His Bride, Her Revenge

Chapter 133: The Fractured Throne

The throne room was no longer a symbol of unity.

It had become a battlefield of wills.

Ashes clung to the carved obsidian tiles, the gilded banners of House Vale shredded and smeared with blood. The stained glass windows that once told the story of the Vale lineage were shattered, shards glittering like fallen stars on the ground.

Cambria stood at the center of it all, her crown slightly askew, her breathing shallow but measured. The roar of battle outside still thundered through the cracked walls. She could feel the chaos clawing at the edges of her focus, but she couldn’t afford to flinch.

Before her, Knox bled from a gash on his temple, his chest rising and falling with rage. "You think you’ve won, don’t you?" he hissed, voice barely above a whisper.

"No," Cambria replied coldly. "I think we’ve both lost too much already."

Behind her, Evelyn flanked the throne, her fingers curled tightly around a vial of red-gold serum Pandora’s lifeblood. Her eyes flickered with uncertainty. She had led a faction of the perfected weapons to rebel against Knox’s corrupted line, but the cost had been catastrophic.

"Don’t let him talk," Evelyn said. "We have to end this now."

But Cambria hesitated. Her sword, engraved with her mother’s final will, hung heavy in her hand. "What will ending him truly bring? Closure? Peace? No. Just another body on this cursed throne."

Knox smirked, wiping the blood from his mouth. "So you still think like a child." He rose slowly, ignoring Evelyn’s blade aimed at his heart. "You’re afraid to rule, Cambria. Just like your mother was."

At the mention of Seraphine Vale, Cambria’s gaze hardened.

Evelyn stepped forward. "Let me kill him."

"No," Cambria said.

Knox laughed. "There it is. The weakness."

"No," Cambria repeated, stepping closer. "That’s the strength. You’d never understand what real power is because it’s not about who can kill more. It’s about who can bear the weight of mercy."

And with that, she turned away from him.

Knox lunged.

A shot rang out.

Cambria turned to see Lucien Vale her father standing in the shadow of the broken archway, a smoking pistol in hand. Knox collapsed to his knees, a hole in his chest. noveldrama

Lucien lowered the gun. "You hesitated. I didn’t."

For a moment, silence reigned.

Then Evelyn screamed.

It was not out of sorrow for Knox, but something else something far worse. She stared past Lucien at the corridor behind him. "No. No, it’s not possible..."

They turned.

From the darkness, came the twisted echo of boots.

The figure that emerged made Cambria’s blood freeze.

It was Maddox.

But not the Maddox she knew.

His body was partially encased in obsidian armor laced with the signature glow of Pandora’s perfected serum. His eyes glowed gold. He was breathing but barely human.

Lucien stepped back, horror etched across his face. "Project Gemini..."

Evelyn dropped the vial.

"No," Cambria whispered, shaking her head. "You were dead. You died in my arms "

"I was reborn," Maddox said. His voice was deeper, distorted with the resonance of something ancient and cruel. "Reforged in the final phase of Pandora. The Prototype... was just the beginning."

Cambria staggered back. "You’re one of them now."

"No," Maddox growled, raising his hand. Energy flared across the throne room. "I am their king."

A second figure appeared behind him taller, face hidden beneath a veil of light.

The God Engine.

The machine Seraphine once controlled. Now active.

Maddox turned his glowing gaze toward the fractured throne behind Cambria.

"I’ve come to claim what is mine."

The throne trembled beneath their feet as the God Engine stepped into the chamber, a mechanical voice pulsing with ancient power:

"Authority confirmed. Succession protocol initiated. New Monarch detected: Subject Gemini Maddox Raye."

Evelyn cried out, grabbing Cambria’s arm. "He’s activating the Last Protocol!"

"What’s that?" Lucien demanded.

Cambria’s voice shook as she answered. "It’s the final failsafe of Project Pandora. If triggered, it doesn’t just crown a monarch it rewrites the entire world order."

A flash of light erupted from Maddox’s chest, and a glyph burned into the stone beneath him.

The throne itself shifted, its roots retracting, revealing something ancient below something buried for centuries.

A second throne, made of dark crystal.

The true seat of power.

Maddox sat.

And the world trembled.

Cambria was thrown back, Evelyn shielding her from falling debris. The God Engine knelt before Maddox. A corona of golden fire exploded around them.

"System override complete," the voice rang out.

"All bloodlines nullified. New line established: The Dominion of Maddox Raye."

Lucien tried to stand. "We have to stop it he’ll erase everything "

But it was too late.

The sky outside split open as satellites launched centuries ago by the founders of Pandora activated. Cities across the continent flickered, and millions felt the sudden pull of a new command in their minds.

Maddox looked at Cambria one last time.

"I didn’t want to do this," he said, and for a moment, the old Maddox flickered beneath the surface. "But you left me no choice."

Cambria’s voice was barely audible. "I trusted you."

"And I loved you," he whispered.

Then his eyes turned gold again.

"Now kneel, Queen of Ashes."

The God Engine stepped forward.

And the war for the world began.

The council chamber stood frozen in a breathless silence. Outside the shattered stained glass, thunder rolled across the horizon. Rain had not yet fallen, but the skies brooded darkly above the capital, a mirror of the tension brewing within the palace walls.

