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Axilia and Ling Xin conjured a portal to go back to the Living Realm with their combined powers, causing a rift to open in space. The portal was swirling white and pulsating nicely, as if beckoning us inside.

"Ladies first," I said, letting the two twins head in first, which they did. Lorelei and Yami, both in their fox forms, entered with me after them. Lorelei was on my shoulder, while Yami trotted along on the floor.

But right before entering, I stopped, and pulled out a pendant. The same one that the old butler had once given me. I held it tightly against my chest, calling for him.

"... You\'re done?"  His old voice asked after several seconds.

Mhm. We are preparing to leave now. This is your last chance, if you want to come along.

"No... as much as I would like to... it is better for those two to cut any connection with this realm. My existence... would only remind them."

I see. I respect your decision, then. What of the king?

"He has been taken care of, just like you instructed. The kingdom, without a leader, will descend into chaos, but... it is a small price to pay for the well-being of my two granddaughters."

At this, I chuckled. Selfish, but I like that. Then... we\'ll be off.

"Yes. Take good care of those two, young man. If you don\'t, I will go to the Living Realm myself even if I\'m already in hell, and drag you down there with me."

Ha! The heavens, fate, and destiny have all tried killing me before. None have succeeded. What makes you think hell can defeat me? But don\'t worry... I\'ll take care of your granddaughters. As much as I am ruthless, I am also warm towards those who care about me. I won\'t let you down, old man.

"Good... take care, boy."

Do you want me to tell them you said hi?

"Don\'t bother. It\'ll only weigh them down."

... I see. Then... farewell.

"Farewell."

"Darling~ what\'s the holdup?" Axilia asked from the other side of the portal, peeking her head in.

"Nothing," I lied. "Just some... unfinished business. It\'s all good now, though."

I crushed the pendant beneath my feet to prevent anyone from using it in the future, then headed through the portal.

I\'m coming home, everyone. I\'m coming home.

*****

I was not coming home.

"Uh... where, exactly, is this place?"

I glanced around at our surroundings, which I definitely did not recognize. We seemed to be underneath a massive overarching rock of some sort, covered in snow. Above us, thousands of icicles hung from the ceiling, and the cold winter air brushed against our faces.

"Hm... this shouldn\'t have happened," Ling Xin murmured, narrowing her eyes. "I clearly set our destination for Fragment, yet..."

Lorelei turned into her human form and explained, "This is because the Realm Lines of the Death Realm have been altered, somehow. They have become destabilized, thereby causing transportation between Realms to be inaccurate."

"But... this is still the Living Realm, correct?" I asked, just for confirmation.

"Yes, Master," Lorelei replied softly.

"Well then..." I held up my hand, then cast a spell.

Level Three Fire Magic — Hoops of Fire.

Black flames suddenly appeared around the group of us, hovering in the air. Several ring-like shapes were formed and surrounded us from head to heel, keeping us warm. Axilia reached out to touch it, surprised that it didn\'t actually burn.

I, on the other hand, narrowed my eyes in confusion.

"This... it feels weird. I feel like I\'ve resorted back to using normal mana, not True Essence..."

"That\'s normal," Ling Xin said, blinking a few times. "The Living Realm strictly prohibits True Essence, since there is no True Essence in the air. Magic, at its core, is getting the mana in your body to react with the mana in the environment. So... you can see why True Essence won\'t work."

"Huh... I guess that makes sense. It still feels somewhat disappointing, though," I muttered. "But in any case... we should first get a good look at our surroundings, and hopefully figure out where the hell this place is."

I glanced up into the air, then took off with Lorelei and Yami on each of my shoulders, holding on tightly in their fox forms. Yami looked like he was about to die of fear, but Lorelei was perfectly fine and remained as calm as ever. Ling Xin took ahold of Axilia and flew into the air as well, since she too shared a Sky Element affinity.

As we ascended, we couldn\'t help but notice just how large this snow biome was. Icy mountains could be seen in the distance, glaciers slowly slipping downwards on their inclined planes. It was a world of white and cold.

