(Present time - The Pallid Plane)

The Spirit Realm's mainland was divided into seven planes, five of which were inhabited by the souls known as transparents, who found themselves in the realm after death. The two remaining planes, shrouded in darkness, lay hidden in the depths of the underworld.

Beyond these two planes, it was uncertain whether several other realms existed, but no one dared to explore the mysteries lurking in those depths.

Tensions ran high as a group of spirit warriors assembled at the Pallid Plane's Inter-realm transit. This special unit of warriors, distinguished by their black uniforms with white fur lining, each bore the symbol of a snake-like creature with its tongue sticking out on their left shoulder.

With fierce expressions, they awaited the arrival of a particular planar train. News had reached them that criminals had managed to access one of the planar trains from the void between planes. The spirit warriors wasted no time in preparing for the confrontation that awaited them.

The planar train was scheduled to arrive at the transit, regardless of any control the criminals might have had over it. Once it arrived, the spirit warriors vowed not to give the shadow soul and his comrades a moment's respite.

"T-The train's coming!!" A young spirit warrior called out from a raised platform, panting from his dash from the control room to deliver the news.

The inter-realm transit resembled an incredibly spacious, old train station. As a greyish portal materialised a few metres away, an intricately designed train slowly emerged from the spatial opening.

The spirit warriors positioned themselves strategically, prepared for action as the train's doors opened.

However, minutes passed, and there was no sign of the criminals they had expected to confront. A daring soldier decided to investigate one of the opened train cars and returned with a puzzled expression. Other warriors followed suit, checking each car's interior, but they found nothing.

"There's nothing here. I don't even sense the slightest energy essence in any of the cars," muttered a female warrior, clearly perplexed.

At that moment, a bulky middle-aged man appeared on the scene, a wise war veteran with white hair and an eyepatch on his right eye, displaying the number '5'. He wore a light blue coat with fur-lined edges and bore the snake-like creature symbol on his back, signifying his high rank.

The female warrior sensed his commanding presence and immediately stood at attention, a mix of respect and trepidation on her face.

"Master Aleksandr," she said, her voice stiffening.

"What's your report?" Master Aleksandr's voice was rough but composed, his one visible eye scanning the surroundings with an intense focus.

Her body felt crushed under his imposing presence, but she managed to maintain her composure. "The entire train is empty. Every arrival was intentionally delayed to ensure we captured the one containing the shadow soul, but it seems like the information we received may have been incorrect."

The pressure seemed to intensify, but Master Aleksandr exhaled lightly, turning around to place his hands behind him.

"This shadow soul doesn't have any ordinary souls as his comrades," he stated calmly after a moment of silence. "Contact the rank three soldiers and have them intensify their plane-wide surveillance."

"U-Understood," the female warrior responded, bowing her head slightly.

The middle-aged man finally left the transit, allowing the spirit warriors to catch their breath. Meanwhile, in a distant part of the pallid plains, two individuals traversed through a dense pine forest. Their feet sunk into the bluish-white snow with each step, and the freezing temperatures made their breath visible in the air.

Hovering alongside them were two spherical objects made of tightly wrapped music sheets. One of the travellers was draped in a plain cloak, while the other wore a black uniform with blood red lines along the edges.

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"Achoo!" Kekeli rubbed his nose and grumbled, "I swear, of all the planes, it's the pallid plane I hate the most."

"You're a flame warrior," the cloaked young man grinned sarcastically. "Why are you complaining? Look, your pet's making good use of its abilities."

Kekeli's black cat, Jackie, rested comfortably on his shoulder, enveloped in a faint red glow as it summoned spirit energy to keep warm.

"Hmph, can't risk it," Kekeli said, shivering. "Crazy things happen in this plane's wild zones. I'd better save the little spirit energy I've gathered just in case."

Edem raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't think you really have to worry about that."

"Well, I'm already worrying about it," the flame warrior replied, rubbing his palms together. "UGH! Why'd you make me jump off the train in an area like this?"

"Um, because there's lots of snow here and I don't like pain?" Edem teased, looking at the dark clouds.

Achoo!! Kekeli sneezed again, sniffing and rubbing his nose irritably.

"Something tells me that's not the actual reason why you literally kicked me off," Kekeli said, his eyes watering.

