"Understood..." Kaalindra said as she gazed at the red cube, which began spinning endlessly in the air. She sensed a devastating aura emanating from that place and could no longer control her anguish. Was her master losing her sanity inside? Nobody knew, and that was the real problem.
"What do you intend to do?" Skyla asked, and Kaalindra once again contemplated the cube with deep thoughts. "We'll transport our master to the Human Realm," she concluded, and Skyla's eyes opened slightly. "Are you afraid she'll destroy everything?" Skyla questioned, and Kaalindra shook her head. "Our master may be eccentric and very straightforward, but she's not crazy enough for that.
You know she's ruthless, but she's kind in her own way," Kaalindra said, standing up and approaching the cube.
"The fact is, we don't know if time here corresponds to time there, and that's the real issue. Let's say our master could return even crazier than she should," Kaalindra said, and Skyla trembled. "But Morgana didn't..." Skyla was quickly interrupted.
"She didn't tell you anything about the details, did she? Because she doesn't know. Ten years for a Vampire pass by very quickly; we're immortal, Skyla, we only die in battle. Our master is no different; she's older than the Vampire King himself.
A prison to 'calm her grief' wouldn't make sense for someone who doesn't feel time passing the same way," Kaalindra explained, and Skyla's eyes widened fully.
"We need to take this cube as far away as possible. If our master returns insane, it could be the end of a Kingdom," Kaalindra added, and Skyla agreed, simultaneously. "Wait, if this could happen, why are we taking it to the Human Realm?" She questioned Kaalindra, who promptly explained:
"Well, knowing that witch, she probably won't leave Dante's side for a second longer. That means we have a good chance of restraining her if she goes mad, since Morgana, Dante, and I will be there to stop her," Kaalindra said. "Where does this confidence come from to stop our master? She's been training in that place; imagine how much stronger she would be now."
Skyla's comment was indeed relevant. They were all aware that Valentina must be preparing to emerge again as the greatest chaos of all time, just to avenge a man who, by the way, was still alive.
"Let's proceed with this plan. We can at least rely on Morgana and Dante to suppress her until she recognizes Dante. The moment she sees him alive, she'll probably be in shock and then hug him, kiss him, and everything else. We just need to hold her off for a while," Skyla said, and Kaalindra nodded.
As these women began to prepare to move to the next stage and take Valentina's Cube to Dante, in the Emperor's Palace, the atmosphere was hotter than usual. Dante stared at Aldria with a serious expression, his cutting words echoing through the hall.
"What did you say?" he asked, his voice laden with stiffness, clearly not pleased with what he had just heard from this woman before him.
Aldria stood firm in her decision, her determination evident in her gaze. "I will take over the Empire," she declared, without hesitation. But Dante didn't take it well. With a mix of surprise and exasperation, "You're not fit for that," he said, trying to quash the foolish ideas she had.
"You have no right to control my life as you do with Velryna. Do you think she wants to be the Empress?! Let me go immediately!" she accused, her voice echoing through the hall. Aldria didn't know it, but this time... She was really wrong about something.
"And do you know what you want?" Dante questioned. The discussion quickly became heated, words flying between them like sharp arrows, and at this moment there was no one to stop them. Sure, it was just a verbal fight, but it was still bad.
Aldria struggled against Dante's grip, her eyes filled with anger. "Let me go immediately!" she demanded, her voice echoing through the room. He couldn't allow her to go through with this impulsive decision, especially considering her true motivations, of which he knew all too well.
"You're acting foolishly, Aldria!" Dante exploded, his voice resonating with a dark tone.
"You don't understand!" she retorted, her voice wavering slightly with contained emotion. "Velryna deserves a moment of peace, even if it means I have to take the throne. I can't just stand idly by anymore."
"Do you think that's what Velryna wants?" Dante questioned, "You're just running from your grief. Just try to face it and not hide it behind responsibilities."
"Hiding behind responsibilities? Stop talking nonsense!" again, her eyes full of anger and hurt. She... was doing here. Aldria was about to continue speaking, but suddenly something began to happen in Dante's head.
An extreme pain shot through his mind, like sharp blades tearing through his head. He couldn't understand what was happening, he just knew something strange was happening, or rather, a strange connection. His hands trembled as he tried to contain the pain in his head.
"A-Aldria..." Dante tried to say something, but the pain was too much, his words were slightly muffled by the deafening sound of the windows shattering around him. His aura began to manifest without his control.
"What's happening?!" she screamed, her voice echoing in the room. "Dante! What's happening?!" Aldria shouted, her voice echoing in the room as she watched helplessly the scene before her.
Dante fell to the ground and passed out. "Please, someone help us!" she shouted, her words echoing through the empty hall as she struggled to stay calm. She didn't know what to do.
At the same time...
"I." The voice of the red-haired woman echoed throughout the prison realm as she screamed in anger with each punch she delivered into the wind, generating waves and currents of air so insane they could be compared to tornadoes and hurricanes.
"Hate." Her punch shattered another part of the sky like glass, completely destabilizing the dimension.
"All of you!" She unleashed a horizontal kick in a flying motion, and a gust of wind sliced through the dimension in half.
She looked at the scene, realizing that the dimension was taking too long to regenerate. She decided to stop for a while and rest; after all, she had been training non-stop for a long time.
Her body was toned, her aura refined, and her fire had become even purer, while sweat expelled all the rot and impurity, the negative effects of all the years she fought in darkness vanished, and she was now completely renewed. As if she had undergone a temporal regression to the time when she became a vampire, her body had reached the maximum state it could have.
Valentina had surpassed her peak as a bloody warrior.
"Valentina?" She questioned herself. "Sometimes, I think choosing that name wasn't a good idea, was it?" She asked herself, sitting on the ground, looking at the destroyed landscape of an ancient kingdom. "I hate having to relive these useless memories, but... I need to overcome everything, I have to be the strongest of all," she said as a vow of faith.
"I will kill all those who dared to take my son from me, my husband." Her hair began to engulf in flames, and all the sweat was evaporated.
Her flames... had been honed during all her years of training. Instead of darkening, they purified more and more, as if it were the opposite. Her flame was a dark crimson, almost black, but now it was a vibrant ruby flame, alive, as if she had finally freed herself from corruption.
It was a reflection of Valentina's current self, a woman who had overcome much of her past self, which seemed like a husk, but now was almost complete.
Before returning to her training, she felt something, something indescribable that made her stand up instantly. She looked around and felt an extremely familiar feeling until...
The enormous thread of the lineage's fate began to reconnect. Valentina's entire current being was filled with an indescribable connection to someone, a connection that carried the weight of the entire world. Although she didn't know where this connection was coming from, she began to feel her eyes moisten, something she hadn't felt in over ten years.
"Whoever you are and whoever is sharing this connection, I will wait until that damn cube approaches you. And when it happens, I will see who you are," she said seriously. The connection was so deep, yet she couldn't even see what was on the other side. It was as if there was a massive interference blocking her senses.
Her thoughts once again landed on Dante, and she said, "A world without you... is a world that doesn't need to exist."
The world began to shake where this woman was, Valentina Scarlet was finishing her preparations to decimate anyone who opposes her...
"Death or Submission, it will be like this..."