-----
Laura glanced at the scene in disbelief, covering her mouth to stifle any involuntary sound.
Maria then watched as the other three pursuers were quickly discovered and massacred by the monsters she had created.
The Vampire could do little before being crushed to death. The twins fought better with their divine power, but ultimately they too fell.
"T-They’re all dead...! This Gate is too dangerous!" Laura cried. "Fran, we have to run!"
Suddenly a group of hunters appeared—from the guild that controlled this place—and began attacking the monsters, only to be massacred themselves.
"Oops."
Maria dashed out and used her Creation of Life to revive all the recently deceased, gaining control over them in the sa way she commanded Undead.
It was incredible.
The four pursuers now beca her allies. They helped the remaining dying guild mbers while also assisting her in reviving those who had just perished.
While all of this unfolded, Maria pretended to blast the monsters with a giant beam of light—but it was actually a healing radiance.
Sneakily, she teleported the monsters into her shadows and into her Soul Realm.
"You can live peacefully there."
With a confident smile, she pressed her hand against the now-empty Gate and forcefully devoured it with her shadows... or light.
The Gate’s interior was rely a dium-sized cave containing a few more monsters, which she promptly added to her Soul Realm.
Afterward, to the astonished eyes of everyone present, the Gate slamd shut, shocking the guild mbers.
"Wait, wait! You closed the gate!"
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"We lost a bunch of money securing this place!"
"Fuck you, you fucking bitch!"
Instead of thanking her for saving their lives, they lashed out in desperation.
Money, money, money...
In the end, Earth remained the sa as ever.
Nothing mattered except money.
Money was king. It determined a person’s worth and their place in society.
Without it, you were lower than trash, deserving no respect, an insect that should die.
Sohow, with the Tower’s arrival and people rampaging with superpowers, this harsh reality had only grown more blatant and repulsive.
Yet so rose to defend Maria—her sister, and... those she had revived.
"She saved your lives, you fucking pricks! Show so respect or I’m beating your asses!" Laura shouted, falling back into her old habit of protecting her little sister from bullies.
The four revived pursuers joined in. Because they belonged to prominent guilds, the crowd was persuaded that whoever this woman was, she must be soone very important.
Thanks to the illusory veil, Maria’s appearance remained completely different from her true self.
"Alright, you four, co here."
Once the guild mbers dispersed, Maria summoned her four new allies.
"Tell everything about your guilds."
She touched their foreheads, directly extracting valuable information from their minds.
Laura looked on in confusion.
"What are you doing, Fran?"
"Learning a bit... okay, you can go now. Just tell your friends you couldn’t find ."
The four revived hunters nodded obediently and flew away.
Sohow, their obedience felt even creepier while they remained alive than when they had been zombies or skeletons.
"So now I can revive people, huh? But it only works on the recently deceased... Even so, it’s amazing."
While escaping the area, Maria and her sister passed through various Field Dungeons and Gates. Maria devoured them all discreetly, steadily expanding her Soul Realm.
After a long walk, they finally reached an old building near the sea. Each step inside filled Maria with nostalgia.
"This old apartnt, the sll of dust and wood, that neglected garden full of trash and weeds... Hahah, yeah, this is our humble ho."
"I couldn’t really move anywhere else this whole ti. I focused all my money on keeping you alive... Hospital prices kept rising every year. It was hell."
"I’m sorry you had to go through so much, Laura... But what about Mom?"
"Mom... Um, let’s go inside first."
Laura was wary of neighbors overhearing, so once she opened the door and closed it behind them, she activated a magic artifact, creating a barrier around the house.
"This is a magic barrier for the house. It was expensive, but it keeps safe."
"Does it?"
Maria analyzed the barrier. It was a low-quality, mass-produced artifact that any dwarf in Yggdrasil would mock before dismantling it for better use.
She tapped the artifact with her hand, transforming it through her Alchemy and other Abilities, weaving Void power into it.
FLUOSH!
The silver cube turned black and red, overflowing with far greater strength. Powered by her Mana, it now generated a potent Void Barrier.
"Now this is better."
"Huh? Did you change the color of the cube? How?"
"I upgraded it using a spell."
"What? Well, okay. Wanna go see your room first?"
"My room?"
"Yeah, it’s a bit dusty, but I’ve been trying to keep it clean, hoping one day you would return..."
"Laura..."
Maria hugged her sister once more, kissing her nose and cheeks, savoring her warmth.
She felt utterly at ease in her big sister’s embrace—almost in heaven.
"I love you, big sis."
"Aw, Fran, you’re so cute now... I guess you really missed , heh."
Maria walked toward her room. Everything she saw flooded her with nostalgia.
So many buried mories surged back in an instant, making her gasp.
"Oh wow..."
She looked around in quiet wonder, smiling softly as she stepped inside. She touched the blankets on her bed, sat down, and glanced around—then noticed Bobo, her teddy bear, was truly gone.
At the age she had "died" here, she had mostly forgotten about him, but she still kept him nearby and washed him occasionally.
Now he was entirely absent.
"Bobo’s... inside my soul now."
She summoned him. The teddy bear the Toy Maker had given her fully materialized once it returned to its original ho.
"Wow, did you find Bobo? I really couldn’t find him anywhere for the last few years."
"Yes, he was... sowhere far away."
Maria sighed with a gentle smile, placed the teddy bear on the bed, and exhaled in relief.
Slowly she felt changes ripple through her Soul, Mind, Dream Heart, and Dream Soul Ghost Nebula.
This wave of nostalgia transford into bright light, infusing her core and stirring a great storm within.
But it wasn’t painful—it was a storm of pure "Joy."
The emotion intensified. Laura watched as her sister glowed brilliantly.
A strange symbol—yin and yang—manifested behind her, bright and dark energies converging.
For a fleeting mont, Maria felt everything on the verge of becoming one.
And yet...
SPARK!
She failed.
"I need more comprehension; I can’t get there yet..."
-----
User Comments
0 comments from readers