Mirela and Anya didn’t seem to care.
They were already at the back of the flawlessly reconstructed dark oak carriage, working with eagerness that completely defied the freezing temperature.
There weren’t that many crates left to pack.
The salvaged supplies from Lord Varhem’s original camp had severely dwindled over the past days.
They had a few boxes of dried jerky, a crate of alchemical heating oil, and a heavy wooden trunk filled with the spare winter furs and medical supplies.
Mirela was carrying quite a heavy box.
The staggering volume of dense divine Soul Mana that Klaus had pumped directly into her womb the night before hadn’t just expanded her magical core... it had fundamentally fortified her muscle fibers and bone density.
She didn’t even strain as she carried it to the back of the carriage and effortlessly shoved it onto the wooden floorboards with her tail wagging furiously behind her.
Anya was right beside her, using her precise, dark violet spatial magic to smoothly guide the smaller bundles of furs and canteens into the tight corners of the cabin, perfectly organizing the cargo space with efficiency.
Klaus walked up to the last remaining crate sitting in the snow.
It was a heavy iron-bound box containing the spare carriage tools and the alchemical catalysts.
He didn’t bother using magic this time.
He just reached down, grabbed the iron handles, and hoisted it up with his muscled arms flexing against the weight.
He carried it over to the back of the carriage, where Mirela was just finishing strapping down the food supply.
"Make way," Klaus rumbled, stepping up onto the iron runner at the back of the cabin.
"Ah, yes, Master," Mirela said quickly, shuffling to the side to give him room.
As she moved past him, her body brushing narrowly against his in the tight confines of the open carriage doors, the dark tight leather of her trousers pulled completely taut against her perfectly round rear.
The memory of the pounding from the night before flashed instantly through Klaus’s mind.
He didn’t even think about it.
He just dropped the heavy crate into place with his left hand, raised his right hand, and swung.
SMACK!
The incredibly loud sound of his heavy palm colliding directly against the taut leather covering her left butt cheek echoed like a gunshot across the quiet snowy courtyard.
"KYAAAH!"
Mirela let out a high-pitched, completely undignified squeak. She jumped forward, nearly tripping over the edge of the floorboards.
Mirela spun around instantly, one hand flying back to clutch her stinging rear end, her entire face dyeing a brilliant shade of terminal crimson.
Her pointed goat ears shot straight up, and her tail poofed out with the fur standing on end.
"Master!" Mirela complained, her voice cracking wildly as she stared at him with wide mortified blue eyes. "You... you can’t just keep doing that without warning! It’s broad daylight!"
Klaus chuckled and he didn’t step back.
He closed the distance between them in a single stride, crowding her against the wooden wall of the cabin.
He reached out, his large hands gently cupping the sides of her flushed burning face.
He leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss directly against her forehead.
"Thank you, Mira," Klaus murmured, his voice dropping into a heavy, intimate register. "For packing the crates. For standing by me. For everything."
Mirela completely melted.
The playful indignation vanished instantly.
The nickname... Mira hit her heart like a physical blow.
Her blue eyes fluttered shut, her tense shoulders dropping entirely as she leaned her forehead against his broad chest.
The overwhelming warmth radiating from his divine core seeped through his dark combat shirt, enveloping her completely.
"I love you, Master." Mirela whispered softly, her voice trembling with unconditional devotion.
She wrapped her arms around his narrow waist, hugging him tightly.
But as she did, Klaus’s right hand smoothly slid back down the curve of her spine, coming to rest heavily and possessively right back on her ass.
He gave the soft flesh a firm deliberate squeeze.
Mirela gasped softly, her face burning even hotter against his chest. She tried to squirm, but he held her firmly in place.
"M-Master," she stammered shyly, her voice barely a breath. "Please don’t say embarrassing things like that while holding me like this... if you continue... I’m going to get we—"
"What are you doing?"
The flat deadpan voice cut through the intimate tension like a scythe.
Mirela violently jumped back, nearly hitting her head on the roof of the cabin.
She spun around to see Anya floating just outside the back doors of the carriage. The six-year-old Shinigami had her head tilted slightly.
Klaus didn’t even flinch.
He smoothly pulled his hand back, sliding it casually into his pocket calmly.
"I was hugging Mirela," Klaus lied smoothly, his tone completely flat. "Just a team-building exercise."
Anya stared at him for a long, ticking second. Her eyes drifted down to Mirela’s violently flushed face, then back up to Klaus’s silver eyes.
"I see," Anya noted, nodding slowly. "The exchange of physical affection to maintain psychological morale within a combat unit is a logical protocol. I will document this."
Mirela covered her burning face with both hands, letting out a muffled desperate groan. "Please do not document this, Anya..."
"Let’s go get the bear," Klaus declared loudly, clapping his hands together to change the subject before the little Shinigami started asking more invasive questions.
He hopped down from the back of the carriage with his heavy boots crunching into the snowpack.
They walked together across the massive courtyard toward the deep snowdrift where the giant mountain bear was still cowering.
The beast was terrified.
The moment Klaus stepped within thirty yards, the massive, van-sized monstrosity dropped completely flat onto its belly, pressing its scarred snout into the snow and whining pathetically.
It could feel the suffocating density of the Soul King aura rolling off him, and its primitive nervous system was utterly subservient.
As they approached, a sudden flash of blue light zipped across the snow.
BZZZT!
Sparky materialized directly in front of the bear’s nose.
The chibi-sized Lightning Fairy hovered in the air, crossing her tiny arms and glaring at the massive beast.
The bear let out a terrified whimper, crossing its giant paws over its eyes to hide from the sparking elemental.
