Chapitre 31: Clap!

Not only that, he recognized the place he had appeared. It was none other than the open field where his school was located before. It's just that now, the school was gone. One must remember that everything was pulled in by the purple vortexes. But in the end, only living things made it through the portal. All the things that were not alive were transformed into dust and disappeared right after. "Am I... back? How?!"

Everything around Lian was quiet. Other than some spots of smoke here and there, there was nothing for him there. Only the foundation of the school remained, obviously with several parts missing.

Lian then took a deep breath before trying to contact Lugg. 'Hey, Lugg, can you see what I'm seeing? How did I return to Earth? Why are the others not with me?'

However, Lian got no answer whatsoever. He tried to look up and could see the border of his own transparent crown. However, Lugg's sentience was nowhere to be found. "Lugg is still on my head, but why can't he answer?"

Only then did Lian remember. "Right! Lugg didn't have sentience back on Earth. It was the crossing to the other world that awakened his sentience. Could it be that now that I'm back, his sentience was forced into the dormant state again?" Unfortunately, there was no one to answer Lian's question.

Lian then began to head to the school's exit, thinking about heading to the city center. There wasn't a single soul in the school as far as he could see. Lian also couldn't tell how much time had passed on Earth after going to the other world. On the other world, he had only spent around two days so far. But that didn't mean two days also passed on Earth.

*Pin...*

However, just as he was about to leave the school, a weird sound caught his attention. He looked in the direction where the sound came from, which was still inside the school. After pondering for a moment, Lian gave up leaving the school grounds and tried to follow the sound.

Unfortunately, that only happened for an instant, so Lian couldn't even tell if it was far away or if he was moving in the right direction for sure. He kept looking around as he walked, but once again, no results. "Guess I'm hearing things now..."

*Pin...*

This time though, Lian was certain. "From there!"

Immediately, he began to run, being certain of the direction the sound came from. It was then that he arrived at the school's backyard, which was pretty much destroyed now. Well, it didn't matter much. That's because Lian's attention was focused somewhere else. No, to be more specific, Lian's attention was totally on a humanoid figure ahead who had its back turned to him. "Hey, you there! Did you get back as well? No, first of all, did you even get dragged by the purple portals?"

As Lian got close, he noticed that the person ahead was a woman wearing a white robe. Lian wasn't the type to judge others for what they wore. However, considering all the dirt in the surroundings, he found it quite surprising how clean the woman's robe looked. Even the base of her robe, which touched the ground, didn't have a single speck of dirt on it. Another thing that caught Lian's attention was her crown. It was the first time he had ever seen a golden one. Well, only he could see the crowns, so he decided to ignore that point for now.

*Whizz...*

Suddenly, a small breeze of wind passed, making the woman's robe move a little. Yet, that immediately made Lian stop in his tracks. That's because the part that was touching the ground lifted for a moment, showing no feet. It was as if the woman ahead was floating above the ground. 'What is this? Is she some kind of ghost?' Well, Lian wouldn't be surprised even if he met death himself today, though.

Lian stayed still a little, wondering if he should really get involved with that woman. However, he didn't have another choice as he didn't know what was happening. Or perhaps he was hallucinating? In any case, there was only one way to find out. "H-Hey! Are you hearing me?"

Eventually, the woman showed some movement. Or, to be more specific, she seemed to sigh as she turned in Lian's direction. Lian was right. Her feet weren't touching the ground. She was really floating there. 'Hmm... she's floating, but she's not transparent. 'She shouldn't be a ghost, at least... wait, I've never seen a ghost to start with. Would they even be transparent in the first place?' Lian quickly shook his head, seeing that his mind was moving away from the part that mattered.

The woman looked at Lian with a kind expression, saying, "So you can do it in the end."

"Eh? What? I don't understand. What is happening here? Who are you? Did you have anything to do with the purple vortexes in the sky?" Lian was obviously puzzled by the woman's behavior.

She approached Lian, who wondered if he should run or not. Yet, he decided to stand his ground and see what it was all about. Also, for some reason, he didn't feel like he was in danger here.

Nonetheless, Lian was shocked by the woman's actions as soon as she got close to him. Her hands moved in his head's direction, seeming to want to pat his head. However, what she touched was Lian's crown instead! Yes, the same crown that even Lian himself couldn't touch! He could feel her hand on his crown somehow.

The woman faintly smiled after seeing Lian's reaction. "There's no point thinking about everything that happened now. I just wanted to see it with my own eyes."

"What do yo-"

*Clap!*

The woman didn't wait for Lian to finish his question before clapping her hands. Before Lian knew anything, the world around him once again completely transformed! He was now back in the other world, having just stepped out of the city gates with Tuly and the others.