Pov Author
The Dark Wood did not heal after Renji's departure.
The shadows clung to the ground like wounds that refused to close, stretching unnaturally between the twisted trees. The air remained thick, heavy with the echo of power that had torn through the forest moments ago. Even the waterfall, endless and violent, sounded distant—its roar swallowed by an unnatural silence.
Anna stood near the black rocks, her fingers curled tightly around the crushed flower.
Her body was steady now, but her heart still raced. Every breath felt sharp, like the world had not yet decided whether she belonged in it.
Shou Feng stood several steps away.
He faced the forest, his back straight, unmoving, as if he were carved from shadow itself. His long black hair fell freely down his back, brushing against the dark fabric of his robe. The red and black aura that once screamed destruction had faded, yet the space around him still felt dangerous—like a storm that had not fully passed.
"You're trembling," he said without turning.
Anna blinked.
She looked down at her hands and realized he was right. Her fingers shook slightly, despite her effort to stay calm.
"I didn't notice," she admitted quietly.
She forced her hands to still and took a slow breath. Cold mist from the waterfall clung to her skin, soaking into her sleeves, but it wasn't the chill that made her weak. It was the memory of him—of the way the forest had bowed, of the pressure that crushed the air when he raised his hand.
She had seen gods before.
But never one like this.
Shou Feng turned slowly.
His eyes were black again, calm on the surface, but something restless burned beneath them. A tension held tightly in place, like a blade kept in its sheath by pure will alone.
"You should fear me," he said.
The words were not a threat.
They were a fact.
Anna lifted her gaze to meet his.
"I was afraid," she said honestly. "But not of you."
His expression sharpened instantly.
"You should be," he replied. "The fear you felt earlier was only a fragment of what I am."
She swallowed but did not look away.
"You could have destroyed everything here," she said. "The forest. The mountain. Renji. Even me."
Silence stretched between them.
"That was not mercy," Shou Feng said at last. "That was limitation."
Anna frowned slightly. "Isn't that the same thing?"
"No."
His voice was firm, cold.
"Mercy is choice," he continued. "What I did was restraint—forced upon myself."
The weight of his words settled heavily in her chest.
She studied him more closely now—the way his shoulders remained tense, the faint exhaustion hidden beneath his control. A god who looked untouched by time, yet burdened by something far heavier than age.
"Renji said I'm your weakness," she said quietly.
The air shifted.
Shou Feng's gaze flickered for the briefest moment.
"He wanted to provoke me," he replied. "Nothing more."
"But he was right about one thing," Anna pressed gently. "You stopped because of me."
Shou Feng stepped closer.
The pressure of his presence wrapped around her instantly, heavy and suffocating. Her breath caught—not from fear, but from the sheer force of him. Gods were not meant to stand this close to humans.
"Do not misunderstand," he said, his voice low. "If I lose control because of you, I will destroy far more than enemies."
Her heart pounded loudly in her ears.
"Then why keep me near you at all?" she asked.
The question hung between them.
For the first time since the battle, Shou Feng did not answer immediately.
Kiyoshi emerged from the trees before the silence could grow unbearable. He dropped to one knee the moment he saw Shou Feng, his head bowed deeply.
"The forest is sealed," Kiyoshi reported. "Renji's trail vanishes beyond the eastern ridge. He will not return soon."
Shou Feng nodded once. "Good."
Kiyoshi glanced toward Anna, relief visible on his face. "You're unharmed."
"I think so," she replied softly.
Kiyoshi hesitated, then turned back to Shou Feng. "What are your orders?"
Shou Feng's gaze drifted toward the dark forest, his expression unreadable.
"Prepare to leave," he said. "This place is no longer neutral ground."
Kiyoshi bowed deeply. "At once."
When he disappeared again, the silence returned—thicker now, heavier with things left unsaid.
Anna looked down at the flower in her hand. Its petals were crushed, bruised, but not completely destroyed.
"Renji said the world fears you," she said. "Do you think that fear is wrong?"
Shou Feng stared at the waterfall for a long moment.
"No," he answered. "Fear is honest."
She took a step closer. "Then what about me?"
He turned slowly.
"You should not be here," he said again—but this time, his voice lacked its earlier certainty.
Anna placed the flower carefully on a stone between them.
"I'm not asking you to change," she said. "I just want to understand."
Understanding.
The word felt dangerous.
Shou Feng looked at the flower, then back at her.
"If you continue to stand beside me," he said quietly, "you will see destruction that even gods avoid remembering."
Her brown eyes did not waver.
"Then I'll remember," she replied. "So you don't have to carry it alone."
For the first time in centuries, the god of destruction felt something tighten in his chest.
Not anger.
Not pain.
Fear.
He turned away abruptly.
"We leave at dawn," he said. "Rest while you can."
Night settled uneasily.
Anna sat near the edge of the clearing, wrapped in a borrowed cloak. Sleep refused to come. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw red and black light tearing through the forest.
She looked toward Shou Feng.
He stood alone at the edge of the shadows, watching the darkness as if it might strike him back. He had not moved for hours.
She finally stood and approached quietly.
"You're not resting," she said.
"I do not sleep," he replied.
She hesitated. "Do you ever?"
"Not anymore."
She wrapped her arms around herself. "Renji said you abandoned him."
Shou Feng's jaw tightened.
"I spared him," he said. "That was my mistake."
She studied his profile—the sharp line of his jaw, the calm cruelty carved into his features.
"You don't regret sparing him," she said. "You regret what he became."
He said nothing.
The wind shifted, carrying the scent of wet earth and stone.
"You were ready to destroy the sky today," Anna said softly.
"Yes."
"And you stopped."
"Yes."
She looked at him carefully. "Does that frighten you?"
He turned to her then.
"Yes."
The honesty in his answer stunned her.
"Because once I begin to choose restraint," he continued, "I am no longer just destruction. And that… is unfamiliar."
She swallowed. "Is that bad?"
"For a god like me," he said, "it is dangerous."
Anna looked down. "I don't want to be the reason you lose yourself."
He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming again.
"You already are," he said quietly. "And that is why you terrify me more than Renji ever could."
Her breath caught.
The waterfall roared endlessly behind them.
She did not know what the future held.
But she knew this—
The god of destruction had chosen restraint.
And that choice would change everything.
End of Chapter