Edem's grin turned mischievous, "Well, you're right. I could've kicked you off the train and onto an area with less snow, and I'd care less."

Fear flashed in Kekeli's eyes, and he stammered, "That's cold."

"But!" Edem's grin softened into a warm smile. "I didn't want us to be close to any settlements. Spirit warriors in towns or cities might have noticed our descent or detected our spirit energies. Being this deep in the wild zone helps mask our presence due to the frequent turbulence."

"Huh…" Kekeli tilted his head, starting to understand.

"Oh, and speaking of turbulence," Edem pointed in a particular direction playfully. "A blizzard's coming!~"

"What!?" Kekeli's eyes widened in alarm, "Wait, why the hell do you sound happy in this situation!?"

As cold winds rushed through the forest, Kekeli shrieked at the sudden drop in temperature. Edem, however, seemed unfazed and simply smirked, "As long as you never let any situation rock your base, thinking clearly and rationally is no problem for you."

Using a golden circle, Edem teleported the two souls to the mouth of a dark cave not far from the blizzard. "We'll use this cave as a shelter," he said, walking inside. "My golden circle will keep the cold winds at bay."

Kekeli stood there for a moment, still shivering, before nodding in agreement. He entered the cave just as the blizzard began to rage outside.

"I'll make a flame," he announced, forming a small ball of spirit energy between his fingertips. When he snapped his fingers, a bright flame appeared above the ground, continuously fueled by the atmospheric energy.

"Ah, finally~" Kekeli sighed with relief, closing his eyes. Jackie leapt off his shoulder and landed beside the flame, stretching and curling up to sleep.

Kekeli smiled at his content feline companion, but then a mischievous idea struck him. "Hold on, heat normally travels between bodies in contact," he said, looking at Jackie with a wicked grin. "You feline MONSTER!"

Meow?

The black cat lazily lifted its head.

"You could've clearly shared your warmth with me!" Kekeli grumbled.

For a moment, Kekeli could've sworn that he had seen a look of mockery on his cat's face.

His eyebrows twitched, "This little-"

Edem witnessed the scene between the two entities for a while, a slight smile forming on his lips. He then shifted his gaze to the two spheres ominously hovering at the back of the small cave.

Currently sitting at the mouth of the cavity, Edem's attention turned to the storm outside, or so it seemed. In reality, he had a few things running through his mind.

He had chosen to help Zanetor find his mother for pretty much the same reason he had chosen to help Xoese with the help she needed many years ago. It was quite funny. Both Zanetor and Xoese were souls hell-bent on finding someone special to them.

Of course, he was helping them.

However, it wasn't because he felt any kind of sympathy towards them.

There was something very important he needed to accomplish. Something he felt and perhaps knew was way more important than the reasons Zanetor and Xoese had for fighting so hard.

"This time," the mysterious man muttered to himself as his gaze intensified. "This time, I'll completely eradicate this realm's fault."

Edem was determined to get rid of this 'fault' and he was going to use any means necessary. Zanetor's sudden appearance in the spirit realm through a literal back door meant that his existence was only there to resist things that were meant to be.

This time for sure, he felt closer than ever.

Closer than he ever felt when he was exploiting Xoese for his purpose.

The cloaked man's heterochromatic eyes glistened as he turned to face the two floating spheres.

It was already time.

A bright light erupted from within the two spheres, catching Kekeli and Jackie off guard.

"W- Woah! When did this light-" Kekeli shielded his eyes.

The light soon dissipated, and two souls were revealed. Both of them stood with differing expressions on their faces.

The younger girl, donned in a plain white dress, seemed to be quite confused about where she was.

"H- How long was I out for?" the little girl rubbed her temples.

"Little Lady! You're okay!!" Kekeli ran past the other soul and held Leticia's hand, displaying vulnerability.

"H- Hey!" Leticia frowned. "What are you doing here!? What even IS this place!?"

Leticia and Kekeli drowned themselves in an awkward scene, oblivious to the tensions that silently grew between the cloaked man and the soul donning a tattered blue-black trench coat.

Zanetor's gaze was fierce, and Edem responded with indifference in his eyes.

"Well," the cloaked man lightly chuckled. "Welcome back, Zanetor."