"Wake up."
A sharp, throbbing pain shot through my cheek as I groaned, barely conscious. My eyes fluttered open, and I squinted at the blur of movent beside . A thorny vine, dark green and glistening with moisture, pressed against my skin. It wasn't just poking—it was tearing into my flesh, leaving thin trails of blood.
It might have almost been cute, the way the vine nudged at my face, if it weren't for the unmistakable sting of pain. But then again, this was Alvara we were talking about. I suppose I should be grateful she didn't wake by ripping off a limb entirely. Small rcies, I suppose.
"We're in the 10th zone," she said. "Now, tell what you know about Bryelle."
I blinked several tis, trying to clear my vision, but everything remained a muddled blur. I could barely make out the silhouette of her figure. The shapes and shadows of the world swirled together in a haze, a sign that sothing was very wrong.
"I—" My voice cracked, as I clenched my eyes shut against the agony that throbbed through my body. "I need to kill that Viper King..." The pain clawed through like fire, searing every nerve. I could hardly feel my limbs, numb and useless.
"What did you just say?" Alvara's voice was so cold that I could nearly feel the cold onn my skin. I didn't need to see her clearly to know that she was glaring at , on the edge of ripping apart—this ti for real.
"I brought you here...to this bloody 10th zone," she hissed, her voice filled with contempt. "Now, you're going to tell everything I want to know, or I swear, Amael Idea Olphean, I'll kill you where you stand."
"Language, Princess Teraquin."
"Die!"
"W–Wait! It was a joke!" I yelped.
"I've had enough of your jokes," she spat. "I'll end you right here, and leave this accursed forest behind. What will happen to Christina then? Orphaned, because of your idiotic, ill-tid humor."
Her laugh followed, but it wasn't a sound of amusent—it was definitely the laugh of a Major Antagonist.
Ah. She snapped.
"Don't kill , please!" I shouted, stuttering for my life!
She couldn't kill yet!
"Oh, begging now, are we? At least now you're making yourself useful," Alvara sneered, amused by my begging.
But I didn't care about my dignity!
I still have things to accomplish!
"I still haven't had my first night with Ephera and Layla! Kill after that, if you must!"
"..."
"Is that... a yes?" I asked, hopefully.
"Y–You... disgusting human!" I barely had ti to react before—
—BAM!
I rolled instinctively, relying on my dulled senses, and just barely dodged whatever she had thrown at . The ground where I had been lying monts ago was torn to shreds.
"I'm going to peel your skin off, one piece at a ti," she snarled in a low voice and she wasn't joking from her tone. "You'll wish for death before I'm through with you."
Her words sent a shiver down my spine. She ant it. And she wasn't just trying to scare but…
…for so reason my body heated up.
"It's kinda erotic what you said, Miss Freydis."
–BOOM!
Her vine lashed out, snapping against the earth, barely missing my foot as I crawled back. "I'll rip out this filthy tongue of yours first!" "No! I need that to kiss Miranda and Cleenah—"
"Shut your filthy mouth, Half!" Her voice trembled with anger but there was definitely embarrassnt?
Either way, she wasn't laughing.
"Arghh!" I let out a cry of pain as her vine tore into my ankle. The piercing thorns dug deep, twisting painfully around the bone. "This ti, you won't run away," Alvara said.
There was no escape. Not this ti. My body was spent, every limb heavy with exhaustion. "F-Fine. Kill ... but spare my face."
A cruel laugh escaped Alvara's lips. "Oh? Of course, I will," she sneered. "So that your sister can witness your pathetic state in death. It'll be a fitting sight for her."
"I just... I just want one last kiss... from Cleenah... and Celeste," I whispered, longingly.
"...how many won do you have, filthy human?" She sounded genuinely dumbfounded, even though she was on the verge of ending my life.
"Sia... forgive . I couldn't save do it..." For so reason her face seed really clear in my mind in my current state.
"Beast," Alvara spat, in disgust. "You humans are nothing but beasts." Damn, I might have caused Alvara to hate even more Humans.
I think I might be the worst example of Humanity.
"Samara, I really liked that kiss you gave ... in the Tree of Eden... I wonder if—"
"Shut. Your. Mouth!" I barely had ti to react before another thorny vine lashed out, this ti sinking deep into my arm. It pierced straight through, tearing through flesh and muscle with horrifying ease, pinning my arm to the ground beside my face. I could feel the warm blood pooling beneath , but sohow, the blinding pain brought a strange clarity, eclipsing the poison coursing through my veins.
She was really going for the kill.
But I couldn't die here, not yet. With a shaky breath, I tried to push through the fog in my mind. "Just... just kill that Viper King. I need... I need to make the redy with the flower. I'll tell you everything..." My hand fumbled weakly, reaching into my pocket, pulling out a delicate, half-crushed flower. "It's... it's about Utopia... and your sister..."
There was silence. I let out a long, shuddering breath, my body trembling uncontrollably. My Life-Screen should have triggered the ergency signal to the staff by now. They should have co, should have taken out of this place already. But the forest was eerily quiet. Alvara got rid of all the monsters we faced and no staff appeared.
Where were they?
The answer was all too clear. Sothing had happened to them. The staff was either dead... or incapacitated. It started.
"We don't have ti..." I murmured before falling unconscious.
***
ALVARA
"..." I stood over him, looking down at his pathetic form. His face was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving with ragged, uneven breaths. The way his muscles twitched beneath his bloodied and torn clothes told enough—he was poisoned. Not just any poison, either. This was potent, gnawing at his insides, slowing his heartbeat. I should've felt satisfaction. Yet, as I stared at his miserable figure sprawled on the ground, sothing about it irritated . He was unsightly, pathetic, barely clinging to life—and it made my eyes twitch with annoyance. The image of him, broken and powerless, should have been gratifying. But instead, it filled with a strange discomfort.
I wanted to leave him here, abandoned to the rcy of the poison coursing through his veins, and be done with it. I had more pressing matters, like joining Bryelle. His ntion of her na still echoed in my thoughts. What did he know about her?
But what he said…
"It's... it's about Utopia... and your sister..."
Why did he ntion Utopia? Of all things, why them?
I had been so careful, so cautious. No one was supposed to know. Yet sohow, he seed to know…
Did he realize I was involved? How much did he know? And what could he possibly have to tell about them?
He also knew sothing about those filthy hybrids being in this forest…
"Who... are you?" I found myself mumbling, almost to myself. The longer I looked at him, the more I questioned. He wasn't normal. There was sothing about him that didn't belong. He was out of place.
Why did he seem to know more than I did? I gritted my teeth and without a word, I summoned my sleek, thornless vines. They unfurled like serpents, coiling around his broken body. This ti, I was careful, wrapping him tightly yet cautiously. I would find the Viper King. I would end this farce. And when it was over, I would pry the truth from him myself. If he survived, that is.
My elder brother should have already taken care of Mother. He should be on his way to find , to find Bryelle.
But before that I have to learn what he knows about Utopia because he wasn't lying, he knows sothing.
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