At the same time, somewhere else.

In a deep, ink-black castle, the stone drank the blood of the failed.

A vast hall yawned, sunless as a sealed well.

A gray-haired man sat steady on the throne, black vines pouring from his palm into the earth like roots.

Opposite, a girl mummied in bandages rose from the dark like a pale moth.

“Father, I’m sorry! I didn’t wipe out all the enemies of the Gray Fortress!”

“No matter…”

He tilted his chin, calm as a still tide. He was the Murder Fiend’s commander—Wan Han.

He raised his hand and studied the lines on his palm like braided rivers. The feel of Life Force twining was wondrous, like warm sap.

“Destroying the Gray Fortress is already success.”

“Thank you, Father!”

She rushed up and hugged his thigh, like a child clinging to a pillar in a storm.

“This is only a stumble. Our wish will bloom in the end.”

His vine-wreathed hand fell, featherlight, onto her head like a shadowed leaf.

“Hee-hee…”

“Wan Han, this isn’t what we agreed on.”

Another voice drifted from the far end, cold as a cave draft.

An airy figure took shape, skin midnight-dark, nearly melted into shadow like soot in water. Without his grasp of Life Force, she’d be a rumor.

A dark elf.

“Dark elf, I promised your master I’d erase the Rainbow Fortress. The method is mine to choose.”

“Hmph. You? Don’t you know… more than one World Tree has entered the Rainbow Sanctuary. And the old hag from the Crimson Paradise has doubts. Don’t be like her.”

Her hand tightened on the dagger at her waist, a crescent of night.

She wasn’t just sketching the board; she tapped his heart like testing ice for cracks.

If he held treachery toward her master, she’d strike here and pluck the Black Fortress like fruit.

“Haha. Kill me? Me, who holds Life Force?”

Wan Han laughed, and the Black Fortress answered. Wails rolled from the walls like wind in tombs.

The cries came from every side, a ghost tide, proof of his terror and his grip on the Black Fortress.

“…”

The dark elf frowned, her shadow rippling like water. The old Wan Han she could have folded like paper. Since the Rainbow Sanctuary, his power had surged like wildfire.

Now she couldn’t read him, mist over a chasm.

“Girl… the Orange Fortress and the Gray Fortress have fallen to me. The Purple Fortress kneels. Your task isn’t to trouble me.”

“Tell your master to prepare what I need. Otherwise…”

Wan Han stood. Space around him cracked like thin ice, black seams yawning like a hungry hole.

“Don’t blame me if I flip the board and take it myself.”

“You…”

Her dagger drank darkness, power pooling like ink in a well.

But she didn’t strike, not in the end.

She hated this man, a thorn under the nail.

She hated provocation, grit in the eye.

Yet she hated something more, a deeper chill in her bones.

“Hmph. Do as you like… as long as you can slay the World Tree.”

She lowered the blade, voice cold as frost on glass.

“You can go, dark elf.”

“…”

After she left, the hall settled into hollow dusk, just the man and the girl, two shadows under a high vault.

“Father… will this be okay? Do you want me to kill that dark elf too?”

“You can’t beat her.” Wan Han lowered his gaze. In the girl’s pupils, feeling didn’t ripple, just still water. “She’s a chosen of the Evil Deity. Only pure Life Force can threaten her.”

“Life Force…” At the word, her bandages seemed to tighten, the blood beneath darkening like wine. “Then, Father, what do you need me to do next?”

“The Light Fortress. The foe there is thorny, so I’ll go with you.”

“Great! I can fight at Father’s side again!”

…

…

Meanwhile, on the far side of the Rainbow Sanctuary.

In a white, hushed castle, warriors in snow-white plate stood like birches in a grove.

Sunlight fell through the skylight like a bright blade, flooding the grand hall.

A golden-haired girl sat on the throne, a little uneasy, like a guest in borrowed robes.

At her side stood a red-haired woman and a blue-haired girl, two flames of different hue.

Arms full of thick files, Kasie reported, voice steady as a drum.

“Princess Lia, the revenant scouts confirm it. The Orange Fortress and the Gray Fortress have fallen—by forces from the Black Fortress.”

“I told you, don’t call me Princess! I’m not trying to restore a kingdom… I just want to find my sister and ask what happened back then.”

The one on the throne was the tiptoe diviner who once stayed on the Skyship—Lia.

Now she wore a white princess dress, a small crown perched like a snowflake. She looked dazzling, soft as spring light.

“It’s my fault… I didn’t know you were alive.”

Narit stretched and sighed, breath like steam. “As long as Princess Lia lives, my oath stands. The entire Royal Guard of the Principality of Kowelelia will follow your command.”

“Ugh… please don’t be so formal!”

Lia waved from the throne, embarrassed, color like peach on her cheeks. No one was more surprised than she at how things turned.

She was a princess of Kowelelia, heir to the next queen. But Princess Kowelelia van Tiana Sis hadn’t come to reclaim a throne.

She came to chase her sister’s trail, to ask for the truth. That road led her to the New Land.

Her sister seemed to be aboard the Sky Voyager too, a thread glinting in the clouds.

Then an accident in the cargo hold. The Third Princess sailed away like a gull into fog. At a loss, Lia boarded the Skyship tied to her sister, hoping for clues.

Wan Han’s scheme moved like a net. The Sky Voyager went off course. Lia was swept into the Lost City like a leaf into a whirl.

After that, by chance, she lived with the Butterfly Snow President. Though Dixue seemed bound to her sister, fate played coy. Since Lia reached the Skyship, Sikong Qinhui never came knocking again.

Lia couldn’t see her sister. She couldn’t ask about the past, a question sealed like a letter.

Time slid by like rain. Soon she reached the Elven Forest.

She had been a princess, so even if she wasn’t a born leader, she could steer the Azure Front with a steady hand. She led everyone through the chaos and handed the adventurers to the governor safe and sound.

Then the golden-haired girl returned to her own star to follow.

Find her sister—Qinhui.

By divination, she found a sign: her sister in the Rainbow Valley, a thread in a prism.

So Lia planned to set out at once, traveling alone like a small boat at night. But something surprised her…

“Lia! The meat’s done!”

Tiger Girl burst in, grinning, with a platter of roast, gold and crisp, juice hissing like rain.

“I told you, don’t only roast meat! That’s not healthy!”

Emily, the wood mage, came in as well, dress modest as bark. Lia hadn’t expected so many companions to gather like birds.

Tiger Girl tore off a slice and popped it in, eyes shining. The rich, tender bite washed a day’s fatigue like warm broth.

“Meat is the best!”

“Hah… I can’t win with you.”

Emily planted hands on her hips, exasperated, a willow with spirit. As a wood mage, she loved greens more than charred meat.

“Emily, you said you needed me. What’s up?”

“Mm… Lia, I heard the Butterfly Snow President and Yue Liuyi seem to be in the Rainbow Sanctuary too. Should we reach out?”

“Mm… I’ve already sent someone. It’s messy. Maybe I should go explain in person.”

On the throne, Lia drooped a little, like a flower under dew. She hadn’t meant to hide being a princess. It just never felt necessary to announce.

That silver-haired, quick-witted girl had likely seen through it long ago, like moonlight through gauze.

“Don’t worry, Lia. The Butterfly Snow President and Lady Yue Liuyi are good people. They won’t blame you. We can be a surprise relief force here.”

“Like in the Elven Forest?”

“Yeah.”

“If everyone can make it through safe again… that would be best.”

She looked into the distance, voice soft as a wish lantern.

But the golden-haired girl didn’t know…

Beyond the buried mountains,

a sheet of shadow was already spilling toward her, black as a stormfront.