Tiline 317.
That number refused to leave Ren’s mind.
Three hundred seventeen worlds. Three hundred seventeen deaths. And sohow she rembered every single one of them.
The rain continued pouring across the ruined academy while silence stretched between them all.
Kaiser finally sighed.
"We don’t have much ti."
Ren looked toward him imdiately.
"What do you an?"
Kaiser’s golden eyes turned toward the distant city. Dark clouds twisted unnaturally above the skyline. Monsters were gathering in the distance. Thousands of them. As if responding to sothing. Or soone.
"The world reacts to her emotions," Kaiser said quietly. "And right now..."
His eyes shifted toward the Queen.
"She’s unstable again."
The Queen frowned slightly.
"I’m calm."
The mont she said that, a distant skyscraper suddenly collapsed on its own with a sound like the world clearing its throat.
BOOOOOOM!!
Ren stared at the rising dust cloud.
Kaiser stared at it too.
The Queen looked genuinely confused.
"That wasn’t ."
Another explosion echoed sowhere far away. Kaiser rubbed his forehead tiredly without saying anything.
Ren stepped carefully closer to the Queen.
"Can you actually control your powers?"
The Queen went silent.
That silence alone terrified him more than any answer could have.
Before anyone could speak again the sky split open without warning.
[Ding!]
[World Event Triggered.]
[The Crimson Queen’s emotional state has exceeded safe paraters.]
[Ergency Suppression Protocol Activated.]
A massive golden magic circle appeared above the entire city. Everyone froze where they stood. Chains made of glowing light descended from the heavens rapidly, cutting through the black rain like falling swords.
The Queen’s crimson eyes narrowed instantly.
"Kaiser."
The white haired man frowned deeply.
"That wasn’t ."
The chains shot downward like divine lightning directly toward the Queen. Ren barely had ti to react. The Queen pushed him away instantly.
CLANG!!
The glowing chains wrapped around her arms violently. Another locked around her neck. Another around her waist. The entire city shook from the impact.
For the first ti since he had t her, the Queen looked genuinely angry. Not the cold controlled anger of soone accustod to power. Sothing rawer. Sothing personal.
Crimson energy exploded around her body. Reality distorted violently nearby. The chains cracked slightly under the pressure.
But more descended from the sky imdiately.
[Ding!]
[Containnt Successful.]
[The Crimson Queen has been temporarily sealed.]
The Queen raised her head slowly toward the heavens. Her crimson eyes glowed with pure murderous intent.
"Those insects..."
Ren stared at the chains wrapped around her body.
"What’s happening?!"
Kaiser’s expression darkened.
"The higher worlds noticed her again."
"Higher worlds?"
Before Kaiser could explain, a figure appeared in the sky above them. A woman dressed entirely in white armor. Silver hair. Golden wings made of pure light. Eyes completely devoid of anything resembling emotion. The pressure radiating from her alone made nearby awakened humans collapse to the ground instantly without being touched.
Every instinct Ren had scread danger louder than it ever had before. Louder than the monsters. Louder than the apocalypse. Louder even than the Queen.
The winged woman descended slowly and looked down toward the Queen with cold precision.
"Crimson Queen."
"Tiline violation confird."
"Existence reset authorization pending."
The Queen smiled darkly beneath her chains.
"You ca personally this ti."
The woman’s gaze shifted toward Ren. And for the first ti sothing appeared in those empty golden eyes.
Shock.
"So this is him."
The Queen’s aura exploded outward imdiately.
"Don’t."
The entire atmosphere trembled dangerously in response. The winged woman ignored it completely. Her golden eyes studied Ren carefully from above, as if cataloguing sothing she didn’t quite understand yet.
"How disappointing."
Ren frowned.
"What’s that supposed to an?"
The woman descended slowly from the sky, her wings folding as she landed with quiet precision.
"You are the reason countless tilines collapsed."
The Queen’s expression beca terrifyingly cold.
"One more word."
But the winged woman continued without hesitation.
"Billions died because she couldn’t move on from your death."
Ren clenched his fists tightly.
"I never asked for that."
For the briefest mont the Queen looked hurt. A tiny expression that crossed her face and vanished instantly. But Ren noticed it before it disappeared.
The winged woman extended one hand toward him.
"Co with willingly."
"What?"
"You are the core anomaly. If removed, the tilines can stabilize again."
Kaiser’s eyes widened slightly beside them.
"She wants to erase you."
Ren’s blood went cold.
The woman nodded calmly, as if erasing a person was simply a matter of administrative necessity.
"Correct."
The Queen laughed softly. A dangerous laugh. The kind that cos right before sothing catastrophic happens and everyone nearby realizes too late they should have already run.
The chains restraining her began cracking violently.
"You think..."
CRACK.
"You can touch him..."
CRACK.
"While I’m still alive?"
The winged woman’s expression finally turned serious. Golden spears of light ford behind her in perfect rows, hundreds of them, each one radiating enough power to make nearby monsters disintegrate from pressure alone without being struck.
Ren’s heart pounded violently against his ribs.
This woman was strong. Possibly even stronger than the Queen in her current restrained state.
The winged woman spoke with no emotion at all.
"Crimson Queen. You are ordered to surrender the anomaly."
The Queen slowly lowered her head. Her black hair fell forward and covered her eyes completely. The rain poured around her without touching her sohow, as if even water knew to keep its distance.
Then she whispered so softly it barely carried through the rain.
"No."
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Every single chain shattered at once.
Crimson energy erupted across the heavens like a storm that had been waiting lifetis for permission. The sky turned blood red from horizon to horizon. Buildings across the city began collapsing in a spreading wave outward from where she stood.
Kaiser cursed under his breath.
"Damn it..."
The winged woman raised her hand without hesitation. Every golden spear launched downward simultaneously. The Queen vanished from where she stood.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions tore through what remained of the academy. Ren shielded his face from flying debris and heat, stumbling backward through dust and broken concrete.
Then the Queen appeared directly in front of the winged woman without any warning.
Her crimson eyes were completely inhuman now. Whatever mask she had been maintaining was gone entirely.
"You should’ve stayed away from him."
The winged woman’s eyes widened by a fraction.
Too late.
The Queen grabbed her throat and slamd her through three buildings in one motion without slowing down at all.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The city shook violently beneath the impact. Ren stared in complete shock. That angel woman hadn’t even managed to react. The Queen stood amidst the destroyed buildings while crimson energy twisted around her body like living flas.
Terrifying. Beautiful. Completely monstrous. All three things at once.
The winged woman erged from the rubble bleeding slightly, her white armor cracked across the chest. Fear appeared on her face for the first ti since she had arrived. Genuine, unfamiliar fear.
"You’ve beco stronger again..."
The Queen’s expression didn’t change.
"All because of him."
Her crimson eyes darkened completely as she stepped forward through the wreckage.
"And that’s why I’ll kill anyone who tries taking him away."
The winged woman looked toward Ren again past the Queen’s shoulder. Sothing had shifted in those golden eyes. The cold emptiness was still there but underneath it now was sothing that looked almost like understanding.
"Now I understand."
Ren frowned.
"Understand what?"
The woman slowly wiped blood from her lips. Then she gave him a look that felt uncomfortably close to pity.
"She’s no longer protecting you."
The Queen’s smile disappeared instantly.
The winged woman continued in a quiet voice that carried across the ruined street.
"You are the chain keeping the world alive."
"And the reason it keeps ending."
Silence fell between all of them. Heavy and cold and filled with things that had no good answers.
Then the Queen attacked again...
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