The Love That Remains

I take her hands. "Though you have a teenage girl look, you are more than a thousand years old, right?"

Her hands are small and pale. She has ancient tattoos on the back of her hands. She grins at me and says, "We are already friends?"

"I am not a friend of oracles." I twist her hands. "Why are you here?"

"It hurts, friend." She leans closer to me. Her cheeks blush red. "You can hurt me more. I do not mind at all."

I let go of her hand right away. She is a masochist!

"Look, your husband is still trying to fight his way into the barrier." She cocks her head proudly. "He is just a king-ranked. An ant in front of a demon."

I stomp on her foot. She cries in pain and kneels. Her face turns redder and she looks up with misty eyes.

"Hurt me more please."

She is a lost cause.

"Please! Please!" She grabs my foot and wails, "More...More.."

I ignore her pleas and look at Sung Jun. He is chanting and summoning freaking lightening on the barrier. His father is yelling at him to stop. Ms. Sung suddenly appears behind his father and knocks him down.

"Son, I will help you." She creates signs with her finger in the air. The invisible sign turns a giant golden letter and falls toward the barrier. It blasts on the barrier.

"She is good, considering that she is just a violet level magician." The Oracle let go of my leg. "But not good enough."

"Mother, please stop," I say to Ms. Sung. "Sung Jun, you also stop. She isn't hurting me."

They stop when they hear me. Sung Jun moves closer to the barrier. His hands are already healed. I have no idea when he became a king-ranked shaman. It was probably before we met again. What did he eat as a child? Becoming a king-ranked shaman in modern times is nearly impossible. There are not enough pure spiritual energy or resources. Reis mentioned once that cultivating was tough for humans. Only those who were greatly chosen and blessed by heaven can ever surpass the impossible.

As for me, I can't cultivate because my body cannot store spiritual energy. I have already taken a different path to become strong.

"Woman, you can't even break this barrier."

I find the owner of the voice sitting on the floor behind me inside the barrier. I have not seen Reis coming or going. Where did he just pop up from?

"Oh, you are a god!" The girl crawls away from me. "Apologies! I was just curious about her."

Reis licks his paws casually. He doesn't spare a glance at her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I crack my knuckles. "I told you that I will complete your task later."

"Woman, you cannot expect me, your sponsor, to let you walk into the domain of the other god alone." Reis rolls his mismatched eyes. "Your well being is my responsibility. Besides, it is not your choice. It's me who will decide."

"Reis!"

He looks at Sung Jun. "I didn't expect that a mortal could hide his true rank from a god. You surpassed my expectations, but this makes you dangerous to my slave. I cannot let her stay in the vicinity of someone like you."

"What are going to do?" Sung Jun slams the barrier. It burns his skin, but he doesn't care.

"Stop it!" I try to run to him, but a force pulls me back. I fall on my butt. No matter what, I can't get up. When I try to use my magic, I find it blocked.

"What's going on?" I stare at Reis. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"You have to use it plenty later. So, save your energy." Reis put his claw on my lips. "Stay quiet."

"Hey, swindling oracle, tell him his future and about his previous life."

The oracle lifts her head slightly. "As you wish, as you wish, my god."

I open my mouth, but no words come out of my mouth.

"Oracle, break the barrier...let me in..." Sung Jun screams at us.

He changes his form and turns human with a flash of light. I can't move an inch while I watch him open the dimension gate right there.

"If you want her back, better listen to what this oracle has to say," He says to Sung Jun. "Or better see what she has to show."

He picks me up in his arms. I can't even fight him back. My voice, my magic, and even my movements are blocked by him. I try to look back at Sung Jun, even my neck doesn't follow my wishes. I am completely paralyzed.

"Time to go."