The air smelled like nightshade and unspoken confessions, thick with the weight of a dagger held between them for too long.
The Death Queen stood at the edge of Luo Feng's blade—her own venom-tipped dagger pressed against her throat, guiding his strike.
"Go on, darling," she whispered. "I won't even dodge."
Her usual smirk was absent. In its place—something far more dangerous: the truth.
[System Alert: Lethal Confession Detected]
[Options:
Forgive (High Risk)
Kill (Higher Risk)
Kiss (Catastrophic)]
Li Qing's frost formed an impassable ring around them. "Choose carefully."
THE CONFESSION
Her story unfolded in six poisoned breaths:
The Contract
The Void Emperor himself hired her (paid in crystallized screams)
"Assassinate the Eclipse Bearer before he awakens."
The Failure
Every attempt mysteriously foiled
The time she used dreamroot toxin? He sleepwalked into her lap
The blade between his ribs? He complimented her form
The Realization
Somewhere between poisoning his tea and saving his life, she—
"—forgot which was the mission and which was me."*
Her dagger clattered to the ground, its edge still wet with antidote.
THE CHOICE
Luo Feng's sword trembled—
—then shattered as Li Qing's frost encased it.
"Idiot," the Ice Phoenix muttered. "We knew from the start."
The Nine-Tails' claw-mark burned on his wrist—a phantom laugh echoing.
The Death Queen blinked. "...You knew?"*
"You're terrible at subtlety," Luo Feng said, picking up her dagger. "Also, you cried when I got hurt that one time."
"That was tactical weeping!"
He flipped the blade, offering it back hilt-first. "Try again next Tuesday?"
THE AFTERMATH
Three things happened in rapid succession:
The Oath
She pricked his thumb with her dagger, then her own
Their blood mixed midair, forming a poisonous rose that never faded
The System Update
[Death Queen Status: **Official Harem Member]
[New Perk: **Immunity to All Her Poisons]
[Penalty: **Must Endure Her Cooking]
The Realization
The Void Emperor's voice echoed from her old contract scroll:
"I knew you'd fail. Love is the ultimate toxin."
[New Quest: Make the Emperor Choke on His Words]
[Warning: Romantic Tension Now at Lethal Levels]
The plush demons started stockpiling anti-venom plushies.
END OF CHAPTER 64