"Hm... how interesting," Ling Xin murmured. "This cannot be Antarctica, since there is no water to be seen anywhere. It also cannot be the North Pole, as there is no land there. In which case... this is most likely upper North America, land of elves and fairies."

"Huh..." I rubbed my chin. "But according to the textbooks I\'ve read, don\'t elves and fairies live in forests?"

"Mainly, yes. But just like with Dark Elves, I heard rumors of there being yet another subspecies of the Elven race... the Ice Elves."

"How interesting," I murmured, then gazed into the distance. Because of the fog that came with the snowstorm, it was hard to see, so I used some Blessing Magic to amplify my vision. "Wait... is that... a castle in the distance?"

I used the same spell on Ling Xin so she could see as well, and after several seconds, she nodded.

"Looks like the rumors I heard weren\'t just rumors after all, huh~?"

"Castles mean people... people means I can kill them!" Axilia\'s eyes sparkled in delight.

"Woah, woah, no," I hurriedly interrupted. "You are  not

about to to bust in there and start killing them, because I know damn well I\'m not about to make any more enemies than I already have."

"What if they are hostile right off the bat?" Ling Xin asked, a wry smirk on her face.

"In that case, I can destroy that entire castle if need be and they won\'t be able to stop it, but I really just don\'t want to cause any unnecessary destruction," I said with a sigh. "Look, the world\'s a nice place, and I don\'t want to ruin it any more than necessary."

"Worry not, master," Lorelei whispered gently in my mind.  "Even if they are hostile, Lorelei can persuade their souls into accepting master."

I see... thanks.

Even if Lorelei was currently in a very weak state compared to her original strength, she could still influence the minds of mortals with incredible ease. One could only imagine just how powerful she would be with her full strength. She could very possibly turn this entire world into her servants.

Level Three Space Magic — Warp Gate.

Creating a portal in mid-air, I set it as close to the castle as I could get. Unfortunately, due to the castle being so far away, it was difficult to pinpoint the exactly right location. As a result, when we stepped through, we found ourselves still quite a distance away from the castle, and standing in front of a gate instead.

The two guards standing there blinked a few times in surprise, both at our sudden appearance and Ling Xin and Axilia\'s beauty, but quickly readied weapons and narrowed their frosty blue eyes at us.

"Humans...? What is your business here?!"

"Uh... hi," I said awkwardly. "First off, Axilia, put that scythe away, and secondly... I apologize for our sudden appearance. You see, we are a bit lost. We mean no harm, and would just like help returning home to Human Territory."

"..." The two guards didn\'t reply and instead narrowed their eyes in suspicion still, not lowering their weapons. I was at a loss for what to do.

Master, Lorelei shall take care of this.

Lorelei stared into the two guards\' eyes and reached for their souls, and slowly, the two\'s expressions softened. They lowered their weapons, and put a warm smile on their rigid soldier faces.

"Yes, of course... please come in. This is Frigia Village. No one here can help you, but if you go to the Queen in the castle, she should be able to assist."

I nodded in thanks as they opened the wooden gates, and we stepped through. On the other side, a winter wonderland lay. Beautiful elven children ran around and played on the streets, carefree and completely disregarding the cold. No one was even in coats or sweaters. They wore attire as if it were summer.

Upon seeing us, however, they immediately tensed up. The villagers frightfully backed up from the rings of fire around us, and pulled their children back too. Thankfully, one of the two guards were kind enough to escort us.

Well. They weren\'t actually that kind. Lorelei just ordered him to.

"Don\'t be scared, everyone!" He hollered, striding up by my side. "This young man and his entourage are not here to harm us! He is merely lost and passing by, and those embers around him are to keep him warm in this climate too harsh for humans! You have my word; as long as you do not bother him or get in his way, he will not hurt you!"

That last part is true. I won\'t hurt them.... as long as they don\'t get in my way.