Return

"This damned place doesn't have a thing in it."

The warrior at the head of the group stared at the ruins before him, visibly irritated, and voiced his complaint.

When they had first heard there was an abandoned castle in this wilderness, the adventurers had been delighted, hoping to come away with a rich haul. Things had not gone as they wished. Never mind legendary magic weapons or divine artifacts—they had not found so much as half a gold coin. The castle, which must once have looked grand and imposing and was even said by the locals to be "a cursed place that must never be approached," had long since been reduced to ruins by the passage of time and the elements. The adventurers had fought off wild wolves, feral dogs, and magic beasts to reach the ruins, only to find nothing at all.

"We came all this way for nothing!"

The others wore similar expressions at the warrior's complaint. As adventurers, they should have been prepared for an outcome like this before they began exploring, but it was hard not to harbor hopes and fantasies about a castle from the magic empire of a thousand years ago. On top of that, it lay deep in an uninhabited wilderness, and even these battle-hardened adventurers had gone to great lengths to find it. They had put in so much effort, and some had even been injured, yet they had gained nothing. Anyone would have found it difficult to stay calm in their situation.

"Can't be helped."

Perhaps realizing that his attitude was affecting the group's morale, the warrior took a deep breath and gave another order.

"Let's start from the beginning and search again. A castle like this has to have tunnels and secret rooms!"

"Right."

Just as everyone acknowledged the order and prepared to pull themselves together and resume the search, the entire castle suddenly began to shake uncontrollably, and a faint light emerged.

"What's happening?"

The sudden disturbance put everyone on edge. They stood back-to-back, watching their surroundings warily so they could defend against danger from any direction. By now, they somewhat regretted their recklessness. This was a ruin from a thousand years ago, which meant it dated back to the magic empire. For ordinary adventurers like them, magic was beyond their reach. Moreover, a thousand years later, mages had become exceedingly rare. These adventurers had no chance of affording one. So when confronted with magic being activated, they were all terrified. They had no idea what would happen; some were even imagining a mouth suddenly appearing in the floor and swallowing them all.

The light gradually faded, and the castle fell still once more.

"What... what was that?"

The adventurers looked around in surprise. Then they saw Li Lin slowly rising to his feet in the middle of the hall.

The teleportation had been a great success.

Having finally recovered from the disorientation of passing through space, Li Lin easily sensed the magic power that filled the continent, a power he had been away from for eighteen years. Unlike the world he had just left, where magic power was weak, this was unmistakably his own world. Li Lin was certain he had returned.

But before Li Lin had fully recovered, he felt something cold against his neck.

"Who are you?!"

The adventurers had immediately tensed at the sudden appearance of this man. Fortunately, the young man seemed a little dazed, and when faced with someone like that, the natural thing to do was to restrain him first.

"Don't move, or I'll slit your throat."

Li Lin froze for a moment at the thief's whispered threat, then sighed helplessly.

"I never thought that after eighteen years, the first thing I'd hear on my return would be a threat. Looks like this journey of mine is destined to be fraught with trouble too."

His voice was calm and indifferent, but it carried a hint of unease that made one shiver.

"Who the hell are you? Answer me!"

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, the warrior drew his longsword and watched Li Lin warily.

But Li Lin showed no fear in the face of the adventurers' killing intent.

"Angela, time to work."

"No problem, master."

Before the adventurers could figure out whom he was speaking to, a sweet, childish voice suddenly came from nowhere, leaving them all stunned. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw a little girl standing not far away. She looked no more than twelve or thirteen. A luxurious velvet dress carefully enveloped her petite frame, and her long, silvery-white hair fell to her waist. Her delicate, adorable features and smooth, fair skin made her look more like an exquisitely crafted doll. What alarmed them, however, were her bright red eyes, the color of blood.

She watched the adventurers before her with a trace of mockery, then raised one thin eyebrow slightly.

"What, even this arouses your lust? Do you all think with the heads between your legs?"

"You little brat...!!"

The adventurers were shocked and angered that the little girl before them would say something so unexpected. But by then, the girl had fixed her gaze on the thief lurking behind Li Lin and threatening him with a dagger. Her bright red eyes grew even brighter. Under her gaze, the thief stood motionless, his expression gradually turning vacant, as though he had become an idiot. Seeing the blank look in his eyes, the girl gave a quiet, cold laugh.

"Die. Trash like you pollutes the air just by breathing."

"Yes..."

Rather than talk back to the girl's taunt, the thief actually took the dagger away from Li Lin's neck. The adventurers were somewhat surprised by this, but the next instant they stared in shock—the thief had taken the dagger and stabbed it into his own head without the slightest hesitation.

"A-a monster!!!"

The scene before them was completely beyond the adventurers' understanding, and they screamed and tried to flee. But Li Lin merely raised a hand, and their feet were instantly fixed firmly to the ground as though they had taken root. They could not move at all.

Although his successive crossings had caused Li Lin to lose most of his magic power, dealing with these adventurers was still effortless with the strength he had now.

