It didn't take long to find the white crystallized bear. After all, there were still fifteen others to search through—each ridden by Wendigo soldiers.
But when they finally found it, the sight before them was perhaps the most grotesque thing one could encounter in all of Undergarden.
Its body was not simply poisoned—it was rotting. A kind of corruption, almost like a curse, had spread through it. The creature was charred black, the crystalline light in its eyes gone. Most of its fur had been burned away. Two of its legs and half of its face had decayed, and on its back yawned a massive bite mark.
Yuel couldn't tell which Titan had left such a wound, but its size… at least the height of a building. More specifically, the size of the titans that roamed upon crystallized mammoths.
Even though Yuel wasn't seeing the corpse with his own eyes—only through the vision of a Wendigo he had brainwashed—he still retched. The sight was a savagery rarely found even within the Undergarden itself.
Then again, this was the Frozen Hollows. He should have expected horrors like these, considering the brutality of the Wendigos that roamed here. In this eternal snowstorm, nothing moved with true intelligence—except Yuel.
After throwing up, Yuel stepped out of the bathroom feeling lighter. The building around him was no different from the others: Victorian furniture, flawless craftsmanship, wood polished to perfection.
If the Wendigo race had settled in a better land, they might have been far stronger. Their transformation-based magic allowed them to craft formidable weapons. Their only flaw was their feral instinct. Then again, Yuel had once met one who had broken free from that primal curse.
He opened the door and walked on. Behind him, a potted plant shuffled along.
Strangely, Yuel didn't find anything about this odd. At that moment, Null spoke.
"Hey, Yuel. A flowerpot just followed you. You're seriously not going to question that?"
"What…?"
When he turned back, the pot was gone.
Now both Yuel and Null were confused.
"Yuel, are you sure you didn't see anything? I swear I just saw a flowerpot trailing behind you."
By habit, Yuel spoke aloud, forgetting that Null could hear his inner voice anyway.
"No, I didn't see anything. There was nothing behind me. Why would you think that?"
"Fine… still, be careful."
After that ridiculous exchange, Yuel made his way toward his bedroom. There wasn't much else he had to do for the day.
To advance a stage, he needed to kill a Titan stronger than himself. But right now, that was impossible. Every day he had to renew the brainwashing on the Wendigos, and he also had to keep the controlled ones alive upon this crystallized mammoth.
He had already suffered a loss recently. He could not allow it to happen again.
When he killed the cursed Titan, Swore, in the arena, he would advance to the next stage—that much was certain. But it was a matter of time.
For now, survival was more important than strength.
All these Wendigos would one day become his soldiers in the war against Shiro.
Losing soldiers day by day would be a grave mistake.
True, he could enslave Wendigos from other mammoths as well, but their control needed to be renewed every two or three weeks, and the process was exhausting. On top of that, Yuel no longer wanted to fight side by side with the mind-shackled. This burden was already too heavy.
Preserving what he had—that was the key. He had to play safe and stay alive.
Yet, another idea gnawed at him.
Wendigos were like the dwarves of the Undergarden. Dwarves didn't exist, but the Wendigos' skills were eerily similar. Not mere skill, though—their very magic bent toward crafting.
And now, with forty-four Wendigos under his command, he could forge a true weapon. The staff he wielded, carved from the tail of a Titan that bore the "Bone" Bloodscript, was fine, but it was only a phase 4 weapon… insufficient.
He needed material from a phase 5 Titan—or at least one of the strongest phase 4s.
Could he defeat such a creature?
Wait, no… he already had a target.
Swore.
Swore was going to die, and his death would push Yuel to the next stage. But what about the corpse? Couldn't Yuel use it too?
He had to find Swore.
This wasn't impossible. In the endless migration of the Frozen Hollows, Swore must have been roaming just like this crystallized mammoth.
So how far apart could they really be? Not too far.
All he needed was a way to track him.
"Null, can you do it?"
"You idiot. What are your Bloodscripts? Fracture. Whisper. Do either of those sound like powers meant for hunting someone down?"
"But you could sense him before, back in the cave."
"The size of a cave and the size of an entire region are two very different things. Of course I can do it—but it'll take fuel. A lot of fuel. Can you get me that much? This isn't something a single arm or leg can pay for. I'd need your eyes, your heart, your lungs, your limbs. What would be left of you then?"
"Null, calm down. Fine, I don't want it. I've never seen you like this—it's terrifying."
"Ah, I just got a little excited. You're such a killjoy! Anyway, why are you still heading to bed? Didn't we just agree we'd forge a weapon? Shouldn't you be changing your mind?"
"No, Null. You don't understand. I didn't come here for nothing."
Yuel lay down on his bed, pulled the blanket over himself, and from his inventory took out a small box of glowing grapes. He had already given them a name. GoodBerry—because they were very, very good.
"Yuel, when did you even get those? I thought you were saving them for farming—"
"Some things should remain secrets. I couldn't let them rot away there."
"GoodBerry? Really? That's the best you could come up with? Your naming sense is awful. Let me find you a better one."
"No. This name is exactly what it deserves."
"I see. Fine. So what now? What's your next step?"
… (silence)
"Yuel?"
In a library carved of perfect woodwork and old Victorian craftsmanship, with shelves laden in ornate motifs, a girl was buried in her studies.
Her head was practically sunk into the book before her.
It was different from all the others. The design was human-made. The rest had all been born of Wendigo hands.
This girl, though a Wendigo herself, longed to live as a human.
She dove through countless pages, searching only for a name. She wanted not one of the brutal Wendigo kind, but one familiar in the upper world—something that would not betray her when the time came.
At least, that was her reasoning.
Dozens of names passed before her eyes, and though she only skimmed, this book drew her deeper than she expected.
At last, she raised her head.
Closing it, she knew she had found it—the name she would bear.
She slid the book back onto the shelf. After an entire day, she had finished it.
Its title: Alice in Wonderland.
She left the library, walking through nearly empty streets. A place meant for five hundred was now home to only forty-four. The emptiness didn't bother her.
At last, she reached the grand manor in the center. The Wendigos' buildings, like always, flaunted quality wood and Victorian style.
At first glance, one might think Wendigos held dominion over wood. But no—that honor belonged to the Wiwiel race.
Climbing to the upper floors, she entered a bedroom. Yuel was there, fast asleep.
A bare branch rested in his hand, and he had dozed off holding it.
"So be it…" she whispered, then leapt upon him.
When Yuel awoke, the girl—Wendigo though she was—had her hands locked tight around his throat.
Though he had little experience with human society, some strange part of him was… happy. He didn't understand why.
"Oh—ugh—" Yuel coughed several times before she spoke.
"One day has passed. I've chosen my name. From now on, call me Alice."
… (a brief silence)
"Would you mind… getting off me?"