Cambria sat at the head of the war table, flanked by Lucien Vale on her right and Evelyn Stone on her left. Seraphine’s hologram flickered in the center of the map, the God Engine’s power bleeding through the cracks of reality. The room was filled with murmuring nobles, generals, and former allies many of whom now questioned their loyalty.

Knox Blackwood had been defeated at the gates of the Ivory Citadel, but not destroyed. And with Project Pandora shattered into factions, the war was far from over.

Cambria’s fingers tightened around the crystal blade resting on the table a remnant of the Vault of Echoes, humming with barely restrained energy. Her voice, when it came, was quiet but absolute.

"We will not run."

Her words cut through the tension like a blade. The nobles turned, eyes wide, some in fear, others in awe.

"We will not cower behind our walls while the last remnant of the Blackwood Order regroups. We end this war now."

Evelyn straightened beside her, a flicker of fire dancing in her golden eyes. "Then we move at dawn?"

Lucien narrowed his eyes, his voice cold and measured. "We don’t have the numbers for a full assault. Not with the perfected weapons still roaming the wastelands, and not with Seraphine feeding off residual God Engine echoes."

A grizzled general spoke up. "The people are tired, my Queen. We’ve lost too much. This kingdom is held together by hope and memory alone."

"Then it’s time," Cambria replied, rising to her feet, "we give them something more than hope. We give them a reason to believe again."

She strode to the edge of the chamber, pulling open the curtains. The city of Veylor sprawled below, its skyline broken but still standing. Fires had been extinguished. The banners of the old kingdom were gone. Now, only one sigil flew high the Black Crown entwined with flame.

"The storm is coming," she said softly. "Let it come. We will meet it on the field."

In the depths of the Eastern Wastes...

Knox Blackwood bled power into the soil as he limped through the ruins of the old cathedral. His once flawless armor was cracked and scorched. Veins of black energy pulsed beneath his skin. The Black Flame had consumed much but it had not devoured him.

He was no longer merely mortal.

Behind him, the last loyalists of the Blackwood Order bowed their heads, kneeling in silence before the obsidian altar. A single voice broke the stillness.

"Are you ready, my king?"

Knox turned. Sophia Drake stood there, her crimson cloak whipping in the storm winds, a cruel smile on her lips.

"I was born ready," Knox rasped, flames flickering in his breath. "Cambria thinks the war is over. But she has yet to face the final gate."

He drew the blade of Nihil, its edge a pure void that shimmered against the dying light. "Let them have their victory. We’ll return when they believe themselves safe. That’s when you strike hardest."

Sophia bowed. "And the Prototype?"

"She will come to me. They always do."

Back at Veylor

That night, Cambria walked alone through the Hall of Memory. The statues of old rulers watched in silence as she passed. The weight of the crown pressed heavier than ever before. For a brief moment, she was not a queen, not a weapon, not a savior.

She was just a girl.

A flicker of movement stopped her. A boy stood at the far end of the hall no older than ten, his eyes wide with fear.

"Are you the Queen?" he asked.

Cambria knelt before him, voice soft. "I am."

He held out a small, folded note. "A man gave me this. He said to give it to you and run."

She took the note with steady hands, heart pounding.

You think you’ve won. But the true war begins when the silence falls. Look east. Look to the ashes.

There was no signature. But she recognized the handwriting.

Knox.

Elsewhere, deep in the mountains...

Evelyn stood before the ancient Vault of Fire, a place hidden even from Cambria. Her fingers danced along the runes, unlocking a power buried for centuries. Behind her, shadows stirred.

"You sure she’s ready?" asked a voice.

Evelyn didn’t turn. "No. But I am."

With a single motion, she activated the vault. Flames erupted skyward, and from within the chamber, something stepped forward not quite human, not quite god. A woman with eyes like molten gold.

"Then let the next queen rise," Evelyn whispered.

Back at Veylor

Cambria didn’t sleep that night.

In her war room, maps sprawled across the table, troop movements sketched out in trembling hands. Her generals were unsure. Her people weary.

But her purpose had never been clearer.

By dawn, she stood on the balcony of the palace, dressed in armor darker than midnight, her crown glinting with the embers of the past. Her voice echoed through the city as people gathered in the square.

"My name is Cambria Vale," she declared. "I was born to shadows. I was forged in flame. I have faced death and betrayal, gods and ghosts. And I am still standing."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

"This is the final war. Not for power. Not for vengeance. But for the right to live free. And I will not fight it alone."

Behind her, Evelyn emerged no longer hiding. Lucien stood tall. And the gates of the city opened.

Across the plains, the Blackwood remnants gathered. On the horizon, storm clouds churned, lightning splitting the sky.

Cambria raised her sword.

"Let the silence end."

And the storm began.

High above the battlefield, as the two armies prepared to clash, a tear in the sky appeared.

Reality split.

And from within it, a figure descended neither Knox, nor Cambria, nor Evelyn.

It was Seraphine.

Not a ghost.

Not a memory.

But a god reborn.

"I warned you," she said, her voice echoing in every mind. "The world belongs not to queens, or kings, or rebels."

She opened her arms.

"It belongs to me."