Kislev.

—

Stepping inside the Bifröst portal created by Moraine, which directly took them into the heart of the city, unlike last time when they had to travel there personally because the coordinates had not yet been recorded, Richard instantly activated his Sun Breathing to the maximum, even using his flaming mark to boost his speed. In a split second, seeing many Aen Elle currently inspecting the city and performing divination spells, Richard drew his Uru sword and started massacring the scout party at supersonic speed.

Noticing that the Ard Gaeth was in the process of automatically closing the moment one of the Aen Elle died, Richard entered the frozen world of these elves to start hunting them, especially after seeing that they had not yet set a trap for him. Stepping into the new world and looking around at the small camp armies, Richard didn't find the demon king or even another Aen Elle besides Eredin at that time. Sighing in regret, realizing that they were not some third-rate villains like in the Modern Fiction database who let themselves be easily defeated or captured, he focused his attention on those left in the area.

After finishing hunting everyone down, leaving many limbless bodies on the ground with his ionized flame that cauterized the stumps, Richard gazed at his side where Moraine had just teleported fifteen minutes later with the help of Seon OS to locate his current position. Flicking the blood off his sword and controlling his ionized fire to remove more blood from his body, Richard walked toward Moraine, intending to request her to collect the limbless bodies, but he was interrupted by an earthquake that hit the surrounding area.

Looking around as far as his eyesight could see, he found an army of elven mages in the very distant land, who had just teleported to perform a mass ritual sacrifice to bring this region to the ground. Richard let out a breath, realizing that even though they had not yet set a trap, they could still react to his actions. As for being buried beneath the large earth itself, Richard did not worry much since this earthquake was child's play compared to the one that the Conjunction threw at him.

No, what was worrying about this act was not himself being trapped and attacked, but the distant humans being massacred by the hundreds, nearly reaching thousands, just to create a ritual that might have a chance to scratch him without damaging their troops. Letting his Sun domain permeate the surroundings to essentially create a solar system with the fundamental forces of the area being stabilized, Richard saw the ice land touched by his power remain intact and undamaged. 

Once again, his resolve was tested to the limit by these demons, Richard launched himself toward the distant massacre while calming his mind with the Selfless State, which yet again helped him traverse this world full of suffering. Arriving at the scene of the massacre, he found that the elven mages had already escaped to different worlds altogether. Gently gliding over the ground to see the shriveled-up human bodies and many mangled corpses of all ages, Richard flared his mark to the limit to make the other person's Selfless State evolve into a part of his soul and identity.

Turning toward Moraine, he then told her, "Moraine, I don't think I'm cut out for this."

"Same, me too," she replied.

"Every one of them can easily replace me."

"Yes, they can," she replied.

"I am just one of the lucky ones."

"That we are, my friend," she said.

"But I don't want to lose this power."

"So, we are no different than them then?" she asked.

"Yes. A hypocrite who just got lucky."

"A hypocritical fool who just wants to fulfill our own selfish satisfaction," she chuckled and continued.

Finally realizing who he is, Richard chuckled as well and echoed her statement, "Yes, a hypocritical fool who just wants to fulfill our own selfish satisfaction."

Sighing as he looked at the majority of infant subjects used to make the spell more potent, Moraine noticed there were still survivors in the area. "Come, let's help them, friend. Maybe at the end of our road, we will change into something different."

Looking around once more, especially at those who were still learning to walk and talk, Richard carved this scene deep into the recesses of his mind. Letting out a breath of anguish, he replied, "Yes, let's go."

—

[Thirty minutes later.]

After gathering about two hundred people of all ages who were lucky enough to be abandoned by the Aen Elle, Richard walked toward the last person bound by Dimeritium shackles, still standing straight inside the cage despite the chilling cold hitting her bare skin.

Slashing open the cage and removing the Dimeritium shackles around her neck, Richard breathed out his Sun vitality to this strong-willed woman, who looked at him with a cold gaze. Gently offering his hand to help her out of the cage, he heard a loud thud and saw her kneeling on one knee.

"Give this power permanently, and I will swear allegiance to you!"

Looking at the woman and knowing that her pledge of allegiance was merely lip service and nothing more than empty words, Richard shook his head. This instantly made the regal woman grind her teeth and clench her frozen fists, staining the white ground with blood seeping through the cracks in her frostbitten fingers. After a moment, he continued, "But I do know how to unlock the power almost similar to mine inside you."

Thud!

"Give me!"

Seeing her attempt to headbutt the metal cage, trying to kowtow for the second time in her life, Richard quickly reached out to catch her head, which was already frozen and bleeding. Taking her by the shoulders to prevent her from doing anything foolish and abandoning her regal demeanor for the sake of vengeance—following another person's custom merely to show sincerity—Richard said, "Let's heal you first. Then we can talk."

After walking in silence for about a minute toward the distant Moraine, he asked, "What is your name, if I may know?"

"Tzarina Jekaterina Bokha. Kislev."

—