His Bride, Her Revenge-Chapter 95: Subject Zero

The rift widened, clawing open the horizon like a jagged wound in reality.

The throne room trembled beneath their feet. All across Blackwood Castle, glass shattered, walls cracked, and ancient wards flickered violently as if sensing a force too primal to contain.

Cambria’s heartbeat surged.

Not from fear but recognition.

Knox stood at the center of the chaos, arms lifted, black flame writhing along his limbs. His body pulsed with raw Pandora energy, corrupted and fused with the final fragment of the original Crown.

"I told you," he said, his grin feral. "I am the Crown now."

Cambria took a step forward, fire in her veins. "No. You’re the curse."

Before she could launch forward, a sharp crack echoed above them.

The ceiling reinforced steel and ancient magic buckled. Something massive crashed through with a deafening boom, landing between Knox and the others.

The smoke cleared.

And silence descended.

The figure stood still.

Its armor was unlike anything they had seen before sleek, iridescent black with veins of crimson that pulsed like a heartbeat. Seven wing-like extensions hovered behind its back, glowing faintly with energy too refined for current science. It had no face, only a smooth mask with a red infinity symbol where the eyes should be.

Lucien took an unsteady step back. "No. No, no, no..."

Evelyn’s voice was barely a whisper. "Is that...?"

Cambria said it aloud.

"Subject Zero."

The first.

The forbidden experiment.

The origin of Project Pandora.

Knox’s smile faltered for the first time.

"I didn’t activate that," he muttered.

Subject Zero’s head turned toward him slowly.

Then toward Cambria.

The voice that followed wasn’t mechanical but ancient.

Echoing with layered tones. Male and female. Human and... not.

"PRIMARY TARGET CONFIRMED: CAMBRIA VALE. QUEEN OF BLACKWOOD. PROTOTYPE-ALPHA."

"SECONDARY TARGET CONFIRMED: KNOX RAYE. DATA BREACH. UNAUTHORIZED POSSESSION OF CROWN CORE."

"INITIATING DUAL ELIMINATION."

Knox stepped back. "Wait No! I’m Crown-compatible !"

He lifted his hands, forming a shield of black flame.

But Subject Zero was faster.

It moved like light vanishing and reappearing mid-air. A single strike shattered the shield and sent Knox flying across the room, crashing into the pillars.

Cambria moved next, dodging a violet blade that sliced down where she had stood a heartbeat before.

The room erupted into chaos.

Lucien pulled Evelyn behind the ruined throne. "Get out of here now!"

Evelyn hesitated. "What about her?"

"She can handle herself. For now."

Cambria summoned her own energy silver fire fused with what remained of the Crown’s ancient legacy. She met Subject Zero’s next strike midair, the shockwave knocking everyone else to the ground.

The two forces clashed silver and crimson, queen and weapon blow for blow, strike for strike. The throne room became a battlefield of fire and ruin.

"You’re fast," Cambria grunted, sliding backward across shattered marble.

"I AM PERFECTION," the weapon replied. "YOU ARE OBSOLETE."

She grinned despite the blood on her lip. "I’ve heard that before."

But even as she fought, she could feel it.

This wasn’t like Subject One. This wasn’t a weapon created by Lucien’s desperate ambition or Evelyn’s cunning.

This was something else entirely.

Subject Zero wasn’t programmed. It was sentient.

It chose to awaken.

And worse it remembered.

Elsewhere – The Vault of Forgotten Things

Beneath the ruins of Citadel Aeras, a figure wrapped in green stood silently before a glass tank, observing the swirling data on the monitor.

Sophia Drake.

Her eyes widened.

"No... Someone activated Zero?"

A voice behind her chuckled. "Told you it would happen."

She turned. "You shouldn’t be here."

The man leaned casually against the vault door. Dressed in traveler’s robes, face obscured by a metallic veil.

"I built the damn thing. Thought I’d come to see it kill the wrong queen."

Sophia frowned. "You created Subject Zero?"

He nodded. "And hid the code so deep not even the Valeans could find it."

She stepped closer. "What’s its directive?"

The man didn’t answer immediately. He stared into the swirling red hologram as if weighing a choice heavier than the world.

Finally, he spoke.

"It was never meant to follow. It was meant to finish what the First Crown started."

"And what’s that?"

He met her gaze.

"Burn the world and start over."

Cambria was bleeding.

One leg dragged slightly, ribs cracked, fire dimming. She’d fought off armies, outwitted kings, and even cheated death itself, but Subject Zero was on another level. It didn’t tire. It didn’t rage. It is only calculated.

She launched another strike, silver tendrils slicing toward its core but it deflected them effortlessly and slammed her into the shattered throne.

The world spun.

She heard Maddox shout. Evelyn screamed.

But all she could do was breathe.

One more breath. One more stand.

Subject Zero raised its hand.

A beam of condensed energy formed targeting her heart.

Knox staggered to his feet. "No, she’s mine to destroy, not you "

He launched himself toward the weapon.

Subject Zero didn’t even look.

A red pulse erupted sending Knox crashing through the walls and into the rain.

Cambria gritted her teeth.

So this was how it ended.

Not with betrayal.

Not with victory.

But with one forgotten weapon deciding her fate.

Subject Zero’s palm glowed.

"EXECUTION SEQUENCE INITIATED. FINAL COMMAND: END THE QUEEN."

Then... the world froze.

Time stopped.

Literally.

The raindrops outside halted in mid-air.

The fire around the walls hovered, unmoving.

Even Subject Zero remained suspended its blade mid-strike, frozen an inch from Cambria’s chest.

And from the darkness behind the ruined throne, a voice spoke.

Low. Whispered. Deadly.

"You made a mistake, Subject Zero."

Cambria’s breath caught.

The air shimmered.

And from the shadows, someone stepped into the light.

A woman.

Tall. Clad in armor older than empires. Her cloak bore the crest of the First Crown.

Her eyes glowed violet.

And her presence... suffocated everything around her.

Lucien gasped.

"That’s not possible."

Evelyn’s knees buckled. "She’s dead. She’s been dead for centuries "

Cambria looked up, stunned. "Who... are you?"

The woman smiled faintly.

"I’m the reason the world still breathes."

She turned to Subject Zero, still frozen.

"Override Code: Seraphine."

The weapon twitched.

"Code recognized... Reassigning primary."

Time resumed.

The beam of energy disappeared.

Subject Zero turned its posture shifting.

And knelt.

Before her.

The woman looked at Cambria once more.

"I’ve returned, my Queen," she said quietly.

And as the chamber held its breath

She added:

"But not to serve."

The temperature plummeted.

The wind outside howled.

And the skies turned black.

As Cambria rose shakily, she stared into the eyes of the woman every history book claimed was long dead.

Seraphine Vale.

The First Queen.

Her ancestor.

The mother of the Crown.

The creator of Subject Zero.

And now... her executioner?