"..."

"..."

Holding the door open with her foot, Serena said, her amethyst-purple pupils meeting Carissa's pure white.

"I'm watching you."

At that moment, Carissa felt something emanating from the seemingly fierce and violent purple eyes — a new emotion she could sense.

She's... disappointed...Why...?

Watching Serena angrily slam the door shut, Carissa couldn't help but pause for a moment in confusion.

After a few moments of silence, Carissa eventually leaped off her bed and slowly approached the bookbag.

A single tear falling from her eyelids, she touched the diary and carefully ripped out a page, ensuring no tear marks were left.

As if it would allow her forgiveness, she stared at the door and muttered.

"I'm sorry...it has to be me; I have to be the one to destroy her."

...

...

...

Gripping the piece of index paper, I removed it from Carissa's pockets, holding it tightly as the wind threatened to tear it from my hands.

There was no delay; I immediatly heard it, the voice.

"YOU! YOU'VE DESTROYED ME; I'LL KI-"

Not skipping a beat, I immediatly...grabbed Carissa's pale white hand, placing the index paper in between our palms.

"Save us."

"No."

Now, less than a second of time separating my feet from the ground, I thought, not wasting the time speaking..

The rest of you is gone. This paper is the only fragment of your soul remaining. I die, you die.

"I've already died."

Have you

At that moment, like water bursting through a dam, I destroyed the mental barrier within my mind, allowing a portion of my memories to enter the spotlight of my consciousness.

It was an image of Anna and Carissa hugging after the death of the Demon King, at the very end of my novel.

A strict and stern voice immediatly followed.

"Hold her. Tight."

Throwing my arms around Carissa's back, hugging her as tight as I possibly could, her pure-white hair dropping down my shoulders, I simply thought.

You're not that bad, are you?

Carissa's two crimson wings instantly began glowing, like a car when its engine is started, and in the next instant, they flew together.

The small fragment of Anna's soul paper was only able to take control of Carissa's wings, not the entire body.

The air in between the wings instantly destroyed. I felt my entire body begin to slow, defying gravity.

Defy...gravity!

This it, I can break through the next step of my m-

"Silence."

...

Gradually, our free fall began slowing...but as I looked down, the line stretching from Carissa's feet still intersected the ground.

My mind was instantly consumed with panic as I screamed out, in thought.

We're not gonna make it...ANNA, W-"

"I know. These wings can't stop our freefall. It's too late...Carrissa can't save you...But I found another way. You can."

...?

"I understand your art. Give me your body. That movement you thought of earlier; it can save us."

You can see my art...?

"My soul is part of yours. I can see everything. Clear your mind, let me take control."

Before I could even think back, a resounding voice echoed throughout my mind.

"NOW!"

At that moment, Carissa's wings came to a halt once again, and I felt...a slithering sensation, as if a snake were crawling on my skin.

I couldn't feel my body; my legs and hands wouldn't obey my commands, and my mind gradually slowed, as if I were falling asleep.

Only the feeling of my heart vibrating kept me conscious.

My surroundings transformed into a black void as my body halted, floating.

It felt as if I were drowning.

I wanted to scream out in pain; my head pounded with pain, while my entire body felt as if it were being torn apart and created anew.

The pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced, which was insane considering the fact that I had died once.

Taking a deep breath, I simply gritted my teeth...closed my eyes and accepted it.

How did Carissa...endure this, every day?

...

...

...

Instantly, Athen's eyes shot open, his right leg surging downward as he grasped Carissa's motionless body.

Anna, in control of Athen's body, couldn't help but take a deep breath as well.

Even as a being who had lived for tens of years now, the thing she was about to attempt seemed possible.

She understood the movement; how could she not after so many hours of training with her sword and feet inside the diary?

Heaven's Rebound.

The second step of the boy's art allowed one to defy gravity and double-jump in the air.

But...she was within an entirely new body.

Carissa's muscles and body had some semblance to hers, but this was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

Why am I even doing this...?

As her mind raced, she caught sight of her daughter's body.

This is what I died for?

Looking at the girl, Anna considered letting go... but for some reason, her hands did move.

Hah, if you died, then my death would be a waste, too.

Clicking Athen's tongue, Anna couldn't help but groan and look down.

It had to be performed perfectly, at the very moment his foot was about to hit the ground.

The previously uncontrollable blue substance with Athen's body immediatly obeyed Anna's mental commands as she took more mana from her surroundings while simultaneously moving it down the boy's two legs.

Just as Athen was about to hit the ground, less than 5 feet separating them, his shoes began to glow a light-blue.

Anna looked straight down, right at the blue line intersecting the ground.

Defy.

She had to believe there was something concrete below her; that was the essence of the Daoist art.

Whatever you imagine becomes reality.

In reality, this style of thinking was opposite to Anna, who had always believed in reality.

Her parents had been killed, and she had been taken by a djinn, sent to the human realm as a spy.

Everything in her life had been determined for her. She had no freedom.

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