Fate of Pandora - Book II

One Game Left

Back on the deserted roof, Kira finished making the circle on the ground with the annotations specified by Karina. The man cleaned his hands, looking at the chalk on the wooden floor and imagining how he was going to have to clean this mess later.

Delicate arms suddenly hugged him from behind, breaking the brute man from his thoughts.

"I never doubted you, Kira," Karina said in his ear. Releasing him, she moved around to the center of the circle. "You're dismissed now. I'll need you only after I return."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" he asked her, not for the first time.

"It will be difficult enough to transport only me. I'll be very tired after I complete this work, so be here when I return. Make sure no one comes near."

Kira bowed. "Yes, my Goddess." And he left her alone.

The woman smiled and looked down at the circle around her feet. It was a transfiguration circle filled with inscriptions and drawings, which she would use to reach the demigods one last time.

She closed her eyes and concentrated. Light engulfed her, and she felt as if she was spinning and hitting a brick wall at high speed over and over before she finally found herself in the empty white realm.

Karina huffed, falling on her knees for a moment - the trip was exhausting. She could see the ring bearers and the Gods far away from her. Standing up with some effort, she began flying at them. In her vision, all the Gods were mere bright forms connected to the whiteness of that room. There was no need for images; they were unnecessary and only reflected a human's own limited imagination. At least that was how she viewed it.

As she drew near the Gods disappeared, and she narrowed her eyes. It meant the group was almost done with their training. However, with a simple knife in hand, she had a plan in mind that would prolong their stay.

The Chronos kamika had reopened the portal to return, and Coalt stood up after the giant snake around him had disappeared. He turned to the others and saw them gathering, and he started to do the same, but stopped midway when he felt a chill run up his spine.

When one is in the middle of nowhere, one doesn't expect anything to come up from behind; but Coalt didn't realize that fast enough. By the time he turned, the red blur was already upon him. He tried to jump away, but Karina grabbed hold of his string and, in one swift motion, cut it.

"Gah!" Coalt felt a stunning pain running all through his body the moment his connection was broken.

"Coalt!" Ayame tried to blast wind at Karina, but there was no wind in that sacred place – as divine beings, they did not need air to breathe.

Risa leaped at the woman with her sword in hand but Karina moved away calmly, not worried about their attacks. Meanwhile, Ayame grabbed hold of Coalt and moved them away from their enemy.

"What is going on here? How did you get here?!" Luna yelled at Karina, who just smiled.

"You think you're the only ones who can manage to reach this realm? Many other humans have before you," Karina said matter-of-factly. "This is such an interesting place; you can't possibly wish to leave it so quickly."

"Oh, no." Jasmet was trembling. She knew it was dangerous to go to that place, but she never thought that Karina would catch them there. Jasmet saw Ayame escaping the fight with the unconscious brunette in her arms. "Ayame, go to the portal quickly! Hold onto Coalt, and it'll guide both of you back."

Ayame looked down at the black portal, then dove toward it without question.

"No, you won't!" Karina ignored the others and dashed toward the fleeing girl.