The massive doors creaked open, sliding against stone that cracked and buzzed with code. Elaine led Ian forward, every muscle coiled like a spring.
Inside… torches flared with glitching blue fire.
And then — footsteps.
Before Elaine could blink, arrows were on aim.
"Don't move," the voice said.
Elaine froze.
She recognized the voice.
A tall man came out in the light — hood down, eyes dark and razor templates. His sword was drawn, but his hands were trembling.
"Elaine…?" he whispered.
It was Damien.
Her ex right hand.
The one who'd said he'd follow her to hell.
He looked as if he'd been there already.
The other survivors — former elite assassins — look gaunt and frightened. Their armour cracked. Their arrogance is gone.
Ian squeezed Elaine's arm.
"These fellas your friends?"
"Were," she muttered.
Damien dropped his sword first.
He staggered towards her — then paused a few inches away, disbelief turning into relief.
"You're alive," he breathed.
"For a brief moment we believed… you'd deserted us."
Elaine tensed.
"I would never."
Damien's jaw tensed pain flickering behind his eyes.
"We needed our leader," he whispered.
"And when the merge started… all we had was your empty throne."&
Elaine swallowed hard. "I came back," she said. "We'll survive now."
Some put their weapons down.
Not all. …
With white curls, a young lady hisses:
"She's the Reaper. She's death, not salvation."
Damien turned and gave a warning glare to her.
"She's the only reason you're breathing," he said.
Before more could be said, the fortress shuddered — and the system blared through the walls:
🚨 RAID DETECTED
BOSS ENTITY APPROACHING
HELLBRAND KNIGHT TRACKING: ACTIVE
Damien met Elaine's gaze head-on.
"You led us before," he said. "Lead us now."
Elaine stepped forward, scythe rising..
"If the King wants war— "
Her voice sliced through the chaos. She spoke through the terror.
"He'll get extinction."
The Shadow Fortress bellowed with the return of its queen.
------------------------------
Black drapes hung from the poles— each with the winged sickle of the Night Reapers.
Elaine stood before her army, her braids flowing dark silky as she sent out commands that pierced the shadows:
"Lockdown every gate.
Attain all sentry agents
And no one, NO ONE, takes action by the individual."
Her voice had the ring of the authority she had fought for so long in that saliva.
But not everyone saluted.
From the rear of the crowd, Lyra moved forward.
Brown skinned under flittering torches, assassin armour hugging her curves, twin daggers out not in salute but in challenge, representation."
Her cold, focused eyes found Elaine.
"Reaper, we followed you once," Lyra said, voice steady.
"But that was before you went soft. Before you disappeared. What evidence do we have that you're fit to lead now?"
A joint sigh.
Ian moved stiffly against Elaine, his hand resting on his sword.
Trembling craven lies bore above Elaine's feet, restless… hungering: Trembling craven lies born from death born from dark colors in the graves fragile minds survive feelings born as the descent begins.
She held Lyra's gaze without discomposure.
"If you don't trust me," Elaine said in a soft voice,
"then come up and test your sword."
Lyra did not hesitate.
She lunged.
Daggers darted at Elaine's neck—
—however, the fortress responded first. Shadow beasts latched onto the ground and raised its leg, Lyra was in the middle of a strike and it managed to pin her down, growling just beside her face.
The fortress itself knew it's true master.
Gasps filled the chamber.
Elaine stepped closer, her voice low and lethal: "I bleed for this army.
I kill for this army.
I have died for this army.
And I came back to lead it again."
She looked away as the beasts released Lyra.
"Fall in line… or become dust in the wind."
The soldiers fell into a crouch.
All except Lyra—
who rose once more, her shoulders trembling with fury…
…but now, head bowed.
"As the Reaper commands," said she through gritted teeth.
Ian breathed out in relief.
But Elaine wasn't rejoicing.
Because — and this was the shaking of every shadow in the fortress — suddenly, a trembling from every corner.
A distorted voice reverberated through the old walls:
"Protocol Seven initiated.
World Merge: Phase One."
The torches went out.
Red emergency sigils flared like fresh blood.
Ian's status bar flickered back above his head.
This time… so did Elaine's.
HP: 100%
Class: Night Reaper
Title: Doomed Queen - Darkness Awaits
Ian took her arm.
"Elaine… what does that mean?"
Her eyes went wide.
She didn't select that title.
Something — or someone — crowned her.
The red alarms continued:
Shadow breach detected.
Command sector compromised.
Elaine swept her eye over her army...
"To positions! We're under attack!"
And out of the fortress gates, the first wave of game-born nightmares poured inside.