out around her body before she slid down, leaving a smear of red liquid in her wake.

Celestine staggered, her knees nearly buckling. Her chest heaved with every breath, golden hair damp with sweat and grit, her rapier trembling faintly in her grip. The strike had cost her more than she'd admit aloud, and the truth burned bitter in her chest: she had barely scratched the thing.

A voice broke through the ringing in her ears. "Hey!" Ivan's clone jogged up behind her, fumbling into his pouch. He pulled out a smooth green disk, cracked it against his knee, and hurled the shards into her hands. Celestine caught it without hesitation and crushed it to powder. The dust flared, seeping into her pores, filling her lungs with sharp, metallic taste. Warmth spread through her body. Her cuts sealed. Her strength bled back.

No sunlight. No sky. Her natural regeneration was nothing here. Without Ivan, she'd already be down.

And yet, despite the ache in her limbs, a strange relief cut through the exhaustion. That absurd sea of Sol she'd felt before, the vast tide drowning everything in the chamber was gone. She couldn't see what Kaiser or Aria had done, but something in her gut told her: they had won their part. The weight pressing her back wasn't as suffocating. For the first time since stepping into this nightmare, she felt like she could breathe.

Ivan whistled from the back, flashing her a crooked grin. "That was badass, princess! You sent her flying and knocked her right on her ass!"

Celestine almost smiled, almost let herself believe it. But she knew better. That strike hadn't done much. Against that thing, against that creature named Rosaline, it was little more than noise.

The dust cleared. A single point of red gleamed inside the smoke. Then the whole cloud was shredded by a beam of liquid so sharp it seemed to rip the air apart. Celestine's rapier snapped up, golden edge catching it and deflecting it wide. The beam tore into the wall, which absorbed it whole, the red vanishing like a liquid poured into sand.

Her jaw tightened. She raised her blade, cape snapping behind her in the dead air. "Stay sharp," she murmured.

The corrupted figure lifted her head, and the red ribbons orbiting her pulsed once, eager for blood.

Celestine blurred forward, body breaking into streaks of gold that tore across the marble like lightning bolts. Her rapier flashed with condensed light, every strike sharp enough to split stone.

Rosaline didn't move like a person. Her body drifted, weightless, as blood streamed from her in ribbons. They coiled and snapped like whips, forming into the arc of an umbrella that twisted to deflect each strike. Every clash rang like steel, even though it was only liquid hardening in her will.

The force of Celestine's blows shattered tiles beneath her feet, but Rosaline absorbed them all. Her head stayed still, hair curtaining her face, the crimson glow of her eyes barely visible through the strands.

Celestine reappeared high above, a miniature sun glowing at the tip of her rapier. She came down in a blazing thrust, the heat scalding the air.

Rosaline lifted her umbrella, and blood expanded into a shield. Celestine's rapier struck, light detonating against crimson liquid in a storm of sparks and spray. The shockwave hurled both women back, Celestine skidding in golden fragments across the floor, Rosaline slamming into the wall hard enough to crack marble.

For a heartbeat, Celestine allowed herself a breath. If Kaiser was able to finish whatever monster was there, then it must be up to her to finish this one alone.

A sudden thunk shattered the pause. An arrow sprouted from Rosaline's shoulder, driving her body back into the wall. Crimson mist hissed from the wound.

Aria stood in a shadow near the double doors, bow raised, eyes locked on the corrupted woman. Her hand trembled and she looked like she was crying, but her voice was steady. "We have to strike now. For her sake… don't let her suffer any longer."

Large spiders poured out from the dark, dozens of them, their legs striking marble like drumbeats. They swarmed the floor, the walls, even the dome overhead, converging toward Rosaline with the hunger of predators.

Celestine reacted by instinct, not even truly seeing Aria. Her rapier lashed out, cutting down two of the closest. Black ichor splattered her armor before turning into strange mist.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Stop!" Aria cried, stepping forward, voice raw. "They're mine!"

Celestine froze, golden eyes narrowing, unsettled. That flare of Sol just now, from all over the room, so raw, so violent and so great in number hadn't felt like the Sol that creature had been making all this time. Was it Aria? When did she get here? Was that something she could do? The thought made her chest tighten.

But there was no time to question, as the spiders moved before she could even ask that question.

They weren't fragile things born of nightmare, but massive, barbed hunters, each one large as a hound, black bodies gleaming as if lacquered in oil, eyes glowing like coals. Their legs stabbed the marble like spears, sharp enough to pierce stone, carrying them in sudden bursts of impossible speed. They swarmed her from all sides, skittering across floor and wall alike, the dome itself crawling with their silhouettes.

