The space cracked open like shattered glass floating in midair, warping with a bright pulse as something emerged from the tear. A foot touched down first, followed by the silhouette of a man cloaked in tendrils of black lightning. His breathing was slow, deep, almost reverent. Nate had returned.
He stepped fully into the world, exhaling a breath he hadn't taken in years—the scent of Earth's air, raw and familiar, filled his lungs. Two years. Two long, endless years since he vanished from the battlefield with Zoro. Now he was back.
When he opened his eyes, his irises glowed faintly, flickering with the last trace of the energy he had just traveled through. Everything around him was a frozen wasteland, white and pristine, with towering glaciers spread across the land. He immediately recognized it—he was in the Ice Fields, the ancient frozen stretch far north of where civilization dared to reach.
