Under Shu's gaze, Kiana slowly closed her eyes, growing quiet like a princess falling into a gentle slumber under a curse.
The tears lingering in her eyes fell from their corners. Kiana relaxed her body, letting her consciousness drift downward.
Shu could feel Kiana's body gradually relax, her breathing and pulse stabilizing. He lowered his eyes, a bitter yet relieved smile touching his lips.
His hands slowly tightened, gripping Kiana's slender wrists firmly in his palms.
The moment Kiana's body reached its most relaxed state, a huge force erupted from her, like a sudden rebound.
This time, there was no holding back. The immense force was directed straight at Shu, who was on top of her, about to send him flying.
But suddenly, an even more domineering force shot through him. Kiana's hand, which had just been raised half an inch, was slammed back down.
Inside the canopy, the Herrscher, who was breaking through the scepter's light, froze, looking back in disbelief.
Where did Shu get that power? Kiana is currently covered by a layer of the canopy. Even if Shu were to just use his power to strengthen his body, it would still carry the power of a Herrscher...
How dare he...
Shu indeed didn't dare...
He knew the essence of his powers like strengthening, protection, and blessings.
But he was not without options... If it was just to temporarily suppress Kiana like this—
He could do it!
Kiana opened her dazed eyes, a hint of confusion in their emptiness, seemingly unable to understand where Shu had obtained the strength to firmly suppress this body.
Until a jet of blood shot out from Shu's arm.
Kiana's... or rather, the Herrscher's pupils contracted violently.
Is he insane?!
The method Shu was using wasn't sophisticated. The Herrscher could see at a glance how Shu was managing to suppress Kiana.
Since Kiana could not be the direct recipient of Shu's power, then let Kiana bear the power after it had undergone a "transformation."
Shu applied the force to himself, letting it erupt within his own body, confining all the power within him.
The power Shu unleashed exploded from his own bones, pressing and pushing against his flesh, pressing downward.
Shu's own body was the buffer between the force and Kiana's body. In this way, he used his domineering power to firmly pin Kiana's body beneath him.
The immense pressure ruptured Shu's skin. Blood, pushed by the high pressure, burst through his blood vessels, shooting out from his arms in startling jets of red.
A tearing pain spread throughout his entire body. Shu's body began to tremble violently from the excruciating pain, and the hand gripping Kiana's wrist turned white.
The savage force he had released was tearing his own body apart from the inside, but Shu didn't dare to stop.
This opportunity was one Kiana had fought hard to create for him. As long as he endured the pain, he could maintain the suppression... If he stopped for a moment and failed to hold Kiana down...
No... I can do this... I can definitely do this!
It's just pain!!
---||---
Time remaining until the end of the countdown—twenty minutes.
Inside the canopy, Bronya's small body flashed past Cocolia. Even though Cocolia had turned and assumed a defensive stance as quickly as possible, Bronya's attack was still a step faster.
The power erupting from her small body was more than Cocolia could handle. She could only stagger back two steps, then raise her hand to shield Seele behind her.
Bronya neatly flipped back twice, standing a short distance away, watching the two of them.
"How troublesome..." Cocolia glanced at her trembling hand, her expression grim. "Did that Herrscher enhance Bronya's physical abilities...?"
Seele was no match for Bronya. The moment she saw Bronya rise from her curled-up state, Cocolia had rushed out from the shadows.
And after just a few short exchanges, Cocolia could already feel herself at a disadvantage.
There were still twenty minutes... could she really subdue Bronya in that time?
Rationally speaking, Cocolia thought it was unlikely...
The Bronya of today wasn't the little girl from years ago who had starved in the ice and snow for a whole day, malnourished and covered in hidden injuries.
The already troublesome Ural Silver Wolf was now enhanced. Cocolia gave a bitter smile, only able to assume a defensive posture.
...
On a street shrouded in mist, dim yellow lights failed to penetrate the smoke. A small figure walked quietly down the road, her head bowed, tightly clutching a worn-out yellow cloth doll.
The lights on this road couldn't be called light. They were merely the boundaries of this path, markers warning pedestrians not to cross.
The moon, the starlight... everything was covered by this layer of gray mist. There was no end in sight, and no path back.
Only one voice repeated itself in Bronya's ear.
"Forward... keep moving forward..."
Yes... forward...
Bronya continued to take her stiff steps, as always, heading forward, heading in the direction the voice pointed, her head down.
What was ahead? Why move forward?
Bronya had never considered these things. The voice in her ear said to move forward, so she should move forward...
Then who was the voice in her ear?
...
Something different finally appeared in the hazy mist. Bronya looked up. A white wooden door had appeared before her.
Bronya looked up, and a rare glimmer of light appeared in her emotionless eyes.
Like a lost traveler in the desert finding a clear spring, like someone suffering from hypothermia in the snow seeing a fire, a soul returned to Bronya's body, and she walked toward that door.
The closer she got, the more she saw.
The white wooden door gradually came into full view. A warm, pale yellow light shone from the crack beneath the door. A small awning-covered stoop, a long flower bed, and above it, a window through which she could see inside the house.
A look of longing appeared in Bronya's eyes as she peered through the fogged-up window at the shadowy figures inside.
A warm fireplace... steaming hot stew... soft bread that doesn't hurt your teeth... thick blankets...
All of those must be in there...
Bronya withdrew her gaze and looked at herself.
She found she was wearing only a thin piece of clothing, barely enough to cover her body. In her arms was a small, hard, and uncomfortable object, which must have been a piece of bread.
A tattered newspaper was draped over her, and the only warm thing around her...
...was the ceaselessly falling snow...
How wonderful...
She looked at the light and thought.