Born From a Forbidden Union, Humanity hates me.

The sound of crunching snow echoed into the empty city as five people walked with caution.

"This place is creepy."

Chelsea walked in front of her sister, who was holding her right sleeve, as they progressed deeper inside Ryghs.

"This place is not a ghost town. I cannot feel the thread of death anywhere. There only appears to be one spot in particular."

Titania glanced over her shoulder and eased Kelsea's fear slightly.

"O-Oh. That's good to know."

While walking the lifeless streets with caution, both Henrietta and Titania stayed on guard. There was always a possibility of something unexpected happening.

"We'll avoid that spot. This is where Orion killed one of Miasma's pawns."

"Understood."

Confirming with Henrietta the path forward, Titania nodded.

"The lead stops nowhere near that area anyway, so there is no need to check."

Hearing a small sigh of relief coming from the back, Henrietta and Titania smiled at each other.

But suddenly, Titania's foot stopped.

"..."

She looked into the sky while everyone abruptly stopped.

They silently stared at her face, which was focused on one spot.

"There it is."

As they all lifted their eyes to the sky, nothing seemed to be different from normal.

"Are you certain?"

"I have no doubt about it. The thread disappears at this exact space."

Titania closed her eyes, spreading her aura toward her surroundings. The world became paler, while the thread leading to Heto's location unraveled from thin air.

A strange vortex the size of a pebble appeared, swallowing the rest of the thread. This was the indication the group needed to find their peer.

As she opened her eyes, she nodded.

"It is right there."

Pointing at the exact spot, she made Henrietta and the others squint their eyes in an attempt to see what she had observed.

"I... can't see anything."

"Me neither."

Chelsea and Kelsea tilted their heads quizzically, both in opposite directions.

"For that matter, I cannot see anything either."

Keleanos joined the twins, as he was unable to see the entrance to Heto's hideaway.

"..."

In front of them, Henrietta quietly stared at the empty spot. The frown on her face indicated that she was thinking, so Titania remained silent as her friend strained her mind to find a solution.

After a few minutes, she began to lift her right hand toward that space.

"..."

The others looked at this action as an intense aura covered her body. The golden aura emanating from her was unfamiliar, which made them stare with great interest.

They took a few steps back, leaving Henrietta to concentrate.

Henrietta moved her left hand in front of her chest, as if she were holding a book.

After a few seconds, a small orb flew out of her chest and moved above her hand. The orb floated for a few seconds before morphing into a thick book that possessed, at the very least, a thousand pages.

The book, opened in the palm of her hand, began to flip its pages automatically, responding to the will of her master.

"Right... there."

Stopping abruptly, the pages stopped flipping. With the page settling gently on the others under it, a blank page of history opened in front of Henrietta.

"Heto's hideout... in Ryghs."

The page, devoid of any information, slowly became covered in writing. As the state of this precise matter was revealed to her, options appeared to her.

With her right hand still pointing at the opening, she glanced at the book.

"I see. It's impossible to enter. Even if Orion tried to force his way in, it would be impossible."

Titania frowned and, unable to ignore her comment, asked her a question.

"Then, are we leaving this place without him?"

Glancing over her shoulder, Henrietta grinned while answering her.

"Of course not."

Turning her head back to focus on the book of destiny, she finished her thoughts.

"Who do you think I am? I am the Remnant of Destiny. Changing an unknown entrance's configuration is an easy feat for me."

With a reassuring smile, she wrote inside the book with her intent.

Modifying the rules themselves, what was written became reality.

"I can see it!"

"It's really here!"

The sisters pointed at the vortex. The dark green energy swirling around a pitch-black dot appeared to them, proving what Titania had seen.

But as the words formed on the page, something caught Henrietta's attention.

'The words are vanishing.'

Not surprised by the event, she stared at the blank space where the change was written previously.

This was an effect falling under her concept. If something was impossible, it disappeared from the book itself, causing no changes to the world.

It showed her that what she tried to modify would cause too much change in the world.

'Does that mean something is dangerous inside there?'

"..."

She frowned, thinking of the information she had gathered.

'Probably not. The space itself is most likely too weak to support more people besides himself.'

'If I were him, I would have done the same.'

Thinking of the words Heto spoke before departing from the gathering, Henrietta bit her lower lip.

Focusing her intent on making this sentence the truth, she glared at the rift.

Answering the will of the woman, the vortex slowly opened, its center growing.

