The sound of blizzard.
Eternally snowing, eternally freezing, the sound of blizzard greeted the young boy for the thousandth time.
"Big brother, big brother!"
"What is it this time?"
Following the loud announcement, a young girl ran into a moderately-decorated bedroom and almost rammed into the young boy, who was about to open the door. Soothing as a canary, her bell-like voice brightened the barren room. She was no different from a princess out of a fairy tale.
"OW!" Accompanied by a cute shriek, she clasped her forehead, her golden blonde hair dancing in the wind.
"What are you doing? Didn't Lord Leiqritus tell you to not run in the hallway? You're going to hurt yourself again..." The young boy smiled helplessly and gently removed the young girl's hands. He inspected her forehead with concern. "...Hm? You don't seem to be hurt... Wait. Hey, are you just faking it...?"
"N─No, It really hurts..." Teardrops hanged from the young girl's innocent eyes. The pair of aquamarine exhibited the utmost purity. With such a performance, no one would ever doubt her words.
"...Really? Come here, I'll help you..." The young boy said with uncertainty. He looked over the young girl's countenance carefully but found no hint of fabrication. Sighing to himself, he ultimately fell for the young girl's deception...
"As if I will! You're definitely lying! I'm not falling for it again! Come here, let me teach you a lesson!" The gentleness in his tone changed.
He had long seen through the young girl. They were siblings after all. And they were particularly intimate even when compared to the other children in their generation. How could he not tell the truth after living together for so many years?
"Ah! Big brother caught me!" A mischievous expression formed on the young girl's face.
"You..." The young boy's lip twitched. He was going to show her the consequences of playing tricks on him.
"Nuh uh, you're not catching me today!" Giggling, the young girl escape from the boy's grasp and out the door.
"Wait, Charlotte!" The young boy, Fenric von Leiqritus, shouted. He was speechless. How could his sister run so fast every time she was caught? Was she born to be a fraudster? Perhaps her inner talent did not lie in the arts of Thaumaturgy but in the essence of being sneaky like the little imp she was.
They were kids, children born to the Leiqritus Family.
The Leiqritus was a house of nobles from the Mage's Association, an ancient and acclaimed family from Germany. They were considered to be elites, and as they were praised, their numbers were made up of famed Enforcers, Curse Masters, Elemental Masters, Archmagi, and first-class lecturers of the Clock Tower. They were even some Master Alchemists who had joined the Atlas Institution to pursue unattainable miracles.
These aristocrats were given everything they desire the moment they were born. Magical supplies, precious herbs, rare materials, olden artifacts, as long as they had potential and the talent to support that claim, they would receive the life other Magi dreamed for.
Perhaps in an ordinary person's view, these people who are born with a silver spoon in their mouths are the most disgusting part of humanity seeing how they treated the 'lowly commoners' lives as nothing.
However, in a mage's view, they were the gifted seeds who carried the hopes of their family. Each blessed with the highest tier Magic Circuits, they only had to live long enough for their magic to reach its apex. Just the pure magical force generated by their Circuits had the power to overwhelm any mundane mages out there.
Of course, these boons are only provided to those who are gifted. The untalented were abandoned. Resources had to be fought for with their very lives on a daily basis and those who failed to reach certain expectation were thoroughly 'weeded out', children below the age of ten included.
Nevertheless, this kind of treatment, despite being inhumane, was still better than what those fetuses born 'non-magical' had to suffer. To the Leiqritus, these children were called 'the Forsaken'. If found, each and every single one of them would be purged and permanently erased from the family tree.
This was normal for an ancient lineage belonging to the aristocratic faction within the Clock Tower. In modern times, resources were scarce. Although they were able to support a large quantity of mages in their individual research, there was still a limit to it, hence the practice of the strong devouring the weak.
Circuit Quality: D
Circuit Quantity: E
Circuit Composition: Dynamic
Overall Rating: D-
Assessor's Words: "The child's Magic Circuits are pathetic. His Circuit Composition is quite unusual but nevertheless useless since he could not achieve what we desire from among the new generation. Due to possessing the minimum requirements for Thaumaturgy practice, he will not be removed. His future status will most likely be a family servant, or if he's capable, a Hunter."
