THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 364: 364: LAST WOMAN OF N’FOLU

Rika’s face twisted violently at Sagiri’s words. The hatred in her eyes deepened until it looked less like emotion and more like a living thing clawing its way to the surface. Then something strange happened. Her left eye flickered. For the briefest moment, the iris turned a deep crimson before returning to normal.

Sagiri immediately noticed it. His eyes narrowed. He had sensed it from the moment he met her, but now he was certain. Something had been done to her. Something unnatural. Her scent was wrong.

Human, yes, but not entirely. Beneath the familiar scent of blood, sweat, and dust was something else. Something tainted. Corrupted. It was faint, yet impossible to miss once noticed. The realization had barely settled when Rika suddenly smiled. It wasn’t a sane smile. It was the smile of someone who had already stepped beyond reason.

”You think you understand,” she hissed. ”You think the Archive chose you because you were special?” Her laughter returned, harsher this time. Then, before Sagiri could respond, her hand disappeared beneath her cloak. Metal flashed. A strange blade appeared in her grip, black and jagged, covered in markings that seemed to writhe across its surface. Sagiri’s eyes widened slightly. The moment the weapon appeared, he felt the Archive recoil. Rika moved instantly.

The blade sliced through the darkness, binding her. Instead of resisting the Archive directly, the weapon severed the tendrils themselves. One after another, the black restraints snapped apart. The darkness recoiled as though wounded. Then Rika exploded backward.

Her speed was shocking. She crossed dozens of paces in a blur and landed atop a large boulder several meters away. The stone cracked beneath her feet. Sagiri remained standing where he was, but for the first time since the confrontation began, genuine surprise crossed his face. That movement had been impossible. The woman he remembered should not have possessed that level of strength or agility.

Her breathing had changed. Her posture had changed. Even the air around her felt different now. More dangerous. Her left eye flashed crimson again.

”There,” she said, raising the blade slightly. ”Now we can talk properly. I would rather hate being on my knees.” She said in a shrill voice. The wind howled between the rocks as the severed remnants of the Archive dissolved into darkness around them. Sagiri’s gaze remained fixed on the weapon. Then on her eye. Then, there was the unnatural scent pouring from her body. Whatever had happened to Rika, it had started long before the fall of the N’folu. And for the first time, Sagiri wondered whether she was truly the mastermind behind the destruction... or merely another victim of something far worse.

Rika’s grip tightened around the strange blade until her knuckles turned white. The crimson glow in her left eye pulsed again, stronger this time. ”Rina did not deserve the Archive,” she snarled. The words exploded out of her like poison that had been festering for decades. ”She was reckless. Impulsive. Uncultured. She broke rules, ignored tradition, and laughed in the faces of those who spent their entire lives mastering the clan’s teachings.” Her breathing grew heavier with every word.

”Yet she became Keeper.” The blade trembled in her hand. ”She became the head of the clan.” Her voice cracked. ”She became everything.” Sagiri stared at her from below without moving.

She was driven by jealousy. She reminded him of someone or two people who were just as rotten to the core. At least for them, the world made them monsters.

”And you think you were worthy?” The question struck harder than an attack. Rika froze. Sagiri slowly looked her up and down. At the tainted scent pouring from her body. At the unnatural eye. At the weapon that made even the Archive recoil.

”Now?” he added quietly. ”You call yourself worthy now?” His gaze sharpened.

”Look at yourself, Rika. Or should I call you aunt?” The wind howled between the cliffs. ”You turned yourself into a beast.” Something snapped. Rika’s face twisted with rage.

”A beast?” she screamed. ”A beast?” Her voice echoed through the rocks.

”Do you know what I sacrificed?” The crimson glow spread further through her eye. ”Do you know how many years I spent watching her take everything that should have been mine?” She took a step forward.

”I was the better student.” Another step. ”The better fighter.” Another. ”The better strategist.” The stone beneath her feet cracked. ”I dedicated my life to the clan while she ran wild and did whatever she wanted!” Her breathing became ragged.

”The Archive should have chosen me.” The words came out like a confession of a madwoman. ”It should have chosen me.” Her voice broke. ”But it chose her.” Tears mixed with rage in her eyes.

”And after it chose her, everyone else did too.” Her laughter returned, broken and ugly. ”The elders. The warriors. The clan.” She pointed the blade directly at Sagiri. ”Then she had you.” The hatred in her face became something terrifying. ”Even after she died, she still kept taking from me.” Her hand shook. ”You inherited the Archive.” Her voice dropped into a whisper. ”You inherited the relics.” Then it rose into a scream.

”You inherited everything!” The cliffs trembled beneath the force of her fury. ”She deserved to die!” she shrieked. ”And you deserve to die even more!” The blade pulsed with crimson light. ”Because you are her son.” Her eye burned like a coal. ”Because she took everything from me...” Her smile widened into something monstrous. ”...and now you’re doing it again.” Her voice trembled.

Rika’s chest rose and fell violently as she stared at Sagiri. Then, slowly, her expression changed. The madness remained, but beneath it appeared something else. Satisfaction. A cruel smile spread across her face.

”The formation has finally been finished.” She laughed softly. ”All these years.” Her fingers tightened around the blade. ”All these years preparing.” The crimson glow in her left eye intensified. ”I kept the bones of the Thirteen.” The words caused Sagiri’s eyes to narrow slightly.

”Every single one.” Her smile widened. ”The head of the thirteen clans.” The air suddenly felt heavier. ”The formation that once protected the clan...” Her voice became almost reverent. ”...I rebuilt it.” The ground trembled. ”And now...” The smile became vicious. ”...I am using it in reverse.” Suddenly, the earth beneath the cliffs exploded with light. Ancient symbols ignited one after another across the stone. Lines of crimson energy raced through the rocks like veins awakening after centuries of sleep.

Sagiri immediately felt it. The world shifted. The air became dense, heavy, and oppressive. Then, thirteen pillars of crimson light erupted around him. One. Two. Three. Until all thirteen stood surrounding him in a perfect circle. The moment the final pillar appeared, the formation completed itself. Power surged through the land. Sagiri found himself standing at its exact center.

The pressure descended immediately. Not enough to crush him, but enough to trap him. Enough to slow him. Rika threw back her head and laughed. ”Do you feel it?” The crimson light reflected in her eyes. ”This place is your grave.” The formation roared louder. The symbols burned brighter.

”You are not leaving here.” Her blade split apart. Then split again until multiple crimson-edged weapons hovered around her like predatory beasts. ”You will remain trapped inside until the formation drains every last drop of strength from your body.” Her smile became savage. ”Then you will die exactly the way your clan died.” Suddenly, she moved. The stone shattered beneath her feet. Her speed exploded beyond anything she had displayed earlier. Multiple blades shot forward alongside her.

”You die here!” she screamed. The crimson weapons descended like a storm as Rika charged directly toward the center of the formation, where Sagiri stood waiting.