Adonis

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In the midst of a blazing battlefield where the sounds of weapons and screams echoed throughout, two fierce warriors stand face-to-face. A crimson-haired woman wielding a rapier, her fiery spirit matching the inferno that surrounds her, and a black-haired man, cold and composed on the surface, yet harboring a rivaling ferocity.

These two were enemies, but despite the animosity between them, they have faced each other multiple times before as mere rivals. The man always emerged victorious, leaving the talented and capable woman unable to best him in spite of her incredible ability to best any man... Other than him. Determined to end their rivalry once ... and for all, she sets out to claim his life in their final battle. But as fate would have it, her efforts were in vain and she perished in combat, her dying words filled with regret for the path that led her to become his enemy.

And then, she opened her eyes to find herself transported several years back in time with her memories intact. Could this be a second chance for her to rewrite her destiny and choose a different path?

Enter the world of Adonis, where a young woman from a prestigious family faces the struggles of being cast aside due to her bloodline. But in the midst of adversity, she finds solace in the art of sword fighting and rises to become a fierce warrior, outpacing even the strongest of knights. However, her journey takes a fateful turn when she crosses paths with a mysterious swordsman who proves to be her greatest challenge. Despite their intense battles, she comes to realize that her defeat is inevitable and her life is taken by the very person she couldn't conquer. But in her final moments, she reflects on the regrets of her past and wishes for a second chance. And when she opens her eyes again, she finds herself transported back in time, presented with a rare opportunity to rewrite her fate.

In all honesty, this manhwa is just fucking amazing. The protagonist is a female who could be described as a gigachad. Despite her alluring appearance, she is a force to be reckoned with, destroying anyone who tries to get in her way. But that's not even the main reason why this story is so amazing. The real magic lies in the rich world-building and intricate lore of the story. Initially, the abundance of information dumping may seem overwhelming, but soon enough I found myself fully immersed in the unique and captivating world of Adonis. Each chapter brings with it new surprises, keeping me on the edge of my seat as the story continues to unfold. And while the romance aspect of the story is slow-moving, it is definitely progressing, albeit at a measured pace. If you're looking for a quick romance, this story is probably not it, as the focus is on developing all aspects of the plot in a deliberate and well-crafted manner. However, I really do recommend this to everybody, as I didn't really have a lot of expectations for this but it really blew me away.

If you're a fan of intricate world-building, a heroine who radiates strength and independence, and a unique take on the romance genre, then this manhwa is definitely worth your time. Just be aware that the romance unfolds at a slow pace, and the art style may change as you delve deeper into the story. However, these minor aspects should not discourage you from immersing yourself in this captivating world, full of unexpected twists and turns, and a protagonist who proves that she doesn't need anyone to define her.

10/10. Haven't reviewed in a while, so I do apologize if there's a quality drop compared to my many other reviews.

First of all I think the biggest weakness of this manhwa is its INCREDIBLY slow burn, as in 50 chapters for the ML to show himself and another 100ish chapters for a hug. So if you are purely in it for the romance (like I was) you will be in for the long haul. The good thing is , is that currently the manhwa is past the exposition so reading as the chapters as they come out is nowhere near as a pain as I would imagine reading them in the first 200 chapters. So to summarize, I think the main (and only?) weakness of ... the manhwa has sorta been solved and I would expect that the ratings should go up as time goes on, because I genuinely don't understand why they are as low as they are.

Positives:
Characters - Really fun, iconic and there's a very nice dynamic between them. The FL is really well written and portrayed imo, she is very cute and badass in the same time, but also very stubborn to an almost saddening degree. ML's behaviour also sorta keeps you on your toes as you don't really know when he'll go full psychopath or progressive girlboss.

World/lore - I think the world is very cool and intriguing as well as it's history. It has a lot of depth and mystery to it as well. I really like how there's the 5/6 peaks of the world and everything is separated into elements.

Art: The art style changes drastically like three times I'd say, where the first and third art styles are very good and the second is good enough.

TLDR: I don't think the ratings are inaccurate to the manhwa as a whole but rather more representative of the reader experience of not being able to binge the first 80% of it at the time.

TLDR:
Do you know when you read a first chapter and it looks cool but the dialogue is so incredibly CRINGE and you immediately realise that the story is going to suck huge time but you need something to bing and so you lie to yourself that maybe it's going to be good despite your otaku instincts (that you refined in tens of years of hardcore binging) screaming you "you worthless idiot, how many time do I have to tell you when a story sucks before you believe me!?" but you still don't believe it so you read it and it does indeed suck huge time?
If ... you don't know, read this and you will.
VERY stereotypical and MEGA cringe storytelling as to be expected from female Korean writers.
Read if you want to punish yourself or you are into girly stuff disguised as tomboy.


Long version:
I've read the first 20 chapters and then browsed 10 more here and there to see if it gets better later on.
It's 286 chaps atm, perfect for binging, and it's western fantasy, and it seemed that the FL is a ruthless badass, so I had my hopes up.
Like they say "the higher they are, the louder they fall" or something like that.
It's tonally all over the place, constantly switching between that kind of girly stuff with cuteness and sugary crap, cheap sense of humor, proto-reverse-harem, and the cringiest stuff you'll find around.

If that PATHETIC scene in the first panels, very low level stupidly melodramatic wannabe heroic/romantic complete NONSENSE where the dude kills her while saying he doesn't regret having loved her and she dies saying he's her enemy but she can't hate him and in a next life she wants to be his knight (!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????), doesn't give you instant brain tumor, maybe you are immune to cringe. In that case you might like it.
But if you feel "what the fuck did I just read? Could it be that it's from a novel that got third place in the MAL contest for 12 y/o wannabe writers?", I recommend you to stop, unless you're masochist.

If you manage to arrive at chap. 4 because she as a kid is actually kind of cool (it's a regression story, of course, what else can a Korean woman write?) and you see her flashback from her past life when she met that dude at a duel in a tournament and he is the typical laughably stereotyped "cold guy with black hair" like in thousand of mega cringe otome isekai, super cool and super macho, and after defeating her and while they're still on the stage he puts his hand on her cheek and blabbers some MEGA CRINGE latin lover bullshit, I hope for you that by then you have realised with what abysmally low level of storytelling you are dealing.
If you still didn't by then, you DESERVE suffering, therefore keep reading, you've found your poison.
But beware, if at chapter 7 you think that she's badass, and that's the main reason why you'd read this story, stop there: this stupid writer immediately destroys the badassery from the next chapter with a time skip and a drastic softening of the edgy stuff.
Which is a crime. It's like giving a candy to a kid and taking it away when he lightens up.
If you're going to write cringe girly stuff, just write cringe girly stuff, don't disguise it as cool badass stuff.