The wind howled as light and shadow clashed midair, tearing through the battlefield like a divine storm.
Seraphina stood at the eye of it, her body humming with both powers—darkness and light, each trying to claim her. Her fingers gripped the crown tighter as the heroine—Celestine—advanced, cloaked in divine brilliance.
"You still think you can win," Celestine sneered. "You're nothing but a broken shard of a failed ruler."
Seraphina's voice rang out, calm yet commanding. "Is that what you told yourself when you betrayed her? When you took everything and twisted it into a fairytale where you're the innocent one?"
Celestine's expression cracked for a second. Just a second.
Auren moved to Seraphina's side. "You don't have to prove anything. Let us handle her."
"No," Seraphina said. "This fight is mine."
She stepped forward, and the wind around her grew fierce, lifting her hair and skirts like tendrils of night. The mark on her wrist glowed—the mark she once believed was a curse. Now, she knew it for what it was:
A seal.
The Empress's seal.
"Do you remember," Seraphina said, voice rising, "when the Empress saved the western borders from the plague? When she stood alone against the rogue knights of the east? Do you remember who gave you a home when your family fell, Celestine?"
Celestine's glow dimmed. "She was never supposed to remember."
"Oh," Seraphina whispered, smiling faintly. "But I did. And now I'll make sure everyone else does too."
Suddenly, a loud cry echoed from the woods—a divine beast's howl.
From the trees, a massive white phoenix burst into the sky, trailing blue fire. It circled above Seraphina before descending with a gentle rumble, bowing its head.
"She remembers you," the Empress whispered behind her. "The beast we raised from a hatchling."
Celestine's eyes widened. "That's impossible."
"No," Seraphina said. "What's impossible is how long you've hidden behind that light—pretending it made you good."
And then Seraphina raised her hand.
With one pull, she summoned both dark and light magic into a single, massive orb. A swirling eclipse of power.
Celestine faltered, fear flashing in her eyes.
"Goodbye, heroine," Seraphina said. "May the next life grant you truth."
She unleashed the spell.
It slammed into Celestine, shattering her illusion of divine purity. Her white robes burned away. Her "light" cracked, revealing the corrupted aura beneath—one stolen from sacrificed priestesses.
She collapsed.
Silence fell.
And then… cheers erupted.
But Seraphina didn't bask in it. Her gaze turned toward the palace.
There were still six years left.
Six years until her destined death.
Unless she rewrote it first.
She turned to the Empress, now flickering like mist in the sun.
"It's your body now," the Empress whispered. "But carry my truth. Make them remember."
And then she vanished.
Seraphina stood alone, holding the crown.
But this time—she wasn't afraid.
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