Malik blinked, and his Sultan’s Hall was gone.

The West was a green land, the North was an ice wasteland, the Center and South were deserts, but the East?

Many theorized what the land could be.

Many answers were reached.

Very different answers, but...

All believed it to be fantastical in nature.

Malik believed the same.

And yet, even then, the truth wasn’t at all what he expected.

He was met by a pale sky and a landscape that defied every law of nature he had ever known.

The ground beneath his boots was sand, but rising from that sand were mountains covered in thick foliage.

Scattered across such a landscape were trees heavy with leaves that should have withered in such arid soil.

And to make things even stranger, a layer of snow covered everything—the sand, the mountains, and the trees...

Yes, all seasons had congregated into one.

It was almost as if the East could not decide what it wanted to be, so it had become everything at once.

Far in the distance, so massive that it dominated the horizon, stood a gargantuan olive tree.

Its trunk was wider than anything Malik had ever seen, and its branches stretched across the sky like the arms of a God.

This was not a Tree of Death, not a Zaqqum tree as the Entity had called them, but the exact opposite...

A Tree of Life, ancient and impossibly beautiful.

’...huh.’

Ding!

—

╔═════════════╗

║TRAIT UNLOCKED!║

╚═════════════╝

[Trait — Bane Of Corruption]

[Description: A title that spoke of the Sultan’s animosity towards IT.] 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

—

’So IT really was preparing for my return.’

Malik thought while his eyes scanned the strange horizon.

’But why send me here? Can IT not kill me outright? Or was that because it went through Amal? Maybe. In any case, IT sent me here believing I would die, so I have to be very careful.’

By the time he reached that conclusion, Malik spotted a smaller Tree of Life in the near distance.

It sat atop a small hill that rose from the snow-covered sand.

He decided to walk there for now, to get his bearings and figure out just where the Hell he could go from there.

The hill was steeper than it looked, and the snow made the climb treacherous, but Malik pushed forward, despite the number of times his boots slipped on the frozen sand beneath.

When he reached the top, he saw what most surprised him.

Two beautiful women stood before the smaller Tree of Life, their sides to him as they stared at each other with the same surprise.

"Huda?"

"S-Safira? They got you, too?"

Malik recognized them immediately and called away his Stranger’s Ring at once, playing it safe.

Huda, a beautiful woman with crimson hair styled into something of a bob that fell past her shoulders, was his second little sister.

The one he remembered as an ambassador for his sultanate.

She wore a royal pink dress that seemed entirely out of place in this wasteland.

Safira, his disciple, was arguably even more out of place.

She had long ginger hair styled to wrap around her neck and spill onto her white dress. Everything about her seemed soft: her green eyes, her gentle features, and even the way she held herself.

After both recognized each other, they turned to face Malik...

Their confused reactions were not what he had expected.

"W-Who the Hell are you?"

Huda demanded, her pink eyes narrowing with suspicion.

She took a step back, positioning herself between Malik and Safira as if expecting him to attack.

’Hm? How does she not recognize me?’

Malik grew ’confused’ as well.

’I was just on the throne...’

His thoughts paused as the answer came to him.

Without him realizing, nearly all of his Rukh had been drained, both from his Soul and from the ring on his finger.

His appearance had already regressed to that of an old man.

Of course, they did not recognize him!

He looked nothing like the golden-haired Sultan who had stood on the gate just hours ago.

"Hey, do not talk to him like that."

Safira, though just suspicious, admonished Huda.

"What?! He’s... hah... whatever, fine."

Once the attack dog of a woman settled down, Safira returned to Malik and offered a small, apologetic smile.

"Sorry about her, sir. She is a bit frazzled. Neither of us has yet processed how we got here exactly."

Malik shook his head, dismissing the apology.

"No worries. But tell me, do you really have no idea how you arrived?"

Huda sighed and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Well, I was attacked by..."

She stopped, her brow furrowing, only to then continue:

"But after that, I have no idea what happened. I just showed up here."

Safira nodded in agreement.

"I was attacked by... as well. I could not protect myself as well as I should have because I was cultivating my Rune."

Malik tilted his head, a question forming on his lips.

"Attacked by who?"

Huda scoffed, her frustration bubbling to the surface.

"Are you deaf?! I am telling you it was by...!"

She stopped again, though she hadn’t even acknowledged it this time.

"If not for the weaklings with me, I would have gotten... for certain!"

Malik’s eyes trembled.

’So IT’s words are true.’

The owner of all Corruption could not be remembered.

The mind, no matter how strong, simply rejected the memory.

Anyone who tried to speak IT or describe IT found their thoughts scattering like leaves in the wind.

There was no doubt that IT was intent on killing them all.

’Dammit.’

For now, he could only hope that the others in his family had managed to defend themselves.

Though they were likely not even targeted.

IT seemed to have picked its victims carefully, striking when they were most vulnerable.

"Well..."

Malik somehow kept his voice calm.

"As for me, I have been here so long that I have forgotten just how I came."

Both women looked at him, one suspiciously, the other with pity.

It was obvious which was which, enough that it made him wonder just how she had gotten the position of ambassador.

Or was that only the official title, and she was simply a sword to be pointed at allies to ensure compliance?

Malik would bet the latter.

Truly, a Sultan, a Sword, and a Home.