Trapped In Elysium: A Virtual Reality Nightmare-Chapter 188: Weak

The king’s hands crackled with black flame as he lunged, his entire form blurred with speed and fury. He struck the earth beside Liam, and the floor shattered in a pulse of molten stone, sending Liam stumbling to the side, shielding his eyes from the searing light and heat.

Anna steadied him. Inside him.

"Focus," she said.

But it was getting harder.

The king was unchained now.

Liam barely raised his sword in time to block the next strike. Steel met with bone-wrapped shadow, the king’s monstrous arm driving down like a hammer. Liam gritted his teeth as he sank to one knee under the force, the weight of the blow jolting through every tendon in his arm. His bones felt close to snapping. His muscles screamed. The blade hummed in his grip like it, too, was breaking.

"Get up," Anna whispered urgently.

Liam rolled to the side just as the king’s foot smashed down, cratering the ground where his head had been. The debris flared in a sickening burst, a wave of dust and cracked stone spinning in all directions.

The king didn’t pause.

He moved like a tempest, eyes glowing with hell’s own fire. One moment he was across the hall—then he was in Liam’s face again. A clawed hand lashed out and caught Liam by the chest, lifting him off the ground like a child holding a doll. Liam’s boots scraped helplessly in the air.

"Look at you..." the king rasped, voice thick with centuries of hate. "A boy, nothing more. Wearing your sister like armor... but she’s not strong enough. Not for me."

Then he hurled Liam.

His body slammed into a marble pillar with a crack that echoed like thunder. Liam gasped as his ribs lit up with pain, coughing blood as he slid to the floor.

"Liam!" Anna’s voice echoed inside him—frantic now. "Get up!"

But the world spun around him. The air tasted like iron. His vision blurred, the edges of everything warping.

The king was walking slowly toward him, not rushing now. He didn’t have to. He knew.

He was winning.

Anna surged within Liam, pushing herself harder, drawing deeper into the well of underworld magic—but Liam’s body couldn’t take it all at once. Not yet. It was too much. His veins burned like fire, like they were being torn apart from the inside.

"I’m here," she whispered. "I’m with you. But you have to breathe."

Liam tried.

The pain was unbearable.

And yet... he stood.

Shaking. Barely upright. But standing.

The king’s grin was wide and cruel. "Impressive," he sneered. "You’ve lasted longer than any mortal. But that’s the tragedy of mortals, isn’t it? No matter how brave... they always die."

He rushed forward again, claws gleaming. Liam ducked and slashed—but the king batted the blade away with the back of his hand and smashed a fist into Liam’s gut. The wind exploded from Liam’s lungs. Another blow to the jaw sent him spinning to the ground.

Anna screamed inside.

Liam couldn’t answer.

He lay there, coughing, blood leaking from his mouth, his chest heaving in uneven bursts.

The king loomed above him like a god of war.

"You feel it, don’t you?" he said, voice calm now. "The tide shifting."

Liam knew.

He could feel it in his limbs, in the tremble of his knees, in the dizzy pulse in his skull.

The king was overpowering them.

Even with Anna’s strength, he was beginning to break through.

This was no ordinary enemy.

This was wrath. This was ancient, unrelenting hunger. This was a soul that refused to fade.

And it was winning.

The queen lay crumpled where the king had tossed her earlier—her body battered, bruised, and soaked in dust and blood. Her breath came in ragged draws, pain licking across every inch of her frame like wildfire. She could barely see from one eye. Her lip was torn. A rib cracked every time she moved. Her limbs trembled, yet her mind, her spirit... it refused to surrender.

She raised her head, slowly, with effort, dragging her eyes across the broken temple floor. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

And then she saw them.

Liam and the king—locked in the eye of the storm.

Anna’s power surged within Liam, a blackish-white mist curling around his limbs, but even with that haunting glow, even with the fire in his steps, he was being pushed further and further back. Each time Liam struck, the king met him with force thrice as strong. Each time Liam tried to rise, the king was already there to knock him down again.

And the queen saw it.

Saw the truth behind all the struggle.

Despite Anna’s efforts.

Despite Liam’s resolve.

The king was winning.

He had tapped into something darker. Something that wasn’t just power—it was hate refined by centuries of waiting. He moved now like a creature no longer tethered by form or flesh. Pure vengeance. Every blow he delivered was a judgment passed, every glare a curse from an age long gone.

And Liam...

He was cracking.

And she could see it in the king’s expression—the satisfaction, the near-glee. He believed nothing could stop him now. That this was the end of it all. And why wouldn’t he? Liam was faltering, and even Anna’s undead strength, borrowed and unfamiliar, was beginning to slip at the edges.

Her gaze rose to Liam again.

And then... something sparked.

Not in him.

But in her.

A flicker.

Not of power. But of duty.

It was not Anna’s fight alone. Nor Liam’s. This was her battle too. Her kingdom. Her curse. Her burden to bear.

The king had forgotten that.

He thought her defeated.

He thought she was out of moves.

But he didn’t know what she was about to do.

Because what she was about to attempt... it wasn’t royal.

It wasn’t wise.

It wasn’t even sane.

It was desperate.

She could barely breathe.

But her mind was already racing.

Somewhere deep in the roots of her soul, something ancient stirred.

A last resort.

But now... now was not the time for fear.

Now was the time to act.

No matter the price.

And so the queen pushed herself to her knees, blood pouring from her side, every movement agony. Her jaw set, her hands clenched. Her lips moved in a whisper. Not a spell. Not yet. But a promise.

She would not let them fall alone.

She would not let the king win.

Not while she still had a breath in her lungs.