This was the horrible truth the former man, now child, came to know of when his potential was tested during his birthday at five years old. Reality was harsh at times. Even for someone who was reincarnated, this slap was too hard for him to withstand.
He knew what the new world was like. Nasuverse, or the Type-Moon universe, was an exceedingly cruel world. Clashes between the ruthless Magi and the Church's fanatics, genocidal acts by blood-thirsty Dead Apostles, incomprehensible phenomenons swallowing entire cities... these surreal events were like a daily routine to the populace of the Moonlit World.
A friend you talk to everyday could be a mass murderer, that caring mother of yours could be a insatiable cannibal, the young girl you just conversed with might just be a corrupted Wraith who is waiting to consume your soul... and no one would even raise an eyebrow when they learn of it because it was normal for them.
Human experimentation, systematic racial extermination, the creation and torture of artificial life, fusion between the living and the dead, these 'harmless' experiments could transform the whole planet into a bloody landscape within a single night.
I wish I'd never known a world like this.
Was it too much to ask? I just want to know the warmth of a mother, I just want to be ignorant of the world's affairs, I just want to have a normal childhood and live through a normal life contentedly.
Alas, the wail of the young boy would never reach anyone.
One might say: "By abandoning the first three stages of life, which are filled with freedom and unforgettable memories, you have succeeded in life and became an elite member of society!" But he'd be immediately shot down by an elder.
"Do not be so naive, boy. This world isn't filled with rainbows and sunshines. Make sure to abandon that pathetic view of yours. Once the inevitable happen, it will be too late to regret it." Such naivety might have worked in his old world, but here, everything was decided on one's birth.
Unless you're a True Magician, you cannot change your own soul. It was an insurmountable line. How could you control an existence of a higher order in concept of the astral plane? You, but a mere mortal, breach into the realm of the divine?
So close, yet so far. One side, a genius unseen in over a century and the favored heiress to the family. Other, a hard-working failure who despite all his efforts, was still the abandoned one who narrowly survived being marked as a Forsaken.
Two siblings, brother and sister.
One in heaven, one in hell.
Knowing each other's pain, but could never become one.
Such, was just another typical event. They were not special. Not the brother, not the sister, nor the ancient lineage whom birthed them. But this, was where the story started. It was one-of-a-kind. A unique story only belonging to them.
~ Ephemeral Dream ~
"Faster, faster! You're so slow!"
It happened on a snowy day.
Covered in the never-ceasing blizzard in this land of frost and snow was the Leiqritus Castle. The fortress stood tall atop the white hill. It was surrounded by a massive forest. If one did not know, one might confuse this giant castle with the headquarters of another famous German Magi lineage: the Einzbern.
It was not strange. Before becoming the exalted bloodline they were today, the Leiqritus were originally Germanic nobles of the Holy Roman Empire. Their past records were lost in time but it was certain that the family had existed before Charlemagne himself ascended to throne.
The longer the lineage, the more powerful their Magic Crests are. If the branch families were included, the Leiqritus would possess multiple Magic Crests of the upper-level class. Such strength rivaled any family where the Twelve Tower Lords from the Clock Tower originated.
Only, the Leiqritus did not fight against the most respected Magi families of the Mage's Association and vie for power. This was not because they were not ambitious, it was simply due to their power spreading too far and wide and was hard to concentrate in one location.
Moreover, internal struggle for resources was a norm among the branch families. Although the position of heir was untouchable, other important positions were replaced regularly and blood were even shed at times.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Fenric was born into the main family where resources were most abundant and security was the greatest, but also where the rules were the most stringent. The pressure on him was almost unbearable, though conversely, the availability of magical knowledge and materials to even the likes of him was decent.
Additionally, he was the most diligent of his generation, being capable of spellcraft in spite of not having a proper tutor. Magecaft was not easy to learn. One wrong step and it could lead to disability or even death, hence the saying: "to be a Magus is to walk with death."
Therefore, when compared to those who have abandoned hope in advancing, he was more favored amongst the older generation. Of course, not as a successor to any position, but as a bodyguard for future family heads. After all, you do not have to be that powerful as long as you are capable of sacrificing your life for someone 'more important'.
