Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 322: Chapter 322: Klaus vs Love [2] [10k Win-Win Bonus Chapters 3/3]

Chapter 322 – Klaus vs Love [2] [10k Win-Win Bonus Chapters 3/3]

Love’s heart pounded so loudly nothing else registered in her mind.

She stared at Klaus, feeling absurd power rolling off him like a whirlwind seeking to swallow her whole.

Across the arena, spectators watched, shocked, especially those with any knowledge of the Spirit Realm, a realm accessible only to Spirits, spirit contractors, and dragons.

Cassius himself was fairly surprised. He’d known Klaus’s affinity with the Wind Spirit exceeded whatever the records could account for, but not by this much.

Certainly not to the point that...

"The Prince! He’s the Prince!" The triplet spirits said in unison, watching Klaus’s transformation, "He’s the Prince chosen by the Primal Queen of Wind! The one and only Prince of Wind!"

No one could hear them except Cassius, who listened, now deeply curious about how the fight would unfold.

"Finally! Finally the Wind Queen has chosen someone! We’ve waited ages!" The triplets continued, giggling, delighted, before the one in the middle spoke alone, "But this is strange, sisters. The Prince of Wind doesn’t have the Sigil of Wind yet. Why not? What is the Queen waiting for?"

"Oh! Yes! So strange. The Sigil of Wind is the inheritance of the Wind State. Obtaining it would make the Prince the sole heir of the Wind State. The next King!"

"Would he marry the Princess of Whales from the Water State, then? They say she’s single, looking for a husband! And the Prince is handsome too!"

"Troisième, stop with the drama-loving!"

Cassius’s lips twitched at their ridiculous chatter. Even without fully grasping the whole situation, he sensed that his friend’s journey, especially now with this newly confirmed status, wouldn’t be an easy one.

’Welcome to the club, friend. Heh.’

Meanwhile, on one side of the arena, Sorry watched Klaus with shining eyes. He looked exactly like the princes from the fairy tales her father used to tell her.

Handsome, powerful, well-born, and...

"You’re so fucking dead, Love."

...thoroughly arrogant.

’I love it.’ Sorry thought, giddy. And her mood brightened even more, remembering that Klaus had complimented her piano skills, come to watch her alone at night, and even donated EP to support her.

Her eyes curved into a happy smile.

She glanced down briefly at her fingers, worn, bandaged, bloodied. They ached constantly from all the playing.

But just as her father had once told her, it would all be worth it someday. The pain, the endless hours of training, the countless practices, the constant doubt over her own skill because no one had ever listened to her...all of it, someday, would be worth it.

That day, it seemed, had finally arrived.

’Father...’ Sorry thought quietly, clenching her hands despite the pain, eyes still smiling, ’...I think I might have found a friend? Maybe? I hope so. I feel so alone, Father. And I miss you.’

Then her thoughts stopped abruptly, as the battle between Klaus and Love raged on.

That was when a question surfaced in her mind,

’Who is this Love to Klaus?’

...

’Focus, Love! Focus! Five minutes, right? FIVE FUCKING—!’

Klaus was on her before she even had time to blink. He was fast. So fast it barely made sense to Love.

He raised his hand, a long wind arrow forming along his arm, and brought it down without hesitation.

The action and its consequences seemed to unfold in the same instant.

Before Love could react, the arrow pierced through her shoulder, punching out the other side, then Klaus’s knee rose, slamming into her stomach.

Love’s back curled inward, air struggling to reach her lungs, her mind unable to determine which pain to address first.

Klaus followed by clasping his fists together into a single knuckle and slamming it down onto her back, vibrating his hands to amplify the impact.

Love’s mind blanked for a heartbeat as the strike forced out every trace of air from her lungs, the air still inside her twisting into wind blades, wreaking havoc through her body.

Her chest slammed into the ground, carving out a small crater. Blood spilled from her mouth, the muscles along her back torn from the strike.

The gravity of her situation began settling in through the fog of agony. Klaus moved so fast she couldn’t react at all.

And in his current state, the wind obeyed him completely. Which meant Love struggled just to breathe, her face flushing red, eyes bulging from the lack of oxygen. Worse, the very air trapped inside her seemed determined to kill her outright.

She was going to die, she felt it clearly in that instant. And Klaus seemed to be enjoying it.

But Love de Bayard would be damned if she gave up. Not after everything she’d promised herself. Not after finally gathering the courage to end things with Emrys.

She refused to be beneath anyone anymore. Refused to be trampled by anyone, ever again.

Her thoughts spiraled wildly, and she decided to go all in, disregarding her own flesh and blood entirely.

By then, Klaus was already closing in again with a wind dagger. Love twisted her body just in time, waving a hand in front of her.

As easily as breathing, the dagger severed her hand clean at the wrist.

