Its horns began to grow once again.
They took on a form mixed with darkness and fire.
"Little soul, you are certainly a fighter.
But you fail to realize that this is my world.
There is no place for light here."
The Fear Demon roared as it spoke to Rose.
The spiritual world trembled as if it were about to explode.
Nothing was calm anymore.
Shrouding the darkness, the Fear Demon spread its wings wide.
Its face was now nothing but emptiness.
Even though Rose was weakened,
the light in her eyes did not fade.
"No matter how hard you try, in the end, everything returns to darkness.
Birth, hope, dreams all turn into the dust of darkness.
Light is nothing but a lie.
A temporary deception, waiting to be bound."
The cold truth spoken by the demon echoed throughout the spiritual world,
shaking everything around.
Like a sharp edge, it cut deeply into Rose's mind.
Rose lifted her head and looked up.
In the heart of her astral body, an unextinguishable flame was visible.
With a broken breath, yet a firm voice, Rose spoke.
"Yes, light is temporary.
Every ray of light will one day extinguish.
But there is something you don't realize.
Even if light dies, it will live on as a memory in the hearts it once illuminated.
Even the smallest spark can burn away the darkness.
Darkness can never imprison the light.
Even if light is bound, darkness will only give it a new birth there.
If light is a lie and a deception, then it is that very deception and lie that keeps humanity alive.
I will fight for that lie, until my last breath."
Rose's voice terrified the darkness itself.
She summoned all of her astral energy, her distraction power, into her hands.
She began teleporting a hundred thousand times.
Each time she appeared, she delivered a deadly attack directly to the demon's body.
Its body parts began to shatter and explode.
She had now fully acquired the speed of light.
The King of Darkness was no longer able to track her speed.
Finally, she appeared right in front of the demon's face.
A look of fear appeared on its hollow face.
Her hand twisted into its mouth.
She poured all of her astral energy into its mouth and detonated it.
Its entire body exploded backward.
The heart of the Fear Demon was there.
Rose had understood it clearly, which is why she aimed her final attack directly at its heart.
Every living being carries the pulse of life somewhere within them.
During the battle, Rose had discovered exactly where its heart was.
Every time she teleported and attacked, she used her wings to cover its hollow face.
This, she had carefully observed.
Only after attacking its entire body did she confirm that its heart was inside its mouth.
"You always speak of the eternity of darkness. But if I can bring even a single moment of light, that very moment becomes eternity."
After saying this, a halo of light began to expand outward from within her.
She was transforming into a deity.
The Fear Demon spoke one last time:
"Darkness will persist in death. But you are the true human remember, it is light."
This time, the demon's voice did not cause even the slightest disturbance in the spiritual world.
She rose in the darkness like a deity.
Her two hands stretched apart and then came together forcefully.
As they collided, the light swallowed the Fear Demon like fire consuming its prey.
Even when the light finally covered the Fear Demon, its glowing eyes on the empty face were not fade.
The King of Darkness turned into dust, merging into the light.
As the darkness completely vanished, the spirit world was filled with light.
Her body's own light was fully absorbed into that radiance.
Her astral body returned to its normal state.
Rose suddenly descended to the level of light.
Not a single particle of darkness remained.
Without realizing it, tears were flowing from her eyes.
She spoke firmly,
"I have won."
A small smile began to form on her lips.
Her happiness spread even to the light itself.
The frame appeared once again before her.
This time, it was no longer like smoke.
It was completely made of light.
She read what was written in it.
"Your wish has been granted.
If you have any other desire, please say it."
She was immersed in thought.
This time, there was no timer.
The spiritual world had given her time to think.
Desires flickered and vanished through her mind.
A warning was given to Rose that causing a major change in the real world would bring great danger.
Therefore, she did not dare to wish for something drastic.
Suddenly, a desire arose in her mind.
She placed her hand on the frame, and it instantly disappeared.
Suddenly, the spiritual world began to tremble.
Changes started happening rapidly.
The place where Rose was standing began to rise.
It slowly transformed into a stage.
As she stood and watched, a crowd of people suddenly appeared in front of her.
Nearby, the images she had drawn also appeared.
According to her wish, the spiritual world reshaped itself like a stage show from the real world.
Temporary humans began to applaud and cheer for her.
Seeing this, a mixture of a smile and wonder crossed Rose's face.
She stepped forward, looked at everyone, and began to speak.
Each word she spoke resonated deeply within the temporary humans.
She shared the pictures she had drawn and her wishes with everyone.
For a while, she tried to interact with the temporary humans.
After some time, the world she had created slowly began to fade away.
Now, the spiritual world completely transformed into light.
Tears of joy flowed from her eyes.
She wiped the tears and returned to consciousness.
Spending more time there would have been more dangerous in the real world, so she quickly closed her eyes.
She began performing the HOMMOCK TECHNIQUE that would bring her back to the real world.
The stage of the HOMMOCK TECHNIQUE was the opposite of the one she had done earlier.
First, she took in and released four breaths.
Then, two breaths.
Finally, she took and released one last breath.
After repeating this process two or three times, the path to the real world appeared in front of her.
Rose stepped onto that path.
As soon as she stepped onto it, she began to move through it at incredible speed.
At last, she opened her eyes from within her own body.
Rose's body slowly returned to a state of calm.
The reflection of that light was still visible in her eyes.
She sank deep into thought.
She knew that no matter how important the wish was that had been fulfilled, an equally important part of life would be taken by the spiritual world.
Having completed the astral projection, she pressed the Siren button that was in her hand.
The sound of it pierced through the tent, breaking the silence, and it moved outside the tent.
Her journey to the spiritual world ended there.
But from now on, Rose's soul would never be the same again.
To be continued...