"Hello."
A simple greeting.
There was nothing inherently wrong with it, yet as I stood there, staring at her, I couldnât muster a response.
The violet eyes I feared even in my dreams.
The black hair with subtle streaks of another hue, framing her face.
Her appearance brought someone to mind. Someone Iâd always known I would face somedayâbut never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would happen like this.
Here, in the back alley of Hanam, in a shabby restaurant serving noodles.
No one could have predicted such a meeting.
Woom-!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
My heart thudded violently, seemingly without reason.
The moment I recognized her, my body tensed on its own, my heartbeat pounding with force.
Whoosh-!
At the same time, energy surged chaotically through my body.
Crack.
The rush of qi through my blood vessels strained my still-healing body.
Yet, I forced myself to channel even more energy.
I had to.
Even with that, it wasnât enough.
âWhat do I do?â
Why was she here?
Was I still dreaming?
âDamn it.â
I knew better than anyone that this wasnât a dream.
If this were a dream, the demonic energy surging through my body wouldnât feel so vivid.
The magical qi Iâd been suppressing all this time had begun to stir uncontrollably, clearly reacting to her.
It couldnât tolerate the presence of another magic wielder in the same space.
What kind of insane energy was this? It was maddening.
But the magic qi wasnât the real issue here.
The only thought running through my mind was this:
âCan I kill her?â
Could I even hope to kill the woman in front of me?
A few years ago, when I first encountered her at the Divine Dragon Pavilion, Iâd felt the massive gap between us.
Since then, Iâd worked relentlessly to bridge that gap, growing immeasurably stronger.
Yet, even now, it wasnât enough.
To face the Heavenly Demonâthe one who played with the Three Supremes of Zhongyuan, rulers of heaven itselfâwas far beyond me.
No matter how strong I had become, she was that Heavenly Demon.
Sweat dripped down my back.
Even as I focused all my willpower on steadying my breath, it was nearly impossible to remain composed.