Four streams of light streaked across the sky.
Silvia’s silver short hair whipped in the fierce wind, his prisoner’s uniform billowing like a sail. He scanned the vast, desolate land below.
The snow plain stretched boundlessly, yet it was far from a desolate expanse. Scattered across the snow-covered wilderness were humble mortal villages, their chimneys sending curls of smoke gracefully into the air.
There were woodcutters wrapped in padded jackets, their axes falling, sending woodchips flying. Hunters stealthily moved with their fur-lined bows, and fishermen chipped away at the ice, their iron hooks pulling up glistening silver fish.
Additionally, the crisp jingle of sleigh bells echoed as children, riding reindeer-drawn sleds, laughed and passed by, startling a flock of rooks.
These vibrant scenes of human life stirred gentle ripples in Silvia’s violet eyes.
Once, ‘she’ had always stayed within Tanhua City, rarely venturing into the wilderness.
Now, gazing down upon the myriad lives unfolding across the snow plain, he realized that even ordinary days held a vivid, heartwarming essence of human existence.
****
After a while, Silvia’s pupils constricted. Had he detected a trace of wild ‘malice’?
It was the ‘Good and Evil Severance’ skill issuing a warning.
Immediately after, three snow wolves emerged from the shadows of the snow forest.
They fixed their gaze on Silvia, flying high in the sky, exhaling frosty white mist as they padded lightly, leaving no trace in the snow.
Further away.
Above an icy lake, a fisherman, in the midst of pulling in his net, didn’t even have time to cry out before he was swallowed by the surging ice wave created by a giant bear that burst through the ice, dying instantly.
“It seems it’s not safe outside either,” Silvia murmured. Though the bear demon’s aura wasn’t particularly potent, it exuded a raw savagery, its very ‘malice’ carrying a metallic tang.
****
In the distance, a silver-blue halo emerged on the horizon.
As the four flew closer, a majestic ice city came into view, its ice walls hundreds of meters high, piercing the sky.
Silvia counted no fewer than a dozen arched city gates on all sides of the city walls.
Moreover, each entrance tunnel teemed with an ant-like throng of people. Mortals, bundled in thick fur coats, mostly clutched mobile phones, copper coins, or an ice-crafted pass. Without one, entry was denied.
A prominent signboard beside the city gate, its frost-blue characters clearly stated:
‘Entry requires seven copper coins (QR code payment available) or a valid pass. Both are non-negotiable.’
People queued in winding lines in the cold wind, and occasionally, snippets of conversation in local accents drifted through the air.
****
In contrast to the mortals, several supernaturals, their bodies wreathed in shimmering magical light, soared over the ice walls and into the city.
Silvia watched their method of entry from afar, his eyes clouded with confusion.
In the Iriswing Kingdom, regardless of identity or status, everyone had to undergo checkpoint inspections; even Magical Girls were no exception. Of course, this was in their un-transformed, normal state, as they were still women who toiled for their livelihoods.
Yet here, supernaturals could bypass inspections with magic. Could it be… that beings capable of magic were exempt from such inspections?
As they drew nearer.
Silvia also sensed that the ice walls encircling the city were dense with solidified ice elements, layered with astonishing density.
However, Silvia’s brow furrowed. The ice walls felt to him like… a sturdy wall constructed from ‘flammable’ material?
For natural elements, they usually dispersed as invisible gaseous forms throughout the world. Even in areas rich with elements like icy snowfields, volcanoes, or deep-sea trenches, they merely manifested their power as more formidable gaseous or liquid states.
But these ice walls forcibly solidified ice elements into a physical entity. Such a ‘brutal’ approach indeed rendered the city walls indestructible, yet it also sowed the seeds of a hidden danger.
It was akin to a building’s height correlating with the severity of its inherent risks. Once a section ‘loosened’ or suffered a powerful external impact, those compressed, densely packed ice elements would break free, triggering an elemental rampage powerful enough to raze the ice city to the ground.
Such a colossal hidden danger… and they just left it unattended?
****
After a while, the four of them casually flew into the city.
The city guards looked up, but only caught glimpses of four streaking afterimages. There was no trace of the cedar scent unique to official passes.
‘Oh, great, now people are just bypassing the gates in broad daylight!’
“Wait! Pass inspection—” He yelled, straining his voice, but it was futile. They could fly; how was he supposed to stop them?
And so.
The guard sighed, looking down at his worn-out deerskin boots, then remembered his elderly mother waiting at home for rice to cook. His monthly salary of thirty copper coins was barely enough to buy two bags of flour mixed with sawdust. If he truly pursued this…
A shiver ran down his spine. He planted his long spear in the snow, the swirling flakes dusting his frost-reddened face.
“Forget it, forget it.” He mumbled at the gradually dissipating afterimages, his exhaled white mist blurring his vision. “Those guys in the city get double pay; that mess is their problem to worry about.”
The guard rubbed his frozen fingers, pacing back and forth at the city gate. He’d simply pretend he hadn’t seen a thing.
****
At the forefront of the four streams of light, Ling Qinghe passed through the swirling snow mist and immediately spotted a grand mansion nestled in the western corner.