It was when they first met on that snowy day.
"Eh? Who is this?"
The young heiress of the main line, Charlotte von Leiqritus, blurted out the moment they met. It was just a usual outing to the forest for her, but to the young boy, it was the moment his fate was determined.
It was an utmost honor, to be able to guard the future mistress. His maturity and speed in advancement defeated his competitors. The children of his batch were barely able to reenact the most basic Mystery while those geniuses were too valuable to be forced upon this lowly position of bodyguard.
Naturally, he was not the sole guard of Charlotte. Two elite mages accompanied her at all time and an entire squad composed of an addition of seven veteran Magi with sufficient combat experiences and an elder of the family rivaling those top Enforcers from the Association would secretly protect her whenever she leaves the Leiqritus Castle's Bounded Field's boundary.
This was the treatment granted to the future heiress.
It was not a joke. Their combined firepower could even take down a low-level Assassin-class Servant from the Holy Grail War. These were highly-skilled combatants trained from their young age. Without Magic Resistance, the Servant would be annihilated in an instant.
"This is Fenric from the main house, milady. He'll be joining us today. This was the family head's decision, my humble self apologizes for any offense." One of the two accompanying mages, the one with bright red hair akin to a burning flame, answered while bowing her head.
"From now on, he will be your 'playmate'. For someone his age, he is an excellent mage, though obviously not on milady's level." The other mage, a man dressed in a grey suit, said flatteringly.
"Hmm... Alright." Charlotte tilted her head and no longer paid any attention to her new bodyguard. She smiled once more when she laid her eyes upon the forest shrouded in snow. "Today... I will beat her record today!" Excitement flashed in her eyes.
"Please be careful, milady. It was rumored that a pack of dire wolves had appeared in the forest." The red-haired mage warned sternly. It seemed unlike her partner who praised the lively snowball for every little thing she did, she was genuinely worried about the young girl.
"What are you scared about, Julia? Milady could terminate those filth without lifting her hand. Moreover, not a single hair on her shall be harmed with us present." The suited man, Freed, snorted.
He was a typical pampered aristocratic member of the Leiqritus. Born with moderately powerful Magic Circuits, he relied on his bloodline for his status. His family also did not bother with his frivolity. As long as he makes sure to spread his seed and deliver capable seedlings, his behavior was inconsequential.
"Whatever! Let's hurry! Reina told me she saw a patch of edelweiss in the forest last week! I must find them before the others do!" Charlotte pouted and looked at the forest longingly. She would have probably rushed in if not for Julia stopping her.
"Come on! This time I won't lose to that Iselma woman! I'll show her that the flowers here are the most beautiful!" Stamping her feet in anger, Charlotte got loose from Julia's hands and rushed into the frozen woods.
"Ah, milady, wait!" Freed shouted and quickly ran after the young girl.
"Fenric! I do not care how young you are. Keep up with us or be lost. You are now the future matriarch's guard. I will tolerate no weaklings." Julia's gentleness for Charlotte completely vanished as she glared at the young boy with a stern gaze.
Fenric was used to it. Her cruel words were not strange. On the contrary, he would usually be ignored so the fact that she warned him gave him a odd feeling of happiness. However, it was her next action which caused the young boy to be filled with fear.
It was silent stare.
Unblinking, unflinching, unmoving──just absolute silence.
Such a stare made him frozen in place. It was as if his entire being was being held hostage by an unfathomable monster. Why was Julia acting like this? Why was her attitude so incongruous? He honestly couldn't stand the silent stare that she was giving him.
Moreover.
Her eyes were cold... dead cold. Like a frozen river amidst the eternal winter, her eyes sent him into the bottom of a chasm, akin to the abyss that one should never stared into. Was this what a real first-class mage was like? No emotions, no sense of self-being... Was this her true self?
"Kids... should just be kids. Why suffer?"
By the time he returned to reality, Julia had long since disappeared.
Her footsteps were visible on the snow-covered ground. And he followed it. Not long after, he came upon three sets of footprints. The first was small and erratic, obviously belonged to the lively Charlotte. The second set was frantic, definitely Freed's. The last was calm and precise. It was Julia's.
