We travelled for four more days through the wilderness without experiencing any trouble. We didn’t take breaks because of Tessia’s depleting time. Resting only lasted an hour, and we had to eat and drink while walking.

  I had never seen this much nature in my entire life. Although the scientists ran simulators that attempted to replicate the experience of nature, they never came close to achieving it. The warm air, the nightly breeze. The feeling of soil and the wetness of leaves. All of this was better than some AI nature simulator.

  The downside of all this is the fact that this is enemy territory. It feels like we were constantly in danger; therefore, one has to stay alert even in sleep.

  The creatures we see are… wrong. They look like abominations sculpted by a god who wishes to unravel the very essence of nature. Many appear as crossbreeds—giant wolves with venomous stingers in place of long, furry tails, or simian shapes leaping through the canopy, their eight limbs and four gleaming eyes watching from the shadows.

  The system did not warn us of them since they meant no harm, which was a good thing because each one was about the size of a full-grown horse from Eden.

  As the battle against the Darkest Night draws near, I keep honing my sword skills. My feet move more naturally now, learning the awkward rhythm of swordsmanship. Still, I think it’s ridiculous that a race as advanced as humanity clings to weapons like this.

  I would rather have guns. They’re simpler, cleaner. Even a baby could figure out a trigger under the right circumstances. Swords demand too much—size, weight, balance, my entire body working in perfect coordination. It’s not that Horus’s Agony isn’t the perfect sword for me. It’s that a gun would have spared me all this exhausting practice.

  I lift my gaze toward our destination. We’re no longer far from the Dark Spire. Its coldness reaches us even without looking, a presence bleeding into my skin. If nothing has managed to kill us in the past weeks, then I’m sure this is where I’ll face my greatest returns yet in this cursed Nexus Event.

  ‘I’m not sure if the returns are infinite, but I’ve never heard of an Undying running out of lives. And if they are finite, then it’s still a win for me.’

  Death still frightens me. But if I let that fear keep me from reaching for something greater than myself, then I may as well stay in this forest and throw myself in front of the giant snake.

  Tessia is nowhere to be seen right now. She’s not dead. Far from it. She’s conserving every scrap of strength for when I will need her most. Only I can call her, only I can touch that line that binds us. It’s unnerving how quiet she’s been. Her voice usually arrives with her presence like a tide. Now there’s just a thin, empty echo where she should be.

  “The Spire has many mouths that all lead to the same throat,” she told me days ago before her silence. “My group entered from different points. We all ended up funneled into the same chamber. The Darkest Night is what waits there. It watches. It eats humans and protects the dragon’s heart.”

  I tried to pry out more. How big is it, what does it feel like, how does it move? But Tessia only remembered the name and a smear of black. The fight moved too fast. Her eyes go distant when she says it, like the memory still tastes of smoke.

  In the end, I boil it down to the grim truth.

  ‘I will have to die a few times to kill it.’

  That thought isn’t dramatic. It’s logistics. The Spire is a machine that chews lives.

  I could ask Nico for details, but I don’t want to. His curiosity is a trap. Every question I ask is a thread he can tug to pull more of me into his map. I don’t want him to learn where I get my edge. How I led us through a dense forest with things that would crush us with the weight of their presence alone. He already watches too closely. It’s only a matter of time before he realizes that “voices of the unknown” is a softer lie than the one he expects.

  After a few more hours, we finally reach the cliff that marks the edge of the forest. Beyond it, the air shifts. Fresh, yet thick with the smell of death. The world past the treeline is dark and grey, a barren expanse of cracked rock strewn with the skeletons of twisted beings. This is a Death Zone, the place where battles against the Dragons once converged. The heart of Chaos itself.

  I can feel it pressing against me. The heavy, gnawing thoughts that tempt me to open the door and let them in. Luckily, Horus’s Agony whispers louder than they do, its voice keeping me anchored, keeping me from falling under.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  My eyes drift toward the shadow ahead, its vast, sinister weight making it look like a god descended to deliver judgment. Death surrounds it, and its presence makes the ground itself feel cursed. Now I understand why they call this place the Nether.

  Five years ago, Tessia’s group marched through this very territory and fought hordes of beings revived by Chaos. What fascinates me is how they stayed united under her leadership and strength, carving a path where no one else could.

  ‘Why do the good ones always have to die,’ I think bitterly.

  “Not as appealing as I thought,” I mutter.

  Nico glances at me, his face pale. It’s the first time I’ve seen him unsure. We’re trained to surpass ordinary humans, to survive where others fall—but in the end, we’re still just kids. We haven’t seen much of the world. No matter how well prepared we are, the odds of walking out of that thing alive will never be slim.

  Though the risk is too high for fifteen-year-old clones, the reward makes it worth it. Becoming a Monarch is one way of changing my life as an undying. I can explore planets and experience a life outside Bloodhaul. A life I’ve never dreamed of.

