Chapter 12: Almost meeting Lilith

Pain. All I felt was pain.

I slammed into the wall, my body barely able to move. The sword had vanished from my hand, but the burning ache it left behind was still there—gnawing at my very soul.

I forced my eyes open. Through the haze, I saw Jian lying across from me, her spear still glowing faintly.

The Night Emperor was crumbling. His bones cracked and fell apart, the purple flames in his eyes flickering weakly.

A system prompt appeared in front of me:

"Boss Battle Complete: Night Emperor Defeated."

"Rewards Distributed—Check Inventory."

I tried to laugh, but it came out as a pained cough. "We… did it."

Jian stirred, groaning softly. "Barely," she muttered.

I managed to sit up, though every inch of my body protested. "Check your rewards. Let's see if that was worth almost dying."

She nodded and opened her system panel. My own interface buzzed with new notifications.

Rewards Obtained:Night Emperor's Black Crown (Artifact)

Shadow Cloak of the Forgotten (Armor: +10 Agility, +8 Defense)

100,000 Credit Points

Dragon Scale (1/2)

Wait—Dragon Scale?

My breath caught.

The system had warned me that overusing the Demon Devourer would kill me. The only thing that could stop that was a Dragon Scale—and now I had one.

I clenched my fist, feeling hope flicker inside me. One more scale, and I could survive. Maybe—just maybe—I could make it through this curse.

Jian glanced at me. "You okay?"

I forced a grin. "Better than dead."

She rolled her eyes but smiled faintly. "Come on—we need to get out of here before this place collapses."

I nodded, pushing myself to my feet. My legs were shaky, and the burning sensation from the sword hadn't fully faded, but I wasn't going to die today.

Not yet.

As we stepped through the crumbling remains of the Night Emperor's lair, I couldn't help but wonder:

What other worlds would Death throw me into next?

And—more importantly—how much more would it cost to survive?