Resonating Furnace Rampage; Side by Side

Penglai Island's night was quiet and peaceful.

Moonlight fell like a silver veil, shrouding the ancient buildings and lush forests in a hazy, dreamlike glow.

Inside the shrine at the center of the island, candlelight flickered over Kanade Hime's focused profile.

She was organizing the records of today's battle into a scroll, her brush leaving elegant characters across the rice paper.

Every few lines, her gaze drifted involuntarily toward the silver-white jade talisman beside the table.

The jade talisman lay quietly beneath the candlelight, giving off a warm luster as if it contained some indescribable power and promise.

"Lord of the Western Country... Chiyo..."

Kanade Hime set down her brush and sighed softly.

She reached out and picked up the jade talisman, her fingertips tracing the delicate patterns on its surface.

The feelings this man gave her were far too complicated.

He was powerful enough to inspire fear, yet gentle enough to move one's heart.

He was a king who ruled over countless demons, yet he could understand a guardian's loneliness.

And toward humans, demons, and even Half-demons...

There was not the slightest trace of discrimination in his eyes.

That was something she had never seen in the eyes of other demons.

Over the past few days, the children on the island had clearly been affected as well.

Quite a few older Half-demon boys and girls had begun secretly discussing the Western Country, their eyes gleaming with curiosity and yearning for the outside world.

Kanade Hime knew this was the inevitable result of Penglai Island's barrier weakening over the years and its increasing contact with the outside world.

Yet she still hesitated.

Penglai Island had existed independently for a long time. Was it truly right to suddenly establish ties with the outside world, especially to ally with such a powerful