Aristoria landed on a mountain made of pure ice, and she had never felt so cold before. She could see millions of her reflections in the ice, making her feel trippy because she could see herself everywhere because of the clear ice. She looked down and realized the mountain of ice was formed from millions of ice pieces.

Her fingers felt stiff, her movements began to slow down as her power was being neutralized. She knew the closer she was from the Overlord’s core, the less of her remained.

"This feeling reminds me of that time, powerless..." Aristoria remembered a similar situation when she first encountered the Overlord’s existence.

Aristoria slid down the ice, her gaze was fixated into the gray clouds where a pair of glowing bright blue eyes were. The eyes were big, a True Dragon’s body could fit into one of the eyes. She could imagine how big the Overlord was, perhaps the Overlord’s size could be a tenth of Neva’s surface or half Earth’s size.

"(Such a being existed in Neva, something that doesn’t feel like it belongs in this world...)" Aristoria thought to herself as she reached the bottom of the ice mountain. "That makes sense that more than half of Neva is covered in snow and ice..." She muttered to herself, staring at the otherworldly creature ahead of her.

The longer she walked, the bigger the eyes became, and the clearer they were. The Overlord was staring down at her, recognizing her as the one who had promised a vessel. There was no sign of hostility from the Overlord’s gaze, but there was something else, a dominance.

Aristoria noticed the sudden change of the wind current, hitting her back with so much force. She looked up and saw a bizarre phenomenon where big vortexes were coming from all directions where the cores were moving toward the same sky. Flashes of hundreds of lightning could be seen but there was no thunder that followed.

The dead tree was colossal, the mountain also, but they both turned pale in comparison when the flashes revealed the Overlord’s silhouette behind the clouds. Aristoria unconsciously stopped advancing, finally seeing the glimpse of the otherworldly creature and its magnificent.

Suddenly, the vortexes grew fiercer and bigger, pulling the clouds and the mist into them. Aristoria gulped when she was given permission to look at the Overlord’s head. She looked at the biggest vortex that circled around the Overlord’s head and to its long neck. She ice mountains orbiting its head because of how big the Overlord was and because it had its own gravitational pull.

The Overlord’s head was bluish white like snow on a starry night. Its sharp bottom and upper teeth clasped together on the sides of its shut mouth. The eyes were white with light blue irises and black slit pupils. It had four horns with each horn having four branches, decorated with sparkling ice, making them look like a crown.

Each deep growl was enough to make Aristoria’s body tremble by the rhythm. She collapsed to one knee with her head felt like being crushed from both the inside and outside. She was powerless, and she was thinking of a way to prevent the Overlord from taking over Rasmus’ body.

"Your name..." The Overlord glared at Aristoria like a speck of dust on the ground.

"Aristoria..." Aristoria answered as she was trying her best to keep her self conscious.

"You were the one who found me," The Overlord spoke, his voice being enough to shake the whole realm. "Rise..." The Overlord ordered.

Aristoria struggled to stand on her feet because of the gravitational pull and the trembling ground from the Overlord’s breathing. She tried to balance herself, and slowly but surely, she managed to stand tall. She lifted her head, looking into the Overlord’s eyes that seemed to see through her and all of her memories.

"You want to protect the boy, but the boy isn’t your child anymore. Your child is long gone, died from starvation and abandonment," The Overlord spoke, slowly lowering its head as the snow began to get pulled by its gravitational pull.

"He’s still my child. He embraced who he was, he treated himself like my child did. It doesn’t matter if he’s still my child or not, but he is... to me," Aristoria answered as her feet were being pulled toward the Overlord’s face by its gravity. "I promised you a body, but the body isn’t my child," she pointed out.

"I know, but I want this child’s body. He has a body that can transcend higher than your race and the dragon. This body can withstand my power," The Overlord replied, slowly lifting its head and looking up at the endless sky. "I have decided, and there’s nothing you can do. After all, you planned to give my power to this child. You have made a mistake, and now you will have to pay," he growled.

A smirk formed on Aristoria’s lips, and that confidence was enough to make the Overlord glance at her, smelling of her fearlessness. The Overlord sensed something that he couldn’t understand or failed to grasp from that smirk alone. As a being who could see everything, it reminded him of that moment, the moment when death descended from the sky.

"A mistake you say?" Aristoria’s smirk widened as her eyes suddenly glowed bright blue. "Sanya thought it was a mistake, but I never thought a being like you would say the same thing. It seems I managed to outsmart the strongest being," she raised her right hand as more and more energy gathered around her instead of going to the Overlord.

The Overlord watched as Aristoria’s energy turned into a glowing bright blue vortex around her. He was confused because it was impossible for someone to gather their power in his presence. However, he was proven wrong, and even though he tried to make Aristoria’s energy succumb to his will, the energy only grew stronger.

"Do you know where your core is located?" Aristoria took a step forward toward the Overlord, gathering more and more energy into her body. "My son’s heart," she raised her brows. "Do you know who’s blood and power that runs in my child’s body?" She asked again as she absorbed the Overlord’s power. "Mine," her smile widened. "And do you know what that means? That means, your power is under my will," she pointed her finger down at the ground.

