THE ONE CHOSEN TO CONFRONT

THE ONE CHOSEN TO CONFRONT
Chapter 167

Claudia's pov 

I didn’t stop. With a newfound determination burning in my heart, I refused to fail everyone who had put their trust in me. They were all counting on me.

Although the pressure was enough to crush me, I kept moving forward.

The castle seemed to rise higher with every step I took toward it, its towering presence pressing down on me until a dark, ominous weight settled deep in my gut. I forced the feeling aside the moment I reached the gates, unwilling to let doubt take hold now.

I came to a halt, my gaze sweeping across the perimeter with a strange mix of longing and resolve. Growls echoed through the air, followed by distant blasts that shook the ground beneath my feet. At that moment, I knew—this was it. It had begun.

My role was clear: find Croft and end him.

I shoved through the gates and stepped into the palace. The mutants had been scattered, leaving my passage through the castle unnervingly easy—too easy. 

Every step I took was slow and deliberate, my senses on high alert, until I stood before the massive mahogany doors. What had once filled me with awe on my first arrival had long since twisted into a fragment of a nightmare.

I cast one last glance back at the outside world and murmured a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess before pushing the doors open. They answered with a long, hollow creak, their protesting hinges a testament to weeks of neglect, the sound echoing through the memory room like a warning.

A cold shiver slid down my spine. The silence inside was suffocating, so complete that I could hear my own heartbeat, or perhaps that was only my nerves screaming in my ears.

I glanced from side to side, from room to room like I knew where I was going, there was no sign of Croft or sage and I wondered if they had fled knowing we were coming.

But that would be unlikely considering they had the place fortified, not just their experiments but witches as well.

Before I could rule out the possibility that they weren't in the palace, a deep voice resonated beside my ears, “I didn't expect you'd show up, no less alone,” 

I whipped around to find an empty space, a lump formed in my throat as I closed my eyes briefly, my heightened senses picked up his voice, his scent, his sheer presence.

“You really think you can defeat me on your own?” a deep chuckle followed after.

A powerful voice that echoes in the hollow walls of the castle, I followed this voice, winding up the stares carefully with my eyes peeled for all I knew Sage or anyone else could pop out any second.

“You've really underestimated me, chosen one,” Croft kept going, giving his position away.

However, it occurred to me that he wasn't hiding in the first place, the entire time, he wanted me to find him, he wanted me to be there.

He had been waiting for me.

It was the room at the top of the castle, the same one where he had strapped me against a chair and extracted my blood to be used for his silly experiments.

Finally, I stood a few inches before the room, its doors had been ripped off its hinges 

My lungs took deep and slow breaths to calm my racing heart, palms turned sweaty as I rubbed them against my pants.

I can do this, I can do this.

A silent mantra replayed in my head as I willed myself to move forward, stepping through the door frame, I did a quick scan of the room to make sure we were alone.

We were.

The room was dull just as I remembered, it had been arranged after our exit a few weeks ago and I couldn't help but feel nauseous if what had truly transpired in this room.

What Croft had done to me, subjecting me to needles and torture, the bare thought of that piqued at the rage inside of me.

“Welcome,” his deep voice drew me out of my thoughts as I whipped my head towards him, entering a defensive stance.

He stood tall, his back towards me while he looked out the window. Croft donned a white loose blouse and black breeches to match, hands crossed behind his back.

He looked……..normal, different from the last memory I had of him as he had shifted into a towering mister that one thought existed in only nightmares.

“I hope you find the place to your liking, I had it specially cleaned out for you,” he continued without taking his gaze off the window.

His words only a degree me further, why would I like a place that only reminded me of the excruciating pain? “Why?” 

“Why are you even doing all of this?” I was genuinely curious. Yes I knew it meant he would have power, but what does power bring when everyone around you is dead?

What does power have to matter when everyone is living in fear?

“Child, you wouldn't understand, the beauty from up above, how about you come take a look,” he gestured for me to come closer but I knew better than anything that that would be the end of me.

Being tossed out the window wasn't the way I wanted to go.

Croft chuckled at my defiance and turned to face me for the first time, amusement dancing openly across his features.

“Are you scared?” he asked.

Once again, I gave him no answer. I watched him closely instead, tracking every subtle movement while his gaze stripped me bare. His voice followed, smooth and taunting. “You shouldn’t be, darling. I’m not going to kill you.”

“Not yet,” he added, smiling sweetly—as if he hadn’t just threatened my life, as if he wasn’t orchestrating a massacre below us.

“You still have something I need.”

A low growl tore from my throat when he stepped closer, forcing me back a pace.

“And I must thank you for making tonight happen,” he continued, the smirk on his face widening. “It truly is a dream come true.”