The Last Step-Chapter 206: Promise Me to not interfere

Date: January 10, 2018

Time: 08:11 PM

Location: The Inn, Sylvaris

(Perspective: Celia)

I stirred, the soft, somewhat scratchy sheets of the inn tangling around my legs. My eyelids felt heavy, still weighed down by the exhaustion of our descent into the Hollowed Veins, but as the fog of sleep cleared, a deep, tingling satisfaction settled in my chest.

I stretched my arms, letting out a soft, contented sigh. We were back. I was under the same roof as him again.

The dim evening light spilled through the singular window. "Crownless," I murmured, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

A shadow peeled itself from the corner, pooling on the wooden floor before rising into the imposing, armored silhouette of my strongest demon. He immediately dropped to one knee, his jagged cape billowing despite the still air.

"My Queen," Crownless said, his voice deep and reverent. "You have awakened. I trust your slumber was... bussin’."

I paused, freezing mid-stretch. My red eyes slowly narrowed into a glare.

"What did you just say?"

Crownless coughed—a distinctly human-sounding, awkward noise. "I believe the term implies it was of exceptional quality. I overheard Lucas using it while complaining about the inn’s food. I am merely... adapting."

"Stop adapting to Lucas’s brain rot," I sighed, dragging a hand down my face. "Honestly, between you and his System, I’m going to lose my mind. Are the new ones settling in?"

"Yes, my liege," Crownless said, standing tall. "Though Lurk keeps trying to ’clean’ the dust mites under the bed, and Belightest is currently hiding in your ribbon because Ronan sneezed embers near her."

I reached up, touching the red ribbon tied in my hair. I could feel the faint, nervous fluttering of the tiny ash-moth demon hiding within the folds of the fabric.

It’s okay, I thought silently, sending a gentle pulse of calming mana to it.

"Well, keep them in line," I said, slipping out of bed. "I need to get moving. The raid is tonight."

I stepped into the hallway, the familiar creak of the floorboards somehow comforting. I stopped in front of Lucas’s door and knocked—three sharp, rapid raps. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Lucas. Get up. It’s past 8."

A muffled, agonized groan echoed from the other side, followed by a heavy thud—as if he threw a boot at the wood. "Go away. My ribs are still regenerating. The System says I need exactly forty-two more minutes of optimal sleep."

"I don’t care what your imaginary friend says," I hissed, crossing my arms and kicking the bottom of the door hard. "If you make me late to the guild assembly, I’ll melt your shiny new clothes into slag."

"You need me and you know it!" Lucas yelled back, his voice thick with sleep. "Who’s going to distract the terrifying monsters while you sit in the back and throw cursed magic like a coward?"

"I am the terrifying monster, you idiot!" I snapped. "Now get out here!"

"You’re not late, Celia. The guilds aren’t moving yet."

My breath hitched.

I spun around. Leaning casually against the wall near the stairwell, holding two steaming mugs, was Kaiser. He was dressed in a dark shirt, looking entirely too perfect for the dim, rundown inn corridor.

"Kai..." I breathed, all the irritation melting from my voice instantly.

He offered me a warm, easy smile and held out one of the mugs. "Coffee. You look like you could use it. You and Lucas went pretty hard the last few days."

My heart did a rapid, erratic flutter. He made coffee.

For me.

I took the mug, making sure my fingers brushed deliberately against his. "Thank you," I whispered, keeping my gaze locked on his eyes. "Can we... talk in your room? It’s important."

He nodded effortlessly. "Sure. Come on in."

I followed him inside. His room was neat—too neat. The subtle scent of his soap and the cold steel of his weapons lingered in the air. As he sat on the edge of the bed, prioritizing space for me, I remained standing for a moment, just drinking in the sight of him. My internal demons fell completely silent, knowing better than to intrude on this.

"So," Kaiser said, taking a sip of his coffee. "You look like you’ve been run through war and came out the other side smiling. What exactly did you and Lucas run into down there?"

I smiled—a sweet, perfectly demure curl of my lips. *He’s trying to figure out how much we’ve grown,* I realized. *He still worries about his little wife.*

"Just some overgrown pests," I replied softly, taking a slow sip. The coffee was perfectly brewed. Because of course it was.

"A few close calls, but Lucas and I adapted. We handled it."

"Just pests?" Kaiser raised an eyebrow, a teasing lilt to his voice. "I don’t know, Celia. You look like a stray cat that just swallowed the neighborhood’s biggest canary. Care to share the details, or are you keeping secrets from me?"

"Maybe I am," I teased back playfully, taking a slow step toward him. "A good wife learns to keep a few mysteries to hold her husband’s interest, doesn’t she?"

