The castle gates shattered open with a thunderous echo as Rio stormed through, smoke and energy trails coiling off his battered GODWAR suit like the remnants of a dying star. His footsteps cracked the marble floor. Two elite guards lunged to restrain him.
Bad idea.
He blasted one with a powered elbow, sending him through a wall. The second was knocked unconscious mid-air by a single spinning kick, his armor split.
Inside the throne room, silence shattered like glass.
Gasps swept across the chamber as all eyes turned to the defiant figure in the center—bloodied, breathing raggedly, but unbroken.
Zanna—Nyxara's second-in-command and sister of Velatore—stood up from her elevated post, her void-bound bow already forming in her hand.
Her voice cut through the chamber like a blade of fury.
"Where is my brother—Velatore, you psycho!?"
A hush spread like wildfire. The implications were insane: a TIER-4 warrior had survived a direct encounter with Velatore—a TIER-6—and was now standing, no, challenging them all in their inner sanctum.
Nyxara, reclined lazily atop her throne of dark obsidian, rested her chin on her knuckles. Her crimson eyes glittered with amused curiosity.
"Everyone out. That includes you, Nazza. Double the patrols. Keep searching for Velatore."
Zanna snapped toward her.
"But Nyxara—!"
Nyxara didn't yell. She didn't need to.
Her aura surged, an oppressive gravity that dropped Zanna to her knees as if the weight of a star pressed down upon her.
"I said. Leave."
Zanna struggled to her feet, shooting Rio a venomous glare.
"You won't live to see sunrise," she hissed before storming out.
One by one, the room emptied, until only Nyxara and Rio remained.
She leaned forward, uncrossing her legs, eyes narrowing in interest.
"So… tell me, Rio Ryunn. How are you still breathing? And where is my little showman, Flashy?"
Before he could respond, Rio's body gave out. The unleashed power from earlier finally exacted its toll. He collapsed, darkness consuming him once more.
---
Later — Nyxara's Private Chambers
Warmth wrapped around his wounded body. Rio stirred, barely conscious, gasping.
His GodWar suit had been removed. His muscular frame was bandaged in streaks of gold-tinted nanofabric. Resting beside him—too close—was Nyxara.
She watched him, her expression unreadable, fingers gliding across his wounds with unnatural gentleness.
Her touch was soft. Unsettlingly so—for someone known to kill lovers mid-embrace.
"You're surprisingly durable," she whispered, brushing a blood-matted lock from his forehead.
She leaned in, her tongue lightly grazing the cut on his neck.
"Sweet... dangerously sweet."
Raising one hand, she activated a high-tier soundproofing barrier, encasing the room in silence.
"No interruptions," she murmured.
She resumed tending to his injuries with skilled, surgical fingers. Ointments, cooling gels, a touch of ancient elixir. She lay beside him—not like a conqueror with a trophy.
But like a woman guarding her stormbound prince.
---
Midnight — Beneath the Castle Watchtower
Three guards whispered in the shadows.
Guard 1: "He's a corpse walking. He killed Velatore. No way she lets that slide."
Guard 2: "Then why the hell did she clear the throne room and take him to her chambers?"
Guard 3: "She's... interrogating him. You know her style. Cold. Intimate. Terrifying."
They said no more.
---
Meanwhile — Outside the Fortress Walls
Zanna paced under the moonless sky, rage etched across her face. Her void-bound bow pulsed with restrained fury.
"You two! Go to the castle. Track that bastard. I want every move, every whisper—and if a chance arises… kill him."
One of the twin Hunters, cloaked in shadow, hesitated.
Hunter X: "Zanna… Even if you ordered it, Nyxara is our commander. Spying on that human inside her domain? That's suicide."
Zanna's eyes blazed.
"I don't need cowards. Do it. Or I'll end you myself."
Hunter Y gave a wolfish grin.
Hunter Y: "Sure, but in return—maybe a single eyelash from her? Just for… research."
Hunter X: "Idiot! Shut up! You want Nyxara to hear you?!"
Hunter Y: "Relax. We're the best telepaths after her. No one can eavesdrop—not even gods, if we mask our threads."
Zanna had no patience left.
She aimed her bow between their foreheads.
"Enough. Move."
Without another word, the two vanished into the veil—shadows warping as they melted toward Nyxara's tower.
---
Within that tower, Rio still lay unconscious beside a woman whose affection was rumored to be more fatal than war.
But something had shifted.
Blood, power, and secrets now flowed between them—and none of them knew who would survive the dawn.