The first landed on her back, fangs sinking into her shoulder. Another slammed into her legs, lance-like limbs stabbing for her thigh. A third leapt from above, mandibles clashing with the wet click of bone. Their bodies piled on, dragging her down with sheer weight and hunger.

For a heartbeat, it looked like they had her.

Then the umbrella blurred.

With a sweep, ribbons of blood whipped outward, sharp as blades, tearing three spiders into mist in a single breath. She spun low, crimson arcs cutting wide, shredding the ones clinging to her limbs. Their bodies burst apart as if struck by acid, dissolving into curling black vapor that stank of iron.

Still they came. Dozens more. They hurled themselves at her, legs darting in like lances, piercing through the ground and ceiling in their frenzy to pin her. One drove its limb straight for her chest, but she caught it with her free hand, twisted, and in the same motion drove the umbrella through its skull. The thing convulsed, screeched, and then unraveled into mist.

Another clamped down on her arm, mandibles grinding. She ripped it free by the throat and crushed it against the marble with a thunderclap of blood.

The chamber filled with shrieks, the skittering drumbeat of a hundred legs, and the endless hiss of bodies bursting into vapor. For every spider that bit, that pierced, that clawed into her flesh, two more were turned into nothing by the crimson storm she wielded.

One more spider hurled itself at her, fangs bared. Rosaline cut it down in a single blur, and only too late did she see the truth. Celestine had been right behind it.

Her rapier ignited like a sun caught in steel. Sol thundered through every vein of the blade, the hilt vibrating in her grip as if even the weapon strained to contain it. No restraint. No feints. No hesitation. This was everything she had.

She moved. The thrust became an arc, a golden crescent ripping upward with such force it carved a scar of light into the air itself.

The strike landed.

Flame-bright brilliance split Rosaline's right open, the cut so fierce it seared an afterimage into every eye. Blood hissed where it spattered, steaming against marble.

Her head snapped back. Crimson ribbons spilled from her skin. Then she screamed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

It wasn't a voice. It wasn't words. It was raw, tearing sound, an inhuman shriek that split the dome itself. The dragon painted above rattled, scales glowing as though the sound alone had dragged it toward life. The scream clawed into bone, ripped air from lungs, and then it detonated.

Celestine's body was hurled across the chamber, slamming into the far wall hard enough to spiderweb the marble. Ivan's clones burst apart in white mist, five shattering in unison, med-peks scattering where they fell.

Aria hit the ground back-first, the air ripped from her lungs. Her spiders screamed in chorus, then crumpled, their legs folding inward before dissolving into nothing. In a single breath, the entire swarm was gone.

Ivan himself crashed into a column, coughing blood, his eyes wide with disbelief. "What—what the hell was that?"

Silence followed. Dust fell from the dome. Broken marble clattered across the floor.

And at the center stood Rosaline, umbrella dripping molten red. The golden cut burned across her face, but her crimson eye only blazed brighter, full of wordless, searing hate.

Celestine dragged herself up, blood streaking her lip. She wiped it with the back of her hand, disbelief still burning in her eyes. That Sol… that blast… it hadn't felt like Rosaline's alone.

Her rapier trembled, not from fear, but from the weight of knowing this fight was nowhere near close to being won.

Then the chamber shifted. From the double doors Aria had entered moments before, blue Sol spilled into the room. It streamed across the marble in quiet rivers, drawn with uncanny purpose, and coiled around Rosaline like smoke seeking a flame.

The moment it touched her broken face, the reaction tore the silence apart. She screamed again: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Everyone braced, arms up, bodies pressed against cracked walls, waiting for another detonation. But it never came. The shriek broke apart, splintering into something weaker, softer, until at last it cut into silence.

Celestine's breath caught. Her rapier dipped low, eyes fixed on Rosaline. "What… what is this?" she whispered. Her voice trembled despite her will. "Some new power? Some trick of that monster?"

Before them, Rosaline's features bent and changed. The crimson glow bled away, replaced by veins of blue light threading through her flesh. Her torn cheek and jaw knit back together in trembling lines until half her face was whole again. The skin was no longer pale and corrupted, but faintly luminous, touched with the same soft blue that once marked her as Grounded.

Her crimson eye flickered, the shard within it changed until only a trace of blue lingered where corruption had burned brightest. The umbrella in her hand lowered, its blood-slick edge dripping slow rivulets onto the marble. For a heartbeat, she looked almost… Rosaline again.

The silence cracked under a voice.

"No…"

It came from Kaiser's arms. Bosch, cradled there like a shadow of himself, lifted his head just enough, blood running from the corner of his mouth. His words shook, but the weight in them was unshakable.

"That monster… is no longer there. What you see now is Rosaline. The kindest soul to ever bless this house."

Celestine's lips parted, barely a breath escaping. "Old man Bosch…"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.