Kaiser let out a soft, breathy laugh, leaning back slightly on his hands, looking entirely too relaxed and amused by my audacity. "Is that what we are now? Husband and wife? You skipped a few steps there, Princess. I don’t remember buying a ring or filling out any paperwork. I certainly don’t remember agreeing to the terms and conditions."

"Terms and conditions are for business deals," I replied smoothly, slipping between his knees. I gently took the coffee mug from his hands and set it down on the nightstand next to mine. "Besides, you’re the one who stayed up and made me coffee just the way I like it. You practically fall over yourself to take care of me."

"I make you coffee because if I don’t, you subsist entirely on roasted monster meat and ungodly amounts of sugar from the street vendors," Kaiser countered dryly, his blue eyes trailing up to meet mine. "Someone has to make sure you’re keen before a raid."

My internal demons purred at that. *He worries. He cares for me. He wants my body healthy so I can stay by his side forever.* It was a sweet, intoxicating gravity, pulling me down toward the idea of simply letting him shield me from everything wrong with this wretched world.

My possessive instincts flared, wanting nothing more than to wrap him up, bury him in a safe room somewhere, and be his absolute world.

Unable to hold back the overwhelming surge of possession and longing any longer, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep, desperate embrace. I pressed my chest flush against his face, burying his nose in the soft fabric of my dress, holding his head exactly where I wanted it—close to my racing heart.

"I missed you," I whispered, my voice dropping into a breathless, intoxicating register. I stroked the back of his hair, my nails lightly grazing his scalp. "I hate being away from you, Kai. The air feels so dirty when you’re not breathing it with me."

He chuckled against me, his breath warm through my clothes, making my skin prickle with absolute bliss. He laid his hands loosely on my waist, gently prying my arms loose just enough to look up at me, though I kept my hands rested possessively on his shoulders.

"We were only apart for a few days, Celia," he said, an amused glint in his eye. "You’re getting clingy."

"I have always been clingy," I pouted slightly, tracing the line of his jaw with my thumb. I wanted to stay here. I wanted to lock the door, freeze the room, and keep him entirely to myself, ensuring he never had to lift a finger again.

But as I looked down at him—looking at the man who manipulated the strongest guilds like pieces on a board—a sharper, darker instinct cut through the domestic bliss.

*I love him,* I thought, the cursed energy turning cold and sharp in my veins. *But if I rely on him... if I let him be my babysitter... I will never become his equal.* The memory of the Scarred Crater flashed in my mind. The illusion. The itchy red heel. The realization that he had been protecting us from the shadows, treating us like fragile kids.

Like pets waiting for a treat.

My ego writhed at the thought. *No. I am an apex predator. I am the Queen of my own swarms. I will not be a helpless maiden waiting for a miracle. I will be the nightmare that clears his path.*

My thumb stopped its tracing. I leaned my forehead against his, my red eyes locking onto his profound gaze.

"Kai," I said, my voice losing its playful edge, turning deadly serious. "Promise me something."

He blinked, the amusement fading into quiet attention. "Depends on the promise."

"Tonight... during the raid," I whispered, my tone firm. "Don’t interfere. No matter what happens. No matter how bad it looks. Do not step in to help me or Lucas."

Kaiser’s expression barely shifted, but I felt the slight tension in his shoulders under my hands. He tilted his head, giving me a look of perfect, infuriating innocence.

"Interfere?" he echoed smoothly. "Celia, it’s a guild raid. I’m just an E-rank and I’m not even a member of any guild or invited. What could I possibly do to interfere?"

*He’s playing the fool.* The realization sent a sharp spike of both irritation and intense adoration through me.

Look at him, lying right to my face so effortlessly.

"You know exactly what I mean," I said softly, my grip tightening slightly on his shoulders. "I love you. I love you so much I would rip my own heart out if you asked. But I am not a doll to be kept on a shelf, Kai. I am your weapon. And a weapon doesn’t get sharper if you never let it strike the stone."

I pulled back just enough to hold his gaze firmly, letting him see the unrelenting resolve burning in my cursed eyes.

"Let me grow. Let me prove I can stand beside you. Promise me you won’t save me tonight."

The room was perfectly quiet for a long moment. I could hear the faint ticking of the clock on the wall, the steady rhythm of Kaiser’s heartbeat against my chest.

Then, his shoulders relaxed. A soft, genuine smile touched his lips, completely devoid of his usual sarcastic flair.

"Alright," Kaiser said softly. "I promise. No matter what happens tonight, I won’t step in to help you or Lucas."

The knot of anxiety in my chest dissolved instantly. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, my posture softening.

"Good," I whispered, a triumphant smirk replacing my serious expression.