'The young mistress is searching for flowers to show to someone, hence the irregular patterns. Freed is chasing after her. Despite his earlier words, he's still worried of her getting into trouble. Julia seems calm. She must be experienced in tracking.' Crouching down, he calmly analyzed the footprints, doing his best to forget the prior event.
'Julia did not erase her footprints nor did she retrace her steps. She's not in a hurry.' He did not realize he was the strangest of the bunch. A young boy, barely twelve, was acting as if he had went through a lifetime of experience... Which was sort of true since he was a reincarnator.
'Was it an illusion...? I do not know how long have actually passed since I went blank but I don't think it's been long enough for them to travel a great distance. I can't match the two adults' speed, but the one they are following is the young mistress so they can't be fast.' Fenric stood back and gazed at the sun.
'The sun's slightly past the center so it hasn't been that long since we first met... My current od reserve amounts to roughly six units of magical energy, five units away from fully maturing.' His face turned gloomy at the mention of his magic reserves.
'Eleven units of magical energy... About a hundred and ten units when I influence mana... What can I do with that...? Even Fate/stay night's protagonist, that pathetic excuse of a Magus, has two to three times my total reserve.' He sighed. The future was certainly looking bleak.
'If I could receive just a small part of our family's Magic Crest as a reward... I can probably rival Shirou's total reserve... No. I need to stop thinking right now. Look ahead, not behind! If I work hard enough, I can receive more resources. Even if a Crest is impossible, Mystic Codes, gems, and mana crystals could surely...!'
BAANNGGG!
"What...?!" A loud bang snapped him out of his thoughts. A cloud of snow formed a hundred meters in front of him. AWWOOOO! Then, a wolf's cry was heard. "This howl...? Don't tell me... The dire wolves?!" The howl... It came from the direction the three had went!
A wolf howls to communicate their location to other pack members and to ward off rivaling packs from their territory... And it could also be the signal to relay an attack. It's not nighttime, where they relied on stealth, so this was entirely possible. If that is so, the three could be in danger!
"Wait for me...!"
Fenric did not forget his duty. He was a guard for the future matriarch. Her life was worth a thousand of his. If anything were to happen to her, he would not escape his own execution. Besides, even though he did not want to admit it, he was concerned for the young girl. Her natural liveliness was something he had never seen in other Magi.
Was it because of her upbringing? As the heiress and the inheritor of the Family Crest, she was certainly pampered and had never experience difficulty. Probably, no one except the current family head dared to reprimand her. She grew up unhindered and therefore, the humanity which all mages lost was somehow still living on in that fragile body of hers.
"Maybe she can..."
It was stupid, but he went for it. Loneliness was a scary thing. Despite seeing and coming into contact with people everyday, he felt that he was interacting with machines. Maybe that was why he felt a trace of happiness when Julia warned him. Even if the woman did it out of concern for Charlotte, it was still the sight of a mother's love.
In a way, her gentleness, even not meant for himself, was an unreachable solace. He could not touch it, but he could see it. Yes... he could see it. It was warm, like an ember, burning within the darkness of this dreary world. That's why...
He had to protect it.
He ran, and ran, and ran, and ran. A red mark went across his face as he ran pass a sharp branch. A trail of blood flowed down his arm as the scratch was deep. However, he did not care. Ignoring his body, he focused solely on his foot and legs. The spell Reinforcement kicked in at full power.
"I will..."
The first thing he saw amidst the snow-covered ground was red.
It was blood, leaking right from the body of a white wolf. Its head seemed to have been decapitated by something sharp. His eyes, which were his most sensitive body part towards magical energy, saw the color of magic. 'Blue and green.' The Element was Wind. Blowing at his face, he understood that a wind blade must be the wolf's killer.
Continuing forward, he saw more body parts scattered across the ground. 'Red.' Another Element, in the form of Fire, became more visible. He was not disgusted by the gore. In fact, the Fire Elements complimented the blood-covered snow. Such a horrible sight was already the norm to a Magecraft practitioner like him.
