"You know, I really hate people like you. Acting all arrogant and thinking that there is no one above you!" Ma Li spat out cold words of disdain as she took a stance to fight against him.
Her body seemed accustomed to battle from the way she was handling herself. Her eyes were blazing with fighting spirit as she said those words.
While she was saying those words she thought that something was off. The condition the boy said gave him the advantage in both of them.
If he wins or not, either way he could enter the mysterious domain. The only thing that changed was the leader of their team. Either way he would be able to enter the domain but it was fine she did not care if he entered or not, all she cared about right now was to teach the arrogant boy a lesson.
Noah was a little intrigued seeing that her stance looked similar to the martial arts that were similar to those fighting aggressively. This was not the first time he saw a girl using a fighting style suited for males.
He understood some girls liked to be aggressive, letting their inner beast out!
"At first you said that you did not want to go to the realm and now you want me to follow your words.
I think you just want to act cool, thinking that you are some kind of heir to the big family."
Ma Li was well aware of the difference in their strength and chose to entice Noah. She thought that she would be able to win this match as long as she landed a hit on him.
She suddenly frowned seeing that the boy did not show any expression on his face even after facing her trash talking. Since there was no effect on Noah, she chose not to waste her energy talking anymore.
Ma Li gave up on taunting him and rushed at him directly. In a matter of seconds she was standing in front of him. Using her left foot as a stand, Ma Li swung her left leg aiming directly for Noah's head.
Her feet were covered in a dark blue qi which posted the strength of the kick. Yet under such attack Noah remained unmoved, looking at the girl with a small smile on his face. The look caused a bad premonition to appear in Ma Li's heart.
But just before her foot could connect with his face ensuring her victory, something happened.
The room around her twisted and distorted. The scene around them changed, the walls around them changed and melted into ethereal shapes and color.
Her eyes widened seeing the boy in front vanish into a wisp of smoke, the last thing she saw was his victorious smirk before the boy disappeared.
Before she could think of what was happening, her body tensed seeing the sight in front of her.
She saw her parents strapped to the poles made of metal in the middle of lava. Seeing the scene, she immediately understood that it was an illusion but something inside her mind made her believe that it was real.
"Have you ever seen someone close to you die because of your actions?" A voice sounded near her ears like a whisper and this voice sent shivers down her spine.
"Have you faced a situation, where you could have done something to save them but were unable to do it. Later that action becomes your biggest regret!"
Her eyes widened when she saw the level of molten Lava rising. It started to come closer and closer to her parents.
"No!!!"
Her screams were of no use, she ran in their direction like her life was dependent on it now matter how fast or hard she ran, she only felt the distance between them increasing.
All she could do was run!
She forgot about her battle with Noah, the only thing on her mind right now was to save her parents.
"Do you know what it feels to lose the only hope that kept you going in life?" The same chilling voice whispered near her ear once again.
This time she tried focusing on the voice and found out that it was her own voice.
She turned around to look at a young girl with the exact same features as her standing in front of her.
The only thing that made the girl different was that she had a dark aura around her, the menacing smile on her face was unlike anything she had ever seen.
"You poor little thing, always trying to prove yourself to your parents. Become the boy, they never had, just because some outsiders look down on women~
Even when they love you with all their heart, deep down you feel inferior when you see the other trying to approach them to marry you away."
"No! That's.. not.. true…"
As the figure continued to speak, Ma Li took a step back in fear. She shook her head fiercely denying the words.
The more she acted like this the wider the grin on the face of the woman became.
"Look at them..." the figure pointed at her back, causing Ma Li to look at the sight of her parents slowly being engulfed by the lava. their feet started to dissolve because of heat as lava made its way upwards.
It was evident their whole bodies was about to be engulfed by the lava soon, yet they just looked at Ma Li with warmth, not letting her see their pain and shouted at her.
"Ma Li, run Dear!"
"Li'er, Leave us alone! Save yourself!"
"No!!!! I will Kill you!!!"
Seeing her parents screaming in pain and even then Asking her to save herself, broke the heart of the innocent girl.
She lunged at her own figure while screaming, her whole body was screaming in pain but she did not care.
Seeing this sight, a warm yet twisted smile appeared on the figure before the whole scene and the area started to twist once more.
The figure of the girl started to crumble into dust just like her surroundings. Before she was about to disappear, she left a single sentence behind..
"Feels painful doesn't it? That's how they will feel too if something happens to you. Don't make life altering decisions just thinking about yourself, think about how it would affect the people around you."
Hearing those words, Ma Li stood in her place frozen in fear before she felt her knees giving up. She fell to the ground as everything around her returned back to normal. Her eyes looked at the ground in daze. Tears streamed down her face but she did not have the energy to wail or let out a sound.
Shi Jie looked at her daughter and it felt like she had seen a nightmare. The look on her pale face was pure horror and despair. Seeing her crying face broke her heart.
In the moment of despair and self-realization Ma Li felt the warmth spreading throughout her lower legs. She looked down to see a small puddle of clear liquid had appeared under her.
Her body betrayed her in the face of defeat.