Before I could pull away, Kaiser shifted. He leaned forward, his hands sliding from my waist to gently cup my jaw. The sudden, tender contact sent a spark of electricity shooting straight down my spine. He tilted my face up just slightly, and pressed a brief, feather-light kiss to my cheek.

"But just so you know," Kaiser murmured, his lips brushing against my ear, his voice dropping into a low, rumbling timbre that made my knees weak. "If you really are the one who slays whatever nightmare is waiting at the bottom of that crater... I’ll kiss your lips next."

My breath hitched.

I swallowed, forcing myself to maintain my composure. My ego and my possessive instincts roared to life, violently suppressing the sudden wave of flustered panic.

I tilted my head, meeting his gaze with a half-lidded, sultry look. I trailed my nail softly down his collarbone. "Just a kiss?" I purred, leaning in until our lips were practically brushing. "Kai... we have about 40 minutes before I need to leave. We can do a lot more than just kissing in forty minutes."

Kaiser didn’t even blink. He simply reached over, picked his coffee mug back up, and casually took a sip.

"Tempting, Princess," he said smoothly, a wickedly amused glint in his blue eyes. "But you have an S-Rank raid to clear. I’d rather not send you into battle breathless, weak-kneed, and entirely too tired to swing a weapon."

I froze. My brain short-circuited.

*Did he just... did he really just...*

A furious, atomic blush exploded across my face. My jaw literally dropped. Kaiser Everhart, the man who treated romance with the detached amusement of someone watching a comedy play, had just fired a lethal, blatantly lewd comment right back at me. And he had done it with perfect, devastating execution.

"Y-You—" I stammered, stepping back, suddenly intensely aware of how hot my cheeks were. "You absolute—"

Kaiser threw his head back and laughed—a genuine, hearty laugh that filled the small room. "You laid the trap, Celia. Don’t be surprised when you’re the one who ends up caught in it."

"I hate you," I muttered, hiding my face in my hands, completely mortified, though I couldn’t stop the traitorous, giddy smile from spreading across my face.

For the next half hour, the tension evaporated entirely. We sat on the bed, drinking our coffee, reverting to our comfortable, effortless husband-and-wife banter. We laughed, argued over trivial things, and just existed in each other’s space. It was the calmest my soul had felt in a long time.

But peace always has an expiration date.

At exactly 9:32 PM, the three of us walked through the towering front doors of the Requiem Guild. The grand lobby, usually bustling with high-ranking Hunters, was entirely deserted. All the elite parties and officers had already deployed to the crater.

We made our way to the private VIP lounge near the back, where the Guild’s monolithic spatial teleportation chamber resided.

Standing over a map table in the lounge, looking stressed and exhausted, was a woman with cascading silver hair in a high-ranking tactical uniform.

"You’re both exactly 32 minutes late," Sylvia complained, looking up as we entered. She tapped her foot impatiently on the marble floor. "Do you have any idea how much logistical chaos that causes in a multi-guild drop? I was about to teleport without you!"

"Is it really a multi-guild drop without me giving you a minor heart attack?" Lucas deadpanned, rubbing his eyes. "Next time, schedule the world-ending threat for after dinner."

"If you die tonight, Lucas, I’m donating your body to science," Sylvia threatened, though there was a fond, amused glint in her eyes. "Get on the platform. The array is primed and ready."

Suddenly, the air in the lounge shifted, dropping a few degrees as a chilling pressure arrived. A young, rigid girl with obsidian hair and sharp purple eyes stepped out from a side corridor. She wore the emblem of the Sword Saint, her aura clinical and terrifying.

"Sylvia," Alina announced, her voice perfectly monotonous. "The eastern staging ground is stable. Crimson Eclipse has successfully secured the perimeter up to the descent stairs. We can directly teleport using the chamber now."

"Perfect. Thanks, Alina," Sylvia sighed, massaging her temples.

Alina nodded sharply. She turned back toward her squad, but as she pivoted, her purple eyes unexpectedly locked onto Kaiser, who was casually leaning against a velvet couch.

The Sword Saint of Technique paused. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly, a microscopic display of confusion on an otherwise robotic face.

"Who are you?" Alina asked, her eyes scanning him with mathematical precision. "Your facial geometry is vaguely familiar, yet forgettable. Have I seen you inside the Guild hall before today?"

"Just an unremarkable face doing unremarkable things," Kaiser smiled lazily, offering a small salute with his mug. "Good luck in the mud, kid."

Alina stared at him for seconds running some kind of internal calculation, before finally turning away. "We should depart," she stated to Sylvia, before marching onto the teleportation platform with her squad.

Sylvia sighed, waving us toward the platform. "She means well. Let’s go, you two."

Lucas stepped onto the glowing runes. I lingered at the edge of the platform, turning back to look at Kaiser one last time.

