Chapter 44: Crimson Farewell (1)
Misha stood in front of the portal with the others.
For a moment, she could not make herself step forward.
Her eyes drifted past the swirling light and toward the far edge of the checkpoint, toward the place where Jules had been buried beneath fresh earth and a wooden marker that still looked too new. The image of it had stayed with her for days. It followed her into sleep, and it waited for her when she woke.
Her fingers curled into fists. She stood there with her shoulders drawn tight, jaw tighter, as if she could keep herself from falling apart again by sheer force alone.
Nyxie noticed her. Of course she noticed. She opened her mouth, probably to say something reckless or half-soft or both, then closed it again. For once, she chose to stay quiet.
Yara looked over the group, her gaze moved across them one by one. Then she stepped through the portal first without a word as if she already knew they would follow.
Elyes sighed through his nose. "Let’s get this over with."
Nyxie followed him in.
Gerbaut stayed behind and waited for Misha.
Misha lowered her head, drew in one slow breath, and stepped into the light with him beside her.
===
A throne room stretched before them.
It was empty and too silent. Tall stone pillars rose on both sides of the hall, black with age and shadow. Torn banners hung from the walls in long faded strips, their old colors swallowed by dust and darkness.
At the far end of the room stood a massive throne carved from dark stone, jagged and severe, like it had been built by something that cared less about ruling and more about fearing.
No guards waited. No monsters lurked. Only their breathing disturbed the room, and even that felt unwelcome.
A yellow portal shimmered into existence in front of the throne.
Ding!
「 〔FLOOR QUEST〕
’Trial of the Forsaken’
Select one Raider to challenge the Goblin King alone.
The Goblin King’s Trial will begin after the rest of the party has proceeded to the next floor.
Failure Condition:
If no Raider is selected, passage through the portal will be denied to all participants. 」
No one spoke upon seeing the floor quest window.
Misha read it once, then again because surely she had misunderstood something. Surely the Tower could not be asking that so casually, like it was requesting a volunteer for manual labor and not demanding one of them walk alone into a death sentence.
No. It meant exactly what it said.
Nyxie frowned so deeply it transformed her whole face. "No." Her voice cracked through the hall. "No one is leaving anyone."
Misha nodded in agreement. Yes, that sounded right. That sounded like the only sane answer in the room.
Elyes rubbed the side of his neck and let out a long, miserable sigh. "I guess we’re going back to Genesis."
Nyxie whirled toward him. "That’s your solution?"
"It’s the least stupid one available."
"That can’t be!" Her voice rose. "After everything we’ve been through, after all of that, this is what we get?! It should be a boss room!"
"It is," Elyes replied. "The condition is the problem.. The Academy never mentioned anything like this."
Misha looked from one face to another, pulse rising all over again. "Is there really no other way to get to the next floor?"
Yara stepped forward. She simply moved into the center of the throne room with the same graceful calm she brought into every battle. Her heels clicked softly against the marble floor. The sound echoed too clearly.
When she turned to face them, she wore a gentle smile. "I guess... that leaves me no choice then."
Misha blinked a few times in confusion. "Huh?"
Swoosh!
The sound split the air.
"Watch out!"
Nyxie moved terrifyingly fast. Even then, it was not enough.
An ice shard shot from behind Elyes like a spear of frozen glass and tore straight toward his heart.
Nyxie slammed into him at the last possible second and knocked him sideways.
The shard missed his heart by inches but it still drove into his chest.
Thud!
Elyes crashed to the floor. The shard jutted from his chest at a sickening angle, pale and glittering. Blood spread beneath him in a dark stain over the stone.
Nyxie dropped beside him so fast her knees struck the floor with a crack. "ELYES!"
He sucked in a sharp breath, his whole face twisted from pain.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Nyxie roared. "Yara?!!"
Gerbaut moved at once. He stepped in front of Nyxie and Elyes, spear raised, his blade locked on toward Yara.
Yara smiled. It sat on her face small and beautiful and horribly calm, like she had not just tried to drive ice through one of them from behind.
Misha had seen that same smile a hundred times before. It had always eased her but now, it sent chills crawling down her spine.
Her green eyes glowed. They gleamed like a snake’s eyes catching moonlight in deep grass.
