"Who are you?"

Her long, pure white hair trailed down to her feet, and upon sensing the intrusion of an outsider, the girl opened her eyes.

Those ice-blue eyes were ethereal and clear, as if they could see through everything in the world.

Her slender, delicate figure was flawless. A plain white dress, though without any adornment, made her appear noble and exquisitely beautiful.

"My name is Itoshi Rin, and I am the one who saved you from the evil God King."

"Evil God King?"

Although the Snow Empress was sealed and could not easily perceive the outside world, the intense battle earlier between Tang San, Shuna, and Shion had been strong enough for her to sense even within the seal.

So, the Snow Empress did not doubt Rin's words.

She simply did not understand what Rin meant by "God King."

"Do you remember the group of Soul Masters who ascended to the Divine Realm ten thousand years ago?"

Rin quickly explained about Tang San, how he treated the Soul Land Continent as his backyard, and how he schemed against her, wanting to turn her into a chess piece.

The more the Snow Empress listened, the more her anger surged uncontrollably.

Even though this was a mental space, her power still affected it. Large amounts of ice crystals began to spread, and even the space itself subtly showed cracks.

She did not suspect Rin was lying.

Firstly, Rin was not human, and that was crucial.

The monsters of the Cardinal World were different from the Soul Beasts of the Soul Land World. The Snow Empress was certain Rin was not her kind.

But just as importantly, Rin was not human either.

That alone was enough.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The Snow Empress's logic was very simple.

"Thank you."

"If you really want to thank me, how about coming with me?"

"Come with you?"

The Snow Empress did not understand his meaning. Was he asking her to follow him, to become his subordinate or something similar?

In the world of Soul Beasts, the strong were respected.

The Snow Empress valued her dignity greatly and would not stoop to serving others.

But… Rin had saved her life.

As repayment, the Snow Empress was not unwilling to do something for him.

"I will not be subservient to anyone."

After saying this, she quickly added, "But if there's anything you need me to do, I am willing to help you."

Her words, in a roundabout way, already told Rin she was willing to do things for him to repay this life-saving grace.

"Moreover, given my current state, if there's anything, please wait until I complete my human transformation."

The Snow Empress was helpless when it came to Soul Beast transformation.

She had no confidence in surviving the heavenly tribulation, so she could only choose human transformation and retrain in hopes of a chance at godhood.

For some reason, she began to wonder whether, with her current strength, she could truly help Rin at all.

"No, it's not about working for me."

Just as the Snow Empress was bewildered, Rin spoke, "Instead, come with me to leave this world and venture into a vaster expanse!"

"Leave this world?"

Rin's words completely exceeded her expectations. "You can take me out of this world?"

"That's right."

Having read the original work, Rin knew the Soul Land Continent was a huge cage for Soul Beasts.

The Snow Empress was already nearing the end of her lifespan; otherwise, she would not have chosen to transform into human form to gamble on that slim chance of becoming a god.

However, Rin had a ready-made solution.

As long as she left the Soul Land World, the Snow Empress could immediately break free from her shackles and gain a new future.

So the question arose.

Could Rin take her across worlds?

The answer was no.

Unless she became Rin's dependent, she could not leave the Soul Land World. To leave, she could only become Rin's person.

"So, you want me to become your dependent, just like those few who fought Tang San earlier?"

"That's right."

Rin said, "Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do.

"You can understand the relationship between a dependent and me as a shared fate. If you become stronger, I will also become stronger.

"Conversely, the stronger I am, the more you will gain!"

At this time, the Soul Land Continent did not yet have concepts like Soul Spirits or intelligent Soul Rings. At least, the Snow Empress had never heard of them.

Clearly, following Rin was much better than becoming someone else's Soul Ring and Soul Bone, or simply dying under the heavenly tribulation.

However, the Snow Empress had her own pride.

She felt that transforming into human form, then obtaining a divine position and ascending to godhood like Tang San had done many years ago, was also a path.

"You should be thinking about ascending to godhood? Forget about it!"

Rin poured a basin of cold water on her hopes. "You don't really think someone can ascend to the Divine Realm from the Soul Land Continent under Tang San's surveillance, do you?"

Any superior would not allow such an act of breaking free from control. A mere resource wanting to establish its own household?

Unless the Snow Empress became Tang San's pawn, he would absolutely not allow such a formidable person to appear on the Soul Land Continent.

The Snow Empress had a cold and arrogant personality, but she was not foolish.

On the contrary, she was highly intelligent, and she could fully understand the meaning behind Rin's words.

With God King Tang above her, no matter how confident or talented she was, she could not escape the fate of being schemed to death.

Just like the confinement left by the Dragon God. Whatever its original intention, under the schemes of the gods in the Divine Realm, that confinement, which prevented ascension, directly harmed countless Soul Beasts and cut off her path to godhood.

"So, as long as you leave the Soul Land Continent, the lightning tribulation that binds you will disappear.

"If you don't want to follow me, I can also take you to other planes to help you break through."

Rin was serious.

Even if she broke her shackles and became a god in another, better plane, Rin would still have the opportunity to subdue her and make her his dependent.

It was just that, in that case, she would owe him an even greater favor.

The Snow Empress was cold and arrogant by nature, but that God Realm not mean she lacked emotions or failed to understand gratitude.

"By the way, following me is definitely better than following someone like Tang San, right?"

Rin had this much confidence. He was not someone like Tang San who had one face in public and another in private.

Rin was always generous to his own people.

As long as he had enough to eat, he would never let them go hungry.

"That's right, that's right, Rin is very good."

Ogerpon's consciousness joined in, forming a lovely maiden's phantom beside Rin.

"Indeed."

"Shuna and I were just very ordinary Ogre Clan members in the forest, but Rin-sama bestowed upon us great power."

Shuna also appeared. At this time, it was their turn to persuade a new companion to join.

(To be continued.)