Chapter 65: Awakening

Alicia’s POV:

Meanwhile, over in the girls’ dormitory on the first floor, something terrifying was happening inside the room at the far end of the corridor.

The atmosphere inside was freezing cold. It wasn’t just a simple drop in temperature; thick layers of frost covered the entire floor and crawled up the walls. A shimmering barrier wrapped around the room, making sure no leaking mana or loud sounds could escape into the hallway. The barrier was thin, but it came from a high-grade artifact, making it near impossible for any passing students to sense what was happening right inside the room.

The silver-haired girl sat directly on the frozen floor, clutching her legs tight against her chest while shivering hard. Her skin turned so pale you would doubt if she was even alive. Her eyes remained shut tight, with noticeable dark circles under them, proving she had suffered through sleepless nights for days. Frost gathered around her, and the very atmosphere turned bizarre as tiny, sparkling snowflakes emitted straight from her skin. Even parts of her delicate hands and feet were encased in ice.

As time ticked by, she just sat there shivering in the dark. The natural sunlight falling through the closed glass window dimmed away as night finally took over the sky.

Did hours pass? Maybe even days? The biting coldness around her only grew stronger.

Just as it seemed this endless winter would never end, the swirling frost and snowflakes suddenly stopped in mid-air. It felt as if time itself had paused for a fraction of a second. Then, all the ice absorbed right back into her body, lighting up her pale skin. A radiant silver glow emitted from her figure as the thick frost receded into her veins.

Something ancient and powerful awakened inside her. The very air trembled, time seemed to resume its normal flow, and she finally snapped her eyes open. Her glowing eyes no longer held a single hint of pretense, warmth, or love; they were just terrifyingly cold.

Her slender body remained still for a few minutes. She took a long look around the ruined room, then finally stood up and walked toward the window. Every single step she took left a footprint of frost on the floorboards. She reached out to touch the glass window. But before her fingertips even grazed the surface, the intense cold rushed forward. The glass froze over in a blink and shattered into a hundred sparkling pieces!

She ignored the broken glass and looked out into the night, fixing her gaze on the bright stars shining in the dark sky.

Even though her beautiful face looked expressionless on the outside, a raging storm brewed inside her mind. She was trying so hard to hold something back. It was a dangerous force that would ruin her memories, emotions, and ultimately her entire life—the exact same thing that had ruined her previous life.

"It seems I cannot hold back for much longer... I might ruin everything."

She clenched her hands tight, but her expression remained steady. She did not look nervous, and she certainly did not look afraid. The only emotion visible on her flawless face was pure acceptance.

"It seems he is not the only one who awakened early," she whispered to the wind.

"The butterfly effect is really making everything move so much faster than before. The great threat will arrive soon. Only a few years are left until everything is destroyed."

She placed a pale hand over her own chest, closed her eyes, and tried to feel the energy flowing within. Half of her mana core was already frozen solid, and even parts of her beating heart were encased in biting frost.

Her entire body ran so cold that if she failed to maintain her core temperature, whatever she touched would instantly freeze and shatter into pieces. And this terrifying reality was happening even before she awakened the full version of her abilities.

Her eyes shone brilliantly under the moonlight. Her cold, distant face looked even more stunning in the dark as the lunar glow illuminated her figure. A small, sad smile curved on her lips as she stared up at the vast, starry sky.

"It seems I don’t have much time left... Should I just give up on him? He might find someone else and live a much happier life."

However, her sad little smile vanished in a flash. Just the simple thought of Alden setting his eyes on another girl made her chest tighten. The mere idea made her burn with intense jealousy.

But she forced herself to calm down right away. The more she obsessed over these wild feelings, the more she would lose control over her own emotions. And if she lost control, the power inside her would take over much faster.

If that happened, then long before the world ever faced its greatest enemy, they would have to face her first. She was not just some normal student who regressed from the past; she was a major part of the massive destruction that once broke this very world. She remembered exactly what the terrified people used to call her in her past life when her powers had fully awakened.

They called her "The Empress of Ruin".

She closed her eyes to block out the dark memories and walked back toward her bed. She focused hard, keeping the mana flow constant around her skin to make sure the blankets and furniture wouldn’t freeze into ice.

Her slender frame was still shivering slightly, but she controlled her breathing so it wouldn’t show. She had to get used to this cold; it was going to stick with her until the very end of her life.

As she lay there on the soft mattress, sleep refused to come easily. She felt a nagging dread that if she fell asleep right now, tomorrow might never arrive. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she finally calmed her racing heart and closed her eyes. Only one desperate thought echoed in her mind.

’I hope I can survive just a little bit longer...’

As she lay there, finally drifting into a restless sleep, the room’s temperature remained icy. A small, gentle breeze blew in from the shattered window, strangely offering a tiny bit of warmth against her own freezing skin.