Chapter 99
Chapter 99 – The Crownless War
The battlefield was not a place.
It was memory.
As the veil between worlds cracked open, the land twisted. Mountains bled rivers of silver. Time fractured like glass. Stars blinked out. And in the center of it all—Valerian and Selis stood beneath a bleeding moon.
They were no longer King and Omega.
They were fire and fate.
And the Hollowed Queen descended like smoke made flesh, her gown trailing whispers, her face a thousand stolen memories.
"Give me the child," she said calmly, though her eyes burned with eons of hate.
Selis stood tall, the Memoryrender in hand, flame pouring from her skin in silken waves. Valerian held his sword, the Nightfang, its black edge devouring light.
"There is no child yet," Selis said—her voice finally returned, clear and fierce.
"But there will be," Valerian added, stepping beside her. "And you won't touch a hair on their head."
The Hollowed Queen's smile sharpened like a dagger.
> "Then come, prophecy-broken.
Let us see whose memory dies first."
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The Battle of the Veil
It began not with a cry, but silence.
And then—
Boom.
Time bent. Lightning raged.
The Hollowed Queen vanished and reappeared in front of Valerian, fingers curling around his chest like roots. Selis spun the Memoryrender between them and slashed down—cutting through the Queen's arm, severing not flesh but the echo of power within it.
The Queen screamed, retreating into the sky.
Selis was already moving, fire shaping into wings as she rose after her.
They danced like comets—one born of rot, one born of fate.
Valerian leapt skyward, blade in hand, vanishing into smoke midair and reappearing behind the Queen's back. His sword bit deep, but instead of blood, screams poured from the wound—stolen screams, memories the Queen had consumed.
The sound of centuries cried out, shaking the stars.
"She's unraveling!" Selis shouted, sweat gleaming on her brow.
"No," Valerian growled, catching her midair. "She's shedding. Her form isn't real—it's stolen from the lives she's devoured."
Selis's eyes widened. "Then we have to give them back."
She raised the Memoryrender, and for the first time—it sang.
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The Undoing
The blade was not meant to kill.
It was meant to return.
Selis closed her eyes and dove into the Queen's chest, blade-first.
Time burst outward. A thousand lives exploded from the Hollowed Queen's body—each memory flying back to its rightful soul, across centuries, across lifetimes. Children who had forgotten their mothers. Kings who had forgotten their love. Omegas who had forgotten their names.
The Hollowed Queen shrieked, her form dissolving, her voice breaking into dust.
"You were never a queen," Selis whispered.
Valerian caught her as the Queen fell.
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After the Silence
The sky stitched itself shut.
The moon returned to silver.
Selis collapsed in his arms, the blade gone—its purpose fulfilled. Valerian pressed his forehead to hers, blood and tears mixing.
"You spoke," he whispered.
"I remembered," she replied.
They stayed there, in the ashes of destiny, where once a tyrant stood.
Then—Selis smiled faintly.
"She showed me… our child. A glimpse. A girl with your eyes."
Valerian's heart clenched.
"Then let's go find her. In time."
They kissed beneath the quiet stars.
And somewhere beyond the veil, fate—for once—was silent.
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To Be Continued in the Final Chapter 100 – The Flame That Remains 🔥