Chronoa's eyes blazed with fury as she charged forward, leaving the guests behind in a swirl of energy. Her anger was palpable, and her aura crackled with power.
Merno, having just left Enchantress, cast one final, strained smirk her way. 'Unfortunately, this is as far as I can take you,' he communicated with a hint of malevolent satisfaction. 'Try not to die. If you don't reveal my plans, I'll come back for you.'
Enchantress felt a chill run down her spine as Merno vanished, only to be replaced by the furious figure of Chronoa. Her face turned pale as Chronoa materialized in front of her, seething with rage.
"So it was you!" Chronoa's voice thundered through the chamber. Before Enchantress could react, Chronoa's hand closed around her neck, lifting her off the ground with a swift, powerful motion and slamming her into a wall.
Enchantress coughed up blood as she barely remained conscious from the impact and presence.
"I know you had assistance. You'd better explain yourself, or else," Chronoa threatened, her voice cold and menacing.
Gohan and Vermont arrived at the scene just as Chronoa was about to extract answers from Enchantress. "Lady Chronoa," Vermont called out, his tone measured despite the urgency of the situation. "I would suggest using a particularly powerful binding technique to contain her. She seems to possess a strange power that allows her to resist even my own abilities."
Chronoa raised an eyebrow, her gaze never leaving Enchantress. "Enchantress has never had such an ability," she remarked, her voice laced with disbelief. "In all of time, she would be the first."
Chronoa's eyes narrowed as she raised her hand, energy gathering at her fingertips. "Hold on... I can sense Chronikos' presence. You meddled with Time, didn't you!?"
Enchantress's mind raced. The Temporal Time Nexus was a confining space, and while evasion was possible, escape was nearly impossible. 'Even if I use my trump card, evading her here would only lead to recapture. I need to bide my time,' she thought to herself, her thoughts focused on finding a way out.
Chronoa's focus remained razor-sharp as she glared at Enchantress. Her power surged, preparing to unleash a binding technique that would prevent the sorceress from using her powers effectively, if at all. "Speak, Enchantress!" Chronoa demanded. "What are Merno's plans, and what role did you play in them?"
Enchantress struggled to maintain her composure as Chronoa's grip tightened. "You wouldn't understand the full extent of his plans," she managed to choke out. "There are forces at play beyond your comprehension."
Gohan and Vermont exchanged worried glances. Gohan, though familiar with the strength of deities and their powers, could see the situation was escalating quickly. "Lady Chronoa, perhaps there's a way to get her to talk without further aggravating the situation," he suggested, hoping to de-escalate the confrontation.
Chronoa's eyes flickered with a mixture of frustration and determination. She glanced at Gohan, recognizing the concern in his expression. "Very well. We'll use the binding technique, but if she remains uncooperative, there will be no leniency."
"Believe me I understand, if it weren't for her information, I'd have already destroyed her myself." Gohan explained seriously.
With a determined nod, Chronoa raised her hand, and an intricate, glowing circle of runes appeared beneath Enchantress. The runes began to glow intensely as they activated, weaving a powerful binding spell designed to suppress Enchantress's resistance and limit her movements.
As the bindings took effect, Enchantress's struggle became less erratic. She tried to resist, but the power of Chronoa's spell was overwhelming. The binding energy wrapped around her, constricting her movements and draining her strength.
'I have to suppress the Rune of Eternity or she might notice it...I need to save it...' Enchantress thought to herself as the pressure began to become unbearable.
Chronoa, her gaze fixed on the now-contained sorceress, took a deep breath. "Now, Enchantress," she said, her voice cold and commanding, "reveal what you know. The fate of time itself may depend on it."
The chamber was filled with a tense silence as the gods and deities waited for Enchantress to speak, the weight of their expectations and the gravity of the situation pressing down on her, but Enchantress just chuckled while in pain. "Merno had already sealed my mind, but he did promise to return for me."
"And you'd believe the Angel who left you to rot?" Gohan asked with a raised eyebrow as he approached her.
Enchantress thought back. 'I should be safe for now...you'd better come back.'
Flashback...
In the dimly lit depths of the House of Secrets, where shadows flicker and ancient whispers linger, Enchantress pored over the dusty tome she had just unearthed. The book, bound in cracked leather and adorned with cryptic symbols, held secrets that had eluded scholars and sorcerers alike. Her eyes, gleaming with dark ambition, traced the faded ink that spoke of a primordial artifact—an artifact that could manipulate the very fabric of time and space itself: the Primordial Rune of Eternity.
"I-incredible! I never would have believed it to be a real thing..."
A shiver of anticipation ran through her as she read the text describing the Rune, hidden away by cosmic beings to prevent its power from falling into the wrong hands. The Rune was protected by Chronikos, an ancient guardian cursed to defend it for all eternity—a being once powerful enough to defy the pantheon of primordial entities.
The book's illustrations depicted Chronikos as a formidable, ethereal figure bound to a realm outside of mortal comprehension: The 6th Dimension. "Now how would I obtain the Rune, I know I will have to figure out how to deal with this ancient being. Delving into forbidden magic, she gathered rare ingredients and performed a complex ritual that bound Chronikos to a temporal loop, forcing him to relive his moments of greatest weakness—a ruse that would give her a chance to access the hidden temple where the Rune lay.
Guided by the arcane directions from the tome, Enchantress journeyed through swirling portals and shifting dimensions, each one guarded by perilous traps and mystical creatures. Her path was fraught with danger, each step a test of her cunning and magical prowess. Her spells cut through the defenses, her resolve unwavering as she pressed on towards the heart of the temple.
At the temple's core, Enchantress faced the Rune's final trial—a trial that manifested as an essence of Time itself. Within the trial's realm, she was bombarded with visions of her possible futures: some full of glory and triumph, others fraught with ruin and despair. The trial sought to unravel her very essence, but Enchantress remained resolute, using her formidable willpower and ancient knowledge to navigate the shifting visions without succumbing to the overwhelming force.
Triumphant, Enchantress reached the Primordial Rune of Eternity, a radiant symbol etched into a cosmic stone tablet. The Rune resisted her touch, as if testing her worthiness. The very air crackled with the power contained within it. With every ounce of her magical strength, she performed the binding ritual, attaching the Rune to her soul. As the power of the Rune flowed into her, she could feel the weight of its primordial influence, reshaping her understanding of Time itself.
As Enchantress made her way out of the temple, the time loop imprisoning Chronikos began to disintegrate. The guardian, now free from his temporal prison, was aware of her theft and pursued her across dimensions. Yet, with the Primordial Rune in her possession, Enchantress manipulated time itself to evade him. She created a rift in time, trapping Chronikos in a never-ending chase, always close but never able to catch her.
"With the Rune securely in my grasp, I am master of temporal manipulation. The power to step outside the bounds of reality and escape even the most formidable foes, including celestial beings, was now hers. Yet, she knew that such power came with its own dangers. The Rune was both a formidable asset and a perilous burden, its potential to unravel the universe a constant reminder of the delicate balance she must maintain.