Chapter 1: Fate Reborn — The Rainy Night
Darkness swallowed everything.
Mori remembered dying.
The explosion at Demon Tower had shattered the heavens themselves.
Fire, blood, broken screams — and the feeling of her soul being torn apart piece by piece.
Even now, the memory still clung to her like a scar burned deep into her bones.
Then came the sound.
Drip.
Drip.
Water falling somewhere nearby.
The steady sound slowly pulled her back from the endless darkness.
Mori forced her heavy eyes open.
Cold stone walls surrounded her.
Rainwater slid down cracks in the cave ceiling.
Damp wind brushed against her skin, carrying the smell of wet earth and rotting leaves.
The cave was silent except for the rain.
Outside, thunder rolled low and distant, like a warning no one was left to hear.
For several long seconds, she simply stared upward, unable to move.
This wasn’t the Underworld.
Her breathing trembled.
“I’m… alive?”
Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
She tried to push herself upright, but pain spread through her entire body.
Her arms felt weak and heavy, as if every bone had been filled with iron.
Then suddenly—
A low groan echoed from deeper inside the cave.
Mori froze instantly.
Her heart began pounding.
Slowly, she turned toward the sound.
Moonlight filtered through the cave entrance, faint and pale against the darkness.
Beneath it lay a man on a pile of dry grass.
Black robes.
Blood.
A broken arrow buried deep in his left shoulder.
Dark blood dripped slowly down his arm and onto the stone floor below.
The moment Mori saw him, her chest tightened painfully.
She knew this scene.
She remembered this night.
Everything had started here.
In her previous life, this single moment had changed both of their fates forever.
She should leave.
If she walked away now, she could avoid everything that came later — the betrayal, the war, the countless deaths.
No more suffering.
No more watching him walk toward ruin while she stood helplessly beside him.
For one long breath, she stayed completely still.
The smart thing was to turn around.
The safe thing was to never look back.
She had told herself that a thousand times in her last life — and done nothing.
But before her mind could stop her, her body had already moved.
She crawled toward him on trembling hands and knees.
The man’s face was hidden beneath wet black hair.
Mori’s fingers shook as she slowly brushed the strands aside.
Then she saw him clearly.
That cold expression.
That sharp jawline.
Those familiar lips.
Ren.
The man she had watched walk step by step toward destruction while she remained powerless to save him.
Reality crashed into her all at once.
Tears filled her eyes before she even realized it.
The explosion at Demon Tower…
It had sent her back.
Back to the very beginning.
Back to the rainy night where they first met.
Before hatred.
Before betrayal.
Before fate destroyed everything.
Back to the one moment she had wanted to change more than anything else.
Shaking, Mori reached out and placed her hand beneath his nose.
A weak breath touched her fingertips.
Relief hit her so hard it almost hurt.
“He’s alive…” she whispered.
Instinctively, she tried to gather spiritual power into her hand.
Then she froze.
Her hand was small.
Dirty.
Covered in mud and tiny scratches.
Mori stared blankly at herself.
Rough animal-skin clothes hung loosely from her thin body.
Her arms and legs were tiny and weak, clearly belonging to a child.
Eight years old.
Maybe nine.
This was her younger self.
Back when everyone had called her a little savage from the mountains.
A cold feeling spread through her chest.
Then she quickly checked inside her spiritual sea.
Empty.
Completely empty.
Not even the smallest trace of immortal energy remained.
Mori’s face turned pale.
She wasn’t the War Goddess anymore.
She had become that powerless little girl again.
No power.
No weapon.
No way to protect anyone.
But there was no time to panic.
The poison spreading from Ren’s wound was getting worse.
Black veins had already begun crawling across the skin near his shoulder.
At this rate, he would not survive until sunrise.
Then suddenly, Mori remembered something.
The Seven-Leaf Flower.
A rare healing herb grew somewhere deeper inside this cave.
In her previous life, she had once seen it save someone standing at death’s door.
If she left now, Ren would die.
And perhaps her future would change completely.
Mori closed her eyes tightly.
For one brief second, hesitation appeared in her heart.
Then she stood up and ran deeper into the darkness.
