Chapter 65

Sarah's POV

The staircase seemed to stretch endlessly upward, twisting like a spine that had been broken and reassembled by unnatural hands. The air grew colder the higher we climbed, each step echoing with an unnatural resonance.

Axel stayed close, his hand brushing against mine every so often, a silent reassurance that we weren't alone in this. But the whispers hadn't stopped. They had only grown louder, insistent and venomous, their words digging into the edges of my mind.

You'll never stop him. You're his. You always were.

I gritted my teeth, forcing the words away. Eren's connection to me was strong—I could feel it pulling at my very soul but I refused to let it consume me. I wasn't the same woman I had been when this nightmare started. I wasn't powerless anymore.

"We're getting closer," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

Axel nodded, his face tight with concentration. "The rift's energy... it's stronger here."

He was right. The closer we got to the top of the staircase, the heavier the air became. It was suffocating, as if the mansion itself was trying to crush us under its weight.

When we reached the landing, the staircase opened into a massive chamber. At the center of the room was a swirling vortex of dark energy, its tendrils reaching out like the roots of a twisted tree. The rift.

But it wasn't unguarded.

Eren stood at its base, his monstrous form illuminated by the pulsing light. His gaze snapped to us the moment we entered, and a cruel smile spread across his face.

"You should have stayed away," he said, his voice low and filled with menace. "But I suppose it's fitting. You were always meant to witness my ascension."

"Your 'ascension' ends here," Axel said, stepping in front of me with his fists clenched. "We're not letting you take another step toward whatever twisted power you think you deserve."

Eren tilted his head, his smile widening. "You think you can stop me? You, a mortal man, standing against a force greater than anything your feeble mind can comprehend?"

Axel didn't flinch. "I've made a habit of defying the odds."

Eren laughed, the sound echoing off the walls. "And yet, you've already failed. Sarah's connection to me, to the rift, cannot be severed. She's mine. She always will be."

His words sent a shiver down my spine, but I refused to let them shake me. "You don't own me, Eren," I said, stepping forward to stand beside Axel. "And you never will."

For a moment, something flickered in Eren's eyes—something human. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by the burning light of the rift.

"Then I suppose I'll have to teach you," he said, his voice cold.

Without warning, Eren raised his hands, and the chamber erupted into chaos. The ground beneath us cracked and splintered as jagged spires of stone shot upward, forcing Axel and me to dive in opposite directions. The air buzzed with dark energy, and I could feel the rift's power surging, amplifying Eren's every move.

I rolled to my feet, the dagger still clutched tightly in my hand. Across the chamber, Axel was already charging at Eren, dodging the stone spires with a speed and agility I hadn't realized he possessed.

"Keep him distracted!" I shouted, hoping he could hear me over the deafening roar of the rift.

Axel didn't respond, but he didn't need to. He threw himself at Eren with a ferocity that took even the monster off guard, landing a solid punch to his jaw. Eren staggered, but it wasn't enough to bring him down.

I took the opening Axel had created and sprinted toward the rift. The dagger in my hand pulsed with an unnatural warmth, as though it was reacting to the energy in the room.

"Sarah!" Eren's voice rang out, sharp and filled with fury.

I didn't look back.

The closer I got to the rift, the harder it became to move. The air around it was thick, almost solid, and every step felt like I was wading through quicksand. But I pushed forward, focusing on the dagger in my hand and the task ahead.

"You think you can destroy it?" Eren snarled, his voice echoing from everywhere and nowhere. "You think you can sever what binds us? You'll destroy yourself in the process!"

"Maybe," I muttered, my voice lost in the roar of the rift. "But at least you'll go with me."

I raised the dagger, its blade glowing with a light that seemed to cut through the darkness around me. The rift's energy lashed out, tendrils of shadow whipping toward me, but I didn't stop.

Behind me, I heard Axel's voice, raw and desperate. "Sarah, now!"

I plunged the dagger into the heart of the rift.

The effect was immediate. The chamber shook violently, the walls cracking and splintering as the rift's energy erupted in a blinding flash of light. The tendrils that had been reaching for me recoiled, writhing in agony, as the dagger's glow intensified.

Eren's scream pierced the air—a sound of pure rage and pain—as the connection between him and the rift began to unravel. His form flickered, the monstrous features fading in and out as though he was caught between two states of being.

The ground beneath us gave way, and I felt myself falling, the world dissolving into chaos.