Chapter 7 Pandora’s Box

Not far away from the forest, a young lady with curly blond hair sat on the balcony of her manor, basking in the moonlight. Three hours ago, the unknown object crashed half a kilometre away in the forest, but it mattered little to her.

She, Janet Miller- a rising columnist in 'The Aramon Times', had finally gotten a vacation. She was not letting a mere meteor ruin it.

Ding!

No sooner had the chime of the tower rang in her ears, the ground quaked, tens of lightnings flashed in the western sky.

What!? She jolted up from her seat. Split seconds later, thunderous sounds of the lightning sounds finally reached her ears.

And shortly, came the second chime of the tower.

******

Ding!

Xavier flashed away, shoving away the dust in his path.

Eulene chased him, with the smile still lingering on her face. She had already grasped Xavier's weakness- he couldn't fight close quarters.

Even using light particles, Xavier's speed fell short of Eulene. But his face remained indifferent as she closed up on him. He clawed his right hand. A glowing dot, with electricity flashing in its orbits formed at the centre of his fingers as he aimed it at Eulene.

The hovering dot in his hand blasted out a gigantic glowing ray. It blazed through the forest- uprooting the earth and burning what remained of the trees and animals into ashes.

Eulene widened her eyes and and stopped in her tracks, concentrating all of her Qi in defence. Meanwhile, the explosion thrusted Xavier further away.

Eulene rose up through the air, escaping the fiery ray. An ethereal bubble encased her, wherein she remained unscathed.

A smile formed on her face, not because she survived the strike or anything. Rather, it was for the fact that she was starting to have fun. This new opponent of hers- he was worthy.

"You think I only do close combat?" She scoffed.

The spirit shield disappeared.

36 spirit swords appeared out of nowhere and orbited her, awaiting her orders. The smile on her face shone brighter as she slashed the air. The 36 new swords zoomed at Xavier, cutting through space itself. But contrary to her expectations, Xavier stopped in place.

He snapped his fingers. Layers of ice formed on the incoming blades and just when they were a couple of feet away from him, they shattered into pieces. The trapped Qi inside the ice fragments dissipated while the ice themselves sizzled into nothingness.

The pair hung at a standstill again. Despite the fact that there was almost half a kilometre distance between them, they looked directly into each other's eyes.

The battle was getting more and more troublesome every moment, with both parties bringing up something new at every move. The depth of their powers were unmeasurable. But both of them were confident about one thing- that the other party was, by any means, not stronger than themselves.

Ding!

Three hundred meters West of the crater, a hundred meter long ethereal Azure Dragon appeared out of nowhere- but a tornado sliced it into pieces, along with all the trees there.

Ding!

Two hundred meters North of the crater, a red Phoenix appeared. But before it could even let out a screech, a gigantic iceberg materialised in the sky and dropped down at breakneck speed while the ground rumbled as huge landmass just below rose up. The poor bird was sandwiched in between- crushed into smithereens. The Qi dissipated while the large chunks of earth and ice began to fall down.

Ding!

A hundred meters Southeast of the crater, a pink lotus bud materialised. But before it could bloom, an explosion took it out of existence.

Ding!

The two again reached the centre of crater- it was already in shambles from Xavier's earth manipulation.

Rumble! The gigantic chunks of earth and ice finally hit the ground, quaking everything. But it mattered little as Xavier kept flying away while Eulene chased him. His face was indifferent throughout, but the smile on her face got brighter and brighter every moment.

For the last four seconds, both of them were attacking and defending in their own way but Xavier was always on the passive end.

But it was time.

Xavier took a deep breath and finally stopped in his tracks, hovering a few meters above the ground.

"Ohho!" Eulene was excited. What was the boy going to do now?

She dived at Xavier, brandishing her sword, ready to finish it once and for all. A transparent shield encased her. She would not make the same mistake again.

Xavier gave her an indifferent glance and snapped his fingers. The scene, that was dimly lit by the full-moon, suddenly became dark.

He made it so that none of the photons reached Eulene's eyes.

But Eulene cared little. She maximised her senses and focused it on him, making sure he does not escape again.

Just as she was a meter away from him, she changed course and encircled to his back. The shield dissipated as she slashed down. But something bright suddenly flashed before her.

Fuck! She cursed in her native language. Mortal or Immortal, a bright flash in the dark was not a nice feeling. She was thrown off balance, and as a result she decided to retreat. Eulene was confident in her speed; she could dodge anything even in this distance.

A few rootlike tentacle drilled out from the ground. Eulene did not bother to dodge them due to her prior experience. But-

A smirk appeared on Xavier's lips for the first time. Did she think that using one element at once was his limit?

The plants wrapped around her ankle and trapped her.

"What?!" She used Qi to burst the roots. There were fragments of metal mixed with the wooden chips, and that is what caused Eulene's blunder. A terrible foreboding hit her. Eulene subconsciously dodge to her right.

It took a split second for her to get rid of the metal reinforced roots, and she was a split second too late. Xavier had used wind- the fastest and the sharpest of elements, sharp enough to cut even through Eulene's Immortal physique.

Sphhhlt!

Blood lingered in the air as Eulene's left arm separated from her body.

But the smirk on Xavier's face disappeared as he widened his eyes and flashed away. Nevertheless, the clothes on his right shoulder ripped apart along with his skin and blood spilled out.

After ensuring a 500 meters distance between them, he turned to Eulene. What he saw sent shivers down his spine. For the first time in decades, he felt unease.

He just opened Pandora's box- a box that should not be opened.