Sparky flew up and landed softly on Klaus’s shoulder. Her spiky yellow hair was completely devoid of the violent aggressive static it had carried earlier.
She actually looked a little guilty, her tiny hands fiddling with the hem of her dark woven tunic.
"Hey, Boss," Sparky mumbled, refusing to look him in the eye.
"What’s up, Sparky?" Klaus asked, stopping near the bear.
"I... I just wanted to apologize," the fairy admitted, her high-pitched voice dropping into a reluctant bratty mumble. "For blowing up the old carriage. I wasn’t throwing a tantrum. It’s just... being a physical elemental means my emotions are tied directly to my atmospheric charge. When I get frustrated, the plasma builds up, and I have to discharge it, or I feel like I’m going to explode. I didn’t mean to vaporize the metal scraps."
She looked up at him, her glowing blue eyes wide and surprisingly vulnerable.
Klaus stared at the tiny fairy.
She was a literal weapon of mass destruction and here she was currently pouting on his collarbone because she felt bad for yelling at him.
A genuine warm smile broke across his face.
He didn’t say a word.
He just leaned his head slightly to the right, pressing a soft playful kiss directly against the fairy’s tiny forehead.
The reaction was instantaneous.
KRA-ZAP!
Sparky completely short-circuited.
Her entire tiny body went rigid as a blinding surge of blue electricity erupted from her spiky blonde hair, shooting wildly into the air.
Her face turned so red it was practically glowing, and her plasma wings buzzed with a frantic completely out-of-control frequency.
"B-B-BOSS!" Sparky shrieked, her voice pitching so high it shattered glass.
She floated backward off his shoulder, clutching her forehead with both tiny hands with her entire frame sparking erratically. "WHAT WAS THAT?! YOU CAN’T JUST DO THAT TO A HIGH-TIER ELEMENTAL! MY CORE IS OVERLOADING! YOU MEATHEAD!"
"Apology accepted," Klaus laughed out loud, immune to the tiny static shocks she was firing at his chest.
He turned his attention to the giant mountain bear.
Hitching the beast up to the newly restored oak carriage was a complicated process.
When Lord Varhem had originally purchased this elite transport, it hadn’t been designed for just one animal.
The heavy iron yoke and the magical control harness had originally been built to accommodate two giant mountain bears.
One of the two Bears had already died though and that left them with a harness designed for four magical connection points... two reins and collars for the left bear, two for the right but only one surviving beast.
"Mirela, give me a hand with this," Klaus ordered, dragging the heavy iron yoke out of the snow.
They hauled the heavy metal frame over the trembling bear’s massive shoulders.
Because there was only one animal to pull a carriage meant for two, Klaus had to improvise.
He took all four of the heavy magical collars and strapped them securely around the single bear’s thick neck, linking all four of the heavy glowing mana-conduit reins to the beast’s harness.
The bear didn’t resist. It just laid in the snow, whimpering softly as Klaus fastened the thick iron buckles.
"That’s a lot of magical feedback for one animal," Mirela noted, adjusting the heavy leather straps. "Do you think it can handle the load?"
"It doesn’t have a choice," Klaus replied. "It’s a big monster. It has the physical strength to pull the carriage... it just needs the correct magical motivation."
With the bear securely hitched and the four heavy reins locked into the yoke, it was time to move.
"Alright, everyone inside," Klaus ordered.
Mirela and Anya hurried to the back of the carriage, climbing into the heavy oak cabin and sealing the thick wooden doors behind them.
Sparky, still aggressively rubbing her forehead and muttering angry, bratty curses about his lack of boundaries, phased directly through the wood to join them in the back.
Klaus walked to the front of the carriage. He didn’t climb onto a simple exposed wooden bench like a normal wagon driver.
Lord Varhem’s carriage was a high-tier magical transport.
The front of the vehicle featured an enclosed reinforced control room. Klaus opened the small iron door and stepped inside, settling his massive frame into the plush leather captain’s chair.
The dashboard in front of him was a solid slab of polished black iron, embedded with dozens of glowing blue mana-crystals and intricate, carved spell matrices.
The four heavy magical reins connected to the bear’s collars didn’t run into his hands... they plugged directly into the iron dashboard, linking the beast’s nervous system to the carriage’s control.
Klaus placed both of his large hands flat against the central glowing crystal on the dashboard.
He closed his eyes as he simply tapped into his divine core and pushed a steady, heavy stream of pure white Soul Mana directly into the control system.
The entire carriage violently hummed to life.
The blue crystals on the dashboard instantly shifted to a blinding luminescent white. Outside, the four heavy magical collars strapped around the mountain bear’s neck flared with power.
The dense terrifying intent of the Soul King poured directly into the beast’s primitive mind.
The bear didn’t whimper this time. It let out a massive, earth-shaking, guttural roar, scrambling frantically to its feet.
Its massive, jagged claws dug deep trenches into the permafrost, hauling the incredibly heavy oak carriage forward with a violent lurch.
Klaus gripped the edges of the control panel, steering the massive beast smoothly out of the courtyard.
Before they hit the tree line, Klaus turned his head, looking through the thick glass window of the control room.
He stared up at the Endless Tower one last time.
The massive, terrifying obsidian spire was falling apart even quicker now.
Without the anchor of the spatial barrier, the entire structure was rapidly dissolving into a blinding storm of light particles.
The very foundation of the structure was collapsing as the ancient stone was erasing itself from reality.
But the collapse wasn’t silent.
As the tower fell, it created a massive magical vacuum that roared across the Haunted Winterlands.
The heavy oppressive scent of its magic was blown out across the snowpack for miles in every direction.
And the Winterlands answered.