Ling An stood amid the snowy landscape.
He watched as Artificers and Tacet Discords closed in on him.
He pressed his right hand to his forehead and shook his head slightly.
He seemed somewhat resigned.
They still knew far too little about him.
The next second, he vanished in a flash before their eyes.
When he reappeared, he was already behind the woman.
His arm, wreathed in golden flames, reached out and landed on her shoulder.
Then Ling An froze.
Where the woman had stood, there was now a Tacet Discord.
He immediately realized what had happened and laughed. "So it was a substitute."
Closing his hand, he crushed the Tacet Discord before him into shattered frequencies and looked a short distance away.
Her figure reappeared, a faint flush seeming to rise on her pale, previously composed face.
Ling An had nearly caught her.
"Quick reflexes!" Ling An clapped lightly, poised and elegant.
Around him, more and more Fractsidus Artificers and controlled Tacet Discords gathered.
Ling An glanced around with a look of disdain.
"You felt familiar just now. Back in Qichi Village, you were the one who blocked that spear for Scar, weren't you?"
He still remembered how Scar had dragged him and Yangyang into an illusion in Qichi Village.
The spear he had thrown at the end should have pierced Scar and killed him, but Scar's accomplice had intercepted it.
Now it seemed that accomplice was the woman before him.
"You've become... very strong. Stronger than you were then," the woman said quietly.
Ling An spread his arms, utterly ignoring the Artificers and Tacet Discords around him, and declared:
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ling An. Soon, that name will leave a lasting impression on you."
"Phrolova," the woman said quietly, apparently returning the courtesy.