Deireádh.

—

Unknown how much time had passed, but by the thirty-second try, he was finally able to comfortably activate Hofund until the gateway between the worlds opened completely. By the twentieth try, he no longer needed the flame mark to boost his sensitivity to magic, as the pathway to connect to the Sources was already fully remembered by him. Once again channeling the Chaos into the greatsword, the Bifröst elements were called from behind him, slipping past his entire body and rotating to strike the core of the world gate on the ground. He then saw the light being absorbed into the empty space in front of him.

A sound of zooming could be heard as he saw a blue doorway made entirely of spacetime curvature. When he tried to see using his Transparent World, there was nothing; not a single atom could be found in front of him to hold this gateway. Only the reaction between oxygen electrons in the air formed a shape of a door, indicating that something truly was happening in that place. Stopping the Chaos magic that was channeled into the Hofund, Richard then heard Yennefer's exclamation.

"It seems that I am still lacking compared to your elven sages, Ciri. Even sensing the gateway, it is still beyond my reach. Luckily, we have Hofund."

Hearing Yennefer ramble with thoughts about the elven sage, Ciri's mood couldn't have been more complicated. Especially remembering Avallac'h's deal with Eredin after Geralt was captured in Velen, which required her to deal with the White Frost under the influence of their hypnotic magic. She was too impulsive that night after burying her grandpa and sought revenge by any means possible. If she had thought more logically at that time, maybe she would have been able to see the setup trap from miles away.

"Come. Let's go back to Skellige."

Lifting the golden greatsword from the ground, Richard rested the blade over his right shoulder. Kambi cooed and flapped its wings, settling again on his left shoulder after the Bifröst energy dissipated from their surroundings. Letting the three of them walk ahead, with Ciri on Geralt's back glancing at him from time to time, Richard finally walked into the blue-colored gateway. True enough, after entering this teleportation medium, his sight didn't feel any pain, just like walking normally from one land to another.

Perhaps because the medium used by sorceresses was a wormhole that was not very stable, or perhaps it was the wormholes themselves that made him dizzy, Richard is currently unable to ponder further. He saw a scene in front of him that made him solemnly contemplate if this was indeed the end of the world.

Meteors from this world's asteroid belt fell from the sky, creating craters on impact, destroying the landscape from time to time. A blizzard's winter air changed the climate completely, which, according to his calculations, would permanently stay for about five years. Volcanic eruptions on distant Undvik mountains that had been inactive for hundreds of years were now bursting with burning lava stored deep underground.

The sun and moon duo in the sky could clearly be seen by the naked eye, making it impossible for humans below to tell the time from day or night. Cloudy thunder darkened the sky as a result of the abnormal climate change, making every land fall into an eternal gloomy atmosphere. A gigantic, static cyclone always present on some of the seas sucked everything that came near it.

Earthquakes occasionally moved the ground and changed the landscape slowly, with even the earth deep into the sea rising to create new surface terrains. And finally, the messed-up gravity made the inhabitants of this land float up or fall down to the ground because of the new abnormal weight.

Not only that, but from time to time, monsters and other races in all shapes and forms appeared on the island, phasing into this world. From crustacean monsters ranging from the size of a person to as large as six-story buildings, with hearts made entirely of gemstone brimming with energy. To undead monsters wearing gear in the style of Skelligan armor, able to perform magic with their shouts to freeze or push enemies.

To golden-blooded humanoid races with eyes made entirely of light, following their colorful hair, and whenever they fought, a round halo appeared above their heads. To warmonger women riding flying winged white horses, wielding glowing blue swords and blue capes with armor made of the same material as his greatsword.

To ice giant monsters he had once seen on the island while battling the Wild Hunt, but this time with bigger and stronger bodies. To big, obese humanoid monster races wielding primitive tools, resembling a society among their ranks. And finally, to tiny motes of light creature races in funny and bizarre forms, fleeing for their lives, unable to fight back in this chaotic world.

Seeing Geralt and Ciri slowly floating up into the air due to gravity, while Yennefer tried her hardest to stand straight, Richard employed his Sun Breathing technique. Commanding all the physics around him touched by his ionized flame to be calm, he finally succeeded after all five elements became auxiliary and combined together.

Unknowingly, his greatsword lit up, attracting thunder in the air and shaking the ground like the earthquakes present on the island. Richard concentrated and finally managed not to instantly output this large amount of power, causing the phenomenon to disappear from the naked eye. After establishing a passive domain so that everyone could find safe refuge from the chaotic physics currently present everywhere on the Continent, Richard was finally glad that he had opened the world gate by himself.

It was all thanks to his training in Chaos, which helped him greatly in controlling his breathing powers to the finest detail. Because of that, he was able to ensure that every atom and molecule he procured was placed in an orderly manner, allowing all the elements held together by the Sun to perform their tasks perfectly in minute detail. Unlike the last time, when he could burn everyone around him just by inhaling and exhaling large amounts of air.

With all three of them able to stand normally, Richard then heard Geralt's grave exclamation after seeing the gigantic ice giants and clans of ogres battling each other in the distance.

"'And giants shall face giants in battle…' Just like in the ballads."

"Yes, Geralt. Yes. Ragh nar Roogh has finally begun. The Second Conjunction has finally descended."

"Tedd Deireádh, the Time of End. The prophecy comes true."

Remaining in deep, complicated silence, Richard then heard Geralt continue.

"So, the Ard Gaeth we saw yesterday is to save us all, to move the entire Continent's population into different safe places. Not for an army from another world to come and destroy everything."

"Yes, Geralt. Sadly, it seems we arrived a bit too late. The Aen Elle already control them, and I assume every Ard Gaeth they can find in this world is already in their hands as well."

Hearing again and again how the Wild Hunt made her life and everyone else's miserable, and finally realizing that all this was happening because of her while she was under hypnotic magic, Ciri said in a crooked voice, "I am the one… who caused this…"

Finally realizing that the fluctuation in Ciri's Elder Blood might have contributed to the scene in front of him, Richard looked at the Ragh nar Roogh with a complicated expression. Deciding he wanted to gather intelligence races first and worry about their accommodations later, Richard turned to the three of them.

"Will you help me save them first? It's just until we teleport them to a safe place."

—