Far away from the city, a girl with white hair walked... She was holding a wound on her left arm. The atmosphere around her was cold, the trees in the forest freezing. On the ground, a soft carpet of snow was covering the grass. Cold air was surrounding her body, and snowflakes were falling around her.
In the snow, the bodies of a group of bandits stood, frozen in the same position in which they tried to attack her...
She stopped, feeling a shiver down her spine as her body froze in place.
"Apl"
The girl remained completely still, not even turning around to meet the person's eyes... She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"How was your mission in Björn?"
"Kosmos! I'm... I..."
She saw the hand wrapping softly around her, stopping on her neck, tightening slightly.
"The people are still alive, the city is destroyed, and I lost the Demon of Hatred in the process..."
A cold chuckle sounds next to her ear, and the hand's grip on her neck loosens.
"But, at least the treaty failed to be signed, and the kalzraaks turned against the Iron Gates, so I suppose that's a win..."
Apl feels the person's chest on her back, his head approaching her ear.
"Apl... Don't fail me again..."
She feels all her muscles tightening at those words.
"I... I swear… I won't…"
Before she could finish her words, she felt a playful pat on her cheek. The person chuckled, interrupting her.
"You're lucky you're pretty..."
Apl stops feeling the person's touch. His presence was completely erased from the space around her... Kosmos... The leader of New Heaven...
She fell to her knees in the snow, puking from fear and desperation.
"I can't... This is too much..."
Apl holds her hands over her chest, curling in the snow, crying from terror. "Mephisto... Mom... Dad... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."