The atmosphere in the courtroom was silent to the point of being suffocating.
The two sides were seated clearly apart from one another.
On one side were Yu and Hiroshi, along with members of the Yu family and the organization serving the Kamakiri family, accompanied by Amuro and Satoru. Every one of them looked intimidating. And if they weren't intimidating, then they were handsome or beautiful—but the seriousness on their faces made it clear that none of them were here to fool around.
On the other side were the women from the Fox Village, dressed in black suits, along with Duyên, Shana, Nayeon, and Đào. And of course, there was Mina, who would never leave the position at Duyên's right side.
No one dared to ask why Mina wasn't sitting on the other side. Just thirty minutes ago, she and Shana had nearly gotten into an actual argument over who got to sit where and on which side of Duyên.
Mina would sit wherever she wanted.
That was all there was to it. A while later, the police finally brought Eri out from inside. She was wearing a striped prisoner uniform. She was still as thin and frail as before, although she seemed to be in slightly better condition now. Her naturally curly blonde hair fell loosely in front of her face. Her ocean-blue eyes were filled with a sorrow that seemed to belong to someone who had gone through an indescribable torment.
And yet, she was still breathtakingly beautiful. It had been such a long time since everyone had last seen her that the sight of her left all of them completely shocked.
Duyên clenched both of her hands tightly.
For some reason, she had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
The trial began with only one side providing legal defense for Eri, with Yu having arranged for the lawyer.
He was one of the best lawyers in the city. They even had Eri's psychiatric evaluation records from that time, showing that she had been suffering from an anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, which had caused her to behave excessively and irrationally.
But despite all those efforts—Eri completely denied it.
Her gaze dropped toward the floor, and her voice was flat, as though someone had implanted a command directly into her mind.
"Everything I did… I did while being completely conscious."
The lawyer was utterly confused after hearing that. Out of instinct, he turned toward Yu and Hiroshi. He had never prepared himself for this kind of non-cooperation.
But all he received in return were equally bewildered looks from them. Even the presiding judge was extremely stunned. But now that she had said it herself, what else could he say?
The verdict was already painfully obvious. The person who had committed the crime wasn't even denying it. At this rate, she could be spending many years behind bars. And in a situation where no one had actually been harmed by what happened, wouldn't it be a terrible waste to let things end like this?
Duyên observed Eri's eyes carefully.
Only then did she realize that there had to be many things Eri was unable to say. Especially when Eri kept trying to look down and avoid making eye contact with anyone.
Was she ashamed?
Or was there something else she was anxious about?
Seeing Eri like that, Duyên couldn't help feeling a deep ache in her heart. She saw something of herself in Eri. That feeling of being shunned. Being misunderstood.
Perhaps somewhere inside Eri, she was thinking the same things about everyone around her.
And inside her seemed to be a layer of fog separating her from the reality right in front of her.
What could Duyên do to help Eri?
What, exactly, was she so afraid of?
A while later, someone handed the presiding judge a file.
The moment he saw it, he was not merely shocked. His eyes widened, and he lowered his glasses to get a better look. Then he looked toward Eri, uncertain whether he should actually say it.
"Ms. Eri, a witness has stated that you and Valko R. Jou had a child together while he was still married to Ms. Kamakiri Mina. In my hands are your prenatal examination records and ultrasound photographs. Tell me, is this perhaps the reason you harbored resentment toward Ms. Mina?"
The moment those words were heard, everyone froze. Even Eri. Her eyes widened as she stared at him. Everyone looked at one another in extreme confusion.
Then—
Eri suddenly seemed to sense some kind of power awakening inside her. Her beautiful lips finally parted. And that was when the tragedy began to descend upon them.
A violent gust of wind suddenly swept in from nowhere. It was so powerful that it even slammed into and knocked down the sealed courtroom doors, leaving everyone utterly stunned.
Shana, Duyên, and Mina had only just realized what was happening when they suddenly felt something freezing and ice-cold tighten around their shins.
"What the hell is this!?"
Everyone panicked. Not just the three of them. This was not an ordinary cold.
It was a searing, freezing cold that seemed to harden their entire bodies from within. Even when Shana tried to force her blue flames to suppress it, or Mina used her strength to struggle against it, their skin gradually turned grayish-blue and began freezing solid like crystal statues.
"This isn't good!"
Duyên's pupils turned indigo. She desperately tried to use her time-manipulation energy. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then the layer of ice covering her and everyone else gradually began to melt away.
