Luna made it out of the weird-looking woods after a few hours of walking while following Storm Rider who was leading the way from up. She was taking down everything in the sky while Luna took down every creature on the ground. After Luna was done with her massacre though, every creature was doing its best to hide from her gaze. Her bloodlust and battle aura seemed to have left an impression even after she concealed it.

  Of course some cursed creatures tried to fight back. But they were killed before they managed to scratch her cloak. Nothing higher than a cursed general existed in this eerie territory—meaning that she could take on most of the creatures here on her own as long as she didn’t give them time to use their powers.

  Abilities varied in nature, a Cursed Soldier could have a terrifying ability like mind control in its arsenal. Mind attacks were one of the most feared attacks because they weren't something you could just notice unless you have some relic or power that defends you against it.

  Some creatures could trap you in false realities and feast on your energy till you’re a corpse. While others were like the Mind Wraith, physically weak but capable of creating powerful pawns.

  It was because of this unpredictability that Luna never hesitated when fighting a Cursed Creature with more than two cores. Also, one thing Luna had learned from this entire subjugation was that holding back meant that she was asking for a death wish.

  This place, the Crimson Desert, everything here was trying to kill her. So to survive, Luna needed to become more ruthless in battle because hesitation could mean the worst.

  Luna peered at the landscape ahead of them and frowned. They hadn’t stopped to rest since they left the coral building and her body was slowing now from all the fatigue she felt. Her legs were getting heavier with each step through the snow and she found herself yawning unknowingly. She was still a teenager and her body could only endure so much.

  Right now, they were traversing the white land between the mountains and the forest. The land masses ahead grew from the ground, casting an incredibly dark shadow in the faint light. Their majestic five peaks were covered in snow while the highest peak disappeared in the grey clouds above.

  The tallest peak made Luna shiver because of how sinister it looked from this distance. The snowstorm wasn’t so strong here so her visibility wasn't bad either. The black peak resembled a spearhead, piercing the clouds like a sword.

  “Is there anything beyond the grey clouds?” Luna asked Storm Rider who had been silent this entire.

  “Yes, there is.” Storm Rider answered after some silence. She had flown above the grey clouds twice and almost lost her life because of the cursed emperors that ruled the skies. “There is a sky island. Actually, there are many sky islands in the divine realm. Though this one is infested with Cursed Emperors only.”

  ‘An island of cursed emperors! The food chain up there must be broken.’

  “That’s an interesting fact. Anyway, when will we take a break then? I’m awfully tired.” Luna groaned loudly as she dragged her boots through the snow.

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  Storm Rider stopped as soon as she heard that. She faced Luna, her serious look fading away instantly as if blown off by the wind itself. She had forgotten that Luna was a human.

  “Oh! Why didn’t you say so? Well…we can rest here if you want. I can make shelter and we rest for a few hours before heading to the Mountains.”

  “Really? Aren’t you worried about the monsters?”

  Storm Rider shook her head and responded. “No. There is nothing to be feared once you enter this part. You see, this part is known as a No man’s land. I don’t know the magic around it, but creatures refuse to cross it despite being harmless. Creatures from the mountain can’t cross to this side. The same works creatures from the forest.”

  Hearing this, Luna couldn’t help but feel more cautious. What the hell did she mean by all the creatures refusing to cross it?

  What if something more powerful was hiding in the ground?

  “I’ve crossed this place a few times but nothing has attacked me. This might be a sacred land.” Storm Rider continued.

  ‘Oh.’

  Yes, this might as well have been a Sacred land. In theory, Sacred Lands were territories that were blessed by the gods.

  Could it be that even in their madness, cursed creatures still recognized the power of the gods? Back then, Luna hadn’t given much thought to it because of the already strange nature of this place. In the blood desert, the temples remained untouched by the cursed creatures ruling that level. Even the giant serpent avoided the cities because they were sacred in some way.

  The pillars were still intact because the runes on them made them sacred. Therefore, the Death Bugs avoided them and destroyed everything else.

  ‘I guess they’re not that mad, after.’

  She thought about all this while Storm Rider used her powers to create a small dome shelter from roots and earth under the snow. Now that her essence was replenished, the fire keeper could do more with her two auras. She created a small dome made of tough roots and cleared the snow inside to create a cozy floor. The entire time she was doing this, Storm Rider’s body was emitting a beautiful golden glow as she expended the life energy to control nature.

  After she was done, Luna was more than glad to have a roof over her head. She laid down close to the warm flame while using the cloak as a headrest. She felt her entire body finally relax after what felt like two days of walking while fighting to stay alive.

  She watched the gentle flame for a while before yawning and closing her eyes to sleep for the first time since she left the tower. The fatigue played a huge role in her exhaustion and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

  While asleep, Luna had a vivid dream. It wasn’t a memory because she wasn’t in someone’s body. Rather, Luna was in her original body wearing the same tunic she was in back in the real world.

  For Luna, dreaming was a foreign phenomenon because most of what she called dreams back then were actually faint memories that her brain couldn’t interpret at the time. She could dream, though.

  But it was very rare and hard to remember.

  This dream, however…felt too real to be called a dream.

  The snow was gone, and everything else was drenched in pure darkness. She was standing in clear water that covered her feet and reached up to her ankles. It wasn’t cold or warm, but it left her with a tingling sensation.

  She scowled. “A mind attack?”

  Luna then carefully lowered her head and saw a familiar raven black-haired girl with white skin and dark mysterious eyes, looking back at her through the clear water.

  It was her reflection.

  Feeling unconvinced, Luna carried out a few tests to suppress her paranoia. She moved her head and made a few silly expressions to check. And surprisingly, the reflection followed without any mistakes.

  Any person would’ve passed it off as reflection and that this was just a dream. But Luna was not that easy to trick.

  “Don’t try to fool me.”

  When she said those words, the reflection smirked. The water splashed and she immediately jumped away to create some distance. She automatically called for the Sun Ember.

  However, since this was somewhere in her consciousness, the Sun Ember failed to manifest because she had no life essence in the first place.

  Luna opened her palms and prepared to strike whatever had just invaded her mind with pure martial arts.

  The water in her previous spot started to boil as a pale wet hand emerged from the water and grabbed onto the liquid surface like it was solid. Then, a full humanoid being emerged.

  Once Luna saw this, she immediately attacked with a palm strike that pushed it back and made the water explode in all directions.

  She lunged at the being with another palm strike attack but stopped when it disappeared and appeared before her. It wore a crazed smile as it looked at her with mad excitement. It had short, dark, wet hair. And its dark eyes reflected nothing. Its face, however….

  Was just like hers.

  “What the…why have I stopped?”

  “Because you can’t hit yourself, Lunaris Feng.”

  The reflection talked back in a tone very similar to hers.