Red lily (1)

Minutes earlier, deep within the forest, a young woman with long silver hair was running desperately, pursued by a group of assassins who leaped from tree to tree.**

"Don't let her escape! We can't allow any of them to survive!" one of the assassins shouted.

The woman deftly dodged countless daggers and blows, incapacitating most of her pursuers until only three remained. As she ran, thoughts of betrayal and despair flooded her mind. 'Why? Why would my own clan attack us? What do they gain from this?' she thought, her heart heavy.

She stopped running, observing the shadows of the three assassins moving among the trees. 'What's the purpose of all this terror? The unification of the seven sects was precisely to prevent something like this from happening.' Her breathing grew heavy, and her eyes began to lose color, transforming into a deep yellow as a soft golden energy began to envelop her body.

The assassins hurled more daggers, but the woman didn't attempt to dodge. The cuts grazed her skin, some piercing, but she seemed indifferent.

"What's happening?" one of the assassins exclaimed in surprise.

With her eyes now completely yellow, the woman appeared in front of one of the assassins, holding the other two by their necks, already unconscious. "You must be their leader," she said with an unsettling calm.

"No! Please! Don't kill me, I... I'm not..." The man was silenced by her hand, which pushed him forcefully against the ground. "Let me see what your heart has to show me."

Images of deformed monsters flooded the woman's mind, one after another, until a vision of a beautiful and vast flower garden emerged. But at the center of the garden, a voice whispered, "The two must die," followed by a deafening scream that made her fall back, blood streaming from her ears and nose.

She struggled to her feet, her vision blurred, but she soon regained clarity. Looking at the three fallen assassins, the yellow energy around her hand intensified, and she killed them by piercing their hearts before running away.

"This world is beyond saving... its future no longer exists. There's only one way to resolve everything." The woman murmured to herself, standing at the edge of a lake with waters so clear that the bottom was perfectly visible.

She extended her arm, holding one of the assassins' daggers, and with the other hand, she cut her wrist, letting the blood flow into the lake. As the blood stained the water, she recited a phrase in a forgotten language. Immediately, a red lily appeared on her wrist, closing the wound.

The blood spreading through the lake began to grow, filling it with a deep red, and a whirlwind of energy started to form. The woman took a few steps forward and threw herself into the lake, slowly sinking as her eyes closed and her consciousness began to fade. But before she could sink completely, an immense amount of energy emanated from the lake, ripping the surrounding trees from the ground and hurling them into the air. Slowly, her sinking halted until she was completely still.

Time had frozen. Before her appeared a creature with a terrifying appearance, with enormous eyes that reflected an immense void, except for a single point of blue light. Its mouth was nothing more than a slit that stretched from one side of its face to the other.

"Are you certain this is your wish? Do you know the consequences? Do you know all the rules? You understand that you can't use our agreement for selfish purposes?"

The woman, still upside down, looked directly at the creature. "Why ask? You already know the answer."

The creature smiled, running a hand across its face. "Your grandfather truly did an excellent job." With a swift motion, it pressed its hand against the woman's abdomen, shattering the space around them like glass, sending her into the void. "Remember, it's you from the past who will pay the price. Use your five hours well."

With that, the creature closed its hand, repairing the tear in the space, and the woman was sent back to the past.