Rain.

Lian had always loved the rain.

It was calming.

Peaceful.

Soothing.

Yet today, it felt different.

Lian lay on the wet ground, staring at the creature above him.

Red eyes, two horns. 

A bear-like body covered in black, leather-like skin. 

From its back, several tentacles stretched out, each several meters long.

One thing they all had in common—every part of it was stained with blood.

This was a demon.

Lian had heard stories about them from the village chief.

Where they passed, only destruction remained.

It had always felt like just another tale. 

But now, as he lay there, Lian realized—the village chief had known exactly what he was talking about.

"I hope the cultivators, if they're real, kill… you…"

Lian struggled to speak.

His body was numb.

Moments ago, he had woken from a nightmare he hadn't had in years.

Memories of a distant world—one that felt unreal.

Strangely shaped objects soared through the sky as if by magic.

Carriages moved without horses.

In the dream, he was young. He had fallen from a towering building.

But he hadn't died instantly.

He had felt the pain, the impact of the ground crushing him.

For years, the dream haunted him every night—until it suddenly stopped.

And now, after all this time, it had returned.

Lian had only stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, hoping to shake off the lingering fear.

Instead, he returned to a village drenched in blood.

His family was gone.

The neighbor's daughter, the one he had once promised to take as his first wife—only her hand remained.

The bodies around him looked like dry husks, drained of blood as if it had been sucked from them.

All because of the demon in front of him.

Maybe he should have run when he first saw it instead of attacking in rage.

Not that he thought it would have let him.

But at least then, he might have died quickly.

Instead, he lay here now, bones shattered, forced to watch as the demon devoured a human child—bit by bit.

"You're treating me like dessert, right? Hahaha… hahaha…"

Lian suddenly burst into laughter, startling the demon that had just finished its meal.

Why was this human laughing instead of despairing? This didn't make sense. Also, happy food tasted terrible!

"Roar!"

The demon let out an enraged roar, but instead of breaking Lian's spirit, it only fueled his rage.

"I swear to the heavens, if I survive this—I'll kill you. I'll kill every one of your kind! Even if I have to become a demon myself!"

He had spoken in a last bout of fury. 

He never expected to survive.

But he refused to cower.

What he hadn't expected, however, was what happened next.

"Are you sure about that…?"

A voice echoed softly.

It was cold yet warm. 

Calm yet chilling.

Both Lian and the demon turned toward the source of the voice.

On the roof of a ruined house stood a girl clad in black.

She looked young. Sixteen, about the same age as him.

Her dark skin seemed to merge with the surrounding shadows—no, it was as if the darkness itself bowed to her.

It wasn't just that.

Something about her was… off.

Lian's gaze lingered on her white hair, but that wasn't what unsettled him the most.

It was the rain.

Or rather, the way the rain refused to touch her.

Even as water fell from the heavens, a barrier—unseen but undeniable—shielded her from every drop.

Then, Lian noticed something else.

The demon…

It was trembling.

Lian didn't know why.

But he could almost smell the fear radiating from it.

Then it clicked.

Another one of the village chief's stories.

"Are you a cultivator, miss?"

His voice was weak, barely a whisper drowned in the rain.

Lian hadn't expected her to hear him. 

Yet, when she spoke again, her voice was as clear as if she were standing right beside him.

"Would you kill all the demons if you could?"

She repeated.

Lian froze.

Then, his teeth clenched in rage.

"If I could, I would die doing so! I'll kill every single one of these bastards! All of them!"

The words left him in a roar he hadn't planned.

No one remained.

He was the only survivor in the entire village.

The pain was too much to bear.

"Good."

The girl nodded in satisfaction. 

But her next words struck a nerve.

"However, you're too weak. Look at yourself—brought to this state by such a weak demon."

"This… is a weak demon?"

Lian couldn't believe it.

A weak demon was this powerful?

But the way she spoke made it seem undeniable.

"A mere Stage 1 Awakened-level demon. Such a thing isn't even worth killing."

She sounded bored.

Their conversation continued as if nothing was wrong.

As if they weren't standing in the middle of a slaughtered village.

As if a demon wasn't right there.

For her, it seemed normal.

For Lian, with his life slipping away, his mind registered the scene as normal.

"…Are you a cultivator?"

He asked again.

The village chief had spoken of them, even with his limited knowledge.

It was said some could fly, and the strongest could split the sky.

It had always felt like a fantasy.

But demons were real.

So why not cultivators?

If he had that kind of power… wouldn't the village have been saved?

Wouldn't he have been able to avenge them?

"I am."

The girl confirmed this before turning her gaze to the demon.

Even from afar, Lian felt a wave of disdain radiating from the young girl. 

"You disgusting creature. Die."

It was only a word.

She had merely spoken.

Yet Lian watched as the demon's body froze—then collapsed.

It was dead.

Just like that.

It had died from a single word.