Leaving Number 1 and Number 99 behind, the remaining members of the team began their advance deeper into the temple.

  The structure had been ravaged by destruction; the uneven, shattered paving stones forced them to stumble with nearly every step. Once a sacred sanctuary, the place now resembled a cursed tomb. Its ruined paths were choked by roots and foliage creeping through massive fissures in the walls, reclaiming the stone.

  "Do you think Number 1 can actually stop that man, Princess?" Number 4 asked. His tone betrayed a hint of involuntary admiration for Number 99.

  "I believe we should use the precious time our dear Number 1 has bought us to focus on our own objective. Don't you agree, Number 4?"

  As Number 4 fell silent following Flora’s subtle rebuke, Number 25 took up the mantle.

  "Number 99 was here before us. Is it not possible he has already retrieved what we seek, Princess?"

  "Ah, no, 25. I highly doubt that. This is a secret known only to the royal family."

  "Of course, Princess, but his waiting in the temple..."

  Before she could finish, Flora cut her off, her voice sharp as a blade.

  "No! Number 25. That man’s presence here is entirely symbolic."

  Number 25 chose to remain silent in the face of the Princess’s evasive answers.

  As the uneasy quiet settled, the group arrived at the head of a staircase that spiraled down into the abyss like a bottomless well.

  "Yes, 25," Flora said, turning her back to the darkness below to face Number 4 and Number 25. "Our prize lies in the depths of the temple. So, we had best start our descent, don't you agree?"

  Without waiting for an answer, the Princess began to descend, her light footsteps carrying her down step by step until she vanished into the gloom.

  Left alone for a moment, Number 25 and Number 4 exchanged blank, meaningless glances. After scanning each other for a long second, Number 4 gently extended his right hand, gesturing for her to proceed. Receiving the message, Number 25 offered no objection and began to descend into the dark, her steps trembling slightly.

  ***

  The walls pressed in close, the narrow passage constricting around them as if squeezing their very throats. In the pitch-black darkness, the team struggled to descend, trailing their hands along the rough stone walls to keep from losing their balance.

  BAAM!

  The sudden explosion from above shook the very foundations, forcing the team to scramble for purchase.

  Number 25 lost her footing. With a sharp gasp, she slipped, landing hard on the cold stone steps—an impact severe enough to feel as though she had shattered her hip.

  Small stones, dislodged from above by the tremor, skittered down the steps with a hollow clatter. The falling dust thickened the air, making the already suffocating corridor even more unbearable.

  Desperate to keep the grit from filling their lungs, the team raised their arms to shield their mouths and noses. Number 4 extended his free hand toward Number 25, who was still wincing in pain. Offering his support, he helped hoist her back onto her unsteady feet.

  "Agh!"

  Straightening up slowly and regaining her balance, Number 25 released Number 4's hand. She pressed a hand against her lower back, rubbing the sore spot—a childish, instinctive gesture to soothe the pain.

  "We need to keep moving," Flora said, her voice muffled behind the arm she held over her mouth. Despite the dust, the urgency in her tone was unmistakable—a stark reminder that they were racing against the clock.

  After their chaotic descent, the team finally stepped into a relatively spacious chamber. Upon their entry, dormant crystal enchantments flickered to life, bathing the room in a dim, sun-like glow.

  The chamber was largely empty, its floor bare and unpaved. At the far end stood two humanoid figures carved from wood, their forms entwined with creeping vines. Between them rested an ornately carved marble table.

  "What are those things?"

  "Guardians, my dear 4," Flora replied. She took a shallow, steadying breath before continuing. "I need to place the scroll on the table. However, the Guardians may not take kindly to your presence. It would be best if you waited right here."

  Number 4 and Number 25 nodded in synchronized agreement.

  Approaching the table with calm, cautious steps, Flora unfurled the scroll in her hands. She placed it into the hollow in the center of the marble slab—a slot that appeared to have been carved specifically for this very moment.

  As the scroll settled into place, the ancient Elven script inscribed upon it began to glow with a sun-like brilliance. The light didn't stop there; it flowed outwards, tracing its way along the ornate carvings of the marble table, igniting them one by one.

  The solar hues slowly reached out to the Guardians, kindling a green glimmer in their eyes that pulsed with the semblance of life.

  The reborn Guardians tore themselves free from their vine prisons with a series of loud cracks and heavy, lumbering movements. With footsteps that sounded like heavy logs striking the earth, they slowly advanced toward the Princess.

  Flora raised a hand to halt Number 4 and Number 25, who had tensed up, ready to strike. She watched in silence as the Guardians closed in. Once they reached the appropriate distance, the figures stopped. Bowing their heads slightly, they loomed over her, their glowing green eyes scanning the Princess from above as if reading her very essence.

