Faye gazed at Aria’s heart as it danced furiously, despite her efforts to use all her mana to maintain Patience Mind. However, emotions continued to leak out as if there was a gaping hole in a water barrel. She couldn’t endure it any longer. Her heart was on the verge of breaking.

Suddenly, a warm sensation touched everybody once more. Rain started moving again, even though his eyes still had no light. Only white blind eyes remained.

Aria’s hand suddenly grew icy cold, as if she had never encountered this chilling sensation before. It felt even colder than a corpse. She quickly withdrew her hand from his body.

Rain slowly sat up, His white ghastly eyes fixated on her. It was not a familiar face that greeted her, but a smile. Instantly, she was taken aback, her heart pounding.

The rain reached out and slowly touched her hand. It felt as cold as the last time, but it didn’t burn or freeze her hand. It only left her feeling empty and lonely.

Their hands touched for a brief moment before Rain pulled his hand back and stood up.

Tap, Tap, Tap. He walked towards Ella, but even though it was not long distance, it felt like an eternity, especially with the snow making it seem even wider. Shadow of his danced left and right.

Finally, he reached the edge of the magic circle. He simply waved his hand and stepped outside the circle without any problems. He stood in front of Ella.

Ella looked into his white eyes and hesitantly asked, “R- raccoon?”

Rain didn’t respond to her words. Instead, he grabbed her hand and handed something to her. Ella received it with confusion, as many thoughts ran through her mind. She wanted to talk about something, but in the end, she only managed to say, “Thank you.”

Rain turned his body, but then suddenly stopped. His eyebrows lifted in slight surprise as he looked at Faye. He tilted his head slightly and moved his mouth up and down, but no sound came out.

Tap, tap. He walked towards Faye and stopped in front of her.

Ta-thump, ta-thump. Ta-thump. The sound of a loud heartbeat, but it was unclear whose it was.

Rain bent down and picked something up from the floor. He bit his own lip, and red vividly rushed from his mouth. He touched the blood on his lip, watching as it slowly turned into a red tint, finally transforming into a blood stone.

His hand moved forward, intending to give it to Faye.

However, Faye’s eyebrows furrowed in anger. “Do not dare give me your death souvenir!” She scolded him with a booming voice, causing the surrounding snow to instantly melt.

Flop! With a weak grip, Ella dropped the stone.

Aria’s hand trembled as she carefully brought the stone closer to her body.

Faye’s eyes grew dark as she uttered, “Astra! Even you die I will bring your back from deep hell to let your nonsense mouth can speak again, even you only have bones left I will summon you as skeleton-man to listen you bone clicking sound, even you have nothing left I will look for your soul even it under endless sea. I will definitely find it and put it back to jar and decorate in my room. Thus, I warn you to not dare to give me that. Take it back this instant! I mean it, NOW!”

Huff! Huff! Faye’s chest moved up and down, desperate to gather more air. She was angrier than she had ever been before, losing all composure.

Rain smiled at her, then carefully placed the stone back into the sachet. Slowly, He walked back to Aria.

Rain sat down, their knees touching, and gently touched Aria’s hand, which tightly clutched the stone close to her body.

“P-please, don’t take it back. You’ve already given it to me. I remember everything now… so, please, don’t leave me again. Don’t let me forget you again.” Aria hugged the stone as if it were a precious treasure.

Rain slowly pulled Aria’s hand, trying to free her finger. Aria did her best to keep her finger in place, even as her nail dug into her skin and blood started to ooze out.

“You promise me many things, please, Rain you have to stay—”

Because of the blood that flowed down, Rain could finally touch Aria’s pinky finger. He smiled beautifully and swiftly crossed his tiny, half-cut pinky with hers. He looked at her with white, dead eyes that seemed to hold endless depth, and softly said, “Promise.”

Thud! Rain’s body fell down, and his pinky slipped out of Aria’s hand. The flowers around them began to wither.

Aria’s hand remained suspended in the air as she whispered, “R-Rain… Rain…”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Flop, a stone fell from Aria’s hand. She touched Rain’s lifeless body, feeling the coldness that she knew all too well. “This place is cold, don’t sleep here…” Her hands reached out to Rain’s shoulder, feeling the coldness grow even stronger. She shook him with increasing force. “Rain… wake up, lying on this cold ground is not good for your health.”

Thud! Ella’s knee fell. She lowered herself onto the ground and covered her mouth with her hands. Tears welled up in her eyes. “T-That can’t be right. Something is not right.” Crack! It sounded like glass shattering inside her, breaking even further.

“Rain… Rain… Rain… wake up,” Aria pleaded, but there was no response from the little man. She turned to the Red witch, Faye. “Faye, He won’t wake up. How can I bring him back?”

Faye, also in a state of shock, slowly shook her head. “Aria, his heart has stopped beating… It’s a sign of death… but why hasn’t the time curse ended yet?”

Aria could no longer hold back her tears. “No… no, you’re wrong, Red Witch. He’s just a sleepyhead,” she said. Aria reached for her secret box, carefully opening it to reveal a collection of beautiful blue flowers and luxurious gemstones. One of the stones had a square shape and shimmered with a rainbow of colors. She pressed it into his hand and pleaded, “Rain, wake up. I’ll give you these flowers and stones. You love stones, don’t you? This beautiful one I will give you back. Just please wake up, please…” Her tears streamed down her face.

