Chapter 137: Emily

Emily stumbled forward through the Garden with one hand pressed against her side as blood slipped between her fingers.

Her breathing was uneven, and every step sent another wave of pain through her body, but she refused to stop.

She didn’t know where Reinhard was, where Lily, Maki, Yuna, or the others had ended up, or whether anyone had managed to contact him after she disappeared from the others. All she knew was that she had to keep moving.

The Garden stretched endlessly ahead of her, its ruined paths disappearing between twisted trees and broken buildings while crimson veins pulsed beneath the ground, carrying Blood Mana through the area.

Every distant explosion reminded her that the battle was still raging, but Emily tightened her grip around her weapon and continued forward. She had to find the Origin, and she had to end this before more people died.

A figure suddenly stepped out from between the trees.

Emily stopped as another Bloodkin appeared behind her, followed by several more until they surrounded the path. A First Order stepped forward, and his eyes widened when he saw her face.

"The Pale One."

Another Bloodkin stared at her in disbelief. "It’s her."

A third clenched his fists and asked, "Why is she still alive?" while the First Order raised his weapon and growled, "We should have killed her when we had the chance."

Emily’s eyes narrowed. Something about their voices, their movements, and even the way they held their weapons felt strangely familiar.

The First Order lunged.

Emily blocked the attack, but the impact forced her backward. As the Bloodkin changed his stance, the Garden suddenly disappeared from her vision, replaced by a memory of herself as a young girl standing in a training ground with a sword that was too large for her hands.

Blood stained the ground beneath her feet while a woman watched from several meters away with calm crimson eyes. "Again, young miss."

The memory vanished.

Emily’s body moved on instinct. She adjusted her stance exactly as she had been taught, redirected the First Order’s attack, and cut across his chest. The Bloodkin stumbled backward, and Emily stared at him in confusion.

Another Bloodkin attacked from the side, triggering another fragment of memory. "Your stance is too open," a woman’s voice had said while young Emily quickly corrected her footing. "Again."

Emily ducked beneath the incoming blade and drove her sword into the Bloodkin’s stomach before pulling it free.

The remaining Bloodkin stared at her, their fear quickly becoming rage. "You were the reason Father changed!" one shouted as he attacked. Emily twisted aside and cut through his arm, but another screamed, "You were never one of us!" A third charged toward her while shouting, "He chose you over his own kind!"

Then another Bloodkin screamed, "We should have torn you apart when you were a child!"

Emily froze for half a second.

She remembered this place. She remembered walking through the Garden when she was younger, hearing voices greet her, training with people who had once treated her like a child, and believing she had found another family. She remembered Vlad. She remembered Maria.

Yet now these people were telling her they had wanted her dead.

Emily lowered her eyes before raising her sword again. "If that’s what you wanted," she said quietly, "then you should have tried."

Crimson light gathered around her.

A crown formed above Emily’s head as crimson Mana spread through the air, while black stars appeared around her body. The Crimson Protector E.G.O. awakened, and the Bloodkin instinctively hesitated.

Emily moved through them.

A spatial corridor opened beside her, allowing her to appear behind the nearest Bloodkin before her blade cut through his defense. Another attacked from above, but Emily shifted through space and struck him from below. A third came from behind, forcing her to block as Blood Mana crashed against her barrier and reopened her wounds.

Blood ran down her arm, but she ignored it.

Her crimson crown burned brighter as she created another corridor and sent a spatial slash through the group. One Bloodkin fell, then another, and Emily continued deeper into the Garden without stopping.

The deeper she went, the quieter the Garden became.

Emily suddenly stopped when she realized the Bloodkin around her had gone silent.

A figure stood between the trees.

No one had seen her arrive.

Long white hair fell over her shoulders, almost glowing against the darkness. Her face was hidden beneath a crimson veil, and faint crimson eyes could be seen through the fabric. She wore a long crimson robe, while a sword rested in one hand and a mirror-like relic rested in the other.

Emily’s breathing stopped.

"Camillia..."

The woman smiled beneath her veil. "Shouldn’t you be calling me instructor, young miss?"

Emily’s fingers tightened around her weapon.

For a moment, she was thirteen again, lying exhausted on a training ground with a sword beside her.

"Again," Camillia had ordered.

"But I’m tired."

"Then you will learn how to fight while tired."

Young Emily reluctantly picked up her sword.

"Again, young miss."

The memory faded.

Emily stared at the woman before her.

"You..."

Camillia smiled faintly. "You’ve grown."

She raised her sword.

Emily understood immediately.

There would be no reunion.

They were going to fight.

Emily moved first.

Her Crimson Crown flared as she opened a spatial corridor and appeared beside Camillia. Their weapons collided, sending a shockwave through the surrounding trees. Camillia moved with familiar precision, and Emily recognized every movement because she had spent months learning them.

She blocked one strike, then another, but Camillia changed direction and struck her across the stomach.

Emily crashed against a tree and coughed blood.

"You’ve improved," Camillia said.

Emily pushed herself up and wiped the blood from her mouth. "You’re the one who taught me."

"Yes," Camillia replied with a faint smile. "Which means I know exactly what you are capable of."

Emily opened several spatial corridors at once and attacked from different directions, but Camillia avoided them with ease. Emily changed her attack halfway through and sent a black star through a corridor behind her.

Camillia narrowly avoided it, and the attack destroyed a tree behind her. "Magnificent."