'Since they were all done in by Magecraft, the guards must have been the killer. Most were killed by wind blades. The rest have their brains incinerated. The fire user is obviously more experienced and knew to kill effectively and use her prana efficiently.' The three were already under attack.
'The wind user is Freed and the fire user must be Julia... Then what about Charlotte? She should technically be the strongest since she is...' He stopped his thoughts there. What was he thinking? Charlotte wasn't like him, a logical monster depleted of humanity. She was an ordinary girl who was two years younger. How could she react normally in front of these savage beasts?
'These wolves should not pose a harm to the group... but what is this feeling in my chest?' Fenric clenched his fists and took a deep breath. He had to remain composed. The three were safe, there was no way the two elite mages would lose to a group of wolves.
The dire wolves were larger and swifter than those wolves that should already be extinct in Germany, but in the end, they were still some low-level genetically-modified grey wolves, probably the result of some other Magi. They're not Magical Beasts.
'I should see them soon. Just a little further ahe─' He paused.
Standing before him, in that familiar grey suit was Freed. The expensive suit of his was dirtied by blood. His pants was torn and a small gash was on his shoulder. The wound was most likely from the wolves' ambush. Overall, the man was fine.
If you exclude the fact that the man was now embedded inside an ice statue... and broken in half.
'Silver and light blue...' The color surrounding him was the one representing the Element of Water. This was the complete opposite of Julia, the fire user. There was no way the woman wielded two conflicting Elements, and he did not believe it was Charlotte either.
The young girl would never attack her guards for no reason, and there was no way she could be manipulated, even when considering Caster-class Servants. The young girl's Magic Circuits' quality was too high. Any Mental Interference spell would never get past her natural Resistance.
"Then who... or what did this to Freed?" He touched the statue and felt the coldness within it. A spell grasped the ice's structure and gave him new information: a centuries-old frost sanctuary, a eternally falling snowstorm, a natural phenomenon beyond human imagination...
His whole body froze in terror.
"What is this?!" Clasping his head in pain, he fell onto his knees. He shivered in fear. He had saw winter, the origin of winter. Right in the center, something that shouldn't exist in this world, it wasn't suppose to be here...!
"What is an Elemental doing here?!" Fenric panicked. The 'thing' he saw was a class of Mystery whose foundations could never be replicated by mere Magecraft. Its existence itself was a miracle. That 'thing'... It was a Nature Spirit, a spiritual body formed by the will of the planet itself...!
"Snow Sprite...!" The Spirit of Winter, the Winter Maiden whose power comes from nature, an ice incarnate. He could not be mistaken. Just a slight glance told him everything. This thing was Servant-class. It could manipulate winter and infinitely regenerate within ice. The snow-covered forest was a natural territory for such a being.
BAAANNGGG!
Before anything, his body moved.
Without any equipment or preparation. Without any proper reinforcement. Without adequate power... His body moved. The pathetic pair of legs of his ran at full speed. The twelve-year-old young boy ran past the trail of corpses and arrived at his final destination.
"Julia..."
The red-haired woman was in front of him. Her back was reclined against a half-broken tree. The large trunk was cut cleanly in half, it was as if it had been severed by a invincible blade.
"Julia...!"
A pool of blood was beneath the fallen woman. Wounds were everywhere. Her left leg was gone, her right hand was missing four fingers, her ears were both bleeding, her left eye was hollow, and a creeping cold was gradually eating away her life force. Hypothermia would be the least thing to worry about right now.
"...Aaa"
The woman tried to open her mouth, but no sound came out. Her windpipe was crushed and her throat heavily damaged by the frost. All she could do was open the only eye and gaze at the approaching young boy.
"W─Wait a moment, I─I'll... I'll save you." Fenric frantically said.
It was cruel and twisted. The scenery where peaceful landscape was slowly being dyed in black took shape in his mind. His mental trigger was activated. With a hand on the woman's body, he was going to use up all his prana to heal her. Even if he couldn't cure her detached limbs, he could still stop the bleeding before going to find help.
A hand gently hold the young boy's arm.