  I also want to kill everyone in Bloodhaul and put an end to this madness. It's not an act of heroism, of course. I just want to harm Adam and the fuckin Monarch who controls Beta 3#.

  Nico and I have already come to a mutual agreement, stating that whoever finds the True Heart first will become the Monarch and liberate the other. However, if someone else beats us to it, we have no choice but to kill them because the rest are Adam’s puppets, brainwashed to believe in his visions and the false dream of freedom.

  “We’re walking to our deaths, aren’t we?” I ask.

  Nico stays silent for a heartbeat before replying, “It could be worse. It’s either this or the promises of Bloodhaul, which end with us becoming servants of a Monarch.”

  His voice drips with hate when he mentions the Monarch. I don’t blame him. The Monarch might be the source of our blood. And maybe even the reason we’re alive, but no one wants to be sold the lie of freedom.

  Many of us entered this territory believing we’d emerge as Nexus Beings. Little do they know, becoming citizens of Beta #3 means nothing.

  “The first group cleared everything here so we can proceed without trouble,” Nico says.

  I tighten my grip on my sword and draw in a sharp breath. With every step forward, my resolve shudders. We’re about to enter the Dragon’s Spire as Dormant humans. Who wouldn’t be afraid in that situation?

  I hold my breath, leap off the cliff dividing us from the Death Zone, and land hard on the ground below. Although I’m relatively small, the impact cracks the earth as a burst of Ether erupts from my body.

  My first instinct is to hide and search for hostiles, but with nowhere to hide, my eyes sweep across this foreign terrain. I’m weak in this world, so I have to stay alert and watch my back at all times. Nico lands beside me. His sword and gauntlet still radiate that dark aura that always unsettles me.

  “Do you hear any whispers?” he asks, his gaze fixed on the shadow ahead.

  “I’d rather not. These creatures were chaos-born… demons and possessed,” I mutter.

  Tessia’s warnings about this place echo in my head. About Chaos and its pull on negative emotions.

  “We’re depressed kids. That makes us flames to the moth that is Chaos,” I continue. “My power will just turn me into a mindless vessel for it. A vessel far stronger than you.”

  He lets out a low cackle. At least we understand each other now. He no longer sees me solely as a tool for his advancement. We’re depending on each other to survive. He’s taught me everything I need to know about Star Ether and how to use it in combat.

  I’m still angry at him for killing me earlier, but now that I know the truth about us and this Nexus Event, I can almost understand why.

  “Do you think anyone from Bloodhaul has made it here?” I whisper.

  “If anyone has,” he replies, “then you should know they’re on a mission to become Monarchs too. And there’s a high chance they’ve already ascended into Nexus beings.”

  Great. Even more bad news.

  “Then I should scout ahead just—”

  “No.” He cuts me off. “Scouting ahead will expose us. Your silver hair makes you stand out. Right now, everyone else is an enemy.”

  Although a bit offensive, he’s right about the silver hair. I dismiss the idea of scouting immediately, and we continue our march toward the Dark Spire on foot.

  The air grows thinner, warmer, and toxic enough to make me cough until my throat burns. We walk side by side, weapons drawn, ready for anything that might leap out of the wasteland. The jagged terrain is at least familiar to us after surviving the mountains. We use the rocks as cover while closing the distance to the looming spire.

  The thought of the others already becoming Nexus Beings gnaws at me. If they have abilities beyond ours, we won’t stand a chance. The only smart move is to avoid them until we reach the Spire. What sickens me most is that I’m forced to trust Nico. The same boy who once stood idle as my skull was crushed between a wolf’s jaws is the only person I have left.

  We’re partners by convenience, nothing more. Our goals align. So for now, he isn’t my enemy. But if we both survive this, he’ll be the last obstacle between me and freedom. That’s fine because I’ve been studying him.

  Boom!

  The ground suddenly shudders beneath our boots as we move. We freeze, eyes snapping upward toward the cloud-choked sky.

  Through the haze, I catch glimpses of a battle unraveling above us. Two figures tear through the air. One is human. Her long dark hair whips in the toxic wind as she brandishes a plasma blade, its glow carving the gloom.

  Her opponent is a winged creature, massive and shrieking, its shadow stretching across the wasteland. She moves with precision, weaving around its lunges. Gravity thrusters hum across her armor as if the sky itself bends for her.

  Then, with one perfect slash, her blade severs its wings.

  The beast doesn’t plummet. Not immediately. It hangs there for a heartbeat, trembling, before bursting into a rain of flesh and blood that paints the world below in crimson.

  Shit! If the flashiness of her attacks wasn’t enough to alert me, her face was enough to send a cold chill up my spine.

  Subject 15, Sasha Bronze, had arrived at the scene. And from her presence alone, she had transcended to a Nexus Being.