Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 323: Chapter 323: Klaus vs Love [3]

Chapter 323 – Klaus vs Love [3]

"...A World of Lies."

Klaus’s mind turned upside down the moment those words echoed deep inside his skull, his consciousness feeling as though it were being wrenched from his body, dragged somewhere else entirely.

His body weakened, his heart slowing so drastically it felt as though he were dying. Klaus gasped, breathing suddenly feeling impossible.

At the back of his mind, Windy’s voice echoed, but it came muffled, distorted by something he couldn’t identify.

Slowly, in his perception, the world cracked apart, as though some malevolent force had seized it and torn it open, revealing that everything he’d lived until now might be nothing but lies and illusions dressed up as truth and reality.

Klaus’s mind strained to its absolute limit, trying to make sense of what was happening, trying to resist whatever power had taken hold of him.

It made no difference.

A Forbidden Rune was something no one escaped, unless they understood the Rune better than the one who’d cast it, or unless they fulfilled whatever conditions it demanded.

In an instant, Klaus found himself in an entirely different space, wrapped in darkness so deep and tangible it felt as though he were being embraced on all sides by strange, unseen creatures.

Fear began coiling through his chest.

"Where is..." Klaus’s voice trailed off as his green eyes settled on Love, standing a couple of meters away.

Her appearance had shifted, reverting to normal. Yet her face looked pale, color draining from it with every passing second.

Outside, the spectators saw only Love and Klaus collapse to the ground, side by side, unconscious.

But The Watcher didn’t call the battle, knowing the final round was being waged entirely within the mind.

’A Forbidden Rune...dangerous. Depending on its type, the consequences could be catastrophic. World of Lies, she called it...truth, illusion, or both? How could an 18-year-old possibly comprehend and wield such a Rune? This generation...’ The Watcher was internally stunned, unsure how to proceed.

He silently contacted his master, the Dean, hoping this particular Forbidden Rune wasn’t the permanent variety.

Back within the strange space, Klaus and Love stood facing each other.

"You know, I didn’t want to do this." Love said after a stretch of silence, meeting his gaze with cold, exhausted eyes, "Using a Forbidden Rune consumes my own life essence, you know?"

Klaus arched an eyebrow, surprised, "What? And you used it anyway? For a duel?"

"This duel means more to me than you could ever guess, Klaus." She shot back sharply, "You tried to kill me. You’ve stood in my way, over and over, and let’s not even start counting the number of times you’ve hurt me physically."

She clenched her jaw, "You expect me to just accept that and lie down?"

"You earned all of it."

Even as he spoke, Klaus was quietly trying to reestablish his connection with Windy, still present but blocked by some kind of barrier.

"For rejecting you?" Love replied.

"You know damn well it was never about you rejecting me. It was how you did it." Klaus’s eyes narrowed, "You didn’t care at all, you just did whatever you wanted."

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Love said, exasperated, "Why should I care about someone I never knew? Someone I’d never met? Someone whose family only contacted my father to say, ’our great son wants your daughter as a wife, let them meet’? What do you think I am? A fucking tool?"

Her eyes narrowed further, lips pressed tight, "Why in Vorn’s name should I have cared about his feelings?"

"That’s called basic respect and emotional intelligence, in case you didn’t know."

"I call that bullshit."

"Call it whatever you want. Doesn’t make it any less true."

"And you’re one to talk? Respect? Emotional intelligence?"

"You talk like you know me." Klaus rolled his eyes, "You only know one side of me, Love. And that’s the only side you’ll ever know."

"Is that so?" Love finally grinned, glancing around, "Let’s find out."

"What—!"

"If I can’t beat you physically, then I’ll drag you into a battle of the mind instead." She smirked, "You’re not particularly great at that, are you?"

Klaus said nothing, brow furrowing.

"And what you’re even worse at is telling the truth, you insecure bastard. So here we are." Love said, sweeping her gaze across the thick darkness surrounding them, "This is called World of Lies. Don’t be fooled by the name, my dear Klaus, this world despises lies and punishes them more severely than any power you’ve ever faced."

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting now?"

"Oh, you’ll understand soon enough." Love said, though a hint of apprehension crept into her voice, "Three questions, and you must tell the truth. You can lie, but if you lose by the end of the three questions, you’ll suffer a harsh punishment. And if you think that punishment is temporary, you don’t understand what ’Forbidden’ actually means."