"J─Julia!" Fenric cried out, happy at the woman's response. She was not dead, not dead, not dead. As long as he could mend the serious injuries, he could bring her back to the castle for better treatment...!
Stop.
Just... Stop.
The young boy stopped. His eyes stared straight into the woman's. There was no traces of the coldness she showed him earlier. What was there... was the gentleness she saw in Charlotte. But this time... it wasn't for the young girl alone.
This time.
It was for him.
"Ju, lia...!" Teardrops slid down his face.
Why was he crying?
Why does his heart hurts so much?
He was not young. He was not naive. He had seen the things they do. He had seen the fate of those who failed. He'd be older than her if both his lives were to combine.
Then why...
Was he crying?
Save her... Will you?
Like a summer day in an old childhood. A young boy holding his parents' hands. The expanding ocean, the boundless sky. He saw himself smiling in that picturesque scenery.
"I will... save you...!"
Tears did not stop. His decision did not waver. He had to save Julia. The consequences did not matter. Even if the heaven were to collapse, even if Alaya were to command his death, he'd still be here.
I'm right here... don't cry.
"What do, you mean... by don't cry? I am here too! I am here too! Can you hear me?! Can you see me?! Julia!"
Promise me... save her.
"I will save her! I will save you! I swear! I will never go against my words, so don't go! Stay here!"
Than...k... you.
The sound of blizzard greeted the young boy for the thousandth time. Julia... She had departed in silence. Her words of thanks resounded in his mind repeatedly. The young woman, a stranger whom he'd never met... She was going to start a new journey in another place.
But the confused Fenric did not know. He held her body and pulled her closer. Why was he crying for someone he'd just met? Why did he feel so much grief? Perhaps, the anguish he'd held in since the beginning of this life had finally burst out.
In the end, there was one thing he knew.
"I have to save her."
A fire was burning within him.
"I will... save her!"
The fire will not be extinguished.
Wiping his tear-stained eyes, he focused on the direction where silver was gathered. It was undeniably where the Snow Sprite was.
The chance at winning... was zero.
The chance of rescuing Charlotte and escaping... was zero.
"GAIA! ALAYA! HEAR ME?! I WILL DO ANYTHING! SO PLEASE...! GIVE ME POWER TO SAVE HER! NO MATTER THE COST, NO MATTER THE PRICE, I WILL PAY IT...!" Standing amidst this land of frost and snow, the young boy shouted out all his pent-up emotions.
Silence greeted him.
How could an entity on the level of the planet's will, Gaia, and the collective consciousness of mankind, Alaya, answer a tiny human like him? He was not special. He did not have the potential to become special. And he did not have the worth to even be sacrificed.
But something else greeted him.
"...What do you seek?"
A light appeared amidst the darkness.
"...What do you seek?"
A voice... A bestial roar from a primordial beast reached him. With it, the dignity of a myth. The power that no man could ever hope to reach.
"What do you seek, Fenric von Leiqritus?"
A massive sun came into his mind. The indelible roar caused the sun to vanish and a giant, golden eye stared down on him like an ant. And he, the ant, stared back at the sun without any fear.
Not everything in this world happened due to coincidence.
He was the origin of limitless, he was limitlessness itself. This body, was mere vessel. The Reverse Side was illustrious, the forbidden territory beyond humanity's horizon was not just a fable exchanged through words, it was the grand symbol shining amidst the many stars in this universe of ours.
Perhaps with this power, he too, can become a protagonist.
"Ah."
The vast darkness he was floating in burst into glistering twilight.
Gravity disappeared.
He felt the warm embrace of a never-existed mother.
Slowly, the world faded away. In return, was the massive sun which was hanging in the middle of the sky. Winged creatures flew around it, dancing in the joy of freedom. The creatures of earth howled, their craving for independence had long since engraved upon his soul.
Their glory symbolized the dawn of a new era.
Then... he fainted.
~ Ephemeral Dream ~
Charlotte was running.
Behind her, was a woman of incomparable beauty. With a head full of long white hair and glistening silver eyes, the Snow Sprite floated above the ground and chased after the crying young girl. Everything blocking her was frozen in ice and broken down into tiny crystals.
"Go away!" Charlotte shouted.
