The city was now like a giant furnace, with the houses and residents being roasted within it. "What's going on..." The clothes in Nova's hands had turned to ashes, while she, wearing the Demon Hunter's bck robe, was spared from the fmes.

  The purple city, once somewhat repulsive, had transformed into a destructive monster, devouring those it had deceived. Nova tried to escape the street, but suddenly, a burning wooden pnk crashed down. Nova used the shadow cloak to block it, and several people, looking like burnt-out matchsticks, stumbled out of a house. They gesticuted wildly at Nova, seemingly trying to say something, but their vocal cords were burned, unable to produce sound. They struggled for a few moments before colpsing.

  Nova looked around. She wondered if everything today was a hallucination... or if her previous life had been the illusion, and this was the true awakening. "Help me!" A voice came from behind Nova.

  Nova saw a fat middle-aged man running naked. This bald fat man was like a roasted pig, his skin charred yellow in patches. The tattoos on his body were ulcerated from the burns. This person was Pony. "It's hot! So hot! Help..." Suddenly, Johnny saw Nova and ran towards her. "Adult, sir! Please help me! I can give you a lot of money or treasures!"

  But as he got closer, he shouted in shock, "You're Nova!?" Pony was shocked for many reasons, but he quickly regained his composure and said to Nova, "If you can get me out of this hell, I can give you a lot of money, or make you my right-hand man." "Oh... Do you know what's happening right now?" Nova asked slowly.

  "How could I possibly know what this fucking situation is?! Let's get out of here quickly, or you and I will both burn to death!" Pony shouted anxiously. Because the ground was almost glowing red, he frantically stomped his feet, as if doing a tap dance. Nova didn't speak, just looked around, seemingly thinking.

  "Hurry up! Hurry up and use your ability to get us out of here! I'm about to die!" Pony was almost crying. "No rush, Boss Pony . I have a question I want to ask you," Nova said, stroking her chin and looking at Pony.

  "What else is there?! What's more important than our lives?! Can't it wait until we escape?!

  "The question is," Nova said, her voice growing colder, "Was it you who informed the Demon Hunters to come and kill me?"

  Although his feet were as hot as if he were standing on a barbecue grill, Pony felt a chill run down his spine. "How could it possibly be me?! If I hadn't seen you alive and well, how would I have known you were... a natural-born magic user?!" Pony shouted, pointing a finger at Nova.

  "Hmm..." Nova closed her eyes, then she removed the Shadow Cloak. A red flower appeared on her chest. Then she took a deep breath. Her nostrils were filled with the pungent smell of heat, the acrid odor of burnt wood, the stench of roasting human flesh, and...

  "The scent of lies. You're lying, Johnny," Nova said, opening her eyes.

  "I... I..." Pony tried to argue, but at that moment, Nova extended a bck cloak from her back, and bck tendrils immediately pierced into Johnny's limbs, pinning him to the scorching ground.

  "Aaaaaaah!" Pony felt his body sizzling underneath him. He would likely be charred in no time.

  "Spare me, please. I can give you anything you want, as long as you can..." Pony couldn't finish his sentence because he felt Nova step onto his body. Then she said, "Are you ready?"

  "For what?" Pony didn't know what she was talking about, but suddenly, the bck shadows binding him unched him into the air, and Nova stepped on him.

  "Ah!" Pony smmed onto the ground, and the bck shadows continued to propel him, sliding, jumping, and nding. Pony had become Nova's human skateboard.

  Nova controlled the 'skateboard,' dodging the falling wooden pnks and colpsing buildings. And the 'Pony skateboard' was smooth and round enough to glide easily on the burning hot streets.

  With only a few more turns, Nova skated to the city wall. Nova used the bck shadows to firmly bind her feet and the skateboard together. Then, she concentrated the remaining shadows in her hands and unched them towards the ground with all her might. The powerful reaction force propelled Nova into the air, and the 'Pony skateboard' slid up the city wall. Then, with a spin and flip in the air, Nova jumped over the city wall, riding the 'skateboard.'

  Afterward, Nova nded on a grassy field outside the city, and the 'skateboard' was now just a charred piece of skin.

  "One transit permit, and you still owe me another one," Nova said, staring at the bck leather-like skin on the ground, then looked around.

  It was a lush green field, with a long, wide dirt road stretching into the distance. Further away were dense forests and rolling mountains.

  Nova turned to look at Purple City. The smoke from the fmes had formed a massive bck tower above the entire city. Firelight engulfed the city. Everything was caught in the fmes, torn apart, and ultimately destroyed. The city was dead.

  "This is so absurd," Nova felt like she still hadn't come to her senses. She stood there for a while, then walked along the dirt road with a mix of countless complex emotions.

  Nova walked and walked. She didn't know where she was going. She didn't know why she was walking this way. Perhaps it was simply because there was a road here.

  Nova felt like she'd been walking for a long time. The burning Purple City was almost out of sight behind her. The sky also seemed to finally tire and slowly began to darken.

  "Cough cough." A sound came from the distant thicket.

  Nova heard the sound. She turned her head and approached the source of the sound.

  Passing through some bushes and trees, Nova arrived at a small clearing surrounded by trees. She saw a man lying next to a tree, with only half his body left.

  This man had blue skin with a faint blue glow and short white hair. He was one of the merchants Nova had encountered that morning. Of course, Nova knew that "merchant" was just a disguise.

  Now, this man was missing his left leg and left arm. There was a rge hole in his stomach. Most of his blue skin was burned away, revealing a dark blue color.

  But he was still alive. After seeing Nova, he turned his head, coughed twice, spat out some blue blood, and said to Nova, "Hey, girl, I need you to do me a favor..."

  Nova looked at the man. She didn't intend to say anything, just waiting for him to finish.

  "Cough cough, I have some things here. I need you to take them to the Theater Capital in the north." The man pulled out a piece of cloth, as if something was wrapped inside.

  "The things inside are important, but you can't sell them for money. Because selling them will only bring you danger." The man emphasized, "Trust me."

  "I remember you stole a lot of money from me this morning. You'll be given money when you get there. You can use it for lodging or learning magic," the man continued. He seemed to have a lot of strength left, even astonishing Nova with his vitality.

  "Anyway, run now. Those people are about to catch up." The blue man tossed the bundle in his hand to Nova. After saying that, he gasped heavily, and his breathing immediately weakened.

  'What a pity. In the end, Narara still got the better of me...' Then he closed his eyes.

  "Wait." Nova, having patiently listened without interrupting, finally asked, "Where is the north?"

  Unfortunately, the man was already dead and didn't reply to Nova's question.

  "The north, huh..." Having lived in Purple City, Nova only knew directions based on the city gate and the inner city – up, down, left, and right. She had never known about the so-called east, west, south, and north. And now, she had no one to ask.

  "Oh well, you look so pitiful, I'll help you out," Nova found a reason and headed deeper into the forest with the bundle.