The room turned cold.
Arin instinctively stepped in front of Evelyn, his grip tightening on his sword.
The masked figure stood at the edge of the throne room, his black cloak flowing like liquid shadow. His presence wasn't just darkness—it was emptiness. A void that swallowed sound, light, and even the weight of time itself.
Evelyn's breath was shaky. Her crimson eyes were wide with something Arin had never seen before.
Fear.
"Who… are you?" Arin demanded.
The figure didn't answer immediately. Instead, he tilted his head slightly—as if amused.
"Still playing the hero, Arin?"
His voice was calm but carried an eerie distortion, as though several voices spoke at once.
"It's been a long time."
Arin's mind burned.
A memory flickered—faint, broken.
A battlefield.
A storm of blood and steel.
A man in a mask, watching from the shadows.
Watching him die.
Evelyn clenched her fists. Her silver hair shimmered as power surged around her.
"Why are you here?" she demanded.
The masked figure chuckled. "You should already know, my dear bride."
"You failed."
Evelyn's body stiffened.
Arin frowned. "Failed…?"
The masked figure stepped forward. His presence sent a pulse of energy through the room, making the very air warp around him.
"She was supposed to consume you," he said casually. "Bind you to the past. Trap you in the cycle forever."
His gaze shifted to Evelyn.
"But you hesitated."
Evelyn's breath caught. She didn't deny it.
Arin's eyes narrowed. What the hell was this?!
"You wanted her to kill me?" His voice was low. Dangerous.
The masked man laughed softly. "Kill? No, no, no."
"I wanted her to keep you here."
"With her. Forever."
Arin's mind snapped. The pieces clicked.
The dreams. The nightmares. The endless cycle of memories and battle.
It wasn't just Evelyn's revenge.
It was a trap.
"You're the one who cursed her," Arin realized. "You made her into this."
Evelyn's body trembled, but she didn't deny it.
For the first time since the fight began—Arin understood.
She wasn't the one holding him here.
She was a prisoner, too.
---
[New Objective: Break the Cycle]
The masked man sighed. "Tsk. And here I thought this would be simple."
His cloak rippled.
"But if you won't stay willingly, I'll have to handle this myself."
He raised his hand—
And the world shattered.
---
Boss Battle – The Puppeteer's Shadow!
Everything went black.
Then—fire.
The throne room was gone.
Instead, Arin stood on a battlefield—a graveyard of kings.
Countless helmets and swords were scattered across the bloodstained ground.
Evelyn stood beside him, breathing heavily. "This place…"
The masked figure hovered above them, his cloak stretching infinitely into the void.
"This is where it all ended," he murmured. "And where it will end again."
"Not this time." Arin lifted his sword.
The masked man raised a single hand—
And from the ground, shadows rose.
Dozens. No—hundreds.
The Fallen Kings.
Warriors from history, their bodies twisted into nightmare versions of themselves.
Each one wielding a blade filled with cursed power.
Evelyn hissed. "He's drawing from the past…"
The masked man's voice was calm.
"The past cannot be erased, Arin."
"And neither can you."
He snapped his fingers.
The Fallen Kings attacked.
---
[Final Stand – Arin & Evelyn vs. The Forgotten Legion!]
CLASH!
Arin barely dodged the first swing as a massive greatsword slammed into the ground beside him, splitting the earth apart.
He twisted, parrying another attack—but the enemies kept coming.
One.
Five.
Fifteen.
Too many.
Evelyn unleashed a burst of crimson magic, tearing through the front lines—but for every enemy they cut down, more rose from the shadows.
"Damn it!" Arin growled. "We can't win like this!"
The masked figure sighed. "Disappointing."
He raised his hand.
And suddenly—
Arin couldn't move.
A dark chain wrapped around his chest, spreading through his body.
A curse.
His limbs turned to stone. His vision blurred.
No—NO!
Not again.
Not like this.
He wasn't going to lose.
He wasn't going to be trapped in the past!
Evelyn screamed. "Let him go!"
The masked figure tilted his head. "Make me."
She clenched her fists. Her crimson eyes burned.
She made her choice.
She wouldn't let him be taken.
Not again.
A golden glow erupted around her.
"Arin," she whispered.
"I remember everything now."
She turned to face the masked man—her power surging like a storm.
"You stole everything from us."
"You made me forget who I was. Who he was."
Her body began to dissolve into light.
Arin's breath caught. "Evelyn—what are you doing?!"
She smiled at him. Soft. Sad. Unbreakable.
"Finishing what we started."
The masked man's body shook. "You wouldn't dare—!"
Evelyn thrust her hand forward.
And Arin felt something break.
The chains around him shattered.
The battlefield trembled.
The masked man staggered.
"No—NO!"
The world collapsed.
And suddenly—
Arin was falling.
Falling into the unknown.
Evelyn reached for him—
But she was fading.
Her voice echoed—soft, distant.
"Arin… find me again."
Darkness swallowed him whole.
---
[TO BE CONTINUED…]