The air in the room remained heavy after what had just transpired. Xuan Xingli sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze fixed on her trembling hands. The slight shivers had yet to fully subside. The seal… had wavered.
She could feel the shift. Something inside her had stirred, but before it could fully surface, Luo Chenxi had intervened. That left her conflicted. Was Luo Chenxi truly trying to help her, or was she merely preventing her from facing herself?
A cold night breeze slipped through the window, carrying the scent of the darkness beyond. Luo Chenxi still stood beside her, those sharp violet eyes calm, unhurried. She seemed like an outsider, yet at the same time, she was the only one who understood this situation better than anyone.
"How do you feel?" Luo Chenxi's voice was light, yet it pierced straight into Xuan Xingli's mind.
"I don't know..." Xuan Xingli answered honestly. "It feels like I touched something… but not enough to grasp it."
Luo Chenxi tilted her head slightly, a flicker of thought flashing in her eyes. "Then don't rush. There are things best left untouched until you can control them."
Xuan Xingli's fingers curled into a light fist. "But if I never try, how will I know my limits?"
A faint smile ghosted Luo Chenxi's lips. "Your limit is not that seal. It is yourself. You're not unready because you are weak, but because you do not yet understand yourself."
The words struck a chord within her.
A hazy memory flickered across her mind—fragmented images of a distant place, where heavy chains coiled tightly around an old metal door. What lay beyond it? A secret? A disaster? If the seal was part of her, then who was she in the grand scheme of things?
A bell rang in the dead of night—a strange signal.
Luo Chenxi immediately turned toward the window, her gaze sharpening. She stepped forward, pushing it open just slightly, letting the cold air seep into the room. The flickering lights of the narrow streets reflected in her eyes.
Xuan Xingli noticed it too—the air in Astrelia was shifting. A creeping unease slithered through the city's darkest corners. A storm was coming.
At the outskirts of Astrelia, a shadowed figure halted before a hidden outpost. Stepping inside, he moved past the dim green lights that cast a cold glow over his face.
There was no rush in his steps. The darkness cloaked him like a veil, erasing his presence. His footfalls echoed against the cold stone floor, blending with the soft hum of unseen machinery deep within the building.
A voice rang from a holographic screen before him. "How is the progress?"
The figure's voice was low but firm. "The seal has wavered. But she has not broken it."
"Good." The voice on the screen spoke slowly, as if calculating. "Continue observing. When the time is right… we will act."
The screen flickered off, leaving only the shadows.
Tonight was merely the beginning of an undercurrent that would soon sweep everything away.
Outside, the night sky of Astrelia remained as cold as ever. But somewhere beyond the clouds, a change was already forming.