I could feel her pressure growing stronger with every furious step she took. She no longer looked like a refined knight but more like a bull charging at me with a sword. Even though she seemed about my age, the aura exploding from her felt refined enough to belong to someone in their forties.

I had to find a way to suppress her…

In the distance, Beelzebub was having the time of his life. I could see him darting around the two guards, freezing them in place and biting them whenever the chance arose. Every bite he took sent a faint pulse through my veins, feeding into my strength. The longer he kept it up, the better my odds became.

"Eyes on me!" Silver barked, and her sword crashed in from the side with such force that it felt like the whole mountain was coming at me. I didn't dare take that head-on. I dropped low, my back almost touching the ground as the blade sliced right over me. Frost surged through my leg as I kicked up at her chin the moment the swing missed.

But she must have seen it coming. Her hand snapped out and caught my foot.

Shit…

The world spun as she threw me like a ragdoll straight into the mountain. My back smashed into the rock, scattering chunks of stone in an explosive burst. Iron filled my mouth as I bit my tongue on impact. My organs felt like they shifted inside me, and my head spun hard enough to blur my vision.

And it didn't end there.

Before I could even gasp for air, the rocks around me pressed in tighter and tighter, squeezing me like a sponge and forcing what little breath I had left out of my lungs.

Something in the distance flashed, and I just had enough time to push all of my ice energy to create a thick shield of ice in this hole I was in, shielding me.

With a deafening crash, her sword slammed tip-first into my ice, piercing through layer after layer before finally stopping at the last one. I pushed every bit of energy I had into holding it back. The blade screeched against the frost, that sharp scraping ringing through the air, and with each passing second, it inched forward, relentless and merciless.

I must get out of here somehow… shit!

For the first time in a long while, I felt truly cornered. If I couldn't overpower that sword, and the rocks crushing around me... I would die. Actually die…

I hadn't feared death. Part of me even hoped for another reset or something like it… but playing with fate wasn't a good idea. There were still too many things I wanted to do in this life, and too many people I had to kill, and meet. No matter how that sounds…

Ahem… definitely the wrong time to think about it, because through the cracks in my ice, I saw a silhouette approaching. Slow. Steady. Each step made the mountain tremble beneath me. This kind of disturbance would definitely attract more attention…

She stopped right in front of her sword. But instead of pulling it out like I expected, she did something far worse. I saw her silhouette raise a fist, earth energy swirling around it, and then she slammed it down onto the sword's hilt.

Panic shot through me. Frost burst outward from every direction, pushing against the rocks, trying to eat through them, but it was too late.

A sharp pain tore through my chest. Warm iron flooded my mouth, so much that I couldn't swallow it back. I spat, blood splattering across the silhouette in front of me as my vision blurred at the edges…

The sound of crumbling rock filled my ears as the stone prison gave way, and then a soft hand closed around my neck. Her fingers tightened immediately, pulling me forward with a grip that stole my breath. Every remaining shard of rock scraped against my skin as I was dragged free, each one cutting like thin glass.

"After all…" Silver's laugh spiraled out, sharp and unhinged. "…I am better than Hera. I beat the vampire she couldn't. Ha-hahaha! I'm better!"

At this point, she hardly seemed focused on me at all. Her mind was locked on Hera, obsessed with outshining her, proving something only she understood. Well… shit. That one was on me. I had thrown out what I thought was her weakness, hoping to rattle her, make her lose control.

Instead, it sharpened her...

Who would've expected her mind to be this focused… this dangerous?

She held me like a chicken ready for slaughter, her fingers locked around my neck while her eyes stared straight into mine. Our gazes clashed, speaking thousands of things neither of us said out loud. I knew it was over. I had no strength left. My chest was pierced straight through the heart; a wound that wouldn't kill a vampire, but the pain alone drained every bit of energy from my limbs. I couldn't control my power anymore.

"Tired? My cute vampire…" she purred, and the sound made my skin shiver.

"Fuck you." I spat blood right into her face. I'd never submit, even if she killed me. But instead of anger, a wicked smile curled her lips. Then she dropped me. Hard. My face slammed into the dirt, tasting soil and blood at once.

"You will… submit to me…" Her voice curled around me as my cheek pressed into the ground. I felt every grain of dirt, every sharp piece of debris scraping across my skin and filling my mouth. This humiliation… I'd repay a thousand times over. Even if I became a ghost today, I'd make her life miserable.

"WHEE!" Beelzebub shrieked somewhere above, but I forced my arm out, weakly stretching it toward him with a signal to run. Inside my mind, I pushed the thought as hard as I could, hoping he might feel it:

Fly. Fly away. Find Elira. Protect her. I will come back… no matter what. I will survive. Now go.

A smaller, broken cry left him: full of pain and refusal. He wanted to stay. He wanted to fight for me. But I shook my hand again. I was his master, and he had to obey. With heartbreaking reluctance, I heard the flutter of wings as he took off.

"Chase it!" Silver roared at her lackeys. But my fading vision caught them barely standing. "Tsk… useless…" She clicked her tongue. "No matter. What escaped will return eventually. And when it does, I'll capture your little rat too."

Her mocking laughter echoed above me, and the last of my strength slipped away.

As the darkness pulled me under, I heard Lyssandra's voice whispering, smooth and tempting:

"Without me, you are weak. Can't you see, Beatrice? Accept me… come back to me… and I shall give you power strong enough to crush them all. Come… back…"

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