Empress Running Away with the Ball - Chapter 18: Unable to escape

On that fateful day, a voice in the sky told everyone on Earth that the world they called home has just been part of some sort of simulation.

In a post-apocalyptic fantasy world layered into multiple realms, humanity faces extinction due to their endangerment of the main realm. Forced to merge all realms back into one, a deity grants humans a leveling system to empower them, lest they become extinct when facing the mythical creatures. Noah, our protagonist, embraces the role of a monster tamer, trading his humanity for strength and eventually transforming into a monster himself. As Noah struggles with his evolving identity, he must navigate a world where the line between human and monster becomes increasingly blurred.

I never asked to be a part of werewolf society - or this world.Every day that passes, the mating bond between my protector and I threatens to occur, once and for all. To consume me entirely... and lock my path with this world on the brink, even when I still think of home.⧖ ⧖ ⧖One minute I was Citra Lomdi - a Princess to a kingdom of silk and secrets in a whole other place. There, I was a *magnificent* Fox shifter... maneuvering in the gilded cage that was my life. The next thing I knew...I was trapped in the body of a she-werewolf being rejected by her mate. A man that wanted the original owner, Helene Duskpaw, to accept the rejection of the mate bond so badly that he'd be easily convinced to kill me. He did *almost* seem to be trying!But my problems didn't end there.An 'Apocalypse System' has chosen me and a countdown timer reminds me whenever I look that fate can be measured. That there might be a point to my arrival here.A fierce & brilliant CEO of a supernatural society tech empire has their sights on me, too. The Alpha of the Rimecoat Pack that is quite annoyingly... as sexy as she is powerful.This Kyrie Voss also seems to believe she is my fated mate. Silly wolf superstitions. Whether that is true or not, isn't really important!I'm caught in between a cold-snap future and a hot-love pursuit... but I am Citra Lomdi and I will not be tamed. Not by the wolf within me I share this body with, the rogues that see me unmarked, or the Alpha that can set my blood on fire with her amazing restraint.The only problem is:Helene was pregnant before she died. So now, I am too.

Ian Night’s life was a joke—until it wasn’t.Betrayed, discarded, and left with nothing, he welcomed death when it came. But fate had other plans.Reborn in chains, Ian awakens as a slave in a world where power is dictated by bloodlines and magic.While others wield fire and lightning, he is given dominion over something far more absolute: Death.With every slain foe, every stolen soul, and every corpse bound to his will, Ian will carve his way from servitude to supremacy.He will rise from the dirt. He will shatter his chains. And those who once cast him aside will learn what it means to fear the dead.[Ability Unlocked: Soulbind – Bind the fallen to your will.][Absorb strength of fallen soul?][New Trait Acquired: Gravewalker – The dead whisper, and you listen.]Kingdoms will tremble.The weak will kneel.And Ian Night will never be a failure again.Or, like most in this cursed world, he’ll die trying.