Their weapons collided repeatedly, but Camillia’s experience overwhelmed her. Emily was faster than she had been as a child, yet every opening she created was closed almost immediately. Blood continued running from her wounds, and when her leg nearly gave out, she barely caught herself.

"You’re injured badly," Camillia observed.

Emily ignored her and attacked again. Camillia blocked the strike and drove her elbow into Emily’s ribs. Emily coughed blood and stumbled backward as her vision blurred.

Then she remembered the Mirror. Five futures. In one, Reinhard was surrounded by Bloodkin. In another, blood spears pierced his body. In another, he hung from pillars of blood, and in another, a blood-covered figure held him by the neck.

Then there was the fifth: Reinhard lying on the ground with blood staining his mouth while Emily held him. She remembered the fear she had felt seeing that future. Now she understood it.

Emily tightened her grip around her weapon. She wasn’t fighting because she was afraid to die. She was fighting because she couldn’t let him die. He can’t die.

Camillia attacked again. Emily blocked, created a spatial corridor, and escaped before appearing above her. She brought her weapon down, but Camillia blocked the strike and countered immediately, and Emily was thrown across the ground.

For several seconds, she couldn’t move. Then she remembered Reinhard’s grin, the ridiculous confidence in his eyes, the way he had looked at her after seeing her Crimson Protector for the first time. You’ve got this.

Emily slowly pushed herself up. Her crimson crown began glowing again as the black stars gathered around her, and she opened one final spatial corridor. Camillia turned, and their eyes met. Emily stepped through and swung.

Her blade passed through Camillia’s defense, leaving a deep wound across her body. Emily followed with another spatial strike, and crimson light tore through the Special Order.

Camillia fell to one knee as her body began breaking apart, yet she continued smiling. "Magnificent, young miss..."

Emily stood several steps away, breathing heavily. "What happened?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Why are they like this?"

Camillia tilted her head. "Why ask such a question, young miss? This has always been our nature."

Emily flinched. Camillia continued calmly, almost as though they were speaking during one of their old training sessions. "Or did you forget? More than ninety-nine percent of the Bloodkin wanted you dead when you stayed with us."

Emily’s eyes widened. She remembered the Garden, Vlad, Maria, and the Bloodkin who had once watched her train. She remembered thinking she had found another family.

Camillia’s expression softened. "You were always different from us, young miss."

"But..." Emily swallowed. "I thought..."

"That they loved you?" Camillia smiled sadly. Emily didn’t answer. "They may have accepted your presence because Father ordered it. Some may even have grown fond of you, but that doesn’t change what we are."

Camillia lowered her sword slowly. "Young miss, I suggest you turn back. Go back to where you came from and continue living your life."

Emily frowned. "And if I don’t?"

A faint sadness crossed Camillia’s eyes. "Then the current you will vanish."

Emily froze. "What?"

"You will become like us." Camillia paused. "A Bloodkin."

Emily’s eyes widened. "No." Her voice trembled. "He would never do that."

Camillia looked at her for a long moment. "Maybe in the past." She paused before continuing. "But now? Even the great Vlad has become twisted. To him, you are his only light, one that he will want to make everlasting, like us."

Emily shook her head. "I don’t believe it." Her voice broke slightly. "I’ll convince him to stop."

"You were always so optimistic when it came to him," Camillia smiled sadly. Emily stared at her. "Maybe that’s why he changed."

Camillia’s body continued breaking apart as crimson light spread across her wounds. She looked toward the Garden. "I will see how this turns out." Emily remained silent. "If I come back," Camillia said, looking at her again, "then it seems not even you can change destiny."

Her body finally collapsed, and Emily watched her disappear.

She knew what would happen. As long as Vlad remained alive, the Bloodkin connected to him could eventually return.

Their bodies could be destroyed, their souls torn apart, their existence reduced to almost nothing, but the blood connection would eventually pull them back. That was why killing Camillia wasn’t enough. It was why killing the other Bloodkin wasn’t enough.

The Origin had to fall. Vlad had to be stopped.

Emily lowered her sword, and for the first time since entering the Garden, she felt genuinely afraid. Camillia’s words kept echoing in her mind. You will become like us.

She looked down at her blood-covered hands. What if she was wrong? What if Vlad really had changed? What if the man she remembered no longer existed? What if the person she once called family had become something she could no longer save?

Her body trembled as she closed her eyes. Then she saw Reinhard: his grin, his ridiculous confidence, the way he looked at her whenever she doubted herself, the way he trusted her even when she wasn’t certain she could trust herself. You’ve got this.

Emily opened her eyes and slowly wiped the blood from her mouth. "I have to keep going." Her voice was weak, but it didn’t break.

She had spent years believing that strength meant being able to defeat anything standing in front of her. Now she understood that strength could also mean continuing forward when everything inside her was telling her to stop.

Camillia’s warning still echoed in her mind. You will become like us.

Emily tightened her grip around her weapon. "No." Her Crimson Crown formed again, and the black stars gathered around her as she looked toward the deeper Garden.

Somewhere ahead was Vlad.

Somewhere beyond him was the Heart.

And somewhere out there was Reinhard. She didn’t know where he was, whether he had received her message, or whether he was safe, but she trusted him, just as he trusted her.

Emily took another step forward. "I’m Emily Ashcroft."

Then she continued deeper into the Garden.