"Insect.."

As the first word voiced, it sent millions of people across the world to collapse in place simultaneously because of the overwhelming pressure the voice carried. Mostly, it was civilians who collapsed.

Thump—! Thump—! Thump—!

Zio felt his heartbeat fasten. For each passing moment in between the demon's words prolonged pause, his anxiety rose.

His breath became ragged under the pressure, and his back was sweating. It was hard even to breathe a small amount of air.

"Ember!"

He managed to call the young girl standing behind him despite the pressure.

The young girl, Ember, nodded at him, seemingly aware of what Zio needed from her. The promise. She had to fulfill her promise right here, right now.

She reached for Zio's shoulders, gently gripping them as she brought him down to the ground, putting him into a meditation position.

"Calm yourself.."

Ember pressed the weight of her palm on Zio's shoulders. At the same time, she drew the mana from her core located in her heart into her palm.

Surprisingly, what emanated from her palm wasn't the usual bluish glow — the mana's characteristic, but a red-crimson light of the flame.

The flame enveloped her hands and gradually spread to Zio, coating his torso with layers of flame.

What Zio needed, and what they had promised to each other was for Ember to protect him from the pressure of the demon because he would be more vulnerable to mental attack than he was three years ago.

He didn't specifically tell her the reason, and the current him who had lost his memories couldn't seem to spot a whole picture of what he saw through his Retrocognition.

Although he was still unable to put together the puzzle because some pieces were missing, he could at least grasp a few seemingly important parts such as the conversation between him, Ember, and another person who he guessed was Shannon. The promise the three of them had made. The future sight the younger him told, where Ember was the sole survivor of Earth in the future instead of the person he knew as the protagonist of the story, Lux Virtus.

There were many things he saw in the memory that couldn't be listed one by one. They were even forcefully forgotten because he ingested too much and his brain couldn't contain them at once.

Unfortunately, because he forced himself to use Retrocognition repeatedly in a single day, he had to suffer a Mental and Health stat rank reduction, from <E-> to <F> rank again for Mental stat and from <C-> to <D+> rank for Health stat.

As her flame energy centered around Zio's head to protect him from a mental attack, Ember felt a great disturbance of mysterious energy blocking the flame to seep into his brain.

'What.. is this?!'

She looked at the rift in the sky. Observing how the eye moved and the disturbing energy circulated around the rift began to run rampant, she guessed that it wouldn't be long until another devastation-bringer voice echoed in the air.

Focusing back her attention on Zio, she tried to force her flame energy into his brain, brawling against the mysterious energy preventing her to envelop Zio's mind.

Unlucky, the mysterious energy won the brawl, nulling the flame energy of the Emberheart.

'Oh, no!'

Suddenly, the starless night was shrouded in an unsettling stillness, only to be broken by the haunting melody that seemed to emanate from the abyss. It was a tune that whispered through the air, carrying a sense of fear and uneasiness.

The melody had a haunting hum, like a forgotten horrible lullaby sung by someone with a hoarse voice, sending a shiver down the spine.

By the time a growl resounded through the wind, Ember pulled Zio into her embrace.

Surprised, Zio tried to wriggle out from her embrace.

"Don't move!"

Realizing that she just wanted to help, Zio stopped moving, letting Ember do whatever she wanted.

Noticing the disturbance in the air and the growl that grew louder and louder, causing the ground to shake beneath their feet, she knew the demon was about to utter another word.

So, she focused her attention, calling upon the mana and the Emberheart's flame.

"I am Wrath."

Rumble—!

A voice that seemed to come inside the Earth was voiced in the air, making everyone who had a weak mental constitution fall unconscious upon hearing the fear-bringing voice.

The voice carried a heavy pressure spreading across the city— the world, as the same thing also happened simultaneously across the world, making the Earth tremble.

Ember was late just a second to cast a protective mana barrier enhanced by her Emberheart's flame.

It was not a barrier she was proud of because of its size, almost did not leave space for them to move. They had to endure the feeling of being trapped in that awkward position.

Nevertheless, she succeeded protected herself and Zio from the voice's heavy pressure.

"I don't talk much."

The third sentence carried even more pressure and mind disruption force than the previous two sentences had.

To withstand the increasing force, Ember tried to recall the happiest memory in her life to increase her Emberheart power which basically would get stronger based on how strong her emotion was.

Positive emotions would enhance the flame or fire's stability and controllability, whilst negative emotions would enhance the flame or fire destructive force but make it more difficult to control, causing the flame to darken in a menacing dark shade.

'What's the happiest moment of my life..'

Ember rummaged through her brain database subconsciously, searching for any relevant memories of her deceased mother.

Her mother was the only person who made her happy, so she thought it would be best to recall one of the memories with her.

But she was underestimating human emotions. Instead of getting influenced by a happy, positive emotion.

She was overwhelmed by the sadness of her mother's passing. Immediately, her vibrant, red-crimson flame began to change in color into a darker shade of blue as she was reminiscing the memory.

Noticing the changing flame color, Zio yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Hey! Get a hold of yourself!!"

As his voice reached her, she was jolted back to the present moment. She looked at him with a mix of confusion and realization, her eyes wide and her flame barrier flickering erratically.

"Sorry.."

Ember concentrated back, searching for the unforgettable among the unforgettable memories containing the happiest moment in her life.

Then she stumbled upon a particular memory. It was the memory of her first awakening as an Enhanced.

"We will control this realm soon."

By the time the fourth sentence resounded in the air, the protective barrier was solid enough to block the disturbance carried by the voice.

"Until then, prepare thyself!" Even when the fifth sentence was voiced, they stayed unflinching.

Just like that, the eye finally stopped peeking from the rift, leaving it alone while showcasing its endless void that seemed to hypnotize if someone stared at it for too long. The intense aura and heavy pressure disappeared from the air along with the dimensional rift.

What was unique about their disappearing was the fact that it progressed as if time had just moved backward.

The weather went back to normal with nothing decorating the skies. The spiral cloud formed due to the rift's appearance gradually returning to normal in abnormal progression.

Ember sighed relievedly, and so did Zio. They shared a chuckle together at that moment.

"That was close. I almost died.."historical

"Me too.."

"..."

Realizing that he was still in an awkward position against Ember, Zio immediately got up, putting a reasonable distance between them.

Ember was seemingly surprised by his sudden movement, but she was also glad she didn't have to support his weight again.

Their eyes locked, both were observing each other's faces in silence. After a minute, Zio cast his gaze away, staring upward to the skies.

Ember followed his gaze and guess what she found in the sky? Nothing.

The skies were still devoid of stars. The surrounding was quiet. It was to be expected since everyone in the vicinity had fallen unconscious because of the demon's tongue.

In the stillness of the night, Ember found herself looking at Zio. He seemed to blend with the night because of his black hair and black eyes, also the black attire of a hoodie and sweatpants.

Suddenly smiling, she said:

"Have you remembered what happened three years ago?"

As the sweet and alluring voices lingered in his hearing, Zio looked Ember in the eye.

Contrasting him, Ember seemed to stand out in the dark of midnight time because of her vibrant hair and eye color. Her flowing red hair moved softly by the wind, the curtain bangs framing her face fittingly.

"Yes. Though, I feel like there is more to it than what I saw."

The breeze gently brushed their skins as they fell into silence once again.

In the distance, they could hear the noises of ambulance sirens filling the void, and tranquility of the night.