The air seemed to harden.
The woman's remaining shadow, still shimmering like dark smoke on the roof, began to stir violently—as if reacting to the insult.
She hadn't completely disappeared.
Her body slowly reassembled itself from the darkness, like a silhouette made of living smoke.
Her laughter echoed faintly at first… then louder, hoarser.
"Heh... hehehe..." The sound reverberated in all directions, full of spite.
Samira and Strax looked up at the same time—unsurprised, but with clear impatience.
The woman lifted her face, and the pale skin began to regenerate beneath the smoke. Her eyes, once merely cold, now burned a feverish violet, the pupils contracted into demonic slits.
"A useless distraction?" she repeated, her voice trembling with anger. "Toying with prey?"
The ground around her began to shatter as the miasma spread. "You... think I'm what? An insect?"
Strax—still, serene—just glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
His tone was almost bored when he replied,