  "I am Princess—"

  Flora, poised to declare her identity, cut herself short as the Guardians raised their massive arms, hands clenching into fists. For a heartbeat, the Princess stood frozen, staring blankly as she struggled to comprehend the situation. She threw herself backward at the very last second, barely escaping as fists heavy as cannonballs came crashing down on the spot where she had just stood.

  Having barely escaped the fists that slammed down, sending plumes of dirt and debris into the air, the Princess cried out in sheer horror.

  "What is the meaning of this? I am the heir to the throne! I am of noble blood!"

  The Guardians remained deaf to their supposed master’s commands, relentlessly closing the distance to the Princess.

  "Wait, 4!" Number 25 warned.

  She tilted her bow horizontally. As she drew the string back, two searing arrows materialized, crackling and popping with violent sparks.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Number 4, hand hovering over his dagger, nodded at Number 25, his eyes locked on the Guardians, ready to react to their slightest move.

  Drawing her bowstring to its limit, Number 25 adjusted her aim to cover the positions of both constructs and released with explosive force. The arrows shrieked through the air, piercing clean through the chests of the encroaching Guardians.

  The moment the projectiles struck, the hapless wooden figures erupted into flames.

  The Guardians erupted into ear-piercing shrieks as they burned alive. The voracious flames consumed their wooden forms, turning limb and torso into charred coal. As the fire climbed to their heads and licked around their eyes, the verdant green glow of life twisted into a baleful crimson.

  Unable to sustain their own weight any longer, their bodies snapped at their charred, weakened joints. With a heavy, earth-shaking crash, the two giants collapsed face-first onto the ground.

  As Number 4 went to Princess Flora’s side and helped her to her feet, the sounds of the Guardians finally began to fade. Their charred remains continued to burn with the steady crackle of a campfire, filling the stone chamber with a strange warmth.

  "Thank you, 4."

  As Flora straightened up with Number 4’s support, the shame in her voice was painted clearly across her face. At her sides, she clenched her trembling hands into helpless fists.

  With the defeat of the Guardians, a sharp click echoed from the right wall, signaling the opening of a hidden door.

  Number 4, followed closely by Flora, passed through the threshold to the other side. As Number 25 brought up the rear, she suddenly felt a hot, damp breath against the nape of her neck.

  She spun around in panic, weapon ready, only to be met by the silent, empty chamber.

  Her bewildered thoughts were cut short by Flora, whose voice still carried a lingering trace of shame.

  "We can't wait for you all day, 25!"

  Fed up with the Princess's grating attitude, Number 25 shook off the sensation as a mere trick of the mind. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she stepped through the door and into the unknown.

  Stepping through the doorway, the team found themselves facing a series of stone monuments lined up in precise order along the room's edges. In the very center stood an ornately carved marble block, atop which rested a small, gold-plated chest.

  "Is this... a graveyard?"

  "Not an ordinary one, my dear 4. This is the resting place of my founding ancestors," Flora replied.

  Her hands trailed reverently over the cold stone of the monuments as she drifted steadily toward the golden chest. Finally standing before it, she paused. With meticulous care, she began to lift the lid.

  As the chest opened, it was as if the sun itself had risen within the chamber. The sudden, blinding brilliance dazzled the team, whose eyes had grown accustomed to the abyssal darkness.

  Princess Flora reached into the chest and cradled the prize in her hands with the reverence one might show a newborn babe.

  "Here lies our reward, my dear 4."

  She gazed down at the teardrop-shaped crystal resting in her palms, utterly spellbound.

  "And what, exactly, will this gem do for us, Flora?"

  The sharp edge of tension in Number 25’s voice shattered the spell binding Flora’s gaze, snapping her back to reality.

  "No, 25. Not this one alone. There are three in total."

  "Fine. Let’s assume we find the other two. Then what?"

  With Number 25’s sharp retort, the tension between the two women began to mount, slow and suffocating.

  Flora drew in deep, ragged breaths, visibly struggling to leash her rising temper before she finally spoke.

  "To resurrect the Sun Goddess, of course, 25! And when she rises, she will not turn a blind eye to the sacrifices we, her loyal servants, have made. Through my Goddess’s mercy and benevolence, you 'players' shall attain the victory you desire... beneath her shadow!"

  "Servants!? We want no part of your wretched goddess."

  "Silence, you heretic!"

  At Flora's shriek, Number 25’s grip tightened around her bow until her knuckles turned white. Fueled by a surge of adrenaline and rage, she didn't hold back.

  "You and your pathetic lies caused Number 7’s elimination for absolutely nothing!"

  "It was for the sake of the Goddess!"

  "Fuck you! Number 4, open your eyes! Can't you see? She’s using us like pawns. She sacrificed 7 for this madness!"

  "Hah! And what about you? What did you do other than stand uselessly over Number 7?" Flora spat, pivoting to face the man. "My dear 4, you know as well as I do—7 could go no further. She would have been nothing but dead weight to us!"

  With a snap of pure rage, Number 25 released the taut bowstring.