Yet it was still too late for what was about to happen. A deep, bottomless dimensional gate appeared from nowhere. And emerging from it were tall men and women wearing tight leather outfits, thick belts wrapped around their waists and thighs.
One of them was a gigantic, incredibly strange-looking butcher. His head was wrapped completely in bandages, leaving only his jagged teeth exposed. He swung a massive chain in his hand, with a large skull hanging from its end—complete with two horns.
The other minions following him had their faces completely covered. They looked like some bizarre army dressed in strange, fetish-like costumes from some twisted masquerade.
Everyone stood frozen in shock, as if they were witnessing something impossible. Even Shana, a woman possessing a thousand years of knowledge, could not remember ever encountering these people.
"Who… are you…?"
Shana swallowed hard, forcing each word out while her entire body was being frozen. This made no sense. There was no way Shana should have been unable to defeat these strange newcomers. Especially after what had happened in Hokkaido, her power had increased to a terrifying degree—far beyond anything an ordinary person could even imagine.
And yet she could not melt the freezing ice produced by these grotesque beings. They glanced at Shana. Then Duyên. Then Mina.
Then all the other people frozen inside the courtroom. A cold click of the tongue came from the masked woman.
"Except for these three, everyone else is nothing but useless Ordinary Humans…"
"What!?"
The one who spoke was Nayeon. The power from the amulet she still possessed had allowed her to remain conscious. Her outburst received nothing but a single glance from them. Nothing more.
The gigantic butcher standing beside her then spoke hoarsely in a strange language. His mouth seemed to breathe out freezing white mist.
"No… Not them…"
"The blonde woman over there…"
Immediately, the attention of the grotesque beings shifted toward Eri. She had already been frozen solid like a stone. Yet her pupils were still moving. Her blue eyes tried to look behind her, and a trace of fear briefly appeared in them.
As if—
She knew exactly why they had come here.
The masked woman appeared directly in front of Eri in the blink of an eye.
"No…!"
Duyên screamed.
But it was already too late. The woman was already there. Her eyes examined Eri from head to toe before her hand reached down and touched Eri's lower abdomen. The ice covering that area instantly melted away on its own. Suddenly, the woman spoke.
"You have already given birth to the child…?"
"KYAAAAHHHH!"
The scream that pierced the entire courtroom did not come from anyone else. It came from Duyên herself.
Using her power, she managed to melt the ice covering her body and desperately tried to rush toward Eri and the masked woman. The woman turned to look at her, visibly surprised by Duyên's astonishing ability.
"I see. You can reverse time… But it doesn't matter. After all, she has no value anymore."
The moment the woman finished speaking—Her arm suddenly pierced straight through Eri's body.
Eri was still frozen solid from head to toe. A huge hole appeared through her body. She died in a state of unbearable pain and complete silence.
Duyên screamed and stretched her hand toward them, desperately trying to reverse time and bring Eri back to life. But the woman merely smiled.
"Don't even think about it."
She opened an intricately carved triangular object. Immediately, countless shards of ice shot through the air like a storm of spears, rushing toward Duyên. They pierced through her body in numerous places and pinned her against the wall.
Blood poured from Duyên's lips like rain as her agonized scream echoed through the courtroom. The sight only seemed to excite the woman even more.
She then turned toward Eri, who was already dead like a frozen statue.
"And there's something else…Your memories…"
"YOU BITCH! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU JUST DID TO MY DUYÊN!?"
The scream did not come from only one person. It was Shana and Mina screaming together in rage. While the woman had been dealing with Duyên, the ice covering their bodies had already melted away.
Shana was engulfed in raging blue hellfire as she charged forward. At the same time, both of Mina's arms transformed into razor-sharp biological blades, her eyes blazing with the fury of a demon.
The woman was forced to take a step backward. But there was no way her companions were going to simply stand by and let that happen. The gigantic butcher slammed his foot down hard. The entire space trembled.
On top of that, a violent snowstorm suddenly surged forward, making their vision even more obscured.
While Shana struggled to deal with the situation, Mina was already engaged in a supersonic brawl with numerous black-clad figures at once.
Mina's speed was beyond question. But the strength of these people was equally matched. Mina managed to deal with one of the women, only for another to sneak up behind her and drive a blade violently into her shoulder.
Black smoke billowed from the wound. Mina screamed in fury.
"You fucking BASTARD!"
"MINA!"