He was still leaning against the frame, watching us. He raised his hand, waving a lazy goodbye. Then, a playful smirk crossed his lips.

He formed a gun shape with his fingers, pointing it directly at his own temple. He mimed pulling the trigger, his thumb dropping like a hammer.

But before the imaginary bullet could even ’hit’ him, his other hand shot up in a blur, his two fingers acting as a scissor to instantly ’slice’ the invisible bullet out of the air.

He winked.

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head with an amused sigh as I descended the teleport.

He was such a dramatic idiot. *My* dramatic idiot.

We stepped out of the spatial teleportation array, the deafening hum of the transfer instantly replaced by the chaotic roar of a war camp.

We had arrived deep within the outer ring of the Scarred Crater. Where there was once nothing but a terrifying hive of lurking insects and venom-spitting horrors, there was now a heavily fortified, sprawling communication and staging center. High-powered Dwarven aether-lamps lit the cavern with a sterile, humming glow. Over 150 Awakened mercenaries—representing Crimson Eclipse, six elite parties from Requiem, and various independent contractors—were running last-minute gear checks and forming battle lines.

It was intimidating. The air felt heavy, thick with the intoxicating smell of ozone, fear, and bloodlust.

"Lucas!" a familiar, commanding voice called out.

I turned. Striding toward us through the sea of armored Vanguard members was a woman radiating an intense, electric-blue aura.

I blinked, instantly assessing her. She was tall—easily four inches taller than me—with a commanding, athletic build, sharp features, and an undeniable natural beauty that made the men around her clearly nervous. She moved with the grace of a predator, her hand casually resting on the hilt of a high longsword.

"Navina," Lucas greeted easily, offering a surprisingly friendly smile.

"It’s been a while!" Navina laughed, a bright, charismatic sound. She stopped in front of us, her sharp gaze shifting from Lucas to me.

She offered her hand. "Navina Caelwyn. Guildmaster of the Crimson Eclipse, and the Sword Saint of Reflex. You are?"

"Celia"

I took her hand. Her grip was firm and calloused, the hands of someone who genuinely fought on the front lines. "It’s a pleasure. You run a very impressive camp."

"We make do," Navina smiled warmly, though her eyes were sharply appraising my aura. "I noticed you didn’t bring any weapons through the portal. A Caster usually carries a catalyst at this range. Do you need something from our quartermaster? We have a surplus of standard-issue gear."

I glanced at Lucas, who just gave a subtle shrug.

"That would be helpful," I said. "Thank you."

Navina nodded, gesturing for a logistics officer. The officer led me toward a massive rack of high-grade guild weaponry. "Take your pick. We have Mithril-woven longswords, Dwarven kinetic-hammers, Aether-charged rapiers..."

My eyes skimmed past the boring, practical weapons. Swords were too noble. Hammers were too blunt. I needed something that resonated with my cursed energy. Something that felt like a proper tool for an executioner.

My gaze locked onto a weapon near the end of the rack.

It was a massive, pitch-black scythe. The handle was wrapped in worn, dark leather, and the curved blade was almost unnaturally sharp, glinting with a cold, unforgiving edge.

I reached out, my fingers wrapping around the haft. It was heavy, perfectly balanced for sweeping, devastating strikes. My red eyes narrowed in satisfaction as I tilted the blade, my imagination instantly superimposing the deep crimson spray of blood against the dark metal.

*Yes. This will do perfectly.*

I walked back to where Lucas and Navina were coordinating the Vanguard’s descent schedule. Nearby, Sylvia was sitting at a massive array of recalibrated Aether-Vox communications terminals, literally wearing a massive pair of archaic-looking headphones.

"I am a tactical commander," Sylvia was dramatically sobbing to Alina, who was standing nearby, perfectly ignoring her. "I have killed A-Rank threats. And yet here I am, playing radio operator for 150 people."

"Your suffering is optimal for the mission’s success, Sylvia," Alina stated pragmatically.

"That doesn’t make me feel better!"

A sudden, deep horn blew through the cavern, vibrating against our chests. The chatter of the members instantly died out, replaced by the terrifying, synchronized sound of steel being drawn.

Navina stepped forward, her electric-blue aura flaring to life, illuminating the cavern.

"First wave, form up!" Navina roared, her voice carrying an unshakable command. "Target the descent stairs! We hold nothing back! Break the Mother of Despair!"

With a deafening war cry, the combined forces of Crimson Eclipse and Requiem surged forward. The ground trembled beneath our feet as hundreds of boots hit the stone.

Lucas drew two daggers of pure, blinding light. I hefted the massive scythe onto my shoulder, letting the dark, toxic mana of my core bleed into the metal.

Together, we charged into the terrifying descent of the Scarred Crater, diving headfirst into the abyss.