Iode stood under the silver moonlight, his gray hair ruffled softly as his sharp brown eyes gazed down at the stunned Raven. Raising his hand slightly, the floor rose to form an intricate chair, which he sat on with effortless confidence.

  What is he doing here? Has he come to kill me so I wouldn’t become a problem for him in the future? Raven thought, watching Iode with caution.

  More than that… how did he find me this fast? It’s only been two months since I regressed. Things are different from my past life… and he even got my name right.

  “You’re wondering how I figured out you were the one who defied all odds against Molgaron’s Inferno and regressed five years into the past?” Iode said, mocking him as if reading his thoughts.

  “Well, I had my suspicions when we met at Silverware. Your reaction to the dream confirmed it.”

  Raven clenched his teeth. Unlike everyone else, who had no memory of the last five years, even those he had known in his past life, but Iode was different. Not only did he remember; his powers remained the same.

  In his past life, Iode also had a lackey strong enough to lift King Sora off his feet and burn him… and strong enough to single-handedly defeat an army of over five hundred thousand, drowning them in a sea of flames.

  Raven was certain Iode was one of the strongest people in the world, if not the strongest, yet not a single speck of energy leaked from him. No overwhelming power. No repressive aura to assert dominance. Still, every single fiber of Raven’s being screamed danger. He couldn’t run even if he tried.

  Knowing this, he calmed himself. If he couldn’t beat Iode in a fight, then he’d have to stand his ground in a verbal one.

  “You could have killed me anytime you wanted, especially in my sleep. Why show yourself to me now? To show off?”

  Iode was silent for a moment. Then he said:

  “Answer me. Have you noticed anything strange in your system or body lately, or when you awakened?”

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  “Hah. Bold of you to think I’ll say anything even if I did notice something strange. You’re a tyrant who used your immense power to plunge the whole world into chaos. Go find your answers in hell.”

  “…”

  Iode placed his hand over his face, eyes closed.

  “Test not my patience, and make me repeat myself not… traitor.”

  He opened his left eye to see Raven’s reaction.

  Traitor? Did he just call me traitor? Raven breathed in and out slowly to calm himself.

  “Like I said, go to hell. If anyone is a traitor, it’s you. For whatever reason you decided on world domination just because you had the power.”

  “…"

  A sudden vortex tore through the dormitory, annihilating the building beyond recognition. Winds howled, threatening to hurl Raven away, but he stood firm, using his sword as an anchor. When the vortex finally subsided, all the shattered remains of the dormitory and the surrounding structures hung suspended in the air, defying gravity in an unnatural display.

  The floor beneath Iode and Raven remained intact, suspended like a pedestal in the center of the devastated, floating landscape.

  Raven’s body suddenly grew heavy. He collapsed flat on the ground, but the crushing pressure on him did not relent. Iode’s eyes were cold as he stared down at him like a king gazing at a vagabond.

  For the first time in a while… both my bloodlines agree on something, Iode mused.

  Momus’s side sees him as a flaw in nature, one that must be corrected, either by killing him or molding him into something I desire, to show Zenobios and the First Traitor the flaw in their plan.

  Valier’s side sees him as a weapon, something I can destroy or use as a tool to sabotage Zenobios and the First Traitor’s schemes.

  I’m liking this thrill. Both sides leaning toward using him instead of eliminating him.

  Now the question is what to do with the fragment inside him. Should I extract it and seal it in my pocket space? Seal it inside him? Or leave it as it is…?

  “…"

  A die appeared in his hand.

  “One and five mean I take it and seal it in my pocket space. Three and six mean I seal it inside him. Two and four mean I leave it free.”

  He tossed the die. It rolled… then landed on three. A smile touched his lips.

  “Ha. I guess that leaves room for thrilling drama in the future.”

  Iode closed his eyes and stretched out his arm.

  A whirlwind vortex pulled him into Raven’s inner world. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a glowing emerald-green crystal with subtle crimson hues—Raven’s core shard.

  “His mental defense is quite weak. Well… that makes my job easier.” Iode snickered.

  “Now, let’s find the fragment.”

  Iode’s pupils shifted, swirling counterclockwise. His eyes darted with surgical precision, scanning every corner of the inner world. And then he found it.

  A tiny red speck camouflaged within Raven’s crimson hue. To an ordinary person, it was indistinguishable. But to Iode, nothing, no matter how small, how identical, how hidden escaped his flaw-seeing eyes.

  “Time to piss off Zenobios.”

  A purple magic circle formed around his hands. Another appeared beneath the core shard. Spectral chains wrapped around it, tightening, glowing. Then they sank into the shard and constricted around the red speck, forming a condensed, chained sphere that flashed and dispersed.

  “It is done. That bastard will make a move soon. Until then… things will go my way.”