A few hundred kilometers north lay the Schicksal Ranch.
The place no longer resembled what it once had been. It had become a deathly frozen wasteland, crystalline blue fragments drifting through the air like countless ice sprites dancing.
Other than deathly silence, there was only deathly silence.
Yet amid that silence, a sudden surge of momentum was slowly brewing, as though something were awakening.
A wisp of flame appeared in the void.
Though it burned, it gave off no heat. Even its color was a deathly grayish white. Floating amid the chilly snowflakes, it was utterly inconspicuous.
It burned silently, gradually growing stronger.
In the end, the burning flame gathered into the shape of a person.
Its form was merely a blank body at first. Then, upon that body, it gradually grew eyes, a nose, ears, and a mouth, eventually becoming an expressive human face.
It was that little girl.
The little girl who had been taken out in one strike by Frozen Hell Ice Sky and reduced to fragments.
She had returned!
"The essence of burning is the movement of molecules. The livelier the molecules, the higher the temperature; the more still the molecules, the lower the temperature. But ultimately, it is all burning."
The girl chuckled. "Thanks to that Zhao fellow, I've opened the door to a new world."
"As repayment, I'll let you die in agony."
Her small nose twitched lightly as she followed the scent southward. Frozen Hell Ice Sky had nearly killed her, and even in her dreams, the little girl remembered the scent of that blade.
As for toying with family, it was nothing compared to revenge.
Her slender feet stepped upon the ice, producing soft hissing sounds as they melted small footprints into it.
Half her body was solid ice, while the other