Next, Hawk Moth's voice rang out in Riposte's mind: "You have already witnessed Jaden's fearless friendship for Adrien. Now, it is time to fulfill your promise and get Ladybug's miraculous for me. This is our deal."
In the square, Riposte had just forced Ladybug back with a swing of Her sword, and they stood facing each other from a distance.
Hearing Hawk Moth's urging, she responded coldly: "Not yet."
Her crimson eyes looked over Ladybug's shoulder toward the figure struggling to climb the top of the pyramid: "This only simply proves he doesn't fear danger, but it is not enough to prove 'the power of friendship' itself."
"However, before that, I will fulfill my promise."
Ladybug watched Riposte pause as if talking to herself, immediately realizing that Hawk Moth was communicating with Her.
She gripped Her yo-yo and asked warily: "What else do you want? Isn't this enough?"
Saying this, she attacked again.
Riposte swung Her sword backhand, blocking the yo-yo: "Of course not."
As she clashed with Ladybug, she looked toward the figure who was about to reach Adrien, "Now, I need your miraculous."
After saying this, she stopped holding back. Her attack became fierce and deadly, every swing of Her sword aimed directly at the vital spot where Ladybug wore Her earrings.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
Ladybug was forced to fight and retreat, finding herself in a perilous situation, Her heart filled with anxiety: That cat! When will he finally arrive?
At the top of the pyramid.
Jaden finally climbed to Adrien's side.
The metal framework hummed slightly in the wind, and below them were crowds and lights twinkling like stars.
"Jaden..."
Adrien looked at the dust covering him from climbing and dodging attacks, and the several cuts left by glass shards, his eyes full of apology and self-reproach.
"I'm sorry... I wish I had lost that fencing match. If I had, things wouldn't have turned out like this."
Jaden did not look at him, focusing only on untying the rope that bound Adrien.
As he struggled to pull at the tough knots, he spoke in a calm, flat tone: "It's useless to say that now. If you lose heart now, wouldn't all the suffering I went through be for nothing?"
He pointed to the wounds on his body, then frowned: "Why is this thing so hard to untie?"
Just then, Riposte, seeing that Jaden had successfully reached Adrien's side, stopped engaging with Ladybug. She forced Her opponent back with a sudden burst of strength, then kicked off the ground, rocketing skyward like a silver cannonball.
"Riposte!" Hawk Moth's voice rang out in Her mind again, carrying a hint of displeasure, "You should be getting Ladybug's miraculous now! As for those two hostages, they won't escape!"
However, Riposte completely ignored his command mid-air, replying: "Now is the true moment to prove friendship. As for the miraculous... she won't escape either."
As Her voice fell silent, Her agile figure landed on the spire of the pyramid. Looking down from above, the blade of Her sword pointed directly at Jaden and Adrien below.
Ladybug, who followed closely behind, also landed behind Jaden.
A tense standoff was formed.
"Jaden."
Riposte's voice emerged from beneath Her helmet, carrying a tone of judgment, "You can take Adrien's life away. But the prerequisite is that you must be prepared to die."
"This isn't proving friendship at all! This is murder!"
Ladybug immediately retorted, "Don't listen to Her! Jaden! An Akumatized Person never keeps a promise!"
Her tone was urgent, "Give me your hand first, I'll take you down! As for Adrien, we'll figure something out later!"
Saying this, she reached out Her hand to Jaden.
"Jaden, hurry and go with Ladybug! Don't worry about me!" Adrien also urged anxiously.
However, Jaden simply looked at Adrien quietly, without the slightest hint of panic on his face.
He smiled gently, his voice low but clearly reaching Adrien's ears: "We've come this far, what is there to regret?"
His gaze turned to Riposte. His black pupils were as calm as a deep well, containing only composure and determination, without a trace of fear or retreat.
Riposte's crimson eyes stared intently into his, trying to see even a sliver of fear, hesitation, or unwillingness in those black pupils.
But she was disappointed; there was only a bottomless calm, as if what he was about to face was not death, but a perfectly ordinary event.
"Is it because of Ladybug's 'Miraculous Restoration'?"
Riposte couldn't help but ask. She didn't believe anyone could face death so calmly, "Is it what makes you so confident, making you think you can be resurrected even if you die?"
She knew very well that even with the existence of the "Miraculous Restoration," the awe and fear that springs from the depths of one's soul when truly facing a life-or-death choice cannot be faked.
However, Jaden simply said to Her calmly: "You can release the restraints on Adrien now."
"No!"
"Jaden!"
Ladybug and Adrien cried out almost simultaneously.
Riposte was silent for a few seconds, seemingly confirming the truthfulness of Jaden's words.
Finally, she flicked Her wrist, and the rope binding Adrien instantly loosened.
Losing the restraint, Adrien's body suddenly slipped downward.
"Watch out!" Jaden was quick, grabbing his hand immediately.
Adrien also reacted, gripping the nearby metal support tightly with his other hand. Only after he stabilized himself did Jaden let go.
"Alright." Riposte's voice rang out again, tinged with cold cruelty, "Now, prepare to die."
She slowly raised the sword in Her hand. The tip shimmered coldly in the night, slowly, little by little, approaching Jaden's chest, Her gaze never leaving his eyes.
Ladybug's palms were sweating with tension. She wanted to intervene, but at such close range, she had no confidence she could save Jaden without accidentally harming him.
Adrien was frantic and drenched in sweat, yet completely helpless.
Just as the sword tip was about to touch Jaden's chest—
Just then, Plagg, who was hiding in his sleeve, made a decision.
