The End of Everything

Chapter 64: The End of Everything

Rin was still on top of him, her entire body pressed tightly against his—warm, alive, trembling.

She hadn't moved since the kiss.

Neither had he.

The silence between them wasn't awkward.

It wasn't even romantic.

It was heavy—inevitable.

The kind of silence that settles between two people standing at the edge of something final.

Then, slowly, Rin shifted and lay beside him, eyes fixed on nothing.

Riya stared upward, trying to make shapes in the white void above, but there was nothing there.

Just blankness.

The air didn't move.

The world didn't breathe.

Time only moved because they chose to move within it.

She shifted slightly, her fingers brushing against his chest as if memorizing the rhythm of his heartbeat.

"Riya…" Her voice was almost a whisper.

He turned his head slowly, meeting her gaze.

There was something different in her eyes now.

Rin sat up slowly, her breath steady, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear with unnerving calm.

Her gaze drifted to the satchel they'd tossed aside earlier—still half-zipped, forgotten in the haze of exhaustion and emotion.

She reached for it without hesitation.

Riya blinked, confused.

"What are you—"

She didn't answer.

She pulled out a small glass vial, no bigger than her thumb.

The liquid inside shimmered faintly violet in the sterile white light of the void.

He recognized it a second too late.

Semiramis's venom.

From the fourth floor.

Lethal in large doses.

Paralyzing in the right amount.

Rin uncorked it, the faintest scent of spice and rot escaping into the air.

"Rin—"

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

Her hands were steady.

Too steady.

She dabbed a thin line onto her lips with a corner of cloth.

Just enough.

She'd measured this moment in her mind several times.

Before he could rise, before he could question her, she leaned down.

Straddled him again.

Her hands on his cheeks.

Her lips touched his.

It was not a soft kiss.

It was slow.

Deep.

Deliberate.

A farewell in motion.

Her mouth pressed harder against his.

She tilted her head slightly, deepening it.

Her tongue slid past his lips, exploring, insisting—forcing him to respond, to open.

The venom would only work if it was swallowed.

He gasped slightly into the kiss.

And that was enough.

She stayed there a heartbeat longer, as if to memorize the shape of him, the taste of him.

Then she slowly pulled back.

Already, his arms felt heavy.

His breath caught.

"Rin…" he murmured, the edges of his voice dulling.

"Wh…at…?"

But she only smiled at him, eyes beginning to shimmer—not with regret.

But with love.

And pain.

And goodbye.

Rin's lips still brushed faintly against Riya's, as if reluctant to part.

Her fingers, trembling but steady in their purpose, slowly pulled away from his.

The infinite white around them made it all feel like a dream—a warm, fading memory caught in the hush before a storm.

Riya opened his mouth to say something—anything.

But then she leaned in again, brushing his lips once more.

This time, it was different.

There was a bitter taste beneath the sweetness.

A faint sting.

His body stiffened.

Rin gently laid him down, guiding his head to rest against the smooth white ground.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It'll wear off in a few minutes."

Riya's eyes widened.

He tried to speak, but his mouth refused to move.

His arms were numb.

His legs wouldn't respond.

He was paralyzed.

"No... Rin..."

Her face hovered over his—smiling, eyes brimming with tears.

She ran her fingers through his hair one last time, her voice trembling with love.

"I kept a little venom from Floor Four."

From her," she said, referencing the seductive Semiramis-copy.

"Just in case."

She took his hand, pressing it against hers—Command Seals to Command Seals.

"You don't have to fight anymore."

"I'll do this part."

One of her Command Seals lit up.

A crimson glow ran across her skin, and then across his.

The marks burned, then shifted—carving themselves into his flesh, vanishing from hers.

Her Seals were now his.

Her power, her right as a Master, now belonged to him.

And with it, Cú Chulainn now became his Servant.

"And now," she said gently, "you have what you need to keep going."

Riya's breathing was ragged.

The paralysis numbed him, but not enough to stop the tears.

Rin sat beside him and leaned down once more, resting her forehead to his.

"I fell in love with you, you know?" she whispered.

"Somewhere along the floors… maybe all the way back on the first one."

His eyes filled with silent, burning anguish.

"You were wild."

"Dangerous."

"Kind."

"Evil"

"And Stupid."

"And then I thought—just maybe—you'd be the one person who could see past my barriers, past my everything."

She laughed, a little broken sound.

"And you did."

"Even when I didn't want you to."

She kissed him again.

Longer.

Deeper.

Final.

Then she stood, turning to face Cú Chulainn, who had been watching silently, sorrow flickering behind his calm eyes.

"Cú."

He straightened. "Yeah?"

"You're not my Servant anymore."

"I know."

"But I'm still your Master," she said with a grin.

He blinked.

Then nodded.

She looked to him, steady.

"You know what the rule is."

"For a Master to ascend to the next floor… another Master must die."

"Even if it's by the hand of their Servant—it still counts."

"Then… please." Her voice cracked slightly.

"Don't make me ask twice."

He hesitated.

And then, like a true knight, he knelt.

"For what it's worth," he said softly, "it was an honor."

Rin smiled, her eyes misting again.

"Likewise."

She walked a few steps forward and stood still, arms at her sides.

Her gaze turned upward, toward the white void.

Riya watched—helpless, frozen—as Cú summoned his spear.

The red length of Gáe Bolg shimmered with cursed radiance.

Cú whispered something under his breath, too quiet to hear.

Then he threw.

The sound was deafening.

A sharp, final whistle as the spear tore through the air.

It struck Rin through the heart.

She gasped once—just once.

And fell.

Her body hit the ground gently, like a petal landing on snow.

Then light erupted from her chest, not in blood—but in particles.

Golden, shimmering fragments of her soul began lifting into the air.

Riya wanted to scream.

To tear at the numbness holding him down.

But all he could do was stare.

The fragments hovered for a moment… then drifted.

Toward him.

Toward his heart.

He didn't feel it.

Not truly.

But somewhere deep inside, something stirred.

And was still.

Cú walked back slowly, his eyes downcast.

Richard returned from the distance where he had been drawn away, confusion flickering on his face.

"What happened?"

Cú said nothing.

Riya, finally regaining the faintest control of his fingers, sat up slowly—his limbs trembling.

He looked at Cú.

Something inside cracked.

"You…"

The words were barely audible.

"You killed her."

Cú met his gaze, expression heavy with guilt—but unwavering.

"She asked me to."

"You still did it!"

Riya's voice roared, broken with fury and despair.

His aura pulsed violently.

The air around him twisted.

Darkness coiled from beneath his skin—red and black tendrils of something unholy.

Power surged like a tide, warping the very light of the space around him.

Richard stepped back.

Even Cú looked alarmed.

"Riya—"

But then it stopped.

The energy collapsed in on itself.

Snuffed out.

Riya stood, staggering to his feet, eyes shadowed and hollow.

"It wasn't your fault," he said hoarsely.

And turned away.

He knelt beside where Rin had fallen.

Only a few flickers of light remained.

He placed his hand over the place where her heart had been.

"…You always talked too much," he whispered.

The white silence stretched around them again.

Far above, a low hum began.

The capsule was descending.

Its mechanical song broke the silence like a funeral bell.

Cú walked forward silently.

Richard followed.

Riya remained where he was for a moment longer.

"I'll keep going," he murmured.

"For you."

He rose at last and turned toward the capsule.

The doors opened with a soft hiss.

And they stepped inside.

The light swallowed him.

The capsule began its silent ascent toward the Seventh Floor.

And the Sixth Floor vanished behind.