Chapter 5
1525words
She tried everything: channeling light magic into its surface, coaxing it with Moon Goddess energy, even using her prophetic abilities to glimpse its future… yet the tablet remained stubbornly inert, no different from common stone.
"What am I missing?" Isabella ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. Lucas's one-week deadline loomed just a day away.
"The prophecy says the key lies in the soul… but what does that even mean?"
She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, letting her consciousness sink to its deepest level, reaching for that mysterious inner realm. This time, she abandoned magical power entirely. Instead, she poured something else into the stone—her purest will, that unyielding determination that belonged to "Greenriel," the woman from another world.
The moment her soul essence touched the rune, everything changed!
The lifeless tablet erupted with blinding black light. Above it, countless twisted runes spiraled into a vortex, radiating a terrifying aura that made her heart hammer against her ribs—power that reeked of the abyss itself.
"This is… a forbidden spell!" Isabella gasped, stumbling backward.
The "Silent Rune" was no ordinary ancient symbol—it was a sealed forbidden spell! Fully activated, it could reduce the entire Star Tower to smoking rubble!
"Lucas!" Isabella hissed through clenched teeth. "What game are you playing?" She instantly recognized this for what it was—not just a trap, but a test.
Without hesitation, she summoned every drop of light magic in her body. Golden radiance surged forth like a tidal wave, crashing against the black vortex as she fought to contain it.
Light and darkness—primal opposing forces—collided with catastrophic violence in the small laboratory. The entire Star Tower shuddered to its foundations.
"Impressive control, my princess."
Lucas materialized in the doorway, slow applause echoing from his hands. His amethyst eyes gleamed with genuine admiration.
"You knew this was a forbidden spell all along?" Isabella demanded through gritted teeth, struggling to maintain her magical output as beads of sweat formed on her brow.
"'Silence' is the seal." Lucas strolled to her side and extended one finger, tapping the vortex with casual grace. A stream of pure darkness flowed from his touch, and the raging spell instantly calmed, sinking back into the stone like an obedient pet.
"How…" Isabella stared at him, dumbfounded. To tame a forbidden spell with such ease—his power was far more terrifying than she'd imagined.
"You've passed my test," Lucas said, satisfaction evident in his voice. "You not only activated the rune but made the correct choice at the critical moment—containment rather than release. You've proven yourself worthy of forbidden knowledge."
"So your goal all along was to teach me forbidden magic?" Isabella's eyes narrowed with sudden understanding.
"Precisely," Lucas met her gaze unflinchingly. "In this world, light doesn't always triumph. Sometimes you need darker, more potent forces to protect what matters. I can show you that path."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because we're cut from the same cloth." Lucas's voice dropped to a hypnotic timbre. "We both hunger for power. We both refuse to be fate's puppets. And also…"
He paused, reaching into his robes.
A small silver crucifix gleamed in his palm, antique in design. Isabella's breath caught—it was her mother's keepsake, the very one she'd worn around her neck before crossing over!
"That… how did you get this?" Isabella whispered, shock rendering her momentarily speechless.
"That rainy night of your car accident, I was there." Lucas's voice deepened with memory. "I saw you, saw this crucifix. Perhaps guided by fate itself, I carried a fragment of your soul to this world and infused it into Princess Isabella's dying body."
"So… you're the reason I crossed over?" The revelation hit her like a physical blow, leaving her mind reeling.
"In a manner of speaking," Lucas admitted. "I needed a powerful ally, someone to stand beside me at the pinnacle of this cosmic chess game. And you, Greenriel, with your indomitable spirit, are precisely who I sought."
"This chess game… what are we really playing for?"
"It's too soon for that revelation," Lucas shook his head. "For now, understand that your enemies are more numerous and powerful than you can imagine. That traveler who contacted you? Merely a pawn. The true players remain hidden in the shadows."
He withdrew the crucifix. "Now, as promised, you may make one request of me. Anything at all."
Isabella drew a deep breath, steadying her racing thoughts. She studied the enigmatic, morally ambiguous man before her and made her choice.
"My request is this," she raised her chin, determination blazing in her azure eyes. "Tell me your true identity and your real purpose. I refuse to be an uninformed pawn in your game."