  The arrow screamed through the air, grazing the shell of Flora’s left ear and severing a few strands of her pale hair as it flew past.

  "Traitor! I knew you were the rot festering among us, yet I still granted you a chance. Is this how you repay me?"

  Flora was practically breathing fire, her chest heaving with fury. She didn't pause for an answer before screaming her command.

  "I am speaking to you, Number 4! Crush this traitor!"

  "No, 4! She’s doing nothing but deceiving us! Please, you have to see it!"

  Caught in the crossfire, Number 4’s heart hammered against his ribs, threatening to burst from his chest. His breathing grew ragged and uneven. His trembling pupils darted frantically back and forth, shifting between Number 25 and Flora.

  BOOM!

  A second tremor rocked the chamber from above. Seizing the moment as Flora and Number 25’s attention wavered, Number 4 acted.

  Gripping his dagger, he vanished into thin air. An instant later, he rematerialized directly in front of Number 25, slashing his blade viciously toward her.

  Number 25 barely intercepted the attack, blocking the dagger with the limb of her bow at the very last second.

  Straining with all her might to hold Number 4 back, she cried out, her voice cracking with grief.

  "No! How can you be so blind? Flora is the one who betrayed us!"

  "No, you are the blind one, 25! If the Goddess will help us win, isn't that exactly what we must do for Number 7's sake?"

  "You’ve lost your mind!"

  "You see it now, don't you, my dear 4? That traitor cannot comprehend your grief. But I do."

  Flora’s voice softened into a twisted parody of comfort.

  "If only I had possessed the power to intervene back then... If our Goddess had been with us, surely She would have shown mercy and saved our dear Number 7."

  Unable to stomach Flora’s poisonous words any longer, Number 25 summoned every ounce of her remaining strength.

  She shoved Number 4 away violently. In the same fluid motion, she slashed out with the sharpened limb of her bow, carving a deep gash across his dagger-wielding arm.

  Clutching his wounded arm, Number 4 staggered backward, grimacing in pain.

  Seizing the opening, Number 25 furiously drew her bow, aiming directly at Number 4’s chest. But just as she was about to release the arrow, a flash of verdant green light caught the corner of her eye.

  She turned toward Flora, but it was too late. Before she could react, the devastating force of the spell slammed into her, hurling her backward.

  She crashed violently against a stone monument and crumpled to the ground.

  "Come on, 4! We’re out of time. Finish this traitor—"

  Flora’s command died in her throat.

  A mysterious figure had just stepped through the doorway—cloaked in a heavy hood drawn low over their head, with a mask pulled up to obscure the bottom half of their face.

  She clenched her fists, panic seizing her chest. "Damn it!"

  She brought both hands to her core, fingers glowing with emerald light. Summoning every ounce of her power, she thrust her arms upward.

  The ground quaked as colossal vines burst from the earthen floor, tearing through the chamber and splitting the room in two with a deafening crash.

  "To the tunnels! Follow me, 4!"

  Number 4, his gaze fixed on the stranger looming behind the wall of vines, was snapped back to reality by Flora’s command. Clutching his wounded arm, he turned and scrambled after Flora as she vanished into the consuming darkness.

  As for Number 25, dazed from the blow to her head, she watched the scene unfold through blurring vision. Her fading mind seized upon a single realization: the stranger resembled the silhouette she had glimpsed back in the forest.

  With that final thought, darkness claimed her, and she lost consciousness.

  ***

  "Tell me, hero... What exactly is the Princess's goal?"

  As Number 99 closed the distance, the threat radiating from him grew suffocating.

  Driven to frenzy by the approaching menace, Number 1 thrashed violently, snarling and twisting like a rabid dog as he desperately tried to break free from the sinister chains binding him.

  Number 99 maintained his eerie calm, advancing slowly toward the trapped man. With each step he took, the runes etched along the blade of his black sword began to pulse with an intensifying, ominous glow.

  Realizing that death was closing in, Number 1 let out a scream so visceral that the veins in his neck bulged, threatening to burst. It was a final, desperate bid to display his dominance.

  His radiant wings erupted once more, bathing the ruins in blinding light as they shattered the shadow chains binding him. With a furious burst of speed, Number 1 shot into the sky, locking his gaze on Number 99, who continued to watch him from below with unnerving calm.

  Just as he prepared to unleash his counter-attack, a streak of green magic shot up from the distant forest.

  It flared against the night sky—a harbinger signaling that this war would be postponed.

  "This is not over, 99!"

  Channeling his fury into his wings, Number 1 tore through the sky, leaving a trail of orange light in his wake as he vanished in the direction of the signal.

  "Hmm."

  Number 99 remained impassive in the face of this development. Sensing a presence behind him, he turned his face toward the temple entrance.

  A mysterious man stepped out into the open, carrying an unconscious girl in his arms.

  "Now this," Number 99 said with a faint, satisfied smile, "is exactly the development I was hoping for."