A pink diamond.

That was what the girl dedicated to Kierra, together with the promise of eternity.

''Beautiful, isn't it?''

Her cheerful voice sounded.

''...Indeed.''

Kierra replied calmly and stroked the girl's head. The girl was an exact match of a pink diamond, which meant tenderness and feminity, but more than that, she was adorable.

Just like that, Kierra and the girl held the pink diamond together and spent time quietly in the crystal forest.

Lying peacefully on Kierra's lap, the girl spoke up. ''...We... are going to make it, right?''

Kierra caressed the girl's cheek and smiled ever so faintly. ''Of course. I am here, after all.''

''Um!''

The girl happily nuzzled her face against Kierra's touch, dreaming of a brighter future.

''—ster.''

''Master.''

Awoken by an uninspiring voice, Kierra slowly took a look around her.

A familiar interior, a familiar view outside the window. She was in her own bed, in her own house, her own pocket dimension. Searching her memory, Kierra soon found out why she was sleeping in the first place.

She just had an urge.

Humans were finicky creatures, changing their minds every weekday. The same happened to Kierra, and that was all.

Nevertheless, she noticed a person wearing a maid costume standing beside her bed. It was Vel, her personal maid. Kierra had summoned her the night before to serve her this morning.

''Would you like a coffee, master?''

''Sure.''

With that, Vel excused herself to go to the kitchen.

Vel wasn't a human. When Kierra found her, she introduced herself as AEN-35.5, a 'doppelganger.' Still, she was inherently quite different from the doppelgangers Kierra knew, and she was placed inside a rather strange capsule, so Kierra kidnapped her out of curiosity. 

From then on, she was named Vel before becoming Kierra's maid and summon.

Vel told Kierra that her origin was entirely from another universe, which planted the idea of transcending the stars themselves into the archwizard's mind.

'I have to thank her and maybe the people who made her later.'

Kierra grabbed her witch hat and went over to the table in a good mood. When Vel brought the cup of coffee to Kierra, the archwizard opened her mouth.

''Thanks.''

Vel was speechless for a moment but quickly replied. ''It is merely my duty, master.''

''Mhm.''

After that, Kierra got Vel to redo her makeup before exiting the pocket dimension. Right away, a sunny plaza scene greeted her, and beside the fountain was a black-haired woman.

''Oh, Kierra.''

Yu Chen smiled softly and waved at Kierra.

Kierra approached Yu Chen. ''What happened?''

''You... are quite sharp.'' Yu Chen replied. ''Indeed, there is a big incident going on with Emei.''

Yu Chen wouldn't usually wait for her like this unless there was something—was what Kierra thought.

''Continue.''

''I think you should be listening directly to Feng Ling as she had come here, specifically in search of you.''

''...Alright.''

Kierra hoped it wasn't because of her. Probably not. Um.

Soon, the two arrived at White Lotus's reception room, where Feng Ling and Tian Yun, together with Shen and Lan, had already seated.

''Senior Kierra!''

Feng Ling cried when she saw Kierra enter the room. The girl seemed particularly exhausted, and signs of stress were evident in her demeanor.

Kierra and Yu Chen sat down.

''What do you need me for?''

''Please save my master!''

''Elaborate.''

At this point, Feng Ling bit her lower lip in frustration.

''She... my master was consumed by her internal demon last night.'' She said, her voice trembling. ''Now, the whole sect is in an uproar.''

If Kierra remembered correctly, internal demons were supposed to be representations of cultivators' struggles, be it negative emotions or others.

This was not looking good. Kierra felt her profound lecture yesterday had made Mie Xieren's emotions explode or something similar. It was her fault.

Nevertheless, Feng Ling bitterly continued.

''Not only that, but some idiot froze half of the Land of Death yesternight as well!'' She yelled. ''We need to prepare for war on top of this...!''

(╯｀□′)╯~╧╧

Feng Ling was distraught. This unfair turn of events, what did Emei do to deserve it!

Meanwhile, everyone other than her was speechless.

'''' ... ''''

Tian Yun and Yu Chen glanced at each other awkwardly, and the two pets just pretended to play with each other. Kierra, being Kierra, sipped her cup of tea calmly, not showing even a silhouette of emotion on her face.

''I see.'' She replied.

So it was her fault. Got it.

''Please, Senior Kierra! The fate of Emei depends on you!''

At this point, Tian Yun intervened.

''Wait. What happened to Emei's allies?''

''We asked for help wherever we could, of course, just... master's internal demon is vicious. It went undetected for so long, after all. And I... I just have an inkling that Senior Kierra might be able to do something to it.''

''Okay...''

After a brief silence, Kierra spoke up again. ''I will do it.''

''Senior Kierra...!''

''However.'' Kierra firmly continued. ''I do not do charity. Emei shall compensate me accordingly.''

''Ah, that is for sure! You can rest assured!''

The archwizard grinned in her mind. With this, she would have a legitimate excuse to capture Mie Xieren, which would then enable her to do the same for the entire sect.

Soon, she would have the whole Emei under her feet.

Excitement filled Kierra's heart. It had been a long time since she felt the joy of conquer, and now was the time to reignite it.

Not wasting even one more breath, the two quickly departed from White Lotus, heading toward Emei at once. Expectedly, Emei was crowded with busy people—half contributing to tending to the abbess, half organizing an army for the inevitable war looming ahead.

Passing through numerous mountains, the two eventually arrived at a relatively small house in an obscure corner of the mountain range. Here, protection arrays were numerous, like trees in the forest, complicated, like one's blood vessels.

Once inside the house, they were greeted with a number of maids, two other people, and the abbess herself lying on the bed.

''Hm?'' One of them turned to Kierra, eyes widened. ''Isn't this Miss Kierra?''

''Abbot.''

The abbot of Shaolin politely greeted Kierra. Following that, the other man—Mount Hua's sect leader—also said some lines to Kierra briefly. All of them knew that this wasn't the time for chitchatting. One just needed to take a glance at the abbess to realize that she was in bad shape.

Pale complexion, purple marks all over the face, deteriorating cultivation base. Kierra seriously thought she was looking at another Tian Yun.

''So, do any of you know the cure?'' Kierra stepped forward.

''It is regrettable, but an internal demon of this caliber, I am afraid only the abbess herself can defeat it.'' The sect leader of Mount Hua shook his head.

''I am of the same opinion.'' Followed by the abbot.

''Is that so.''

Kierra let out a small sigh before pulling out a deer skull from her space storage. In front of the puzzled people, she calmly floated it in the air.

'Let's see if this self-proclaimed 'demon' can stand properly before the true advent of death.'