Its tiny figure passed through Adrien's clothing and the pyramid's glass curtain wall, entering the interior of the pyramid.
It looked at the critical situation outside, gritted its teeth, and extended its tiny hand toward a crucial load-bearing metal structure.
"Cataclysm!" It muttered silently in its heart.
Black destructive energy gathered on its tiny hand. It even closed its eyes, continuously praying in its heart: "Smallest, smallest, smallest..."
Then, gently, it touched the metal structure with its fingertip.
Immediately following, a grating metallic groan came from inside the pyramid.
The entire massive glass pyramid began to shake violently, like a dying giant.
"Boom—!"
To the horror of everyone watching, this Parisian landmark structure began to collapse and disintegrate from the inside like a sandcastle, turning into dust that filled the air and crashing down.
The four people on top of the tower naturally fell down together with this collapsing torrent.
"Jaden!"
In the instant of falling, Ladybug's first reaction was to lunge toward Jaden and pull him into Her arms.
At the same time, she flung out Her yo-yo, wrapping it around the waist of Adrien, who was also falling, and with a forceful swing, tossed him toward the giant emergency air cushion that the fire department had prepared on the ground.
Riposte, meanwhile, adjusted Her posture during the fall, preparing for landing.
Ladybug, holding Jaden, and Riposte all plunged together into the dusty internal ruins formed after the pyramid collapsed.
"Jaden!"
Adrien, who had been safely tossed onto the air cushion, saw this scene and immediately tried to rush over, but was firmly restrained by the Bodyguard, who had arrived unnoticed and wore a stern expression.
Reporters and hosts nearby swarmed in like sharks smelling blood, but were immediately blocked by a human wall formed by the Bodyguard's accompanying personnel.
Seeing their 'keep out' demeanor, the reporters knew they wouldn't be able to get any useful information.
The Bodyguard handed a phone to Adrien, and his father Gabriel's terrifyingly calm voice came through: "Adrien, come home immediately."
"No! Jaden is still in there! He only went in to save me..."
"Adrien!"
Gabriel's voice suddenly became severe, "You are my son! Ladybug and Cat Noir will handle this matter; Jaden will be fine. Now, go home immediately!"
After speaking, he hung up the phone.
Adrien looked at the dust-filled ruins before him, then at the Bodyguard, who stood immovable as a mountain, His tone becoming pleading: "Please... let me through... He went in because of me, I can't just abandon him like this..."
The Bodyguard looked at him and simply shook his head silently.
Adrien's eyes slowly changed from pleading to resolute: "He did it for me."
His tone was no longer wavering, "I cannot leave like this."
The Bodyguard looked at Adrien's eyes, which were no longer pleading but filled with determination, and seemed moved.
In that instant, Adrien seized the opportunity while the Bodyguard's gaze softened, and suddenly bolted past his side!
"Young Master!" The accompanying personnel nearby tried to stop him, but the Bodyguard raised his hand to block them.
"But sir..."
The Bodyguard still shook his head, the meaning clearly being: If anything happens, he will take the responsibility alone.
Adrien rushed to the edge of the ruins but did not see Jaden or Ladybug.
He knew they must have moved.
He quickly ran to a corner without surveillance, looked around, and called out in a low voice: "Plagg!"
The small black sprite flew out of his pocket, boasting somewhat proudly: "How was that? The pyramid collapsed, but there's no damage on the ground. Looks like my power control was pretty good!"
"Don't talk about that."
Adrien's tone was serious, "Plagg, transform!"
The Louvre Museum, deep within the underground Egyptian exhibition hall.
It was utterly silent here, with only the emergency lights casting a faint glow, coating the rows of sarcophagi and pharaoh statues in an eerie shadow.
Ladybug carefully placed Jaden next to a large pharaoh sarcophagus: "You stay here for now, this is the safest place."
It turned out that amid the chaos of the pyramid's collapse, she had carried Jaden the whole way, dodging Riposte's pursuit until they reached this spot.
She reached out, intending to close the heavy sarcophagus lid: "Wait for me."
She said this gently to Jaden, then turned and quietly slipped away.
After she left, an indigo light passed through the wall—it was Duusu.
It flew a circle around Jaden, its voice full of distress and lingering fear: "Jaden, you were so careless! Does it hurt?"
"I'm fine." Jaden gently reassured it, helping it calm down.
On the other side, Ladybug deliberately exposed Her location, leading Riposte, who was searching everywhere for their whereabouts, to another exhibition hall.
"Found you!" Riposte swung Her sword and attacked.
Just then, a black figure descended from above, and a metal staff blocked Her sword blade.
"Sorry, I'm late." Cat Noir's voice was filled with suppressed anger.
"So you finally decided to show up!" Ladybug couldn't help but complain.
The two stopped wasting words, immediately stepped forward, and engaged Riposte in fierce combat.
During the fight, Ladybug's mind raced: What exactly is Riposte's Akumatized item? Generally, Akumatized items are the weapons themselves, but there are many exceptions.
She had an idea: "Cat Noir! Use 'Cataclysm' on Her sword!"
Cat Noir, who was grappling with Riposte, understood. He roared: "Cataclysm!"
The hand, coated in destructive energy, grabbed directly at the sword blade Riposte was swinging.
Seeing this, a trace of panic flashed in Riposte's crimson eyes.
She subconsciously jerked back, withdrawing Her sword and avoiding Cat Noir's attack.
That was the reaction!
Ladybug and Cat Noir exchanged glances, both understanding: The Akuma Butterfly is in that sword.