"Clink..."
A faint glow flowed across the crystal-like stone, as though it were rejoicing, illuminating Emilia's lovely face.
Feeling the familiar warmth transmitted from the Crystal Stone resting in her palm, Emilia's voice trembled.
"P... Puck...?"
Yes.
The Crystal Stone lying in Emilia's palm was precisely the vessel Puck possessed.
It just was not Emilia's previous Crystal Stone, but a new one.
Fang Li explained it like this.
"After severing his contract with you, Puck did not vanish immediately. With my help, he found a new place to stay."
Normally, if a spirit and its spirit user severed their contract, the terms of that contract would determine whether there was a penalty or an amicable parting. But setting that aside, once the contract was broken, both sides regained their freedom.
Puck was the same. After severing his contract with Emilia, he would return to being a free spirit.
However, unlike ordinary spirits, because of his nature, Puck required an enormous amount of mana simply to maintain his existence.
If that mana supply could not be sustained, Puck would manifest his true form, drain all the mana from the surrounding atmosphere, and eventually turn everything nearby into eternal frozen soil, taking all life with it.
That was also one origin of the name "The Final Beast of the Eternal Frozen Soil."
Puck had once said that if Emilia died, he would freeze the entire world.
That was not merely talk.
Though it would take time, given enough of it, Puck would eventually turn the entire world into eternal frozen soil—a world of ice and snow.
Therefore, once he severed his contract with Emilia, Puck had to return to the place where he was born and sleep there.
Otherwise, he would bring about an unimaginable disaster.
But before Puck severed his contract