The arena gasped. Love bellowed in pain, tears streaming down her face, rage, hatred, and something unnamed boiling in her chest all at once...

"Created Technique: Sacrifice of Flesh!"

...her severed hand, still airborne, instantly bloomed with blinding brown runic patterns before dropping to the ground.

Klaus’s body blurred instantly out of that spot.

It made no difference.

Love’s attack consumed the entire ring, earth rumbling like a sleeping dragon stirring toward the heavens once more.

Earth tore upward, forming an intricate structure of pathways, walls, and even tunnels.

In an instant, the battle ring transformed into a full labyrinth, Love hidden at the far end, buried beneath the earth, shielded by countless walls and obstacles.

Klaus and the spectators alike understood exactly what she was doing.

She was buying time. Waiting for Klaus’s Spirit Form to exhaust itself.

The crowd erupted with excitement, some chanting Love’s name, others Klaus’s.

Klaus’s expression turned deadly serious. There was no panic in his face. He tapped into his staggering wind control, expanding his perception through it, hunting for Love’s exact position.

It was far wiser than tearing everything apart and wasting essence.

But the Heiress of the Tower of Runes was no fool.

So, in the underground chamber, breathing heavily, color draining from her face, Love channeled her own blood, already being absorbed into the ground and walls around her.

Lips white and trembling, she gritted her teeth and activated her Second Skill, Rune Inscription, layering the labyrinth with the strongest traps she could manage.

The ground beneath Klaus shifted into sinking sand, poisoned arrows firing from the walls around him.

3 minutes remained, out of the original 5.

Klaus’s mind sharpened like a wind blade, dismantling every trap in his path. He realized he could no longer afford wasted time, yet the traps kept coming, relentless.

They surfaced everywhere, at any moment, in overwhelming numbers.

The Prince of Wind kept destroying them one by one, essence bleeding away into attacks never meant to injure, only to distract.

2 minutes left.

And Klaus finally abandoned his search-and-locate strategy entirely.

If she wanted to hide, he’d ensure there was nowhere left to hide.

"Come." He called, summoning lesser-ranked wind spirits to his side. They rushed toward him from every direction, bringing an avalanche of wind in their wake.

Klaus drew on that wind, deliberately oversaturating the entire labyrinth until the air itself grew lethal to any ordinary Mortal-rank being.

Once every inch was drenched in wind, each strand connected to the next, Klaus channeled that power, thinking of his friend’s abilities as inspiration...

"Created Technique: Chains of Wind."

The wind reshaped into chains. And since his spirit wind could seep into physical matter, chains erupted from everything — ground, walls, ceiling — binding together into one.

And the point where every single chain converged right in front of him.

Windy appeared, shifting into arrow form, tying herself to that central junction, then launching upward, through the ceiling, into the sky.

She shot off with overwhelming force and speed, dragging the entire tangled mass of chains behind her.

She tore straight through the ceiling and shot skyward, higher and higher, ripping the whole labyrinth free of the ground with her, the entire structure now dangling in midair.

Shattered earth rained down as the sky above darkened beneath the labyrinth’s massive shadow.

The spectators were left utterly speechless at the sheer absurdity of the sight.

30 seconds remained.

But Klaus had already located Love, sprawled on the ground, pale as death, eyes straining to stay open.

He flapped his wind-formed wings and reached her within a heartbeat. Without wasting words, he drew his arrow and—!

Klaus froze mid-motion, glancing down, realizing he stood in a pool of blood.

Love’s blood.

She smiled, and a shark formed of blood lunged at his feet, gnawing at it with venomous hunger. Klaus dispatched it easily, slicing it into hundreds of fragments, but the delay was enough for the final 30 seconds to run out.

And yet...

"Huh?" Love slurred, eyes widening slightly, staring at Klaus, still in his Spirit Form.

Everyone in the arena was just as stunned as she was. Everyone except those who’d already caught on.

"What?" Klaus said with a cold grin, "Did you actually expect me to tell you the truth, when I loudly announced exactly how much time I had left? Do I look like a bloody idiot to you?"

He raised his bow, arrow aimed straight at her forehead, the pressure making it clear she’d die if he struck.

"I don’t like odd numbers. I have one more minute."

The crowd surged to their feet, screaming, stomping their feet, already celebrating the seemingly inevitable win.

But Love only smiled, baring her bloodied teeth.

"Ah, of fucking course. I know you well enough that I suspected as much, but I’d hoped I was wrong. Ah...so be it, then." Her eyes filled with madness, "One more minute, huh? I can survive that long, little bastard."

Klaus’s danger sense screamed as he—!

"Forbidden Rune..."

His body froze instinctively, sensing the power hidden behind those words.

Love de Bayard opened her mouth wide, revealing her tongue etched with rotting blackened runes.

"...A World of Lies."

The world around them cracked apart.

—End of Chapter 322—