Deviant: No Longer Human

And why they were here, isolated on this vast blue orb...

She found herself paralyzed at the thought of sharing these burdensome information with Wang Xiao.

To unload such profound, unsettling secrets upon him seemed too cruel, the weight too immense for any one person to bear.

Once he came to understand these truths, she knew, he would be irrevocably changed.

No one would emerge unscathed...

The reality was simply too horrifying.

Even now, she wavered, torn over whether to reveal the truth.

After all, if he survived the forthcoming trials, there might never be another opportunity for them to meet for ages.

They might never cross paths again.

In the vast vaccum of time and space, their meeting could be but a fleeting moment, never to be revisited.

Every action she had taken until now was meticulously planned, with \'multiple\' reasons behind each one, not just a single motive.

This included why she left her daughter for him to be with, even when she wasn\'t present.

The light in her eyes dimmed, a shadow of doubt creeping in.

Should she just leave things as they are?

After all, it wasn\'t so bad...

There was a certain peace to it.

A feeling she experienced when sitting on the edge of an empty cliff, yearning to remain in that suspended state forever...

Her earlier resolve was waning, and she knew exactly why.

Her eyes grew complicated as she gently caressed his face, but Wang Xiao didn\'t even notice.

He seemed frozen in time.

His mind had long since gone blank.

Rebirth... Immortality...

Everything...

Aurora coming to him...

Luck... Coincidence?

Everything seemed to echo loudly, hammering into his brain.

His very personality, his memories—everything seemed to blur for a moment, as if his soul had left his body, drifting weightlessly in the air.

Because Aurora revealed a bit too much this time, the possibilities in Wang Xiao\'s mind exploded.

If she couldn\'t die and people could be reborn, what had happened to Aegis—

"Hey, Wang!"

"!"

"Wang?"

"!"

"Ah, yeah?" Wang Xiao jolted back to reality, his heart pounding as he shook his head and looked down at a bewildered Aurora lying beneath him.

"What happened to you? Your heartbeat and blood pressure are off the charts," Aurora asked, suspicion and concern flickering in her eyes.

"It\'s... It\'s nothing." Wang Xiao exhaled deeply, trying to steady himself.

Then, his ears picked up the distinct sound of twigs snapping and someone walking on the ice.

The noise grew louder with each passing moment, a harbinger of someone—or something—approaching.

___

"Now that\'s interesting..."

A voice, deep and resonant, broke through the silence just as a towering, imposing figure stepped into view, exuding an aura of chilling power.

His ice-blue eyes pierced through the frozen air, their cold gaze reflecting the unyielding nature of his elemental control.

His skin was pale, almost translucent, resembling a sculpture carved from ice, and his armor, adorned with intricate frost patterns, shimmered ethereally in the subdued light, giving the impression that he was cloaked in a perpetual veil of frost.

"Valen Frostbane...?" Aurora\'s voice was a whisper, tinged with recognition as her head tilted slightly to take in the sight before her.

"Oh, you recognize me?" Valen\'s lips curled into a sly grin, amusement flickering across his frosty features as he slowly raised his hands.

Whoosh!

The air around them began to chill further; a cold mist swirled violently around his limbs, and the temperature plummeted, causing ice crystals to spark into existence, dancing in the air around him.

His gaze hardened, and his voice was a low growl as he addressed them with stern determination. "Did you two cause this whole mountain to collapse? Regardless, both of your lives end today!" He scrutinized Wang Xiao and Aurora, their ambiguous posture not escaping his keen eyes.

He really couldn\'t believe it.

Had these two caused the mountain to collapse?

What kind of power was at play here?

The thought made his blood heat up, igniting a fiery glint in his eyes, especially after catching the flicker of those jewel-like eyes staring back at him.

"..."

Valen, oblivious to a critical detail of another pair of red eyes staring back at him, continued.

A mini ice storm swirled menacingly at his feet. "Although, I need to keep one of you alive for interrogation by Gabrial! You, the man with dark hair, choose how you want to die!" His gaze then drifted to the two soft curves pressing against Wang Xiao\'s chest, prompting a hungry lick of his lips.

"Nevermind, I\'ve changed my mind. The woman, you will die. As for the man, I will take you alive for interrogation!" He declared, his face flushing with a cunning gleam.

He have a clever thought—play with the woman before her end and use Wang Xiao merely as a tool for interrogation.

"..."

"..."

"What happened? Why aren\'t either of you speaking?" Valen\'s voice crackled through the frosty air, his frustration growing as he took a step forward, his boots barely touching the ice, almost as if he were levitating.

After an extended, tense silence, Wang Xiao finally stood up.

He exhaled a heavy sigh and turned toward Valen, his expression hardened with resolve.

He took a measured step forward and fixed Valen with a steely gaze. "You\'ve really got some nerve, eyeing my wife right in front of me."

"Huh?" Aurora flinched, a flicker of surprise crossing her features as Wang Xiao paused momentarily, glanced back at her, and then corrected himself with a slightly ironic tone and a wink, "Trophy wife."

"..."

Valen\'s smirk faltered, turning into a scowl as he absorbed Wang Xiao\'s sharp words.

He straightened, his aura intensifying, casting chilling shadows over the jagged ice. "Bold words for a man in such a position," he sneered, raising his hands. Instantly, the air grew tenser, colder—mist began to crystallize, forming sharp ice spears suspended above them.

Aurora, sensing the imminent danger, whispered urgently to Wang Xiao, "Be careful. The original owner of this body was a deviant and could wield cryokinesis. He is also one of the four generals of Gabriel\'s army."

"!"

"Too late to warn him, lady," Valen said, a triumphant grin spreading across his face.