The Overlord suddenly lost his power and his neck couldn’t support his head, making his head hit the ground. The impact sent a shockwave that could turn a human body into dust, but to Aristoria, it was just like a gentle breeze.

"The only reason why my child hasn’t awakened his Aristoria’s bloodline is because I haven’t given my permission yet," Aristoria stared at the jaw of the Overlord that was bigger and taller than any mountain. "You’re in my reality, and the control is in my hand," she snapped her fingers and cleared the sky in an instant. The blizzard disappeared and that was when the True Dragon appeared and landed behind her with Sanya standing on its head.

"I managed to contain your power before, and do you think I didn’t try to understand it and find its weakness?" Aristoria asked as the True Dragon lowered its head to Aristoria, showing its ownership to its master. "I am Aristoria, the one who has transcended and once controlled the world’s will thanks to your power," she muttered as she raised her right hand and then swung it downward.

The Overlord’s size shrunk until it was smaller than the True Dragon. Sanya was in disbelief, shocked that Aristoria had hid her power the whole time. Sanya finally saw Aristoria’s real plan, and it was beyond her grasp.

Aristoria slowly raised her open hand and pointed at the Overlord. She slowly clenched her fist until the Overlord felt Aristoria’s energy crushing his body. The Overlord felt what Aristoria felt, powerless and kneeling in her presence.

"Show me your core," Aristoria commanded, her gaze cold with trails of light blue on the corner of her eyes that flowed like a river. "I could find it myself, but I want you to do it yourself," she muttered as she tightened her fist.

Unlike Rullein’s core which was hidden underneath the dead tree, the Overlord’s core was hidden in his chest. When the Overlord arched his back, he revealed the glowing blue-ish sphere on his chest. Aristoria walked toward him and touched the core with her palm. She released her energy and pierced into the Overlord’s core, stabilizing it and at the same time overpowering it with her own.

"Now your existence is under my will," Aristoria said as she pulled her hand from the Overlord’s chest.

Aristoria turned around and walked toward Sanya, but her steps became heavier and unbalanced. She collapsed to her knees and the True Dragon suddenly roared in pain until it collapsed just like her. Sanya looked at both of them with a confused look until she saw Aristoria’s body and the True Dragon’s body turned translucent and slowly became transparent.

"Aris!" Sanya ran toward Aristoria and held her in her arms. "You..." Before she could finish her sentence, Aristoria placed her thumb on Sanya’s lips.

"Yes, I am..." Aristoria said weakly as her eyelids grew heavier. "My son, will you come to me?" She glanced at the sky.

Sanya looked up and saw Rasmus slowly descend from the sky, unaware of his presence. She watched Rasmus walk toward them and went down on one knee beside Aristoria.

"Give me your hand..." Aristoria weakly raised her right hand.

Rasmus didn’t hesitate to grab Aristoria’s hand and hold it gently.

"It’s yours now... everything..." Aristoria smiled weakly at Rasmus. "I have been waiting for this moment, and now I have fulfilled my wish..." She muttered as she looked at her hand that had become transparent.

Rasmus could feel everything in this realm, every dust, ever corner, he could sense everything as if they were a part of him. He had heard everything and he had gained control of both the Overlord’s power and Rullein’s power, living in coexistence under his command.

"Good bye, mother," Rasmus said, holding Aristoria’s hand that already felt like air.

"Good bye, my child..." Aristoria said before she completely disappeared, becoming one with the air. There was a glimpse of her grinning when she heard Rasmus call her mother.

The world was no longer separated by blizzards and black smoke, everything was white and the mountain’s wall was no longer there to separate both sides. There was only Rasmus and Sanya, the Overlord and Rullein in that vast white space. There was only silence when Sanya and Rasmus stared at each other.

"I wasn’t expecting this..." Sanya said as she slowly stood up.

"Me neither," Rasmus replied, his gaze fixated on his hand where Aristoria’s phantom hand lingered. "Is it over?" He asked.

"Yes, I believe it is over," Sanya nodded and looked at her surroundings. "My job here is done, and I’ll keep an eye on those two cores," she turned to look at Rasmus.

"Why?" Rasmus asked as he stood up.

"Because that’s the promise I made with your mother. To protect the one that she will brings into this world," she revealed.

Rasmus hummed, realizing that everything was over and that he had regained his own body and mind.

"I’ll consider your request," Rasmus said calmly.

Sanya raised her brows and glanced at Rasmus, a bit of a smile formed on her lips.

"That’s better than nothing," Sanya nodded with understanding. "Well then, you should go out of here. Aris might be worried and waiting for you. We will talk when we meet again," she chuckled softly before she walked away.

Rasmus looked up at the white sky for a moment before he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he saw Aris’ face right in front of his, staring at him while she was gripping onto his shirt. When she looked into his eyes for a few seconds, she then sighed in relief before she pulled away and let go of his shirt.

"Welcome back..." Aris smiled gently at Rasmus before she rolled over and lay down on the bed beside him.

"I’m back," Rasmus muttered and stared at the ceiling.