2025-09-05 23:32:52
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Chapter 89. Edge of the Blade
Kai’s scream echoed through the abyss. His sword trembled above the phantom’s chest. Amara’s face looked up at him, eyes black, smile faint, voice soft. “Kai… don’t leave me.”His arms shook violently. Sweat and tears ran down his face. His heart thundered in his chest. “Are you… her?” His voice broke. “Or are you just him wearing her skin?”The phantom tilted her head. “Does it matter? If you strike, you lose her forever. If you hesitate, you lose yourself.”The Gardener’s laughter rumbled through the walls. “Yes! Feel the weight of it. This is the crown’s gift. No victory without loss. No heir without sacrifice.”Kai clenched his teeth, his sword wavering. His mind screamed at him to strike. His heart screamed at him to stop. He whispered, broken. “Amara… please… give me a sign.”The phantom reached up, brushing her fingers against his cheek. Her touch was warm, too real.Her black eyes flickered. For one heartbeat, he saw brown. Her real eyes. “Kai,” she whispered, her voice trembl
Chapter 88. The Vanishing Light
The silence after the clash was heavy. The abyss no longer roared. The storm of roots had vanished. The red cracks in the walls had dimmed, leaving only faint flickers of glow, and Kai stood alone.His chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. His sword hung limply in his hand, cracked, almost useless. His body shook from exhaustion, every muscle screaming, but none of that mattered, because Amara was gone. He spun, his eyes wild, searching the endless cavern. “Amara!”His voice echoed, bouncing back against the walls. No answer.He staggered forward, stumbling over broken roots and cracked stone. His hands scraped the floor as he fell to his knees. “No. No, no, no.”His voice broke. “You can’t leave me. Not now. Not after, ” His throat closed. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears forcing their way out. He pressed his fist to the ground, trembling. “Amara.”A faint chuckle rippled through the abyss. Kai froze. His head snapped up, eyes blazing.The Gardener’s voice seeped from the walls, l
Chapter 87. The Heir’s Choice
The abyss shuddered. Red cracks of light split across the dark stone walls, spreading like veins of fire. The air turned heavy, thick, almost choking, and at the center of it all floated Kai. His body was cracked with lines of white and black, light bleeding out like shattered glass. His face was torn between himself and the Gardener, one eye brown and desperate, the other endless and black.He reached out, his voice broken, trembling, torn in two. “Amara… help me… or kill me.”The words struck her like blades. Amara’s breath caught. Her hands trembled as her glow flickered around her. Every part of her wanted to run forward, to hold him, to tell him it would be okay, but she knew it wasn’t that simple.If she pulled him back, she risked losing herself. If she killed him, she risked losing everything.Her chest ached with the weight of the choice. “No…” she whispered. “Don’t make me choose this.”Kai’s body convulsed, his scream echoing. Roots erupted from his side, twisting, lashi
Chapter 86. Into the Abyss
Amara woke with her chest burning, her body lying on rough stone. Her glow had dimmed, flickering faint like a dying ember. She coughed hard, spitting dust from her lungs, and forced herself to sit up. The world around her was not the cavern anymore.She was in a vast hollow chamber, lit only by faint cracks of red light leaking through the stone walls. The air smelled of ash and rot, and the ground trembled as if something deep below still breathed.Her heart raced. “Kai?” she whispered. Her voice echoed. No answer.Her eyes darted around. No Lira. No Darius. No Kevin. She was alone. A cold fear settled in her stomach.Amara pressed her hand against her chest, trying to steady her breathing. She forced herself to stand, her legs shaking. The chamber stretched endlessly, with roots crawling along the walls like veins. Some twitched as if alive, others dripped with black sap that hissed when it touched the floor.She swallowed hard. Her first thought was Kai. His face. His scream. T
Chapter 85. Shadows of the Heir
The cavern was silent. Too silent. Amara stood frozen, her hands trembling as the last of the light died around her. Kai’s body was still in her arms, but his eyes, those eyes she knew so well, were no longer his. They were black. Endless, and when he spoke, the voice was not his. “The heir is gone.”The sound echoed like a thousand whispers layered together, ancient and cold. The roots in the walls shivered as if bowing to their master.Amara’s chest tightened. Her knees shook, but she refused to let go of him. She pressed her forehead against his, whispering through broken breath. “No. You’re still in there. I know you are. I won’t let him take you.”But Kai did not answer. Instead, the Gardener’s voice seeped through his lips again.“You waste your breath. He was never yours to save. He was always mine.”Far above the cavern, the others waited. Lira paced back and forth, her hand gripping the hilt of her dagger so tightly her knuckles turned white. “It’s been too long. Something’s
Chapter 84. The Hollow Crown
Darkness swallowed everything. Kai’s scream echoed through the cavern until it became a ragged breath. His knees hit the stone floor, his sword fell from his grip, and his hands clawed at his chest as if he could tear the roots out himself, but they were inside him now.They writhed through his veins, burning, twisting, digging deeper. His vision flickered between black fire and blinding light.He felt himself splitting. Half of him fought to stay. Half of him wanted to let go.“Kai!” Amara’s voice was sharp, broken. She knelt beside him, pressing glowing hands against his chest, trying to burn the roots away with her light.But the roots hissed and curled tighter, drinking her glow instead of fleeing. Her face twisted in horror. “No… no, no, no. Stay with me, Kai. Don’t let him in.”Kai tried to answer, but his mouth filled with blood. His eyes rolled back, and for a moment, Amara saw not Kai’s eyes, but the Gardener’s, cold, endless, ancient.She pulled him into her arms, holding h
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