[ Forced or otherwise, Kaito looks satisfied with that response. A brief tug of the lantern is her cue to start following him. ]

Pay me back with a good night's rest. I'm sure you'll be deep in your thoughts later, but for now you deserve a break.

[ He doesn't have much else to say as they trudge their way back to Serene. Once the lantern is dropped off and they've cleared some space in a nearby garden, the empath's eyes begin to spark with that familiar blue glow. ]

Alright, let's see if I can manage this in one go.

[ Kaito drops to a squat and plants his palms on the grass, gripping as if he intends to tear the soil out of the ground. There's a rumbling noise accompanied by what sounds like droplets impacting with another body of water.

Heaving and grunting, the empath suddenly jerks to his feet—and a set of glowing torii gates rises some ten feet in the air. Through its boundaries, the Shadowlands and many Shrouds can be seen.

The conjurer peeks his head out from behind his portal. ]

How's it look? For whatever reason, these things can only be entered from one direction.