The Rift dome pulsed like a beating heart.
Every pulse sent a cold wind through the broken dimension, making the white-shadow creatures tremble with hunger.
Qin Mian stood alone in the center of a wide cracked platform.
Her breath came out in small clouds of white.
Her hands shook.
Her hair stuck to her forehead with sweat.
The creatures circled her—
thin arms dragging across the glowing ground,
faces blank and smooth like masks,
bodies moving with slow, twisting steps.
There were dozens.
Maybe more.
Qin Mian took one step backward.
"Lie…
Please hurry…"
The creatures turned their heads toward her.
At the same time.
Jerky.
Wrong.
Too human and not human at all.
Then they rushed.
The First Attack
One creature lunged from the left—
fast.
Too fast.
Qin Mian threw her hands forward instinctively.
A half-formed shield burst out—
WHOOOM—!!
The creature smashed against it, sliding back.
But her shield flickered dangerously.
She gasped.
"That's… too weak…!"
Another creature came from behind.
Then two more.
Her shield collapsed.
"Ah—!"
She rolled sideways clumsily onto the glowing ground.
The creatures' claws scraped where her head had been.
She pushed herself up on shaking arms.
Her voice cracked:
"Lie… please…
I-I can't do this alone…"
No answer.
Only the creatures' soft, whispering steps.
They closed in even tighter.
She Fights Back
Qin Mian's heart hammered in her ears.
Her fear grew so fast it felt like it filled her whole body.
"I don't want to die here…
I need to see him… I need him…"
Something inside her—
a small, trembling spark—
reacted.
Her eyes glowed faint blue.
A thin line of dream-light curled around her palm.
"Yes…
Just… let me move… just a little…"
A creature jumped straight at her face.
She swung her arm in panic.
The dream-light shot out in a wild arc—
KRRRSHH!!
The creature exploded into dust.
Qin Mian froze.
"I… I did that…?"
But the others didn't stop.
They rushed again.
She fired another arc.
Another creature burst into white powder.
Her arms trembled harder.
Her legs felt weak.
But she stood.
"I have to…
I have to keep going…
For him…"
Panic and Power Intertwine
The third wave came at her—
seven creatures all at once.
Qin Mian screamed as she pushed both hands forward.
Her power snapped like lightning—
BOOOOM—!!!
A shockwave blasted outward.
The floor cracked.
Three creatures shattered instantly.
The others slid back, hissing with sound that felt like scraping metal.
Qin Mian fell to one knee, clutching her chest.
Her breath was uneven.
Her body trembled violently.
Her dream-light dimmed to almost nothing.
"No… no, don't fade…
Not now…"
The creatures sensed her weakness.
They began crawling faster.
Closer.
Lower, like real predators.
The Rift whispered around her:
"Alone…
Weak…
Lost…"
Qin Mian shook her head, tears filling her eyes.
"No!
I'm not alone!
He's coming—
I know he's coming—!"
The whisper replied:
"He cannot reach you."
Qin Mian clenched her fists.
Her voice cracked:
"Stop lying…
He promised…
He always comes back…"
But the creatures closed in until their cold fingers nearly brushed her skin.
She couldn't move.
She had no strength left.
Her body froze in fear.
"…Lie…
Please hurry…"
When Fear Becomes Strength
A claw swung toward her neck.
She shut her eyes tight.
Lie… I'm scared…!
Her power reacted.
Not from strength.
Not from calm.
But from raw fear.
A sudden burst of blue light exploded from her body—
WHOOOOMMM—!!!
The creatures were thrown backward, tumbling across the ground.
But the blast was weaker than before.
Much weaker.
And after it faded—
she collapsed to both knees.
Her hands dug into the glowing floor.
She was shaking hard.
Her vision blurred.
She could barely breathe.
"No…
I can't hold them again…"
The creatures stood again.
Slow.
Patient.
They approached without sound.
Dozens of them.
A pure white wave of death.
Qin Mian's hands fell to her lap.
She was out of strength.
Out of power.
Her lips trembled.
"Lie…
I'm sorry…
I can't…"
A single tear slid down her cheek.
A creature raised its arm—
ready to strike.
Qin Mian closed her eyes.
Her final whisper was small, soft, breaking:
"Lie… please… save me…"
The Rift Reacts to His Desperation
The creatures' claws dropped toward her—
and stopped.
In the air.
Frozen.
The entire dimension shuddered violently.
Cracks of blue-white light ripped across the sky of the Rift.
The creatures turned their heads—
confused.
Then—
they screamed.
Not at Qin Mian.
At something behind her.
A roaring wind burst out from the crack in the distance.
A voice echoed through the whole dimension.
Low.
Broken.
Angry.
Desperate.
"MIAN—!!!"
Qin Mian's eyes flew open.
Her heart stopped.
She turned—
slowly—
shaking—
and saw him.
He Arrives
Yin Lie stepped through a massive tear in reality.
Ice exploded under his feet.
Fire curled around his arms.
Keystone symbols pulsed behind him like orbiting stars.
His hair floated from the energy.
His eyes glowed like two different kinds of storms.
He wasn't walking.
He was burning through the dimension.
Every step cracked the ground.
Every breath shook the creatures.
Every heartbeat bent the air around him.
Qin Mian whispered:
"…Lie…?"
He exhaled shakily.
When he spoke, his voice wasn't loud.
But it echoed everywhere.
"I told you…"
The creatures backed away—
for the first time afraid.
His power pulsed again, stronger than before.
"…You won't face anything alone."
Her tears came instantly.
"Lie… Lie… I thought— I thought you—"
He didn't let her finish.
A burst of ice-blue fire erupted from him—
BOOOOOOOOM—!!!
All the creatures were blown apart at once.
The entire battlefield cleared.
Only him and her remained.
He stopped one meter in front of her.
His eyes softened.
His voice cracked.
"You called for me."
Qin Mian nodded, crying.
"I knew you'd come…"
He reached for her—
and the Rift screamed—
because together?
They were strong enough to break it.
—Chapter 97 End—