They had ran into a pack of dire wolves not long after they entered the forest. The pack was unusually large, and the wolves were not weak, but when put up against an elite mage, they simply were not worth much. Their combined effort in taking down the Magi was no difference from standing still and waiting to be slaughtered.
When Jullia arrived, the wolves started dying out at a rapid rate. The fire user had easily cooked the wolves alive. At that point, the 'intense' battle had already turned into a one-sided massacre.
But that's when everything went wrong.
The largest dire wolf, likely the pack leader, suddenly howled. The other wolves did the same. Regardless of the circumstances, even when being killed, the pack continued to howl. They ignored their falling brethren and only gaze at the sky.
Just when the final wolf, the pack leader, was killed by Julia, a snowstorm brewed. It was very sudden, however, the group ignored it. Blizzards and intense hailing was common in the region. Why would they question things that happen on a daily basis?
They should've ran.
The wolf pack was not just a pack. It was a tribe of extinct wolves whom somehow survived until today. And the primary reason they were able to unite several packs, create a tribe, and hunt safety was due to their worship in the Spirit of Winter.
The Elemental had been the tribe's guardian for almost a century and had guaranteed their survival. It was also the one who ordered their migration towards the Leiqritus territory as the forest here was abundant with prey. The Nature Spirit was secluded from society, so how would it know the region was under Magi's control?
Now what would you feel when the people you've been protecting for tens of years was suddenly slaughtered?
The Snow Sprite was enraged. For the first time since decades, it materialized itself in the physical world and attacked the humans who provoked it. The complex Bounded Field established by the Leiqritus did nothing to stop it. Freed did not last a single second as he was immediately turned into an ice statue before being cut into two halves.
Julia, understanding she stood zero chance against the enraged Elemental, immediately took hold of Charlotte and ran away. However, the two humans could not outrun a centuries-old monster. It was not long before they were cornered.
Charlotte, being the heiress to an ancient Magus lineage, was not completely powerless. There were many life-saving Mystic Codes on her body. Even the random shoe she wore that day was a Mystic Code which warded off cold temperature and increased her agility in snow terrains.
Thanks to them, they managed to avoid the Snow Sprite's frost and escaped to the other side, towards the castle direction and where Fenric was. They had to call for reinforcements, buy enough time for the old monsters within the family to deal with the creature with their family treasures. They'd never abandon the heiress to an invader.
But good things do not last forever. The Snow Sprite was not weak. Within moments, it understood it was deep inside enemy territory. The land told her so, and she believed it. Although nature was her ally, she did not have the strength to suppress the Leiqritus. How could such a long lineage not have a trump card or two?
Thus, it gathered its power and crushed the two ants. Julia, who was already prepared to sacrifice herself, took the brunt of the impact and fell. It was a miracle that she was still alive when Fenric found her. Perhaps she'd mistaken the young boy as Charlotte? Or did she saw through the boy's facade? No one will ever know now.
As for Charlotte, she successfully slipped away. The remaining ice storm from the Snow Sprite which passed through Julia's body had struck her, but the attack did not harm the heiress. The accessories she worn on her body: two ribbons, shirt's buttons, a necklace, and various things had shattered, creating layers upon layers of barriers.
This was when the Snow Sprite sensed something wrong. Nature, which had responded to her every demand, suddenly stopped. Like a computer at the end of its serviceable life, it stopped operating and the Elemental, the user, could only blankly stare at the screen.
Then, they appeared.
It was a sight straight out of a fantasy tale.
Before the Snow Sprite could figure out what happened, a stream of flames burst out and slammed her to the ground. Looking up, one would be able to see a massive two-winged, four-legged red lizard. It was a legendary beast everyone in the world knew of: a dragon.
The Adult Red Dragon had emerged from nowhere, surprising the Nature Spirit. It had lived for centuries, but it had never seen a creature of this caliber. Its Dragon's Breath had easily overwhelmed the puny Elemental. The so-called 'eternal ice' that made up her body was being melted at an unprecedented speed.
Air itself was incinerated. The brewing blizzard was destroyed by the legendary heat. The forest surrounding them were turned into ashes. The ground beneath them became lava. A dragon's might was not to be trifled with.
