His Bride, Her Revenge

Chapter 97: The Reckoning Begins

The sky split open.

Blackwood was no longer a kingdom, it was a battlefield. A storm of fire and steel rained from the heavens, casting eerie light across the ruined palace walls. Hundreds of perfected weapons, clones, soldiers, and machines born from Project Pandora descended like a swarm from the obsidian clouds. Their eyes glowed silver, void of humanity, bound only to one will.

Seraphine Vale stood at the head of them all. The First Queen. The Origin. The final authority.

Cambria staggered, her body bloodied and battered from the trial. Maddox rushed to her side, slipping an arm beneath her shoulders to hold her up.

"We need to retreat," he said. "Now."

"No," she whispered, eyes locked on Seraphine. "Not yet."

Evelyn backed toward the dais where Lucien still lay unconscious, protected only by a shattered energy field. Her voice trembled. "There’s too many. Even if you beat Alpha, we can’t win against this."

Cambria turned slowly, surveying the army descending upon her.

"You’re right," she murmured. "We can’t fight them head-on."

Seraphine’s voice thundered across the air. "Lay down your arms, Queen Cambria. Yield the Crown, and I will spare your people."

Cambria’s grip tightened on her sword.

And then she did something no one expected.

She smiled.

"Did you really think I wouldn’t prepare for you?"

Seraphine’s eyes narrowed. "What are you "

Cambria raised her hand and from deep below the palace, a tremor surged through the stone.

The ground cracked.

And ancient mechanisms, long buried beneath the foundation, began to stir.

Evelyn gasped. "You activated the Citadel Defense System..."

Cambria turned to her. "Not just that. I upgraded it."

From the ruined towers of Blackwood, hidden turrets emerged powered by forgotten relic tech and newly forged energy cores. Defense grids flared to life, shimmering blue as they formed domes around civilian sectors. Massive arcane cannons rose from the garden vaults, humming with unstable energy.

And from the eastern horizon... came ships.

Not enemy ships.

Allied ones.

Bearing the flags of rebel nations, exiled nobles, and former enemies turned allies.

Valeria. Orin. Even the Highlands.

Cambria had called in every favor, every oath, every debt.

And they came.

A deep horn echoed from above as the fleets broke formation and began firing upon the Pandora swarm.

Seraphine’s calm demeanor cracked for the first time.

"You would risk annihilation rather than yield?"

Cambria lifted her chin, eyes blazing.

"I’d rather burn the throne than let you take it."

The Battle Begins

The skies ignited.

Laser fire and magic clashed midair, lighting the night like a second sun. Rebel fighters flew in tight formations, targeting Pandora units with precision. The palace shook as turrets unleashed wave after wave of arcane blasts. On the ground, royal guards and defected Pandora soldiers fought side by side, holding the front lines against the overwhelming assault.

Cambria leaped back into action, ignoring the pain that screamed in her ribs.

"Maddox, take the eastern wall. Protect them. Evelyn wakes Lucien. I need his codes to unlock Protocol X."

Evelyn hesitated. "Protocol X? That’s experimental. It hasn’t been tested."

"It was never meant to be tested," Cambria said grimly. "It was meant for this."

Maddox gave her a sharp nod and sprinted into the smoke and fire, barking orders to his unit.

Cambria turned toward the throne platform, where Seraphine still stood amidst the chaos untouched, unmoved.

The First Queen raised her hand.

"Enough."

The weapons paused mid-air, freezing like statues.

Then Seraphine clenched her fist.

And they exploded forward.

Evelyn dragged Lucien toward the central interface.

He was walking slowly, groaning as the sounds of war echoed overhead.

"I need your access codes," Evelyn said urgently. "We have to activate Protocol X."

Lucien’s eyes fluttered open. "Cambria...?"

"She’s fighting Seraphine. But we won’t hold much longer without your help."

Lucien grimaced, fingers trembling as he pressed them to the interface.

"Code accepted," the system chimed.

A countdown appeared:

PROTOCOL X ACTIVATING IN 90 SECONDS...

"Once it activates," Lucien rasped, "there’s no turning back."

Evelyn nodded. "Let it burn."

Cambria fought like a tempest.

Every strike of her blade was fueled by purpose. Soldiers rallied around her drawn to her defiance, her strength. She was not just a Queen; she was a symbol of rebellion.

But it wasn’t enough.

The weapons were endless.

For everyone she destroyed, two more emerged.

She was bleeding out physically, emotionally, and politically.

And Seraphine watched it all with divine detachment.

"You cannot stop evolution," the First Queen said. "You are the last breath of a dying world."

Cambria knelt, coughing blood.

And smiled.

"Then I’ll make sure my last breath scars yours."

A massive shockwave erupted from beneath the palace.

Protocol X had begun.

The earth trembled.

From beneath the palace, a great rumbling shook the stones loose.

Then an explosion of violet light.

A figure rose from the catacombs, towering, divine, mechanical, and mythic.

The Sentinel Queen.

An ancient construct built from Cambria’s own DNA, her battle data, and fragments of the lost technology Lucien had hidden.

A weapon created only to defend Cambria.

It stood a hundred feet tall, crowned with flame, and its voice shattered the air like thunder:

"IDENTITY CONFIRMED. PROTECTOR ONLINE."

Seraphine’s eyes widened.

Cambria looked up from the ground, eyes glistening.

"I never wanted a war," she said.

"But I’ll end it."

The Sentinel Queen unleashed a roar and fired its first volley into the heart of the Pandora army. Rows of perfected weapons exploded in cascading fire.

The tide was turning.

For the first time, Seraphine looked uncertain.

She stepped back.

Then reached into her chestplate and pulled out something no one expected.

A dark crystal.

Pulsing. Ancient.

Lucien, watching from below, screamed. "No! She’s activating the God Engine!"

Evelyn paled. "The what?"

Lucien’s voice broke with horror.

"A weapon older than even Seraphine. Something buried beneath the stars. She found it..."

High above the battlefield, Seraphine crushed the crystal in her palm.

And the sky turned black.

A void opened.

A being of pure oblivion neither flesh nor machine descended like a meteor wrapped in shadows.

The God Engine had awoken.

It didn’t answer to the kingdoms.

It didn’t answer the queens.

It answered only to destruction.

Cambria stood beneath the burning sky.

The Sentinel Queen at her side.

And now... something older, darker, had entered the field.

A voice echoed through her mind ancient, genderless, infinite:

"YOU HAVE BEEN JUDGED.

YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND... UNWORTHY."

And then

Everything went dark.