Don't confiscate my identity as a human race

The Cat Boss couldn't find anything special about the stone, except that it was very cold.

"If Violet isn't wrong, it should be the Forget Dust Star."

Sigrid first placed the Cat Boss on her head, then took the deep blue meteorite handed over by the Mind Power Doll, carefully laying it flat in her palm.

It was exactly as Violet had described.

She gently pinched it, and the shell cracked open on cue, revealing a gemstone inside, its surface smooth as satin, with an elusive starlit glow flowing within.

"Lanci, give me your hand."

Sigrid seemed to have already sensed the magic power resonance of the gemstone under the starlight, much like when she had fallen under the spell of the Gentle Town, except the phantasmagoria of the Forget Dust Star wasn't as forceful. Unless you let go of your mind and body, you might not necessarily enter the phantasmagoria.

Lanci's slender hand covered hers, lightly hovering above the meteorite.

The two on the lakeside bench closed their eyes slightly, attempting to use the surge of magic power within their bodies to resonate with the ancient power sleeping within the stone.

At first, nothing happened.

Even with their eyes tightly shut, all they saw was pitch black.

All around, there was only the gentle lapping of the lake water against the shore.

Gradually, however, the magic within them began to calm, and a strange feeling of weightlessness arose spontaneously.

The boundaries of consciousness blurred, the real world rapidly receding, replaced by chaos.

A low hum rang in their ears, rising and falling like tides, sweeping through their nerves.

Their memories burst forth like a breached dam, fragmenting instantly, bizarre and surreal, gradually becoming coherent and clear.

In a daze, the sensation of reality grew distant until, at the moment they selected a memory node, an overwhelming dizziness flooded in, their souls nearly detaching from their bodies.

It seemed as if a century had passed, yet also as if it was just the blink of an eye.

The snow at the border fell, about to cover everything.

When they opened their eyes again, the scene before them was astonishingly clear.

What they saw was a vast, undulating snowfield, stretching endlessly.

The biting cold wind carried snowflakes, engulfing everything, blurring the view into a pure white expanse.

"Where... where are we, meow?"

The Cat Boss's voice sounded small and helpless in the howling wind as it realized the three of them were sitting on a sled speeding along.

It shivered involuntarily, quickly nestling between Lanci and Sigrid, the only two it could rely on in this unfamiliar world.

The Cat Boss lifted its head, the lead-gray sky drooping low and merging with the horizon, making it indistinguishable where the sky ended and the earth began, as massive snowflakes descended, threatening to drown the entire world.

Their sled traveled through the middle of the snowfield, appearing so insignificant in this vast, desolate white wilderness.

Tiny ice crystals rode the wind, stinging their skin painfully, the cold nearly freezing their blood.

"Cat Boss, don't you find this place familiar?"

Lanci, adeptly maneuvering the sled, surveyed the surroundings, seeing nothing but boundless snow and, at the distant end, the faint silhouette of a city, devoid of any signs of human life or even a single tree.

"Meow?"

The Cat Boss tilted its head at a forty-five-degree angle, opening its mind universe.

Why had they suddenly arrived in this completely unfamiliar place?

How could they find a way out of this icy expanse?

Is this reality, or a bizarre dreamscape, or an illusion brought forth by the gemstone they just encountered?

Countless questions swirled in its mind, yet it found no answers.

But setting aside those doubts, as it recalled Lanci's question and looked at the increasingly familiar outline of the Snow Domain City, a frightening suspicion began to form in its heart.

"Aren't we experiencing the magic encounter at the Northern Border from a year ago?"

The Cat Boss's voice trembled as it asked, recalling the most terrifying extremity.

"That's right."

Sigrid affirmed.

"Let me off the sled, meow meow meow!"

The Cat Boss exclaimed in panic, its tail bristling.

This isn't a ride to an amusement park!