Chapter 443: Choose me... Your first love
Klein and Isabella finally arrived in front of a monumental arch opening onto the deepest chamber, a sanctuary where the silence was quite unsettling. In the center of this room, a hooded woman had her back turned to them. She remained perfectly still, wrapped in a long robe of such deep black that it seemed to absorb the light.
A voice then rose, cold and devoid of any human emotion, making Isabella shudder.
" Do not take a single step. Otherwise they will all die..."
The natural authority emanating from this simple injunction froze the duo in place. Klein widened his eyes, feeling a crushing pressure weighing on his lungs, a familiar sensation he had only experienced near the most powerful beings in this world.
Without a word, the silhouette raised a gloved hand and, with an imperceptible gesture, made an iridescent flame burst forth that floated in the middle of the room. The shifting light, moving from violet to pearly, brutally illuminated the walls of the chamber, revealing ancient runes carved into the rock.
The woman slowly turned around, her face remaining hidden in the shadow of her hood. Klein felt a chill run down his spine. He knew. This aura of absolute domination, this way of manipulating reality itself... it was Pandora, the legendary founder of the Spectrum, the immortal alchemist who had been playing with destinies since the millennial war.
’ She is here... the woman who has crossed the ages by recreating her body to perfection,’ thought Klein, his muscles tensing instinctively for a confrontation he knew was desperate. After all, he had promised his father and his brother that he would take revenge on her for everything she had made them suffer.
Isabella struck the floor with her spear.
" You will not stay standing for long, old witch!" she shouted before triggering her gravity magic.
< Gravity Magic: Crushing >
The pressure suddenly became unbearable, the floor cracking under the effect of an invisible force seeking to nail Pandora to the ground. Yet Pandora dodged without difficulty, slipping between the gravitational distortions as if they were mere air currents.
" Your efforts are cute, little one," mocked Pandora in a mechanical voice devoid of emotion.
Isabella immediately followed up with her combat art.
< Art: Blazing Lion - Lion’s Roar.>
A shockwave of orange flames burst from the tip of her spear, sweeping away everything in its path in a devastating explosion of heat. Pandora, with a movement of supernatural fluidity, performed an elegant pirouette, letting the flames lick the void where she had been a thousandth of a second earlier.
It was then that a silhouette emerged from the shadows with lightning speed.
" Step aside, Isabella. She is not a prey you can hunt alone," declared Klein.
He drew his katana.
< Aura Coating.>
< Predator’s Eye >
The world seemed to slow down for Klein. He perceived every micro-movement of Pandora, every fluctuation of her mana. He propelled himself forward, using a micro-impulse under his feet.
< Dash >
He instantly appeared on Pandora’s flank, his katana tracing a perfect arc.
< Sundering Eclipse: Crescent Moon.>
A slash of pure white energy split the air, aiming to section the very space around the alchemist. Pandora had to, for the first time, contract her defensive aura to parry the blow, the clash of steel against mana creating a shockwave that made the surrounding rock pillars tremble.
" You are now a disciple of the Wizard of the Constellations..." murmured Pandora.
With a simple glance thrown toward Isabella, an invisible shockwave struck the young Donoghan heiress. Without being able to emit the slightest sound, Isabella was violently thrown across the room, sent tumbling outside before the massive doors closed.
Klein remained alone facing the entity. Pandora advanced one step, her presence occupying all the space.
" You have a choice to make, only one. You can save only one of them... the women who have marked your different existences."
She made a hand gesture and four ghostly images appeared in the iridescent flames.
" Will you choose your love as Kaiser D. Paragon: Olivia Kleopatra Dantalion? The imperial princess whose beauty is equaled only by her devouring ambition?"
The image showed Olivia, unconscious in an unknown place.
" Or your love as The Predator: Kara of Kitsune? This wild warrior with exotic beauty?" The image also showed Kara imprisoned.
" Perhaps you will prefer your love as Klein Konstantine: Sierra Del Luna? The elven beauty who accompanied you for ten years in the mental domain?"
" Or finally, your love as Sulyvhan: Amaera or rather Loriel?"
They were all in danger, kidnapped in an unknown place. Klein wondered why Pandora was going to so much trouble to ruin his life.
Klein clenched his teeth so hard he feared they would break. He felt sweat beading on his forehead despite the cold of the room. " What do you want exactly?" he asked in a hoarse voice.
" I hope you choose me..." she murmured, an almost tender tone slipping into her words.
Klein was destabilized by this change in tone. " What?"
" Save me... Your first love... Like back then."
" Stop -" began Klein, but he was interrupted by the woman’s movement.
She brought her hands to her hood and removed it. A cascade of flamboyant chestnut hair with orange reflections spread over her shoulders, framing a face of supernatural perfection.
Her skin, of an alabaster pallor, seemed to glow under the effect of the iridescent flame. But it was her eyes that petrified Klein: pearly orbs, iridescent like liquid pearls, that stared at him with devouring intensity.
" Do you not recognize your first love? Lucifer?"
Klein’s breath caught.
" This face... these unique eyes..."
" Ariana!?" he exclaimed, confusion and horror mixing in his voice.
She smiled, but it was a smile filled with sadness.
" It seems that despite all my efforts, you do not remember... You, the mortal who opened the doors of the Abyss..."
She took another step toward him, her perfume of jasmine and faded flowers enveloping him like a shroud. In her pearly eyes, Klein thought he briefly saw the seal of the Eclipse, that blood moon obscuring the sun, the symbol of those who are banished from paradise and hated by hell.
" I hope you remember everything."
Klein tried to dodge, but Arianna suddenly appeared toward him and plunged her flaming hand into his heart.
