"How have you been?"
The instant those words reached Kyoko's ears, she felt an urge to cry.
At that moment, Kyoko wanted so badly to shout,
"Not well at all!"
She truly had not been well at all.
Just when things had started to improve between her and Luo Zhen, he had become a Curse Arts Criminal and vanished without a trace.
Even Natsume had left, making Kyoko feel as though she had suddenly been left all alone. Though she could return to Onmyo Academy, she could never again find the feeling she had once had there.
For the past year and a half, Kyoko had known nothing but loneliness, longing, and sorrow. Apart from those, only one conviction had supported her.
That was to find Luo Zhen and see him one more time.
Now, that wish had finally come true.
Looking at his familiar face and listening to his familiar voice, Kyoko truly wanted to cry.
But she held it back.
Because...
"They...?"
Kyoko finally noticed the situation on the rooftop, and her expression changed drastically.
Around Luo Zhen, who stood at the center of the rooftop, everything had become a frozen wasteland. One Onmyoji after another had been frozen there, some terrified and others despairing. They looked so lifelike, yet so horrifying that they sent chills down her spine.
Kyoko even saw Kogure Zenjirou, Yuge Mari, Yamashiro Kojin, and even Miyaji Hanao, known as the strongest Onmyoji of the current era, among them. Seeing them turned into ice sculptures, frozen solid and completely unable to move, it was easy to imagine the shock she felt.
"Don't worry." Luo Zhen immediately said, "Hokuto only froze them. It might have some effect on their bodies, but they're not in any danger."
Those words finally put Kyoko at ease.
However, it