The Scourge Monarch descended from the burning sky like a falling star wrapped in darkness. It was beautiful in the way that apocalypses are beautiful, terrible and vast and utterly destructive.
Its form defied description. Flesh and machine, yes, but also something more. Something that might have been human once, before The Scourge's infection remade it into a god of extinction.
It didn't attack after descending. It simply looked at Aldric, like a human would an ant struggling to survive.
Seeing that apathic gaze, Aldric understood immediately.
This wasn't a battle. This was an execution. This was the end of the story written by hands far greater than his own.
"Emperor!" Duke Cassius grabbed Aldric's arm, his voice urgent. "We have to retreat to the throne room. There's still a chance if we—"
"There is no chance, Cassius." Aldric's voice was hollow. He stared at the Scourge Monarch hovering above them like a dark sun. "There never was."
Duke Theron spat blood. "Then we die fighting."
"No." A new voice cut through the chaos. The voice was soft, melodic, and achingly familiar. "We will live through this dark time."
Aldric's heart paused.
From the burning corridors of the inner sanctum, she emerged. Empress Seraphina, her silver hair stained with ash, her white robes torn and bloodied. But her eyes, those brilliant amber eyes, still held the warmth that had captured his heart.
"Sera..." Aldric's voice cracked. "You were supposed to evacuate. I gave you an order."
"And I ignored it." She smiled, that same gentle smile she'd given him on their wedding day. "What kind of Empress abandons her Emperor in his darkest hour?"
She walked toward him, each step measured and graceful despite the apocalypse raging around them. In her hands, she carried a small crystal orb that pulsed with soft blue light.
[ITEM: Orb of Final Sanctuary]
[Type: Legendary Artifact]
[Effect: Single-target teleportation to designated safe zone]
[Note: One use only]
Aldric's eyes widened. "Where did you—"
"From the Imperial Treasury." Seraphina pressed the orb into his hands. Her fingers were cold. "I've already set the coordinates. It will take you far from here. Far enough to survive."
"No." Aldric tried to push it back. "We go together. All of us. We can—"
"It only works for one person, my love. I can't leave you behind." Her smile turned sad.
The truth hit him like a war hammer to the chest. Before the war peaked, he'd told her that the orb could transport multiple individuals, so she could evacuate without worrying. But now, she knows. And still, she'd chosen to stay with him.
"I won't leave you." His voice came out as a broken whisper.
"You will." Seraphina placed her hand on his cheek. Her touch was gentle, final. "Because you are the Emperor. Because humanity needs you. Because..."
She leaned close, her lips brushing his ear.
"Because I love you more than I fear death."
Before Aldric could respond, before he could refuse, before he could do anything, Duke Valen moved, gritting his teeth in determination.
The politician's sword flashed in the firelight.
He didn't aim for the Infected. The sword didn't aim for the Scourge. It aimed for Aldric's back.
"NOW!" Duke Valen screamed.
Time seemed to slow.
Duke Theron's greatsword came around in a wide arc, not at the enemy, but at Aldric's neck. Duke Cassius's golden constructs reformed, not as shields, but as spears pointed at their Emperor.
Betrayal!
The word crystallized in Aldric's mind with perfect, horrible clarity.
His three Dukes. His brothers. His most trusted companions. They had turned on him at the moment of their greatest desperation.
But Seraphina reacted faster.
She spun, her hand already glowing with magic. A barrier erupted around Aldric, shimmering and translucent. Duke Valen's sword struck it and bounced off with a shower of sparks.
"TRAITORS!" Seraphina's voice carried the full weight of imperial authority. "YOU DARE—"
SHICK!
Duke Theron's greatsword pierced her back.
The world seem to stop.
Aldric watched as the blade emerged from his wife's chest, crimson blood spreading across her white robes like a blooming flower. Her amber eyes went wide, not with pain, but with surprise.
"Sera..." The name fell from his lips.
Duke Theron yanked his sword free. Seraphina stumbled forward, into Aldric's arms.
"Why?" Aldric's voice was barely audible. He wasn't asking his wife. He was asking the men behind her. "WHY?"
Duke Valen's face was twisted with something between guilt and determination. "Because the Scourge offered us a deal. Surrender you, and they spare what's left of humanity. Your head for a billion lives."
"You believe them?" Aldric's laugh was sharp, jagged. "You believe the monsters that wiped out 82% of Earth would keep their word?"
"We have no choice!" Duke Cassius shouted. "Don't you see? We've already lost! This is the only way to save what's left!"
"Fools..." Seraphina coughed, blood speckling her lips. "They're... using you..."
Duke Theron raised his sword again. "Forgive us, Your Majesty. This is for the greater good."
The greater good.
How many times had Aldric said those same words? How many hard choices had he made in the name of the empire? How many lives had he sacrificed on the altar of necessity?
Now the knife had turned on him.
"Aldric..." Seraphina's hand found his face. Her touch was so cold now. "The orb... use it..."
"I won't leave you." Tears blurred his vision. When had he started crying? Emperors didn't cry. "I can't—"
"You must." Her smile was radiant even as life faded from her eyes. "Live. Survive. Remember me."
Her hand slipped from his and her chest stopped moving. Her eyes closed forever.
Something broke inside Aldric. Not his heart, that would have been too simple. No, what broke was deeper. The part of him that had held onto hope for humanity. The part that had believed in loyalty, in brotherhood, in the bonds forged through shared struggle.
That part died with his wife.
What remained was something colder. His heart's emotions froze solid. Harder than any steel.
"I see." Aldric gently laid Seraphina's body on the ground. He stood, his cracked blade still clutched in his hand. "So this is how it ends."
Duke Valen raised his sword defensively. "Your Majesty, please. Don't make this harder than—"
Aldric moved.