She laughed hollowly.

"It’s a permanent loss. Nothing will ever restore it, not even time manipulation itself."

Klaus finally began to grasp the severity of the situation.

But something else clicked as well.

If lying carried a penalty, then the solution seemed straightforward, didn’t it?

Just tell the truth.

"Just tell the truth, right?" Love said aloud, as though reading his thoughts, "You think it’s that simple? How many people lie, fully aware of the punishment waiting for them? No need to say more. You’ll see for yourself, Klaus Silicin Handoff..."

The world around them began to shift, the darkness fading, replaced by a stunning, beautiful garden with a river winding through it.

"...just how tempting lies can be."

The two of them sat at a white table with two chairs, each taking a seat.

They looked at each other, expressions taut with seriousness.

"The conditions to win this duel are simple." Love said, "Either I die from bleeding out my life essence, or you win by speaking more truth than I do. Simple, isn’t it? Three questions. At the end, the loser forfeits one thing the winner chooses to take from them. Permanently."

"Who’s asking these questions?" Klaus asked, the most crucial question of all.

Love raised her hand, sweeping it around them, "This World of Lies will ask us both. Now, shall we begin?"

Klaus didn’t answer right away. He looked at his Spirit Form, sensing time slipping past, slower here, but still passing.

Yet even that offered no real advantage. He felt like an ordinary human in this place, unable to draw on the overwhelming power that was rightfully his.

Frustrating, after all the effort spent mastering this Spirit Form, only for it to be useless here.

Still, Klaus tried to find something positive in the situation. At least now he understood the kind of power that could genuinely threaten him.

Anything targeting the mind was a serious weakness of his. And if Love knew about it, others likely did too.

’Fuck.’ He cursed inwardly, feeling an urgent need to strengthen his mental fortitude, to develop techniques that could help him even in places like this.

There had to be something. There absolutely had to be something!

"Let’s begin." Klaus said finally, eyes deadly serious.

Love smiled, though slower, weaker now. Visibly, she seemed to age slightly, her face growing paler.

Still, she pressed on, revealing a resilience Klaus hadn’t known she possessed.

"Let’s begin." She echoed, and the world around them fell into a sharp, sudden pause.

Both Klaus and Love tensed, unsure what kind of question awaited them.

Because even Love didn’t know.

That was exactly why Forbidden Runes were dangerous. Once activated, you lost all control over what followed.

It was a power that could turn against you, killing you slowly in the process.

The more she dwelled on it, the more Love wondered whether this had truly been worth it.

That doubt never fully took hold, as a shrill, malicious voice echoed through the entire world,

"> <Lying will be met with severe punishment, one no power can stop.>

"> <There will be Three Questions. Should you lose at the end, a Great Punishment shall fall upon you.>

Love and Klaus exchanged a tense glance, before, slowly.

"> <First Question: Open your heart, shed all lies and falsehoods, speak the truth and nothing but the truth, and tell her, tell him, tell the whole world watching...what is the worst thing the other could do to you?>

The question landed, and both Klaus and Love froze, caught off guard.

The worst thing the other could do?

The question ran far deeper than it first appeared.

Normally, "the worst thing" would mean betrayal, death, abandonment, something along those lines.

But for Klaus and Love, the worst thing the other could do to them was nothing of that sort.

It was something neither of them had truly known until the question forced it to the surface, and the answer that surfaced, despite neither wanting it, left them both teetering at the edge of fear.

Truly, there was rarely anything worse for two proud people than being forced to feel something they despised feeling.

Love’s lips pressed tight, her body shifting uncomfortably. Klaus went completely rigid.

The Rune spoke again:

"> <Love de Bayard, what is the worst thing Klaus Silicin Handoff could do to you? As the vessel of this Rune, you understand the consequences of lying.>

"> <More than one answer is acceptable.>

Love cursed under her breath, now regretting all of this. But between humiliating herself and suffering permanent punishment, the choice was painfully clear.

She stared at Klaus without flinching and, gathering every ounce of courage and her burning will to win this duel,

"The worst thing he could do to me...is die."

’And make me fall in love with him.’

—End of Chapter 323—