「 Fear and panic suppressed. 」
"I had to eliminate the peskiest one first," she said as several ice shards formed around her at once.
They hovered in the air like drawn blades, humming faintly with mana. Frost spread from beneath her feet in thin pale veins and crawled over the marbled floor.
Misha took a one step back without meaning to. Her eyes wide in shock and disbelief.
"You all are ripe enough to harvest now." Then Yara’s eyes settled on her. "Except one. That’s too bad."
Misha stared at the woman she thought she knew.
Then that image cracked.
"Nyxie." Gerbaut’s voice came low and hard. "Leave with Elyes."
"Are you crazy?!" Nyxie snapped.
Her hands shook while she yanked a red potion from her pouch and poured it over Elyes’ wound after ripping out the shard.
Elyes arched off the floor with a strangled sound that Misha had never heard from him before.
"Don’t move, you idiot!" Nyxie barked, half furious, half panicked.
"I wasn’t planning..." he muttered through clenched teeth, "...to sprint away."
Blood touched the corner of his mouth when he spoke.
Misha’s stomach sank so suddenly, it almost hurt, a cold, sick feeling twisting low inside her.
"W-what are you doing, Yara?" The words tore out of her. "W-What are you talking about?"
"It is time for me to collect what I came here for," Yara said, her voice stayed smooth, almost gentle. "I have waited for this moment for three long years."
Nyxie stared at her like the language itself had stopped making sense. "You were with us! You fought with us! We are your friends!"
"Friends?" Yara let out a soft, amused laugh. "A mere three stars like you?"
The contempt in her voice hit harder than Misha expected, sharp enough to make her chest tighten.
The others probably felt it too. Perhaps even more. They had known Yara longer, followed her longer, and trusted her longer. That was what made the betrayal worse. Not the attack itself, but the simple, brutal fact that the person standing in front of them had been a friend’s face the whole time.
"I only formed Skyreach with you all to nurture your hearts."
Misha’s mind went blank. The words would not settle. They slid around inside her head and refused to take shape.
What was she talking about?
Then Yara vanished. Not one of them even saw her move.
One second she was in front of them, the next she stood behind Nyxie. Her hand had already passed through her chest.
Something red and beating was now in Yara’s palm. Then ice raced over it in a single breath.
"That’s one."
"NYXIE!!!" Misha and Elyes shouted at the same time.
Nyxie’s body hit the floor, the light in her eyes had already gone.
For a second, Misha could only stare.
No.
No... no... this is wrong....
Elyes grabbed his staff and forced himself upright, blood still running down his chest, but Yara stepped on the staff before he could finish a chant.
Ice shards slammed through his legs and stomach and pinned him to the floor.
"ARGH!!"
The sound rippled through the throne room.
Gerbaut lunged, his spear shot forward with killing force.
Yara caught it with one hand. "You’re no match for me. I’m done playing at the same level as all of you."
Nyxie’s frozen heart floated into the air.
Yara moved again, her ice claws punched through the armor and into Gerbaut’s chest before he could fully react. When she pulled her hand back, his heart lay in her palm, still beating, still warm.
"Two." Yara counted as frost crawled over it the next second.
Misha’s vision shook. Nyxie and Gerbaut lay dead on the floor, Elyes bled and writhed, pinned by ice. And Yara... Yara stood in the middle of it all.
Something inside Misha snapped. Tears burned in her eyes so suddenly she almost could not see.
"OLIVIAAA!!!"
The name tore out of her throat like a scream.
「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕
Summoning Capricorn Constellation Soul.
Possession Initializing... 」
Yara turned toward her at once, one brow lifting slightly as if she found it almost amusing that Misha had shouted someone else’s name in front of her.
Still, she did not spare the question a second thought.
She vanished and appeared right in front of her.
Misha shut her eyes tight as the ice claws shot toward her throat in a blur.
「 Control Transfer Complete.
Possession Time Remaining: 00:20:00 」
Before the claws could reach her, a blade rose and knocked the claws aside.
Misha’s amber eyes opened. They burned with sharp, furious light as she stood and looked at Yara with open disgust.
"You fucking bitch." Her voice came low and venomously clear. "You killed my darling."
