The Clora Domain, 'Land of Elements', sat right on top of the 'Land of Light', stretching across what was once known as 'Russia'. Amongst all the territories, it was what was considered to be the largest, with Veltrus's domain nestled right in between the 'Land of Light' and the 'Land of Elements'.

'Mongolia.'

That was where Veltrus's Domain resided.

As opposed to Panthea or Clora's Domain, Veltrus's Domain was a lot smaller. It covered most of what used to be Mongolia.

"Is this where you're supposed to go?"

Originally, I hadn't specified to them where we needed to go. The plan was to get to the other side of the Remnant South and find a way to escape the influence of those from the Temple of Light.

Things had changed now.

With Panthea's information, I now knew where I had to go.

"The goal is to reach the 'Land of Fire'. For that to happen, we must first pass the 'Land of Elements'."

Honestly, the names sounded weird.

'Land of Fire', 'Land of Light', 'Land of Elements'....

They weren't exactly the best-sounding and original names. In fact, those weren't their true name at all.

They were just named as such to make it easier.

"Land of Fire?"

Anne's brows furrowed tightly, her expression turning a little strange.

That piqued my curiosity.

"What's wrong?"

"No, nothing... I'm just surprised you want to go there."

"Why?"

"Because there's hardly anything there. It's all desert."

An'as interjected from the side.

"Besides one city, I don't think there's much that you can find in the 'Land of Fire'."

"That's good then."

It made searching for Noel a lot easier for me.

"Good?"

An'as tilted his head, obviously confused.

I began to explain to him, "I'm looking for someone. They are in the 'Land of Fire'. If the scope of search is small, then it makes things easier for me."

"Ah, that makes sense. Hmm, but..."

Suddenly thinking of something, An'as paused, his hand tucking against his chin. He then looked at Anne.

"Now that I think about it, hasn't there been some news about there being a second sun in the 'Land of Fire'?"

"Oh, yeah."

Anne thoughtfully nodded, as if also suddenly recalling.

"It's happened quite recently, right? The second sun thing? But I thought it was just a rumor. I don't think it's true."

"Probably."

An'as agreed.

Hearing the discussion going on between the two of them, I raised my brow.

Second sun?

What sort of rumor was this?

"By the way..."

As if noticing something, An'as turned to look at me, his eyes drifting around me in confusion.

"Where is the Goddess? Weren't you—"

"Oh, that."

I scratched the back of my head, forcing a bitter smile.

"Long story short, she's gone."

"....."

"....."

The deck turned silent. An'as and Anne looked at me speechlessly. But before they could voice out their opinions, I was quick to reassure them.

"Actually, you can say that I didn't really kidnap her. The two of us agreed to do this for specific reasons. Now that we've achieved our goal, she's left. That being said, it's very likely that those from the church will come for us once we leave the 'Land of Light'."

"....."

"....."

The two turned even more speechless.

If looks could strangle, they'd have probably both strangled me by now.

"Ehm."

I coughed.

"Don't worry about that. I... think we're going to be fine. I'll think of something. Either way, the journey is long, so we have time."

I turned around before the two could say anything, rushing away as fast as possible.

"Ueekhhh—! H-help!"

*

Everyone came to learn of the situation rather quickly. It didn't take long for everyone on the ship to turn against me, but what could I say?

This wasn't something that I could've controlled.

In the end, given the nature of the situation, the only thing I could do was lock myself in my own room and sit down on the bed.

"Oof."

As the waves crashed against the hull, the boat creaked softly, rocking with the rhythm of the sea. It felt a little nauseating, but I was somewhat used to it.

This wasn't my first time on a ship.

'In all fairness, it's also not the first time for everyone else.'

We did come to the Remnant South the same way.

"There's so much to do."

The past few months had been rather hectic, from the engagement to the goodbye, and everything that happened in between. I still barely had any time to process the entire situation.

This was probably the last moment I'd get to truly be at peace.

I was certain that things would become rather hectic quite soon, with little time for me to rest.

In that regard, I planned to make full use of the time at my disposal.

"Tier 8..."

This was where I was currently at.

While this was certainly a leap from the strength I previously held, it wasn't entirely mine. This was something that had been achieved by 'Julien' and not me. As a result, many things were disrupted.

The main source of power was 'curse' magic, and the integrated domain that I currently held was a 'curse' based one.

"This won't do."

The entire situation had messed up my previous plans.

Still, the situation wasn't irreversible.

Closing my eyes, the world faded into darkness. Within that void, the first thing I saw was a faintly glowing ring resting atop a black altar. Drawn to it, I stepped forward, my footsteps echoing softly as I reached out toward the ring.

"....."

I felt a sudden wave of weakness the moment I touched the ring. For a moment, I almost had the urge to drop it on the floor, but just barely managed to contain myself.

'This should be Julien's Domain.'

Once someone reached the 8th Tier, they were required to merge their Domain with reality itself by shattering it and creating some sort of vessel to contain the broken Domain. In 'Julien's' case, he integrated his Domain in the form of a ring.

And—

Cra Crack!

I planned on destroying the ring.

