"It doesn't matter if I don't kill you here today; there are countless ways to ruin a person."
Zora's lips curved further, the smile now flawless, mesmerizing, and terrifying as he said those words.
She then leaned down slowly, bringing her lips close to Gabriel's ear, her voice dropping to a whisper that sent a chill straight into his spine.
"Tell me," she murmured, "if I cripple you completely… how do you think your future would look? The Academy prohibits killing, but it doesn't punish me for destroying someone's cultivation."
As Zora's words fell, the smugness frozen on Gabriel's face shattered instantly.
His body stiffened, his pupils contracting as he stared at her in disbelief, fear flooding his eyes like a tide he could no longer hold back.
"No… You can't do this!"
If his cultivation were destroyed, it would mean the end of everything.
Every ambition, every ounce of pride, every future he had envisioned would vanish in an instant.
