Fate of Pandora - Book II

Sacrifices

The table was turned again, and this time the ring bearers were even more relentless than ever. They didn't give Karina a time to breathe, a chance to dodge, nor a second to think. They returned Karina's favor five-fold.

But what worried the woman most wasn't the pain or the attacks she couldn't escape. It was the fact that the time had come. The longer she took to find an opening, the more anxious she grew.

"Enough!" Out of nowhere, Karina gave off a burst of powerful dark magic that expanded so quickly, it tossed all the ring bearers away from her.

"I don't have time to play with you anymore!" she hissed at the group, not alarmed when Luna and Jasmet sent two attacks the moment they stopped spinning aimlessly in space.

This time, however, she did something different: instead of attacking back, Karina opened a portal behind her and jumped inside it. The powers that followed her dispersed in the vortex, missing her and disappearing in the swirling blur. Karina was floating inside the vortex, looking very tense as she tried to keep still. The group was astonished to see her there as they gathered around it, staring dumbfounded into it.

"Is that a portal? Why did she enter it? Won't she get lost?" Arika asked, perplexed.

"Yes, that is a portal. Don't get close to it!" Jasmet warned them and watched the woman with concern, who only smirked back at her expression.

"But what is she doing? She seems fine." Risa hoped the albino girl would know the answer.

Jasmet kept staring at the woman floating in the vortex. Karina seemed confident and somewhat relieved that she had escaped them. Luna confirmed it when she tried to shoot an arrow at her, but the moment her arrow entered the portal, it spiraled uncontrollably and disappeared who knows where, leaving Karina unscratched.

"I-I'm not sure," Jasmet finally said. "Karina is managing to stay still, like she's waiting."

The woman turned around to face the other end of the portal, which was still closed. "Come on, Kira, stop playing around and do your job."

Jasmet was still unsure of what Karina had in mind, but she felt unnerved by her risky action. "This is too dangerous, Karina! Even if you stay still in the vortex and don't get lost, you won't be able to stay in such a place for too long. Your soul will start to disintegrate!"

"I'm not staying here for long," Karina informed her confidently. "I'm about to return to Earth in a new body."

With that said, the other end of the portal finally opened.

"Coalt, be careful!" Ayame yelled at the top of her lungs, only to have her voice muffled by the barrier. All this time she kept hitting it in an attempt to break the invisible wall, but no matter what she did she couldn't cross the circle. Even if the boy was doing very well against Kira, it was torture to sit here and watch the battle. She wanted to be beside him.

Coalt wasn't sure why he was able to advance against Kira without fear. Despite everything going wrong again and again, his chest filled with rage and strength propelling him to go toe to toe with the powerful enemy. His slashes were strong enough to unbalance Kira, who was surprised by the sudden boost in the young man's power. The wounds caused by Ayame also turned out to be not as shallow as he had expected them to be; the increasing effort was making them grow worse.

The two stood for a long time testing their powers: Coalt and Kira exchanged fists, tried to engulf the other with fire or darkness, and their weapons continually clashed in an attempt to find an opening.