The World Is Mine For The Taking

Chapter 71 - Let The Party Begins, Part 2 (5)

We rushed back to the room, our footsteps echoing down the hallway, only to find the door ajar, creaking slightly as it swung open.

"It can't be..." I mumbled under my breath, staring in disbelief at the open door.

"She's escaped..." Gabrielle's voice cut through the silence. "Why didn't you keep an eye on her?!"

"I didn't think she'd try to run!" I shot back. "She was out cold when I left, and I figured she wouldn't even have the strength to get out of bed."

This was a disaster. She was barely recovering from those nasty injuries, and if we didn't find her soon, the wounds would reopen. I'd used healing magic, but it was only enough to stop the bleeding temporarily. It wasn't a full fix—if she pushed herself too hard, she'd bleed out for sure.

"Did she say anything before passing out again?" Miss Gabrielle asked.

"She said... if she didn't get out now, the kingdom would be in danger. And something about needing to warn the magic knights."

Gabrielle's eyes darkened, her expression hardening as she processed my words. "So, she broke free from the brainwashing, huh?" she muttered to herself. Then, she whipped out her phone, a grim determination in her eyes. "I'm heading to the capital."

"The capital? Why?" I asked, frowning, confusion mixing with the rising panic.

"I need to see Master," she replied flatly.

"What? But what about her?! She's going to bleed out if we don't bring her back

now!

" I argued.

"Don't worry. I'll handle her myself. Something's going down that's bigger than Master realizes," she said.

***

Gabrielle's POV

Then, I caught a glimpse—a figure, just a silhouette, perched in the darkness, staring down at me like some kind of twisted sentinel.

"Get out of the building, now!" I barked, my voice bouncing off the crumbling walls, carrying my urgency.

The figure shifted, melting into the shadows before vanishing from sight. It seemed like they were finally going to make a move.

I turned back toward the person I'd nearly run over, anger sparking hot in my chest like the flames behind me.

"Hey, you! Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Why did you stop in the middle of the road?!" I snapped.

But they just stood there, motionless, like a statue carved from shadow. It was like they couldn't even hear me, like I didn't exist.

"Are you even listening to me?!" I shouted again.

"The day... has come... for the prophecy to unfold..." The words slipped out of them, eerie and detached, like they were reciting from some ancient script.

"What...?"

"The darkness is coming. There should be no light. There should only be darkness," they intoned, their voice cold, empty.

This wasn't just some random lunatic, I'm guessing—this was one of those Eclipse fanatics.

"The light will be swallowed. The moon and the sun will vanish, leaving this world to drown in eternal darkness," another voice hissed behind me. I whipped around, and saw a group of figures emerged, their faces barely lit by the flickering glow of my burning car.

"We are the Eclipse, and the Lord we've awaited is finally coming," they droned in unison.

Their voices swirled around me. It took a heartbeat to realize the full extent of my predicament—I was surrounded, trapped in this circle of fanatics.

"And you... a believer of light... must be punished!" they roared, their arms shooting out, fingers pointed at me like blades.

My pulse spiked as I activated Guardian, a glowing shield forming around me just in time. It looked like getting to the Capital City wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.