They flew towards it. As they neared the mansion, Silvia felt even more awestruck; its sprawling grounds meant it could truly be called a palace. Its upturned eaves and intricate *dougong* brackets were all cast from ice crystals, and even the ice bricks on the ground were polished to a mirror-like sheen.
Mid-flight, the biting wind seeped into Silvia’s prisoner uniform. He instinctively looked down, his gaze falling upon his flat chest.
Indeed, there were no soft curves there now, only a stark flatness.
He remembered admiring ‘her’ own slender waist, ample bosom—a graceful, captivating body—in his mirror. And now…
Silvia reached out, stroking his chest, a pang of bitterness swelling within him. The ease and pride of being a woman were gone. How he longed to possess a female body once more, to no longer be confined by this ‘unfamiliar’ male shell.
‘Indeed,’ he thought, ‘only by losing something do you truly learn to cherish it.’
Beside him, Xia Naxin subtly glanced over, taking in Silvia’s expression and his unconscious gesture. She bit her lower lip, love and tender ache intertwining within her. Yet in her heart, the person before her… was still the ‘girl’ who captivated her. Soon, she would be again.
‘If the gender transformation magic goes smoothly…’
‘Hmph, I’ll definitely steal your first kiss… Via, this time, I won’t let you make any excuses.’
****
After a while.
The four of them landed before the mansion. Immediately, the ice gates swung open inward, revealing a grand, staircase-lined pathway paved with ice crystals.
Ling Cheyin and Ling Qinghe walked ahead, hand in hand, their figures quickly vanishing along the mansion’s main thoroughfare.
Behind them, Silvia deliberately slowed his pace, hesitant to get too close to Xia Naxin. Since becoming a man, Silvia felt a constant ‘unease.’ Especially when he looked at Xia Naxin, his heart undeniably stirred.
But at this moment, a peculiar sensation, one he had never experienced before, arose within him. It was a feeling he had never known in his female body.
‘Perhaps… as a man, Silvia’s desires had become stronger?’
He tried not to walk too awkwardly, even consciously adjusting his uniform to lengthen its hem. Ah, well, it was only natural, a physiological response. If he didn’t conceal it, it would be awkward, strange. What if Xia Naxin saw?
After all, Silvia no longer possessed the tenderness and charm he had as a woman when facing his beloved. His heart throbbed, yet he had to endure. Once he was a woman again, Silvia would properly accompany and make it up to Xia Naxin.
****
Outside the mansion, as Silvia walked, a sudden wave of warm mist, carrying the scent of mead, wafted towards him.
Immediately, Silvia saw a purple-haired youth emerge from the main entrance, two figures draped over his arms. He was embracing two loli girls with cat ears, dressed in long-sleeved shirts and seemingly no bottoms.
The purple-haired youth was dressed quite coolly: floral shorts paired with an unbuttoned shirt. Beneath his bronzed skin, his eight-pack abs were clearly visible, his chest gently rising and falling. In this icy wilderness, without magic or supernatural protection, one would surely freeze to death.
The cat-eared girls’ fluffy tails were wrapped around his wrists, their cheeks nuzzling his chest, and the bells in their hair jingled with their laughter.
Beyond that, Silvia also noticed a faint scraping sound of ice coming from the park. It was a naked woman on all fours, wearing a black leather mask, being led by a chain around her neck by another woman with long, wavy blonde hair.
Hmm, it was broad daylight, and they were already engaged in outdoor activities. Quite uninhibited, weren’t they?
He could also hear faint, muffled sounds.
Furthermore, Silvia acutely perceived that on the second floor of the mansion, behind the frost-covered glass of a French window, two blurry figures were discernible. He could vaguely make out a woman with waist-length hair leaning against the windowsill. But soon, another figure obscured her from behind.
Alas, as the mist thickened, Silvia averted his gaze. He felt his eyes had been ‘defiled.’ And they were two people of different genders!
Yet, the antics upstairs drew chuckles and teasing remarks from the lingering guests.
At this point, Silvia couldn’t help but wonder if this mansion Ling Qinghe had brought them to was truly respectable. This part of the city… had very few people, much like a wealthy district. But this… Silvia couldn’t shake the feeling it was a lovers’ retreat, a snow-themed pleasure palace for indulgence.
Just then, the purple-haired youth, still embracing his two companions, walked directly towards them. He first adjusted his collar, then scrutinized Silvia from head to toe, taking in his prisoner’s uniform and the beautiful woman beside him.
A peculiar glint flashed in his eyes. His first thought was, ‘This guy really knows how to play; even a prisoner role-play is on the menu?’ But, he had to admit, the man was… handsome?
Somehow, the more the purple-haired youth looked at Silvia, the more he felt that this ‘prisoner’ had a hint of femininity about him. At this, the purple-haired youth swallowed hard.
He then instructed the two cat-eared girls beside him: –Go to the hot springs first. Get clean and wait for me.–
With that, the purple-haired youth began walking towards… Silvia, who stood beside Xia Naxin. –Hey there, little brother, just out of prison?–
In that moment, Silvia actually felt a peculiar ‘goodwill’ emanating from this man.
‘Wait, is this right?’
‘Oh no, he’s coming for me.’