Looking around the bleak landscape, the once beautiful valley had turned into a hellscape. The ground wasn’t just collapsing, it was breaking apart. Some of it fell down into what looked like an eternal abyss. However, more terrifyingly some of it was rising up, defying gravity as it flew into an infinite darkness. There was no longer a sky, but instead a space filled with infinite bright stars.

“Is that the void between worlds?” Garnet asked, shivering. “My people had stories about it.”

“The bubble is already broken.” I said with a heavy heart while I used a healing spell on Garnet. “This dungeon will fall into the void.”

“What happens to things that fall into the void?” Bernice asked uncertainly.

“Destroyed.” Carmine answered, and when everyone looked at her, she blushed slightly. “The princess knew that. The Twilight Empire actually worshipped the void. They claimed their race came here across the void, and so did others. That’s why they originally welcomed the demons… then a new religion came.”

“The big titty religion?” I offered.

“Pig!” Bernice glared at me.

Garnet looked down at her nonexistant chest and frowned.

“Master, get your mind out of the gutter, it was the religion of light. It taught us to fear the void. Only creatures of the light may triumph, while everything else is cursed.”

“I know this religion, they’re the ones that drove my ancestors underground. Since we lived underground, they called Deep Dwarves evil and lightless. It’s what started the war between us and the surface.” Garnet said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“That’s all really nice, but there is one problem! We’re about to get pulled into the void and die!” Bernice cried out.

“Ah! The stone!” I spun around and looked back at the collapsed castle.

The girls all gave me a questioning look. The stone was what supposedly kept this world tethered to my own. It was how Demon Lord Aberis had managed to create a portal between the two worlds. Without that, Xin was not able to return home and ended up stuck in this bubble. My panic quickly receded as I remembered the rest of it though. I wasn’t Xin. The blessing her curse created was exactly what we needed to escape.

I could now make Portals that could take me to other worlds. I could probably eventually make Portals without needing the dungeon points at all if I started training Blue Mage, but for the moment, my new blessing was enough to get us out of this predicament. I reached out to heal Bernice first, but she gave me a look and I put down my hands. I wanted everyone to be healed, as I had no clue about this skill. It could be a bumpy ride for all I knew.

“Alright, I’m going to create a Portal then.” I said. “I believe I can make one home.”

“Really?” Garnet perked up.

The girls all perked up instantly, their growing sense of helplessness was filled with hope.

I nodded, but I was only about 80% confident. First off, I had no clue how to target a world. With my Portal, I usually depended on my Map to select a place I’d already been to. I’d created Portals before just imagining where I wanted to go, but they were never ideal. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and started the spell. I kept home firmly locked in my mind.

“As soon as I get home… I’ll go find my mom.” Bernice said out loud.

“Mom?” I blinked, and then the Portal snapped into place.

The Portal wasn’t blue like I was used to seeing. Instead, this one appeared red. It was also a bit smaller than the normal Portals. They were usually big enough for a man on horseback. These were just large enough for a single person. As I finished forming the Portal, there was a sudden thud. The world started breaking apart at an alarming rate. I must have consumed too much of the remaining mana from this world casting such an intensive spell.

The cracks reached our feet, and the ground felt like it might collapse at any second. We originally had fifteen minutes to spare, but suddenly it felt like we had seconds.

“Go! No time!”

I had learned a lesson about jumping into a Portal without warning, but we had no choice. The girls jumped through, and I followed behind just as I felt the ground under me drop.