Soon, as Li Lin chanted, two fire snakes appeared out of thin air. Two more adventurers fell to the ground amid screams of agony and were reduced to charred remains.

Now the warrior captain was the only member of the adventuring party still alive. He trembled all over as he watched the tragedies unfold before him. When Li Lin walked slowly toward him, terror filled his face, and he looked as despairing as if he had encountered a demon from the depths of the abyss. Li Lin, watching the pale, trembling warrior, remained calm and indifferent. He murmured to himself, then seized the warrior's head with his right hand as it glowed gold.

"Aaaagh!!!"

A piercing scream came from the warrior's mouth. He felt as though a sharp blade had been thrust into his brain and was constantly stirring and churning inside it. But Li Lin showed no mercy at the warrior's suffering. Instead, his expression gradually darkened. Finally, Li Lin gave a low, angry shout, and the warrior's cries stopped at once. He collapsed to the ground, his head mangled and shattered.

"What's wrong, master?"

Noticing that something was amiss with Li Lin's mood, the girl looked at him curiously. Li Lin closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

He could not help feeling angry. Just now, Li Lin had used soul-reading magic to examine the warrior's memories, but he had been shocked to discover that, although this was still the same continent, a full thousand years had passed since his time! In other words, the Morning Wind Continent Li Lin now stood on was the continent a thousand years later. The magic empire had long since become legend.

Needless to say, Li Lin was furious upon learning this. He had gone to such great lengths to return to his original world, only for fate to play such a huge joke on him. A thousand years? Forget the magic empire-even the daylilies had surely gone cold by now.

But Li Lin had once been one of the most powerful mages in the magic empire. He soon regained control of his emotions and told the girl before him what had happened. After listening to his account, the girl narrowed her blood-red eyes and seemed a little excited.

"Then what should we do next, master? Explore this world, which has become unknown to you? Or seize a piece of land to mark your comeback?"

"A thousand years have passed. There's no point in making a comeback now—or so I'd like to say, but I haven't given up yet."

Li Lin frowned and answered quietly.

"But it has been such a long time. I don't yet know what the situation across the Morning Wind Continent is like now. Still..."

"Still...?"

"In any case, I've decided on our first destination."

With that, Li Lin turned and gazed out the window at the desolate wilderness.

"I'm going back to the capital of the magic kingdom to see what's left there now."

"Either way is fine. This world is quite fresh to me, after all."

A faint, delighted smile appeared at the corners of the girl's mouth. She walked to Li Lin's side and took his large, strong hand.

Feeling the softness against his palm, Li Lin could not help taking another close look at the girl before him.

Angela Christie.

She was not human, and she was the only nonhuman being Li Lin had known in the world of Earth.

The story of how the two had met was rather interesting. Li Lin had been only ten at the time. Because his soul gave off powerful magic power, Angela had set her sights on him, intending to make him her servant. But as a member of a race native to Earth, Angela had completely underestimated the power of magic from another world. In the end, not only had she failed to make Li Lin her attendant, but Li Lin had instead subdued her using the power of a Magic Beast Contract.

It was then that Li Lin discovered there was also a higher life-form in that world called a vampire.

Li Lin's feelings toward the vampire race were complicated. It was the first time he had seen a race that combined the elegance of elves with the cruelty of barbarians. These two utterly incompatible extremes were expressed to the fullest in vampires. What surprised him somewhat was that Angela seemed to feel no anger, regret, or even killing intent over being subdued. On the contrary, the moment she saw the contract magic, Angela had signed the magic contract almost impatiently, like a child who had found a new toy. Her seemingly eager willingness to sell herself naturally aroused Li Lin's suspicions. Although he had never actually encountered a vampire before, his experience from his previous life told him that powerful nonhumans like these were generally quite cunning.

Later, however, Li Lin discovered that his guess had been completely wrong...

"Angela, don't you regret it? Now that you've followed me here, you can never return to your own world."

At Li Lin's question, Angela gave a strange smile.

"So what? I had spent long enough in that world. To me, it was like a woman who had been raped thousands of times by men; it held no attraction anymore. I knew everything about it inside and out, and there was nothing fresh left. By comparison, your world, master, is still like a pure virgin, with many pleasures to look forward to..."

That was right. Aside from her great interest in Li Lin's identity as a mage from another world, Angela was also full of anticipation and curiosity about this fresh, unknown world, which was why she was willing to stay by his side. In particular, after learning that Li Lin might be able to return to his own world, Angela had used every means at her disposal, persistently pestering him to take her away from Earth to the Morning Wind Continent. Li Lin had taken a hands-off approach with this contractor he had acquired by chance on Earth. Since she was willing to leave that world herself, he naturally would not try to stop her. He had also taught Angela the language of his own world. Although the girl was not as powerful as Li Lin, the school of magic she used, called "Black Magic," had its own unique and powerful qualities.

One more person meant another share of strength.

"Now then, let's see."

Li Lin's gaze grew deep.

"Let's see what this world has become after a thousand years."