The blue‑haired girl swung her heavy halberd; water answered like a river pulled by the moon. It slammed into the floating half‑fox, half‑dragon beast, and—boom—triggered a violent secondary burst.
Her divine armament, fully unleashed, made each sweep feel like razing the district. Steam trembled and sang; under that high‑frequency ripple, no spell could form.
The God of Heart Realm’s true shape was draconic. She was borrowing a fox‑clan shrine maiden, a poor match, her power throttled. Now she was crazily remolding that body, bones and breath stitched anew, to loose something more terrible.
But Tangxue (?) wouldn’t grant it. Three thunderous blows drove the God of Heart Realm into the ground, and cut the silk‑fine tether to her true body, blocking more divine sense from flooding this vessel.
"Heh. You lost. Any last words?" Tangxue (?) lifted the halberd high; its shadow fell like a cold guillotine.
Suddenly, it happened. A thread of red light needled in from behind and tapped her skull before she could react. Too weak to be felt—yet wrongness bloomed like frost under skin.
"Ugh! What’s happening?!"
Tangxue (?) grabbed her brow and dropped to her knees. Strength fled like a receding tide; her face knotted.
She let out a bitter laugh. "Why wake up now... Another moment and it’d be over."
She couldn’t descend her mind into this little one at will. Hundreds of years of clawing at fate had yielded only this one chance, sheer accident. Without the host’s consent, next time wouldn’t come.
The God of Heart Realm looked down, high and cold, at the blue‑haired girl sprawled on stone. Her eyes were knives; her heart, contempt.
"What a pity. You won’t see this one... Last time I killed a heap of pets—dull. This time, I’ll personally snuff your sister’s bloodline here."
"Get lost... you strutting clown."
Tangxue (?) forced her eyes open, winter‑cold, and sneered up. "Then try it. I trust her... especially in the art of brutality."
Tangxue (?) went limp as the last thread of strength snapped. The heavy halberd, its master gone, relaxed into a trident. Wind died; the square went still.
The clash had almost leveled the plaza. Huaruo Qingqing dove through the chaos and dragged clear the elves and beastkin who hadn’t fainted. The God of Heart Realm swept the wreckage with her gaze, a smile thin as ice. Her aim had shifted. She had meant to carry her believers from this breaking world. Now she’d torture this filthy little wretch to death with her own hands.
Even her Divine Source burned for this descent. To do nothing meaningful would waste holy oil.
"Ow, ow... Why does waking up feel like every bone broke?" Qingsheng Tangxue pushed herself up, pain needling everywhere, and looked into the face of a very scary auntie.
A fox, yet she wore vertical pupils and a sharp horn. Transparent scales glinted on her skin. The tips of her black hair bled dark red. Heat coiled around her like a furnace, yet she felt like a glacier’s breath.
"Originally, I didn’t plan to kill you... But someone chose to provoke me, so I’ll repay in multiples. You’re Qingsheng Tangxue now, right...?"
"Die." The God of Heart Realm pronounced the sentence, flat as ash. Her right hand, dragon‑clawed, hovered before Tangxue’s brow. True flame formed in her palm, slow as sunrise—then hissed and lanced at the girl.
"!" The scorching blaze skimmed past Tangxue’s face. If her inner cosmos hadn’t flared, she’d be gone.
Survival shook her; her heart tried to leap from her ribs. Soul‑deep fear screamed to turn and run... yet a nameless karmic blaze in her chest wouldn’t gutter out.
She could still feel anger. That meant there was still a chance.
The God of Heart Realm blinked, faintly surprised. A no‑reserve strike, and it missed. By rights that little runt should have frozen under the pressure and died, head blown clean.
"We... met before, didn’t we?" Tangxue wavered. The woman felt familiar, like a shadow from old rain.
"I’ve no need to answer you." The God of Heart Realm kept chanting, voice like iron on stone, weaving a slaughter‑spell.
Divine Sign—Heartflame Ignition.
An unavoidable kill move. Let’s see you dodge.
"Ugh?!"
Tangxue clamped both hands over her heart. A smoldering fire inside burned at her soul like an ember under ash. The pain stripped her strength to stand.
‘It hurts—so much!!!’
"Ugh—aaah!" Her throat felt charred; sound broke into cinders. Sight smeared to black; her mind fogged.
‘Am I... dying again?’
‘Huh...? Why did I say again...’
In the haze, memories once dissolved re‑formed, drifting back like mist knitting on the sea.
Year ????.
"Dreamsound~ Dreamsound? Where did you run off to? We’re going out, okay? If you don’t come out, Mommy will get mad!"
On a glass‑calm sea, a young beauty floated half‑submerged, hands cupped like a little horn as she called. Blue hair fanned across the water. Her white gown, soaked, held no crease. Her skin was snow‑pure, a lone fairy on a quiet bay.
"This kid... where did she go..." The young mother rubbed her brow, vexed. The baby had grown, and grown naughtier. This sea couldn’t fence her. If Dreamsound chose to hide, Mom might never find her.
"Next time I’m spanking that tail! She runs everywhere. What if she gets lost—what then..."
She drifted, fretting, over the water. Now and then, ships slid out from the far shore. Each time she spotted life, the mermaid mother waved and sang a sweet hymn, blessing their voyage. Time flowed; the young mermaid floated farther and farther, and forgot... she was hopeless with directions.
"Where... is this again?"
She scratched her head, lost. Ahead lay a land of ice, white to the horizon. When did she drift to the far north?
"I remember home is a single continent away from the far north. I’ve been out an hour. How can this be..."
"Wait, that ice shows tracks. That footprint... a child’s. Did Dreamsound run in there?!" The mermaid’s face blanched. The thought of her daughter on strange ice shattered reason. She surged to the floe, shaped legs, and chased through the white.
"Dreamsound!!!"