Unfortunately, the Spirit of Winter's nightmare did not stop. Because just as a tenth of its body were almost melted down, a second sun rose up to the sky. For the second time, the temperature in the area spiked up once more as snow were thawed.
A three-legged crow chirped. It was the legendary Golden Crow from various East Asian mythologies. As the representation of the Sun, it was the worst opponent for the Ice Elemental. And therefore, the moment it crashed down, the Snow Sprite shrieked in pain.
It was not just being 'burned'. No, such an attack was too simple. The Golden Crow was literally burning the Snow Sprite's 'being' from this plane of existence. If it were to be killed, it would never be able to manifest on Earth with a physical or spiritual body ever again.
The nightmare continued.
A flaming red bird with multiple tails like a peacock's imitated the Golden Crow and collided against the Snow Sprite. The third sun was the Zhu Que, the Vermilion Bird of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. A creature from the Phantasmal Species that was far above the Snow Sprite's level: a Divine Beast.
The Vermilion Bird represents the fire-element, the direction south, and the season summer. It was literally the symbol of fire, just like the two previous beasts who struck the Snow Sprite. The affinity between the two were simply abysmal.
By now, the snow forest had transformed into a land of active volcano. Scorching inferno set the land ablaze. Smoke clouds filled the sky as powdery ash replaced the cold snow and raining down upon the blackened land.
An eight-legged lesser dragon, the Fire Salamander, a four-legged wingless dragon, the Lava Drake, a beast of the abyss, the Hellhound, a limbless dragon, the Magma Wyrm... Phoenix, Ash Guardian, Flaming Bull, Lava Golem, and even a fire-aligned Elemental attacked the Spirit of Winter one after another.
As one would expect, the Snow Sprite did not last a minute before being completely obliterated from the earth's surface. These creatures only spoke of in legends and myths showed no mercy. Monstrous Beasts, Phantasmal Beasts, Divine Beasts, just the amount of them would send even the greatest heroes running.
Time was stopped.
As if nothing had happened, the red landscape dissipated. The inferno receded and the raining ash returned to the same cold snow. The scenery which one would never forget had vanished, but the young girl would never ever forget it.
The Snow Sprite was not there. It had been assimilated by the miracle she saw. Were they pulled into that world unknowingly? Was the fabric of reality replaced by another layer? The young girl did not understand. All she could do was to blankly stare at the eternally brewing blizzard in silence.
Within minutes, alarm went throughout the forest. A squad of mages lead by a sixty-year-old elder rushed towards Charlotte's direction crazily. It was an unprecedented emergency. The Bounded Field did not go off, no request for help were sent to them, they had not recognized the magnitude of the situation until it was too late.
When they finally found the missing heiress, the panicking Magi saw a serene sight. A young boy, whose hair had turned partially white and skin wrinkled like an old man's, was hugging the young girl with care. Signs of crying could be seen on her face, but yet she somehow found peace in the boy's embrace.
No one truly understood what occurred in that snow-covered forest that day. The corpses of the two accompanying mages were discovered not long after, however, their cause of death could not be investigated.
The young boy, Fenric, showed intense sign of magic overuse. He should have ran out of od and used his life force to compensate for whatever spell he evoked. That alone took away almost three years of his total lifespan, but such a sacrifice was expected from a guard like him.
Ultimately, the family decided to help the boy recover and awarded him with the prize he deserved under the young girl's insistence. It seemed the event had traumatized her. She was now stuck to the young boy.
Two siblings, brother and sister.
One in heaven, one in hell.
Knowing each other's pain, but could never become one.
No one knew what happened that day, under that sanctuary of snow.
Author's Note:
You guys have already figured out three of the five world candidates :O
Next Mission World candidates:
World 1: Dragonfriend → Dragonfriend Kingdom Lugnica → Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World
World 2: Earth Mother → Porcelain rank adventurer → ?
World 3: Maiden of Winter → Holy Maiden of Winter → ?
World 4: One's Own Goal → Ainz Ooal Gown → Overlord
World 5: VRMMORPG: Realized World → Aincrad → Sword Art Online