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At Jie Long's Seventh Academy, within the Yellow Dragon Temple.
At this moment, Orphelia sat on the bed in the Stars Room.
She wasn't doing anything. Her mind was blank and she looked like someone lost in deep slumber, she kept her eyes closed, wrapped in an all-consuming silence.
Orphelia had long grown accustomed to this emptiness. Ever since she had cast everything aside, she had also abandoned all personal desires. Unlike an ordinary person, she wouldn't idly browse the net to pass the time in moments like these.
Because such things no longer held any meaning for her. For this girl, time had ceased to be a measure of life, it was nothing more than a state of stagnation.
Perhaps, in this frozen existence, the only thing left for Orphelia was to remember. To recall the past, back when she was still just a normal girl who found joy in tending to flowers and plants.
Then again, maybe even those memories had already been discarded. And so now, Orphelia was nothing more than a lifeless doll.
If nothing had happened, she might have remained like this until Fang Li returned.
But tonight was different.
Zheng…
A faint shimmer appeared in the air as a space window materialized before Orphelia.
Her eyes opened immediately.
The floating window displayed no visuals, only an audio transmission. And from it came a voice she knew all too well, a voice filled with cold resentment, as if harboring contempt for the entire world.
"How much longer do you plan to waste your time out there?"
It wasn't a question. It was a statement.
But those words alone told Orphelia everything she needed to know.
The deadline had arrived.
She remained silent for a moment before finally responding.
"…I'll return now."
The next instant, the space window vanished.
The other person had ended the call without another word, as if their goal had already been achieved.
Left alone once more, Orphelia sat in silence.
For the first time in a long while, something stirred within the hollow remains of her heart, doubt, hesitation.
The question was simple.
The confusion was simple.
She asked herself only one thing.
"…What have I found?"
To her, three weeks had felt like an eternity. After all, her world had long since ceased to move forward.
But in these three weeks, she had acted on her own will instead of following the orders that had dictated her life for years.
And yet, the reason she had followed Fang Li was to uncover something. Something only he might possess.
But now, as she searched within herself, she found nothing.
There were no answer.
In other words,
"…Did I gain nothing at all?"
If so, then these past three weeks had been no different from the stagnant life she had always known.
So why had she chosen to follow the very person she once claimed to despise?
Lost in thought, Orphelia's crimson eyes, reminiscent of ominous moons, wavered slightly.
Before long, she rose from the bed, stepped out of the room, and left Jie Long behind.
, , ,
Hū, , , , !
A cold wind swept through the night, carrying the scent of dust as it scattered into the darkness.
This was a desolate corner of the Redevelopment District.
Everywhere, ruins stretched endlessly, ground and rubble corroded beyond recognition, as if devoured by some unseen force. It was a lifeless wasteland.
Three weeks ago, this was where Fang Li and Orphelia had first crossed paths, where they had clashed.
In the aftermath, the battle's shockwaves had drawn the attention of the Entertainment District's gangs, prompting them to investigate. The security forces had also sent people to assess the situation. Even representatives from the Six Academies had arrived, yet upon seeing the corroded landscape, they seemed to understand something and quietly withdrew.
Since then, no one had returned here.
Until today.
Da…
A crisp footstep echoed through the silence.
After leaving Jie Long, Orphelia hadn't returned to Rewolf Black Institute. Instead, she had come here, to the place she had personally reduced to ruin.
Gazing upon the corroded ground and shattered remnants of the past, a flicker of sorrow passed through Orphelia's eyes.
But it disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Because her gaze had found something else.
A lone figure standing against the wind, perched atop a broken slab of rubble.
The cold night breeze lifted the hem of his Jie Long Academy uniform.
As Fang Li stepped forward into the ruins, he suddenly smiled.
"I knew you'd come here."
At his words, Orphelia looked back at him. Her voice was as hollow as ever.
"…And I knew you'd come too."
Two individuals, alike in essence yet destined for different paths, faced each other once more in the ruins of their past battle.
Their eyes met, unwavering, composed.
Neither spoke further.
There was no need for words.
From the moment they had first met, before they had even exchanged a single sentence, Fang Li and Orphelia had instinctively seen through each other, understood the depths of each other's existence.
This time was no different.
No conversation was necessary and no explanations were required.
They both knew exactly why they were here. They both knew what had to be done.
Bang, !
Without warning, light exploded from their bodies.
One, deep and silent.
The other, dark and violent.
Vwoom,!
Mana churned violently around Orphelia, twisting into a swirling storm of toxicity. From within, a monstrous tide of miasma surged forth, coalescing into countless grotesque, writhing arms.
Like demonic hands clawing up from the depths of hell.
Like an avalanche crashing down, blotting out the sky.
A suffocating wave of destruction swept toward Fang Li, threatening to consume everything in its path.
Surrounded by an onslaught of spectral hands seeking to crush him, Fang Li raised his weapon, his pure white activation body.
In an instant, under the luminous glow of Urm Manadyte, the blade transformed, taking the shape of a sacred sword of light.
And in his ice-blue eyes, a chilling radiance flickered.
--Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
--Ogre Lux.
For the first time since arriving in this world,
Fang Li unleashed his full power.
(End of Chapter)