Rainwater made the stone floor slippery beneath her bare feet.
Sharp rocks cut against her skin as she searched through the cave.
The deeper she went, the colder the air became.
The darkness here was total.
No moonlight.
No sound except her own ragged breathing and the distant rain.
It pressed against her chest like a hand trying to push her back.
Her breathing grew faster and faster.
What if she couldn’t find it?
What if she was already too late?
Finally, near a narrow crack in the wall, she saw it.
Several small herbs glowing faintly in the darkness.
Mori rushed forward immediately.
Her fingers trembled as she pulled the plants free.
Without hesitation, she stuffed the leaves into her mouth and chewed.
The bitter taste nearly made her gag.
But she didn’t stop.
Holding the crushed herbs tightly, she hurried back to Ren’s side.
Carefully, she tore away the blood-soaked cloth around his shoulder.
The wound looked terrible.
The skin near the arrow had already turned black from poison.
Mori took a shaky breath.
Then she grabbed the broken arrow and pulled hard.
“Ngh…”
Even unconscious, Ren’s body jerked violently from the pain.
“It’s okay…” Mori whispered softly.
“I’m here.”
Blood immediately poured from the wound.
Mori quickly pressed the crushed herbs against it before wrapping the injury tightly with strips torn from her own clothes.
The bandages looked messy and uneven.
But slowly, the black poison stopped spreading.
Only then did Mori finally let out a breath.
Her strength disappeared all at once.
Exhausted, she leaned against the cave wall beside him.
Carefully, she rested one small hand against his sleeve, almost afraid he would disappear the moment she let go.
Outside, thunder roared across the mountains.
Rain continued pouring through the night.
But for the first time in countless years, Mori felt strangely safe.
As if she had finally returned to the place where everything truly began.
Slowly, exhaustion pulled her into sleep.
Morning came quietly.
The storm had passed.
Golden sunlight filtered through the vines hanging over the cave entrance.
Outside, birds sang in the freshly washed forest.
The air smelled of rain-soaked pine and cool earth.
It was the kind of morning that felt brand new — as if the world had quietly washed itself clean overnight.
Ren’s eyelashes moved slightly.
Then his eyes opened.
Cold.
Sharp.
Alert.
In a single glance, he scanned the entire cave.
The shadows.
The exits.
Possible threats.
This was someone who had survived too many battles to ever lower his guard.
Almost instantly, Ren reached toward his waist for his sword.
Empty.
His weapon was gone.
Probably lost during the battle the night before.
“Hss…”
Pain shot through his shoulder the moment he moved.
Frowning slightly, he looked down at the wound.
The poison should have already destroyed the flesh.
Instead, crude herbal paste covered the injury, and rough bandages wrapped tightly around it.
The poison had been suppressed.
Someone had saved him.
Ren narrowed his eyes.
Then he noticed the small figure curled up nearby.
A little girl slept against the stone wall.
Her black hair was tangled with grass and leaves.
Her rough clothes barely covered her thin body.
Even while asleep, she looked tense, like a small animal prepared to run at any moment.
Her?
A trace of surprise crossed Ren’s face.
Fragments of memory slowly returned.
A pair of tiny trembling hands.
A soft voice whispering beside him through the darkness.
“Don’t be scared… I’m here…”
Ren looked away.
Outside, daylight filled the mountains.
But his expression slowly darkened.
The Crimson Wraith Sect would never stop hunting him.
Once the rain completely faded, they would find his trail again soon enough.
If he stayed here, the little girl who saved him would die with him.
He could not repay kindness with disaster.
He had to leave.
Slowly, Ren forced himself to stand despite the pain tearing through his body.
Before turning away, he glanced at the sleeping girl one last time.
Something unreadable flickered briefly in his cold eyes.
Almost like regret.
“Thank you,” he said silently in his heart.
Then he stepped toward the cave entrance.
One slow step after another.
Just one more step…
And he would disappear from her life once again.
But behind him, Mori suddenly moved in her sleep.
Almost instinctively, her small fingers reached out.
And quietly caught the edge of his robe.
Her fingers held on, even in sleep.
Ren stopped.