"Gh!"

Henrietta closed the book and made it return inside her core as a powerful force began to pull her closer to the dark sphere.

"Henrietta!"

"Don't worry. This is normal."

While her feet dragged some snow as she wasn't able to resist the pull, she turned her waist to the others.

"I'll bring him back; just wait a little bit."

They looked at Henrietta's face before giving a definite nod to her.

Then, the rift pulled her into the air and sucked her in. Left to their own devices, the four looked into the sky, worried.

...

A world of warping blue. A wavy pattern of bluish colors perpetually continued to fall, unbothered by the notion of 'ground'.

In this quiet space with no wind, no sun, and no life, clear footsteps resounded in the void.

With no floor whatsoever and no sense of direction, Henrietta walked with unrelenting strength.

"Heto!"

Her voice echoed inside this realm, met with an absence of answer.

"Show yourself, Heto! It's me, Henrietta!"

Again, no answer.

"Tsk..."

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Henrietta stopped walking.

"Continuing like this will only exhaust me. I have to think of another way to find him."

She knew Heto wouldn't respond to her. What she was unaware of was if Heto was avoiding her or asleep somewhere.

"..."

Looking at her surroundings, she sighed.

"This place is a mess. There are no clues whatsoever as to where I am."

"Even the exit may be tough to find again."

The moving scenery almost made her sick, but it mostly created an instinctive sense of dread in her heart.

Being lost forever in this place was a serious possibility, and she wanted to avoid that at all costs.

It would be easier for her to retrace her steps toward the exit the less she explored the area.

The deeper she went, the more she exposed herself to getting lost, with no guarantee of finding the person she was looking for.

Closing her eyes, she looked into the Book of Destiny in her core.

'No information about his whereabouts, but also no confirmation that I would get lost here forever.'

A sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she opened her eyes.

"My destiny isn't to wander this area forever. That is good to know."

"Still, I shouldn't walk too far in nonetheless. Risking everything for nothing isn't my preferred approach."

Taking a few steps backward, she hesitated.

"..."

"Oh."

Then, an idea came to her. This was a brilliant idea that would clear the hurdle of looking for Heto.

"Please."

She caressed the back of her hand, where the blue crystal was embedded. While hidden under her skin, it still answered her call.

A blue aura covered her body as thousands of regular water droplets formed around her.

"Spread."

With a swipe of her hand, she sent the droplets in all directions.

She closed her eyes and listened.

*Plop*

Multiple sounds caught her attention, but, as they came from behind her, she ignored them.

'That was the exit.'

Then, she listened intently.

'...'

For a few seconds, there were no other sounds. Still, the magic she used was still pursuing its order.

The water traveled further and further, until something fell into the net of droplets.

"Mmh~?"

She opened her eyes and looked in a precise direction. To her right, she caught something that appeared to move the moment the water impacted it.

"This way?"

Having located the exit with water magic, Henrietta walked forward without being afraid.

After walking for five minutes, she finally arrived.

"That's..."

She approached a strange structure with a pondering face.

Her hand scraped the tough wall as she walked around.

"Heto!"

Shouting his name, she expected an answer.

"W-Wha- Who's there?!"

And an answer she received, at last.

With a satisfied smile, Henrietta walked through what looked like a door, and her eyes fell on a tall man.

"Finally, we've found you."

Relief took over her, but the same couldn't be said for the man.

"Who are you?"

In the dark corner of the house, the man's silhouette rose, towering above Henrietta.

It's bright blue eyes glared at her like a wild beast stalking in the dead of night.

"How long has it been, gentle giant?"

"..."

The man suddenly stopped moving.

"There was only one person who gave me that nickname... Henrietta, is that you?"

His feet moved closer to her, revealing a tall, large, and muscular man with deep scars all over his body.

"Yes."

As the two-meter-tall Heto looked at her, memories resurfaced from many eons ago.

"Oh."

And, with a pleasant smile, he dropped his tensed shoulders.

"I sure wasn't expecting anyone to come into this sealed place."

"Trust me, it wasn't easy finding you."

Lifting her shoulders in exhaustion, Henrietta answered him.

"But..."

At that moment, all the kindness in her heart disappeared, and a serious frown took over.

"That's how necessary you are. We need you to come back, Heto."

"..."

His blue eyes glimmered for a second at her words.

Oblivious to the events happening on Triazils, Heto was about to be told everything that had transpired with no missing details.