*May, year 1549, Kingdom of Babylon*

Klein walked at a slow pace through the smoking rubble that covered the outskirts of the industrial city. His long silver coat floated lightly in a wind laden with ashes, intermittently revealing his athletic build forged by years of fierce battles.

His glacier blue eyes, now marked by the silver circle, swept the horizon with coldness, ignoring the corpses of monsters he had just massacred to clear a path to his objective.

He finally reached the massive enclosure of the Tower of Sorcery, the only structure in Babylon still standing after the passage of the woman of the scarlet night. At the entrance, a dark elf sorcerer, whose dark silk robe was stained with dust and blood, barred his way with a trembling but determined hand, gripping a staff of ebony wood engraved with protection runes.

"Stop right there, stranger..." ordered the sorcerer in a hoarse voice. "The tower is the last refuge of the survivors of Babylon... Access is strictly restricted by order of the Witch of Walpurgis..."

Klein stopped two meters away from him, casually slipping his hands into the pockets of his coat, while letting a puff of smoke from his cigarette escape from his lips.

"I don’t have time to waste on formalities, my friend..." replied Klein in a monotonous tone. "I have business to settle with your mistress..."

"Everyone inside must undergo rigorous tests..." insisted the guard, his bloodshot eyes scrutinizing Klein with paranoid suspicion. "We must be sure that you are not a possessed or a spy from the Spectrum... step back or I will be forced to use force..."

As the tension rose and the sorcerer began to incant a barrier spell, a wave of cold suddenly swept the area, freezing the movements of every person present. A feminine voice, of glacial purity, resonated directly in their minds.

"Isn’t that the famous Klein? Let him in..."

The sorcerer jumped, his face turning livid at the mention of that voice he knew all too well: that of Walpurga, the Witch of Curses. He immediately stepped aside, bowing his head in a sign of absolute submission.

"Join me then we can talk..." continued the voice in Klein’s skull, before fading like a puff of mist.

’A test? Why?’ thought Klein, raising his eyebrows imperceptibly, but he received no answer.

He was allowed in without further resistance. Inside, the tower revealed a spatial architecture that defied the laws of conventional geometry; the internal space was far vaster than what the outer walls suggested, a feat of Babylon’s sorcery. Klein strutted with his usual arrogance, climbing the stairs.

On the second floor, he discovered what looked like an entire village, with its stone dwellings and public squares where hundreds of traumatized dark elves were crowded. He continued his ascent, each floor being a repetition of this makeshift communal organization. On the third, he cast a circular glance, his Predation Eyes analyzing the flows of mana, but he immediately knew she was not there.

He climbed like this up to the thirty-ninth floor. Each level was populated by survivors trying to recreate a semblance of normal life under the protection of the tower. When he emerged onto the vast plateau of the top floor, he was surprised to see a kind of artificial orchard bathed in a dim mana light. Among a group of women dressed in simple robes who were picking apples, he quickly noticed a silhouette which, although hidden, emanated a power similar to Diavolo’s.

"So are you satisfied?"

"If you want..." she said without turning around, her slender hand seizing a fruit.

The other people around did not understand what was happening; for them, this woman was an ordinary inhabitant, a simple picker among many others. Only Klein, thanks to his transcendent senses, could perceive the colossal power she was striving to conceal behind a complex veil of mana.

The woman finally turned toward him, revealing a rather ordinary and plain physique, designed to deceive prying eyes.

"As I thought, you have opened your spiritual eye..." she remarked with an enigmatic smile.

"I didn’t need to, Witch of Curses..." retorted Klein, crossing his arms over his chest. "Your mana stagnates in the air like the smell of poison, even under this disguise."

Upon hearing that name, the refugees and the pickers suddenly recoiled, terror painting their faces as they realized that their mistress was standing among them.

She sighed. "Let’s talk in a quieter place."

Instantly, a complex magic circle drew itself under their feet, enveloping them in a violet light before transporting them elsewhere. They reappeared at the absolute summit of the tower, on a circular platform. For some reason linked to the temporal distortion of the place, it was night there, and the platform was bathed in the silver light of a moon that seemed quite close.

Walpurga had resumed her true appearance. Her long white hair, of excessive length, spread across the stone floor like a cascade of ethereal silk, catching the lunar reflections. She wore a robe of absolute black silk that highlighted her voluptuous curves, while her face remained partially hidden by the shadow of a large parasol she held with an elegant hand.

Only her slender hand could be seen as she brought a pipe to her mouth, sending a wisp of blue smoke into the night wind. Klein did not hesitate and did the same, taking a cigarette from his silver case to light it.

For about thirty seconds, the two remained silent, inhaling their smoke in an apparent relaxation that masked a mutual analysis.

"I have heard about you and from the moment you entered Babylon, I was watching you, so who are you?" she finally asked, her melodious voice resonating.

"Klein Konstantine, the disciple of the Wizard of the Constellation," he replied without flinching, fully assuming the name of his spiritual master.

Walpurga let out a brief laugh. She turned toward him, even though her eyes could not be seen in the darkness...

"If you are really his disciple, you should know that I should kill you..." she murmured, recalling her past betrayal toward Diavolo. "The memories of my master are a disease that I have tried to eradicate from this world..."

Klein took one last puff, letting the smoke curl around his impassive features before answering with provocative calm.

"Go ahead then..."