The pulse in my chest was no longer human.
It wasn't the flutter of a frightened heart…
But heavy, deep beats, like war drums pounding in an ancient vault beneath the world.
With every beat, a wave of heat surged through my veins. Blood was no longer blood—
It was molten lava, burning me from the inside, demanding release.
Isabella was only a step away.
The saint.
The hero.
The pure symbol who was supposed to save the world.
Now… her face cracked beneath the black mask, and her eyes blazed with madness unfit for a human. Her fist held the broken Soul Dagger, but its shards began reshaping themselves around the blade like a living creature refusing death.
[System Alert: Dragon Heart — Phase "Immediate Break".]
[Status: Mana Overload.]
[Warning: 10 seconds until bodily vessel explosion.]
Ten seconds?
Perfect.
Kaian was still locked with the Emperor. Golden blades striking dense shadows, sparks flying, the floor collapsing beneath them. Marcus no longer smiled—he fought with lethal focus.
"Evelyn! Get back!"
Kaian's voice sounded distant, as if coming from the bottom of a lake.
But I couldn't move.
The Twin Pact made me feel him.
His anger.
His betrayal.
The child within him… now dead.
I closed my eyes.
Laila.
Remember how you solve crises.
Data. Patterns. Flow.
I opened my eyes again—but I saw not magic.
I saw algorithms.
Lines of energy moving in vectors.
Pressure points.
Vibrations.
Isabella's attack was not random—it was tuned to strike the exact link point between me and Kaian.
The Emperor was weaving a shadow network behind every strike.
I saw the opening.
"Mana direction… 100%."
I didn't shout it aloud.
I sent it into my soul.
And the world exploded.
From my chest, not light—but a roar.
Dense violet energy formed behind me, a massive, incomplete dragon head, its eyes like burning stars. It opened its mouth and unleashed a wave of pure magical pressure.
It wasn't fire.
It was will.
Isabella, a breath away from stabbing me, was thrown backward like a ragdoll hit by a hurricane. She slammed against the marble wall, the stones cracking around her.
Shards of the Soul Dagger scattered like broken ash.
The Emperor stopped.
For the first time.
The shadows recoiled a step.
"First Dragon Blood…" Marcus whispered, his eyes widening.
"This is not Xsaros' legacy. This… is the origin."
I dropped to the floor.
Gasping for air.
My skin burned from the inside.
[Congratulations!]
[Skill Awakened: Dragon Heart — Phase One.]
[+500 Days of Life.]
[Balance: 831 Days.]
[Warning: Danger Level Increased to 200%.]
Eight hundred thirty-one days.
But what use is life if the world collapses?
Kaian leapt to me as soon as he felt the energy eruption. He caught me before I fell completely, his arm around my waist, his body still glowing with gold tinged with violet.
"What have you done?"
His voice was not accusation.
But awe.
"I opened a door…" I whispered.
"I don't know how to close it."
A faint laugh came from the balcony.
I turned.
Isabella was not dead.
She stood slowly.
Her bones cracked back into place unnaturally. The skin on her face tore like fabric, revealing a dark, shiny layer beneath, as if coated in black oil.
And when she spoke—
It was not one voice.
But two intertwined.
Human.
Mechanical.
"Laila…"
Blood froze in my veins.
She knew my name.
"Your system is primitive. Based on survival. But my system…"
She smiled.
"Feeds on annihilation."
[Warning!]
[Opposing Host activated protocol: Spatial Self-Destruction.]
[Shadow Rift forming.]
[30 seconds to full collapse.]
The room began to collapse.
The walls did not break—they bent.
The space itself folded toward a black point behind Isabella.
The Shadow Guard tried to flee—
But their bodies disintegrated into particles when they touched the edge of the void.
Even the Emperor looked around sharply.
"Foolish!" he roared.
But Isabella did not smile at him.
She looked at me.
"If I cannot win… no one will."
Time remaining: 22 seconds.
"Kaian, jump!" I pointed toward the balcony.
He stared at me as if I had lost my mind.
"The lake is a hundred feet below!"
"Trust me!"
I opened the system shop quickly.
Remaining Charm Points: 0.
But one option appeared.
[Mana Wings — Emergency Purchase for Direct Drain.]
[Outcome: Body weakened for 24 hours.]
"Buy it."
A sharp pain split my back.
We ran.
The Emperor tried to summon shadow chains to stop us, but the floor collapsed between us and him.
The grand office—its maps, books, history—folded into the black rift.
We leapt.
Cold air hit my face.
The fall was terrifying.
But from my back, transparent violet wings formed, unstable, slowing our descent. Not true flight—but fall resistance.
Kaian pulled me close in the air, his hand behind my head shielding me from impact.
We hit the water.
Bitter cold.
Darkness.
Seconds of chaos.
Then he dragged me to the shore.
I gasped for air.
When I looked back at the palace—
The Imperial Wing… had vanished.
Its place a black void in the palace wall, as if reality had been devoured.
Even the Emperor… was no longer visible.
But I didn't believe he was dead.
No. This man does not die that easily.
We swam toward the shore.
The Forbidden Forest before us, its trees black as if absorbing all light.
Kaian helped me to stand.
Water dripped from his hair, his golden eyes never leaving my face.
Something in him had changed.
No longer suspicion.
Nor hatred.
But dangerous focus.
[Ping!]
[Mission Complete: Escape Annihilation.]
[Unlocked Rank: The Cursed Mistress.]
[Obsession Meter: 55/100]
Excellent.
Replace hatred with obsession.
"Where to?" he asked.
Before I could answer, I felt heat on my wrist.
I looked.
A violet dragon tattoo began crawling from my skin, coiling around my arm as if alive.
I looked at him.
On his neck—
A delicate golden cross began forming, pulsing in sync with the beat in my chest.
[Alert:]
[Twin Pact transformed into Sovereign Link.]
[Maximum Distance: 10 meters.]
[Exceeding it will gradually halt heartbeats.]
I froze.
"Kaian…"
He immediately moved closer.
"What now?"
"If we go beyond ten meters… our hearts will begin to stop."
Silence.
Then…
He smiled.
Not a romantic smile.
But the smile of a man who found his chains… and decided to own them.
He leaned closer until our foreheads touched.
"Ten meters?"
His voice hoarse, low.
"Then you will stay by my side… or beneath me… every moment of your life to come."
A strange heat rose to my face.
But before I could reply—
The sound of breaking branches.
Slow.
Organized.
From the dark trees, glowing red eyes appeared.
One.
Then two.
Then dozens.
Long bodies, joints moving at unnatural angles, black armor covering half, the other half… living flesh pulsing with black wires.
[Warning:]
[Units Detected: Unsystem Hunters.]
[Sender: Hidden Player.]
[Level: Non-human.]
A cold, mechanical voice came from one:
"Targets acquired."
"Processing… deletion."
The dragon in my chest roared.
And the forest… closed in around us.