'Technically, it shouldn't be possible to destroy, but since this isn't mine to begin with, there's a certain rejection. I think I can do it.'

Clenching it tightly, I felt the surroundings tremble.

A sharp pain pierced deep into my mind, but I ignored it, tightening my hold on the ring. As my grip strengthened, thin cracks began to spread across its surface, and the world around me started to tremble violently in response.

The pain in my head sharpened, pulsing so intensely it nearly tore a sound from my throat. But I forced myself to stay silent, channeling every ounce of focus onto the ring before me.

Cra Crack! Cra Crack!

Thin purple tendrils seeped out from the ring, twisting and writhing through the air as the cracks along its surface spread wider with each passing second.

The surroundings shook even more fiercely, the pain in my mind hard to ignore.

And eventually...

BANG!

The ring shattered in my mind.

"Uergkh!"

My eyes flared open at the same time, blood spewing out from my mouth.

"...Eukhhhh!"

It just wouldn't stop.

The moment I coughed up blood, more followed, spilling across the wooden floor in dark, uneven streaks. But even as the taste of iron filled my mouth, I knew this was only the beginning.

Sharp, thin tendrils burst from my body in every direction, writhing violently as if desperate to escape from me.

"N-no."

Ignoring the pain, I focused everything on them.

I took deep breaths, focusing my mind and trying my best to control the mana in the air to collect the tendrils.

Having just shattered my domain, this was the necessary step I needed to take to ensure that the Domain wouldn't be gone forever, and I dropped in strength. The process was extremely difficult, and most people tended to fail in this regard; however, thankfully, my mind was stronger than most.

Given my current control over my emotive magic, I was able to pick up each tendril without any mistake.

The process was exhausting, but I remained precise. By the time I finally contained the last tendril, I could feel that none of my former strength had slipped away.

"H-hhaaa."

It was only then that I took a deep breath and leaned back against the floor.

"I... did it."

I had shattered the last pieces of Julien's integrated domain. With this done, I could now focus on creating my own. This process was just as hard, but I already had a pretty good idea of how to proceed.

In fact, I had already done this process once before.

"Let's try."

Recovering my mana and stamina, I sat back up and immediately got to work.

Having collected all the tendrils and integrated them back into my body, the curse domain that had existed previously returned, and alongside my own domain, I still had two domains.

The next couple of steps were going to be even more difficult.

I needed to shatter both of my domains. That meant that I had to experience the same thing twice.

"H-hoo."

Taking in a nervous breath, I closed my eyes once more and focused my attention on my two domains.

Orbs appeared in all directions, alongside hands.

They were everywhere, floating in the darkness around. As I took in the sight, the hands lunged forward, grasping greedily at each glowing orb that shimmered in the air.

Fusion.

This was the first step that I needed to take.

I needed to fuse my two domains.

This process wasn't entirely difficult.

As the hands shot out and grabbed each orb, they began to change color. Certain arms lengthened, some grew smaller, and some enlarged. The process was quick, and aside from a few other changes, there were no noticeable changes.

Taking in the sight around me, I got to work.

Break.

The next step was to break the domain.

Cra Crack!

Once more, the world trembled.

The pain was even more intense than before, leaving me completely breathless.

'I know... I promised myself not to suffer as much, but I don't really have a choice in this regard. If I don't do this, I don't think I'll ever be able to integrate my domains.'

Sweat started to pour from the side of my face as I struggled to maintain my expression, my face crumbling with the pain that came with the shattering process.

Crack!

The sound rang through my head.

"Urghk!"

My body bent forward, another mouthful of blood spilling out. My arms trembled as the world around me began to shake.

This pain was worse.

Far worse.

Every nerve in my body burned, my vision flickering as mana spiraled out of control. It felt like my skin was being peeled off from the inside, like something alive was clawing its way out of me.

The air distorted.

The hands began to crack. Small at first, but the cracks spread quickly until the whole space was filled with light and trembling fragments.

"Hha… hhhaaa…"

I could barely breathe.

It was too much to handle, but if I stopped now, everything would have been for nothing.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

One after another, the hands shattered, breaking apart into thousands of glowing particles that drifted gently through the air.

"....!"

The backlash nearly split my mind in half.

The domain resisted, twisting and pulling apart. It didn't want to break. Every time I tried to shatter a hand, I'd feel a certain sense of resistance.

My blood felt hot, boiling as I forced the process forward.

"Come on…"

My jaw clenched. My eyes burned. The veins in my neck felt like they were about to burst.

I pushed harder.

The air screamed as hands shattered one after another, and I felt something inside me snap. A cold rush swept through my chest, and for a moment, everything went silent.

Then—

BANG!

The world shattered again.

"Ukh!"

My body hit the ground, limbs shaking uncontrollably. My breath came in short, uneven bursts as I stared blankly at the ceiling.

I couldn't move.

All I could feel was the faint, unstable mana swirling inside my chest. It felt strange, unfamiliar, but… mine.

A weak smile spread across my face as I stared at the colorful tendrils that were floating in my vision.

"I… did it…"

I had shattered my domain.

Now, all that was left was for me to integrate my domain.

The laste step to truly reach the 8th Tier.

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