Chapter 65: The King's Gambit

Kizawa does not speak.

He starts to run.

"MIZUKI!"

"NO! STAY BACK!" she roars, her voice strained. "IT IS A TRAP!"

The moment Kizawa steps into the chamber, the Assassins MOVE.

They do not attack Mizuki.

They turn... as one... and attack US.

"IT IS A TRAP!" I scream, firing my obsidian bow. The arrow shatters against the chitin of the lead Assassin.

"HACHIRO!" Kizawa bellows, his swords a blur of steel. He meets the first wave.

"I... AM HERE!" Hachiro roars. He shoves Yogawa to the ground and charges, his one good fist a *green, Miasma-powered wrecking ball. He slams into a Stalker, sending it flying.

"Yogawa! SHIELD!" I shriek, firing again, this time aiming for an eye.

Yogawa is on his hands and knees, his nose a fountain of blood. "I... I COMMAND... A BARRIER!" he weeps. A faint, pale blue wall of force shimmers into existence around him.

The battle is chaos. We... are outnumbered. Twenty to one.

"Mizuki! HELP US!" Hachiro roars, kicking an Assassin away with his boot.

"I... CANNOT!" she cries out, her voice strained with effort. Her golden flame-cocoon is flickering violently. "I... am holding HIM... BACK!"

"Holding... WHO... back?" I pant, stabbing an arrow into a Stalker's joint.

ME, a voice booms in our minds.

It is not a sound. It is a thought that shakes the foundation of our souls.

The chamber floor... BEGINS TO DISSOLVE.

The silver silk melts away, revealing the TRUE parlor below.

It is not a floor.

It... is an EYE.

A single, colossal, sentient EYE, the size of a lake, glowing with a *cold, malevolent intelligence.

And it is LOOKING AT US.

YOU... ARE... LATE, the voice of the Spinner King echoes in our skulls. *THE... GUEST... OF HONOR... IS ALMOST... TIRED.

Mizuki's golden flame flickers violently, and she cries out in pain.

"He... wanted us here," Yogawa whispers in horror from behind his shield. "He let us in. He wanted *us... ALL... together."

The King has played us.

Mizuki... was not the bait.

We... were.

We... are the leverage to make her drop her flame.

The Assassins stop attacking. They back away, forming a tight circle around us.

We are trapped. Together.

Kizawa stops fighting. He is panting, his body covered in new wounds. He looks at the great Eye. He looks at Mizuki, her face a mask of agony as she holds her flame-shield.

"Mizuki," Kizawa says, his voice suddenly, perfectly calm. "Let go."

"I... CANNOT!" she weeps. "He will KILL YOU! He... will TAKE ME!"

"Let. Go."

He sheathes his swords.

He stands in the center of the arena, unarmed, his hands at his sides.

He... is going to sacrifice himself.

"KIZAWAAAA!" Hachiro roars.

YES, the King purrs in our minds. CHOOSE, LITTLE FLAME. THEM... OR ME.*

Mizuki looks at Kizawa's unarmed, unprotected back.

She looks at me. At Hachiro. At Yogawa.

Her face crumples.

The golden flame... dies.