The air reeked of blood and burning flesh.
Elara moved like a phantom through the battlefield, her twin daggers flashing under the eerie red glow of the dying sun. The apocalypse had stripped the world of its beauty, leaving behind nothing but ruins, monsters, and the endless struggle to survive.
The final wave of Revenants rushed toward them, mutated horrors that had once been human, their bodies twisted by the infection.
They came in droves, snarling, screeching, gnashing their rotting teeth.
Elara didn't hesitate.
She darted forward, blade slicing through the air. The first Revenant lunged a single clean slash, and its head hit the dirt.
A second beast roared, claws swiping. She ducked, spun, and severed its spine.
Another. And another.
She was a storm. A force of nature.
While others hesitated, she was ruthless, efficient, unstoppable.
"Elara! Behind you!"
Serena's voice rang out, but Elara had already sensed it, a hulking Revenant twice her size, charging at her with bloodstained claws.
She didn't flinch.
At the last second, she twisted, using its own momentum against it, driving her dagger straight into its skull.
The battlefield was chaos.
Explosions rocked the crumbling streets. Gunfire echoed. Survivors screamed.
But Elara never stopped moving.
She was the one they all looked to. The one leading them to victory.
And then..... silence.
The last Revenant fell with a heavy thud.
It was over.
Elara breathed hard, surveying the wreckage. Seven years of war. Seven years of blood, sweat, and sacrifice.
And now, at last….
"We won," she whispered.
Her grip on her daggers loosened slightly. It felt unreal.
The underground shelter stood intact in the distance, filled with the hundreds of survivors she had fought to protect.
The people she had saved.
The people she had given everything for.
She turned to Serena Vale.
Her best friend. Her second-in-command. The woman who had fought beside her since the beginning.
They had survived together.
Elara let out a breathless, relieved laugh. "We actually did it."
Serena smiled lightly. A soft, almost… amused smile.
"We did it?" she repeated, tilting her head, her voice laced with something strange, something cold.
Elara frowned.
Serena's usual warmth was gone. In its place was a smirk, sharp as a dagger.
"Hah. No, Elara. We didn't do it. You did it," she said, stepping closer. "You fought. You won. You saved them. Not us."
Elara's smile faltered. "What…?"
Serena's eyes darkened. "It was always you. The people—they'll only remember you. In their eyes, you won this war alone. Not us."
Elara took a step back, disbelief crashing through her. "That's not true! My victory is yours too. We fought side by side! We're—"
Her words were cut off by a sharp, searing pain.
The world slowed.
A cold blade tore through her abdomen.
The breath in her lungs vanished. A choking gasp escaped her lips.
She staggered. The pain bloomed, hot and unbearable.
Blood—her blood—spilled, staining the cracked pavement beneath her feet.
Serena stepped back, her hand still gripping the hilt of the knife buried in Elara's stomach. A twisted smile curled her lips as she watched Elara struggle to comprehend the impossible.
No.
No, no, no—
This wasn't happening.
Serena… her best friend….
Why?
Elara's trembling fingers touched the wound, coming away slick with crimson. Her knees nearly buckled, but she forced herself to stay upright.
Disbelief and agony swirled in her chest.
"Why…?" she croaked, her voice hoarse, weak.
Serena's eyes gleamed with cruel satisfaction. "Why?" she repeated mockingly. Then, she laughed. "Because I deserve the credit. I should be the hero. But as long as you're alive, I'll always be in your shadow."
Elara's breath hitched.
The betrayal cut deeper than the knife in her gut.
How many times had she saved Serena's life? How many times had she risked everything to protect her, to trust her?
And for what?
So she could be stabbed in the back like this?
Serena's smirk widened. She reached out, cupping Elara's cheek in a mockery of affection. "If you die, I can take your place. I can claim everything you built. The people will have no choice but to follow me."
Elara's lips parted, a bitter laugh escaping her. Even now, with death looming, she couldn't help but feel… disappointed.
Serena thought she could take her accomplishments? That the group would believe this betrayal?
She coughed, the metallic taste of blood flooding her mouth.
Elara's stomach turned. Before she could speak, Serena pulled back, grinning like a madwoman. "Oh, Elara. You always excelled at everything... except one thing. You cared too much. And that's why you're dying."
Elara's vision blurred. Her strength drained.
But she still stood. She refused to fall.
"You think the others will believe you?" Her voice was hoarse, but her words cut like steel. "Felix. The rest of the group. You think they won't question you?"
Serena chuckled. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?" She leaned in, whispering against Elara's ear.
"They knew."
Elara's stomach dropped.
No.
No, that wasn't—
"We planned this together," Serena said sweetly. "Why do you think they all disappeared right before I led you here? Why do you think I was the only one left?"
Elara's breath shuddered. Everything made sense now.
The subtle glances. The hesitant words. The way they had all suddenly dispersed, leaving her alone with Serena.
Her so-called "family" had betrayed her.
All of them.
She let out a choked, bitter laugh. "I really was a fool."
Serena's grip tightened. "Yes. You were."
She twisted the knife.
Elara screamed. Her body convulsed, a fresh wave of agony tearing through her, but she still did not fall.
Even as her life bled out onto the cold ground, she refused to break.
She lifted her head, her vision blurring, and met Serena's gaze with something raw, burning, and terrifyingly unwavering.
Serena's smirk faltered. "Why are you still standing?" she muttered, brows furrowing.
Elara coughed, blood dripping from her lips, but she still grinned—a slow, eerie curve of her lips.
Serena took a wary step back.
"What's so funny?" she demanded.
Elara's fingers, slick with her own blood, trembled as she reached into her pocket.
Serena's expression flickered. "Elara—"
Elara's grip closed around cold metal.
She pulled it out.
A grenade.
Serena's blood ran cold.
She stared, her mind scrambling, refusing to process what she was seeing.
"Elara," she said sharply, her voice tight with warning. "Don't be insane."
Elara's ragged breath came out as a laugh, low, chilling, maniacal. Her crimson-stained lips curled into a wicked, unhinged grin.
"You wanted me dead so badly, Serena?" she rasped. "Fine. Then let's die together."
Serena froze.
For the first time, true fear flickered in her eyes.
This wasn't the Elara she knew. The calm, calculating leader. The woman who always survived.
This wasn't survival.
This was madness.
Her fingers twitched, her body screaming at her to run, but her feet felt like lead.
"You're bluffing," Serena snapped, voice tightening.
Click.
Elara yanked the pin.
Serena's breath caught.
Her stomach dropped.
No. No, no, no—
"Elara, WAIT—"
Too late.
Elara's bloody grin stretched wider. Mad. Unforgiving. Absolute.
"See you in hell, traitor."
BOOM.
A deafening explosion.
Fire. Heat. Flesh tearing.
Serena's scream was swallowed by the inferno.
Darkness.
Silence.
And then—
A voice.
[Congratulations, Host. You have died.]
[Initiating Rebirth.]
And just like that, Elara's world turned black.