Chapter 4 New Beginning
Cold, dark, and silent... Klaus thought he would spend eternity in that underground chamber, a lone guardian for his imprisoned family.
He still remembers the taste of despair when witches turned him and his family into bloodthirsty beasts. He thought nothing could be worse than that insatiable craving for blood and death.
But after hundreds of years in the dark, he understood that hunger wasn't the worst part; in fact, it's his only companion, while loneliness is his true enemy.
He regrets losing control and killing every living creature on earth after the witches locked his family in those indestructible coffins. But the past cannot be changed, and now he pays for his mistakes by having an entire world like a prison without doors.
Hunger won't kill him; nothing can, in fact... he's already tried. But after so much time alone, Klaus is sure that boredom will eventually kill him.
He already imagined thousands of situations where life flourished again on earth, where he managed to open the coffins and free his family and that they would spend eternity hunting together... But nothing ever happened; nothing changed his situation…
Until one day, something finally happened. A mysterious light caught the attention of his tired eyes, and a kind of magical rift appeared right in front of him.
[People... real people, people of flesh and blood!!] Klaus feels a sea of happiness flood his soul... if he still has one.
The wildest part of his being wants to start hunting immediately when he sees those people on the other side of the mysterious portal. His body trembles with the desire to kill; he needs to feel the life flowing out of his victims so badly, their blood running down through his fangs…
But hundreds of years without a single drop of blood had left his body in a horrible state. He can't move a finger, let alone hunt.
However, that doesn't make him the least bit upset. Nothing can shake his mood at that moment. As nothing can kill him, that's the fresh start he's always wanted. At some point, he'll get a drop of blood, and not long after that, he'll be back at the top of the food chain, the apex predator he once was.
And he doesn't only think about his own need. [To do such a spell, these people have to be powerful witches, so they could open the coffins as well...]
Everything seems too perfect for Klaus until he notices a problem; those people are watching him, and he is watching them, but how will he get to the other side of the portal without being able to move?
It is then that his eyes meet those of a beautiful woman with black hair.
[Such a powerful witch...] Klaus thinks as he feels the Sect Master's power. Not only her powerful aura, but he also senses her ambition; she wants him, and he wants her blood.
[I'm here, darling... take me with you.] Klaus tries to smile at the Sect Master, but his tired body still doesn't obey his commands.
But words are not necessary. His and the Sect Master's eyes have some nice talk, and she quickly orders the magical chains to take him to her.
Klaus also sees those chains take the coffins to other portals, and at that moment, he promises himself that before killing that woman, he will make her very happy.
[Hahahahaha...] In his mind, he couldn't stop laughing, thrilled his lonely torment had finally come to an end.
But on the outside, all the necromancers saw was a gaunt figure that looked more like a corpse than anything else.
Well, not all of them think that way; the Sect Master looks as happy as if she had gained her own dragon pet, and Elder Ann still remembers that powerful and evil aura she felt before, which left an eternal shadow in her heart.
"Don't do that, Sect Master!" Ann tries to stop Klaus from coming into her world. While the Sect Master sees infinite potential in his eyes, the old necromancer only sees death.
"Are you crazy???" Without stopping the ritual, the Sect Master again conjures the giant black hand and punches the old necromancer away from the portal.
"Ann!!" Elder Abner quickly runs towards his wife to help her.
No one gets in the way of the Sect Master, who keeps bringing Klaus through the portal. "Why would we stop this ritual after everything we've done to make it possible??"
"This is madness!" Ann tries to argue. "He's not the undead we were expecting!"
"He doesn't seem to belong in the realm of the living anymore..." The Sect Master comments as she continues to look into Klaus' eyes.
"And what about that scary aura we felt before??" Ann asks. "If that power is his, we won't be able to control him."
The Sect Master ignores the old necromancer's warnings and passes Klaus through the portal while the coffins pass through the other portals.
As soon as Klaus' body passes completely through the portal, the blood chains disappear into the air, and he feels something change inside him. Three different types of energy arise in his body; the first type makes him feel connected to the black-haired witch, and the other two are still a mystery to him.
*Thud*
He falls to his knees on the floor, still immobile from weakness. He hears those people talking, but he doesn't understand any words. And since he knows every language on earth, as well as the fact that he has never seen people with auras like that, he concludes that he is no longer in his homeworld.
[A new beginning in another world...] Klaus couldn't ask for anything better. He sees it as a big blank page, one he can write his story on with blood.
[Step one, regain my strength... then find my family.] He already has everything planned out, but his body still refuses to follow his commands. [Damn!]
The Sect Master kneels in front of Klaus and caresses his face. It's bizarre that he simultaneously looks so young and so old, like a twenty-year-old whose vitality has been stolen by some dark technique.
"How could he pose any danger to us…" She comments aloud. "I bet that scary aura was from the creatures in the coffins."
Ann definitely doesn't believe the Sect Master's words, and neither does she. Both of them can see an incredible power in Klaus' eyes, but they have no idea what kind of power it is.
Another very apprehensive person is the fairy. She can't see Klaus properly as the necromancers are surrounding him like ants looking for sugar, but she can feel that the frighteningly powerful aura from just ago belongs to him, even though it is in a 'dormant' state right now.
"Sect Master..." Ann fears Klaus is a greater danger than they can imagine, so she still tries to advise her leader.
"It's enough!" But the Sect Master doesn't care about anything right now other than Klaus. Then she points to the door. "Everyone get out!"
The Elders and Disciples quickly exit the chamber, including Ann. But Abner seems concerned with something else. "Sect Master... what about the other portals? Should we send messages to the other Sects?"
"Huh?" She can't help but fear that the arrogant people of the Golden Skull Sect will try to steal Klaus from her. "No, don't say anything yet... but let me know if they send any messages."
"Yes, Master." Abner bows and also leaves the chamber.
Now there are only she and Klaus inside the room. Well, the fairy is there too, locked in the cage, but the Sect Master doesn't care about her.
The Sect Master can't stop smiling as she caresses Klaus' face. Even though he looks so weak and sick now, his face is still handsome, and his aura feels like that of a king.
"I've waited so long for you…" She whispers as she checks out his body. His limbs are long, but he's just skin and bones right now. "Don't worry; I'll take care of you... and together, we'll conquer anything we want!"
Despite not understanding the Sect Master's words, Klaus recognizes her gaze. He'd seen that look many times on the witches who turned him and his family into monsters.
That's not the look of a woman who wants a partner, but rather a slave; a soldier to fight her battles and do all her dirty work.
But that's not a problem for Klaus; many people have tried to use him like that over the years, and they all met the same bloody end. He doesn't feel sorry for anyone, especially those who first try to harm him.
The Sect Master continues to check every part of Klaus' body. As a necromancer, she is something of a death's scientist, and he is the most intriguing specimen she has ever seen.
She whispers and murmurs thoughts as she moves Klaus' body back and forth, sticking needles and blades into him. His body has all the limbs and organs that a normal human has; however they look dead, and there isn't any blood inside him, not even in his heart that doesn't beat anymore.
While Klaus can't do anything other than allow the Sect Master to do various kinds of experiments with his body, the fairy watches everything from inside her cage.
[Stupid woman... you're messing with forces you don't comprehend, and this can't end well...] The fairy has many thoughts like that, but the more she sees Klaus being pierced and cut by the Sect Master, the more she feels anger rising in her heart.
She thinks all she feels for him is fear and curiosity, but there's also a small connection between them, formed when his body passed through the portal. No matter how dangerous and evil he seems, they are now connected in ways they both don't understand.