Blazing-hot blue flames swept through the frozen mist, clearing it away. The beautiful red-haired woman charged forward ferociously to break Mina out of the encirclement.
The black-clad mutants surrounding them began chanting something in a language none of them could understand.
"En'visiah… en'visiah…"
And then—All of them were dragged into a prolonged battle that shook the entire building violently.
Duyên was finally able to pull the icy spearhead out of her body. The pain she felt was indescribable, and blood was still leaking from numerous wounds all over her body. Although her wounds were capable of healing, this was not the time for that.
She raised her arm, which was already drenched in her own blood. Blood poured from her lips like a stream as she desperately tried to reverse the freezing condition of her friends.
The ice covering Nayeon, Yu, Hiroshi, Đào, the girls of the Fox Mask group, as well as Satoru and Amuro, began to melt.
Everyone had only just awakened from the bone-chilling cold of being frozen.
But when they saw the chaotic scene before them—and saw Duyên standing there, covered in blood—without saying a word, everyone immediately raised their weapons and charged forward.
One of the women in black realized that the situation was beginning to change. She swung her hand and chanted a spell, forcefully pushing them back.
Many of the Fox Mask girls were severely injured, but they refused to surrender. They continued charging forward ferociously, trying to break through and rescue their master.
Seeing how chaotic the situation had become, the black-clad group decided that it was best not to let this drag on any longer.
One of them whispered to the others,
"The child isn't here. Lya—no, you have to take her with you. Under no circumstances can we let these people find out about our deal…"
The woman apparently named Lya was also the one who had ended Eri's life. She looked rather surprised when she heard that. But her hands still obeyed the order. She immediately rushed forward and grabbed Eri's frozen body.
Duyên coughed violently, blood spilling from her mouth, but she still forced herself to get back on her feet.
She no longer had enough strength to use her powers, and her vision had become completely blurry. But she still had enough strength to move incredibly quickly toward Lya.
This caught Lya off guard.
However, Duyên was not a particularly difficult obstacle for her. What Lya did not expect was for Duyên to hold a mouthful of blood inside her mouth—
And spit it directly into Lya's eyes.
"AHHH! DAMN IT! YOU FILTHY HUMAN!"
Duyên's blood was not ordinary. She had carefully mixed it with a small amount of the poison of death that she had cultivated herself using the magic of the Goddess Luna and her own power.
The result was a deadly poison capable of causing a quick death, as peaceful as falling asleep.
Duyên was not certain whether it would actually work on these bizarre creatures. But it seemed to have caused Lya considerable pain.
Lya nearly lost her grip and dropped Eri. Duyên desperately tried to wrestle Eri away from her. But their strength was surprisingly evenly matched.
Duyên grabbed Lya firmly by the head, her eyes blazing with an indigo flame.
"Your mind is mine…"
Lya almost became dazed under Duyên's influence. But she managed to resist in time, screaming as she desperately avoided looking into Duyên's eyes.
Lya shouted.
Instantly, a teleportation portal summoned by Lya appeared directly in front of Duyên.
Duyên desperately reached out to stop her. But all she managed to do was tear Lya's mask away.
Duyên saw her face.
And what she saw was truly astonishing. It was not the grotesque face of some monstrous creature. It was an entirely ordinary human face.
Lya kicked Duyên away with tremendous force. Then she and Eri entered the teleportation portal and disappeared.
It seemed that Lya's actions had shocked not only Duyên's side, but her own allies as well. They all stopped attacking at once, confused, exchanging signals with one another.
"This is bad! Does anyone know where Lya went!?"
"I don't know!"
One of them sounded just as confused. The giant roared,
"Retreat! The child is more important!"
Duyên tried to force herself back up from the floor. She heard every word clearly. They were talking about a child. Could they possibly be talking about Eri's child?
But she was already too exhausted. She collapsed unconscious onto the floor after losing far too much blood. The only thing she could hear was the distant, echoing voices of Shana and Mina calling out to her.
And then—She sank into a dream. There, she saw a strange vision.
The sky had turned a blazing red, like fire. In the devastated world below, the city of Starfall had fallen.
There was not a single living person anywhere around her. And there—
She saw the back of a young girl with short, jet-black hair standing beneath the crimson sky.
Above her, enormous, grotesque winged creatures filled the sky, flying across it in countless numbers.
"Nhi…"
The young girl seemed to be able to hear Duyên. She slowly turned her head. But Duyên's vision became increasingly blurry. And she was pulled back into reality.
"Mom…?"