“What is this, why, why, cursed continue…” Faye murmured.

Aria lifted his head and rested it on her thigh, gently taking his cold hand in hers and intertwining their fingers. “You promised me so many things…always smile at me…why are you being so cruel to me?” Rain’s body started cracking. Life force shorn. “Isn’t my life unfortunate enough? Do you have to do this to me, Rain? You should have let me die back then…”

Ella was in a state of panic. “F-Faye, why can’t we bring him back to life? If we don’t act soon, his life will be lost forever. His soul is already fading.”

Faye didn’t respond, still murmuring to herself.

Ella furrowed her brow and couldn’t wait any longer. She reached for her holy book and a golden light appeared. “I will bring him back to life!”

“Fading… Forever… Forever…” Faye’s eyes widened, glowing crimson.

Aria gently caressed Rain’s face, her voice filled with sadness. “Are you going to break your promise? Are we not going home together anymore?” A tear rolled down her cheek.

Faye exclaimed, “Birth’s link Curse! He was bond with it, even before his birth. He is the child inheriting the curse from his cursed mother!” Faye’s fingers cracked, her hand broke, her arms twisted into a misshapen form, and her legs bones split and cracked. Blood leaked from her eyes. Her neck shook, but before it could snap and end her life.

Suddenly, time came to a halt. The surroundings transformed into a grayscale palette, with the moon and sky swapping colors. Silence filled the serene dark moon as black matter slowly emerged from the shadow of an eclipse. One by one, the black matter folded its wings, which were formed by countless hands.

Finally, seven wings gracefully unfolded, while above its head, a black halo twisted slowly into the shape of Ein Sof, the symbol of infinity. In the center of the pure black matter, a white horizon line gradually appeared, illuminating a white eye that slowly opened.

In that eerie event, Faye’s eyes remained still and watchful. However, her entire body became frozen, allowing her only the ability to move her eyes.

The white eye swiftly scanned its surroundings, moving from left to right, observing everything beneath it. When the eye locked onto Faye, it paused for a moment before shifting its gaze elsewhere. However, that brief pause felt like an eternity for Faye, leaving her with a profound sense of emptiness and soullessness. It felt as if she were standing atop an endless vast of black sea.

The white eye suddenly came to a halt, its gaze slowly fixing on Rain. With its hands on its wings, it descended towards him, gently caressing Rain’s hair and body. Its touch was soft and tender, as if treating him like the most precious being in the world.

Faye’s soul danced wildly, as if a diamond needle had pierced it. However, there was no sound or scream, only her thoughts could cry. Is she his mother? Who is she, Rain? That Rain!?

Another hand slowly descended towards the magic circle on the ground. But as soon as it touched it, the hand swiftly moved back and forth, rapidly inscribing the magic crypt and adding layer upon layer.

Creek! Crack! Creek! Swoosh! Crack! Creek! Crack! The hands swiftly drew on the floor, attempting to fill the empty white space on the field.

Faye watched the moving hand that rewrote her magic circle. What is she doing? Death on the south, Ten sword on the north, a death curse? Is she casting a death curse with the ten swords of the south and north? No, that’s not right. It’s the reverse, the reverse of the ten swords…

Many layers of magic were stacked on the ground, forming only letters of a magic spell. Eventually, they stopped moving and slowly retracted back into a wing-shaped pattern. Only one hand remained, continued caressing Rain’s face.

The magic circles began to glow and then slowly rotated. One by one, they transformed into particles, taking the shape of flower petals that floated around the area. They gathered to create a flowery road in every direction.

Swoosh, swoosh. Numerous black forms emerged from the shadows of the forest. Humans, animals, monsters. They moved towards the center, one by one.

Faye recognized some of them. The townsfolk who burned with her red flame, the giant python from which she had extracted the Obsidian heart, even the pig from the mud island. There were also many people with wrist-prison tattoos.

Many people walked past Faye, and at times she could sense various emotions such as pain, coldness, sadness, and even the urge to cry. Why she summon fallen spirits? What does she want? A Tower—

Warm sensation touched her shoulder, it soft and gentle like a hand of mother. Delicate and pleasant voice sound out. “Sorry... Fayleen, daughter of init fire.”

Scream! But no words or sound would come out. Faye’s crimson iris shrunk into tiny dots, overwhelmed by a mix of confusion and insanity.

A hand tenderly caressed her hair. Jangle! jangle! Causing the jingling sound of her amulet and accessories filled the air. “You have pain and sorrow...”

Faye’s eyes moved left and right, trying to see the mysterious hand. However, there was nothing she could see. Suddenly, a warm sensation enveloped her hands. A beautiful, pure white hand appeared, glowing with a gentle purple and white light. As the hand touched hers, the blood and veins that had been distorted returned to normal, and even her scarlet eyes regained their radiant ruby shine. A soft voice spoke, “I could only do this... I could only let you see until this... Sorry, child.”

Then, gradually, hands covered her eyes, blinding her with a bright light.