For the first time, genuine surprise flickered across Lucas's face. He remained silent for a long moment before releasing a soft chuckle.
"You never cease to surprise me," he said. "Very well, I promise you this. Not now, but when you've grown strong enough to stand as my equal, I will reveal everything."
"I'll hold you to that."
"Then as a gesture of good faith," Lucas's form began to blur at the edges, "beware your sweet-faced sister Selina. She's been dabbling in some particularly dangerous necromancy of late."
Armed with Lucas's warning, Isabella resolved to abandon her passive stance. The time had come to take initiative and unmask both Selina and the mysterious traveler.
The next day, under the pretense of "strengthening sisterly bonds," she invited Selina to lunch at her Star Tower.
Selina accepted with apparent delight. She arrived in a flowing lake-green gown, the picture of gentle innocence—as if she'd never attempted to poison Isabella at the tea party.
"Your Star Tower is truly magnificent," Selina remarked with practiced envy. "Nothing like my 'Flowing Water Garden'—always so quiet and… empty."
"You flatter me," Isabella replied with a smile, pouring fragrant tea into delicate cups. "Though I must say, I've heard the strangest rumors about you lately. Something about an interest in necromancy? Such a forbidden field—I'd hate to see you stray down such a dangerous path."
Selina's hand trembled slightly, tea sloshing against porcelain, though her smile never faltered. "What absurd rumors! How could I possibly take interest in such vile practices?"
"Is that so?" Isabella reached beneath the table and produced a thick tome—the very "Space-time Magic" book Evan had given her. She deliberately opened to a specific page where a line in Simplified Chinese characters stood out boldly: "Plan to Summon Undead Legion."
"I've been studying this fascinating ancient script lately," Isabella remarked with calculated nonchalance. "Such interesting phrases. This one, for instance, translates roughly to… 'Summon an army of the dead.' Any thoughts on what that might mean, sister?"
BANG!
Selina's teacup crashed to the floor, porcelain shards scattering across marble. Her face drained of all color, eyes widening with naked fear as she stared at Isabella.
She'd been exposed! Isabella could actually read this script from another world!
"Who… what are you?" Selina whispered, her voice quavering.
"I'm Isabella," she replied with feigned innocence. "Though I'm terribly curious about what you and your 'friend' are plotting, dear sister."
In that instant, Isabella's prophecy ability flared to life, revealing a flash of imminent danger—
Black mist erupting from Selina's body as a malevolent male presence seized control, launching a lethal attack directly at Isabella's heart!*
"Damn it!"
Isabella teleported backward, simultaneously conjuring a shield of pure light.
In the same instant, black mist engulfed Selina's form. Her eyes turned cold and alien, her voice transforming into a harsh male rasp:
"Another traveler in this world? I never expected this. Isabella—or should I call you… Greenriel?"
As the mist thinned, Selina's appearance remained unchanged, but the aura radiating from her was utterly transformed—a malevolent essence blending undead energy with calculated malice.
"Who the hell are you?" Isabella demanded, struggling to process this revelation. Another traveler from her world was possessing Selina's body!
"My identity hardly matters," 'Selina' sneered. "What matters is that I know everything about you—your cheat abilities, your pathetic desire to change the storyline. Unfortunately for you, reality isn't some wish-fulfillment fantasy."
He raised one hand, conjuring a sphere of writhing darkness composed of pure undead malice.
"This world isn't your personal playground," he snarled, lips twisting into a malicious grin. "It's my kingdom-to-be. And you'll make a perfect first stepping stone on my path to the throne!"
The sphere of darkness hurtled toward Isabella with lethal intent.
In that critical moment, a figure materialized before Isabella, casually crushing the deadly orb with one hand.
It was Lucas.
"Well, well. Our little rat finally couldn't resist the bait." Lucas fixed 'Selina' with an icy stare, his amethyst eyes glittering with lethal promise. "I've been hunting you for quite some time, Greta Li."
"Lucas?!" The entity called "Greta Li" recoiled, naked terror flashing across Selina's borrowed features. "You—how are you here too?!"
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