?"Noooo!"

"Hahaha!"

Amidst the laughter of her parents, the little Miwa stood at the side and stared blankly at the two, wondering, 'No. I'm sure this isn't a dream. It's more like'

Everything that happened felt far too real. A dream should not be this vivid and realistic. There were too many emotions involved within it, followed by the pain, and the hardships Miwa suffered.

'This is another life.' Miwa thought sternly.

Her emotions, her consciousness, everything was the same as before death.

Plus, she remembered the way she was killed. It was horrific, agonizing, and gut-wrenchingly painful.

Miwa's little body shivered and she shook her head, trying to not remember it again.

'I have come back to the past. I really have' Miwa thought.

There was no denying it anymore.

Everything was far too real for her to not believe it. Had she not been killed, she would've had other thoughts.

'Sigh I do not know whether to laugh or cry. Mama and papa are alive and healthy again There's no tragedies that've happened yet. And with how I'm currently, there's no way in hell I'm going to let any tragedy repeat!'

Conviction filled the young girl's heart.

She looked at her happy parents and withheld the tears from flowing out.

Had it been anybody else, they would've cried the moment they saw their dead parents, but with years of training, Miwa's mental fortitude was strong enough to bear through any tragedy.

It was a peculiar situation and not many would be like Miwa, accepting things and moving on with their lives.

The cultivation path was filled with dangers and death could occur at any given moment. One always had to be prepared to leave everything behind and embrace death.

One who did not have far too many attachments would be indifferent to death, but one who had many attachments would fight even death to not lose himself.

Miwa belonged to the former category of people.

She had no family or baggage from the previous world.

There was her little brother, but all thanks to Lith, he was taken care of and was standing on his own two feet, looking after himself.

It was a bit sad to lose her friends, but there was no going back in time now.

She also had a strong premonition that she would see them again. Maybe the events would repeat and she would see them in this life, thus, Miwa was not too worried and had some optimism.

A warrior had to be like this.

Without strong conviction, their mental fortitude would collapse from the many battles.

Death was just another part of life and embracing it was the way of the warrior.

With newfound strength, Miwa took a deep breath, and smiling, went to play with her parents, starting her journey in this new life.

..

Artisan City Pumice.

"Here we are." Jenna said as she walked with Lith around the city square.

There were many artisans nearby crafting various different things.

The place was like a haven for handmade goods. From cheap glow-in-the-dark trinkets to starlight reflecting orbs these fellows here had a lot of things to sell.

Lith wasn't here to buy any of these things. Rather, his goal was to leave his trails and find information on his friends.

A city square was one of the spots the four had agreed to visit to check for trails.

Lith wandered around, searching for it, and also left his own in the meantime.

Jenna accompanied Lith and looked around, trying to be of help.

While the two were busy doing their things, they heard some static noise coming from the center of the city square, the place where the fountain was.

Everyone dropped what they were doing and turned to look at the fountain.

The water in the fountain made a loud gushing sound and lept high up in the air.

Much to everyone's surprise, it didn't fall down, but flew still in midair, defying gravity.

Lith and Jenna stared at the water and wondered what was up.

A few seconds later.

"Attention devotees. This sudden broadcast is being made due to an urgent matter. As you all may know, this world is filled with filthy devils. The church is going their best to eradicate them, but time and again, we find them still causing trouble." A man with white beard said in a calm, soothing tone.

His words made the artisans around express surprise and start chattering.

"The devils are at it again?"

"Man I'm so tired of those pricks!"

"We never get a break from them. Sigh"

"What did those devil bastards do now?"

There were a variety of reactions from the people. Lith paid attention to every single detail.

"I have come here to state that: even if the devils are smart and can hide properly, there's no escape for them. That's right, dear devotees. There's no escape for these vile creatures. Magic spells have advanced considerably and things have gotten to such a point where even young disciples of the church can catch these monsters."

"Let me show you what my own disciples have caught with their little hands."

The scene on the broadcast changed and everyone could now look at a chained man.

There was a black mask on his face and only his horns protruding from head and pink hair could be seen.

The people in the city square gasped as they saw that.

"Horns!? A devil!" Many exclaimed.

Horns were one of the common traits of a devil and everyone knew about it.

It is exactly because it's common that many devils concealed them when roaming in between the humans.

To find one such devil and then take off its concealment and show its true face to the world This sure was some extraordinary work!

The people in the city square applauded the young disciples of the church while also hailing curses at the damn devil on the screen.

The whole city square was filled with their shouts, however, one person was totally silent. That being none other than Lith.

Lith stared at the screen and said softly, "Ralph"

He clenched his fist and stared at the screen with visible hatred in his eyes.

Lith did not know how Ralph got caught by the church, but he very well knew one thing: the church was going to disappear!

Laying a finger on his friend? Lith was definitely not going to let this slide!

Keeping his anger contained, Lith continued to observe and look for details regarding Ralph's location in the broadcast.

If there was even the sky or the grass that was visible, Lith could find the location easily!