After leaving those final words behind, Ling Ji's figure vanished like wind slipping through unseen cracks of reality.
There was no sound. No lingering trace.
Her presence dissolved into the air as if she had never existed at all, as if she refused to leave even the faintest footprint in this world.
Vera, who had been following behind her, froze in place.
Her steps halted instinctively.
For a moment, she simply stood there, staring at the empty space Ling Ji had occupied seconds ago. Her mind struggled to catch up with what her eyes had witnessed.
Had that really happened?
Or had it merely been a fragment of illusion born from her fractured memories?
She could not tell.
The world felt strangely fragile, like glass that might crack if she questioned it too hard.
Still slightly dazed, Vera walked forward.
As she approached the open area ahead, she saw the children from earlier.
They were huddled together, their small faces flushed with agitation. The moment they noticed her, their expressions changed dramatically.
"That's her!"
"She's the one who was with that monster!"
Their voices rang out, sharp and accusatory.
Vera frowned.
A flicker of frustration rose in her chest.
She walked toward them, her posture upright, her voice firm yet controlled.
"Children," she said, her tone carrying the natural authority of an older sister, "as someone older than you, I must remind you of something important."
She paused briefly, meeting their eyes one by one.
"You should never rush to conclusions about things you don't fully understand."
Her words were calm, but they carried weight.
She continued, her voice tightening slightly.
"If it weren't for that older sister with the cat ears protecting you earlier, you might not even be alive right now."
The children's reactions, however, were not what she expected.
One boy suddenly stomped hard on her foot.
The force was small compared to an adult's strength, but it was filled with raw hostility.
"Shut up! Shut up!" he screamed. "You witch!"
His face twisted with anger and fear.
"You're obviously on the same side as that cat-eared woman! We're not stupid enough to be fooled by you!"
The other children quickly joined in.
"Yeah!"
"Liar!"
"Witch!"
Their voices overlapped, forming a chaotic storm of rejection.
Before Vera could respond, adults began arriving at the scene.
Parents rushed forward, their expressions tense and protective.
The boy who had stomped on her foot immediately burst into loud, exaggerated sobs.
He ran toward a woman wearing a long earth-yellow coat and clung to her tightly.
"Mom! That big sister tried to hurt us!" he cried.
The woman's face darkened instantly.
She pulled her son into her arms and glared at Vera with open hostility.
"You shameless woman!" she snapped. "You're a grown adult, and you're bullying children?"
Her voice was loud enough to draw even more attention.
Other women nearby quickly echoed her outrage.
"Disgusting!"
"What kind of adult bullies kids?"
"Have you no shame?"
Their words struck like stones.
Vera stood there, stunned.
She could understand children misunderstanding situations. Their minds were still immature, their perceptions incomplete.
But these adults…
They had not even attempted to understand.
Instead, they amplified the false accusation without hesitation, turning it into something far uglier.
It was as if truth held no value compared to emotional comfort.
Vera took a slow breath.
She forced herself to remain calm.
"You're mistaken," she said clearly. "A monster attacked them earlier. Another woman protected them. I was only trying to explain that."
The woman in the earth-yellow coat let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"A monster?" she repeated with obvious disdain.
She looked at Vera as if she were looking at something pitiful.
"Young people these days really will say anything to lie, won't they?"
Her tone was dripping with contempt.
Vera's heart skipped.
Confusion surfaced in her mind.
They didn't believe in monsters?
She had assumed the existence of monsters was common knowledge.
Something obvious.
Something ordinary.
Yet judging from their reactions, it clearly wasn't.
A faint unease crept into her thoughts.
Her memories were still fragmented, incomplete.
But deep within her instincts, the existence of monsters felt natural.
Normal.
As natural as breathing.
This contradiction unsettled her more than their accusations.
Meanwhile, the boy in the woman's arms glared at Vera.
His earlier act of stomping on her foot had not satisfied his anger.
His eyes scanned the ground.
Then he saw it.
A small, round stone.
Without hesitation, he picked it up.
His fingers tightened around it.
And he threw it.
The stone shot forward through the air, aimed directly at Vera's face.
At that moment, Vera was still caught in her attempt to explain herself.
Her mind lagged behind reality by a fraction of a second.
By the time she noticed the incoming stone, it was already too close.
Too fast.
The round shape grew rapidly in her vision.
It was about to strike her delicate cheek.
A sharp, slicing sound suddenly cut through the air.
Whoosh.
A violent gust followed, brushing past her ear like the edge of an invisible blade.
The air itself seemed to split apart.
Vera's pupils contracted.
In her vision, a cold shadow flashed.
And then—
Someone appeared.
A tall figure stood directly in front of her.
Her breathing stopped.
It felt as though even the air had been stolen away by his presence.
He stood there like an unbreakable wall.
On his face was a mask she knew all too well.
The same glazed dragon mask she herself had once held tightly, countless times, without understanding why.
He had intercepted the stone.
Time seemed to freeze.
Vera could hear her own heartbeat pounding violently in her ears.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Each beat echoed like distant thunder.
The young man's hair was short and black, with slightly messy bangs falling across his forehead.
His physique was tall and powerful, his broad shoulders radiating silent strength.
Though his face was concealed behind the dragon mask, his eyes were visible.
They were phoenix-shaped.
His irises glowed with a deep blue color, faint patterns of light shimmering within them.
It was as if an entire galaxy had been imprisoned behind his gaze.
Silent.
Burning.
Endless.
At that moment, Vera saw clearly—
His hand was raised.
And between his fingers…
He held the stone that had been meant to strike her.