Aktion Oscar had barely succeeded in devouring Kaeld’s personality.

In truth, this hadn’t been part of the plan.

He was a seasoned expert who had been stealing bodies for fifty thousand years.

Kaeld, who at most had managed to take over one body, was no match for him.

And yet, Kaeld had resisted Aktion for quite a long time.

‘He really was a tenacious bastard. Just where the hell did this bastard come from?’

After a moment of thought, he spoke.

“Eye of Omniscience. Tell me what you know.”

A translucent screen appeared before him.

<Refused.>

“Again?”

<You’re a fallen hero who betrayed the world’s expectations. Honestly, I don’t even want to talk to you anymore.>

“I’m a hero chosen by the world. That’s why the world gave me this special room, remember?”

Aktion picked at his ear.

“When I was a hero, or when I played god inside this room, you used me as much as you pleased. You made me put in all my effort for those pitiful, foolish humans.”

“……”

<Don’t blame me for your own change of heart.>

“You never should have given me the world as a gift. No, long before that, you never should have made me a hero in the first place.”

<……You have really changed, Aktion.>

The screen hesitated for a moment before adding another line.

“Yeah, good point. So tell me, what the hell is that Mide guy?”

<……>

“I know he is the original master of the world outside this room. He must have played hero ages ago.”

<……>

“But that’s not all, is it? He has got secrets, ones I don’t know. This is an official request. Show me Mide’s secrets.”

Naturally, the screen refused.

Tap.

It vanished without leaving a single word behind.

Aktion sighed.

“So you resent me, huh?”

Who was there really to resent?

His lips twisted.

Then…

[Kaeld. Can you hear my voice?]

“……?”

[Kaeld Wake. Answer me.]

Mide’s voice!

Aktion shot to his feet and scanned his surroundings.

Of course, no one was there.

‘I locked the room myself. This is… soul communication!’

Come to think of it, back when he had infiltrated the place to rescue Idria, that guy had clearly communicated secretly with her to plan the operation.

He was doing something similar now.

The only difference was that this time, the one he was talking to was Kaeld.

‘He is trying to talk to the personality I have devoured?’

Aktion let out a short laugh.

Kaeld’s consciousness was already dead.

His soul might still be clinging to this body, but not for much longer.

How foolish.

Aktion was about to open his mouth to sneer at Mide…

Then it happened.

[Huff… Wh-who’s there? Where am I?]

Aktion’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

‘Impossible. This can’t be happening!’

How could this be?

Once again, Mide’s voice echoed.

[I knew you would make it, Kaeld.]

Meanwhile, Adwin and I were in the underworld.

Adwin had grown quite adept at locating Kaeld’s bubble world by now.

He placed his hand over it.

“This is strange. So this is what it looks like in the underworld when a personality and a mind are being devoured.”

“What do you mean?”

“The bubble I’m touching belongs to Kaeld’s world, but it’s being invaded by Aktion’s.”

“Like with Serein and Pirensha?”

“No. In their case, the two bubbles were stuck together. This one’s different, it’s an invasion.”

I thought about asking again, but decided against it.

Just like when Neril lectures about magic or when Lisel explains spirits, necromancy is far too distant a field for me to truly understand.

Everyone has their own area of expertise, after all.

“So, what’s the conclusion?”

“If we speak to Kaeld, Aktion will notice. Is that okay?”

“Ugh. Not really. I wanted to keep it hidden from him if possible.”

“Sorry. That’s impossible, even now, with my fame past 3.2 million.”

I decided not to mind.

If it was that fool Kaeld, he would only be able to fool Aktion for a moment anyway.

If we were going to get caught eventually, then being caught from the start didn’t matter much.

“All right. Link me.”

“Yes. Just a moment… done. You can speak now.”

I spoke through the soul connection.

[Kaeld. Can you hear my voice?]

No response.

[Kaeld Wake. Answer me.]

Still nothing.

So it wasn’t going to work after all.

Just as I was about to lose hope…

[Huff… Wh-who is there? Where am I?]

Kaeld’s voice rang through the soul link!

I nearly shouted with joy.

But instead of doing something so undignified, I praised him sincerely.

[I knew you would make it, Kaeld.]

[M-Mide? Mide, is that you?]

[Yeah. I will explain quickly. You got devoured by Aktion. You remember that much, right?]

[…Damn it.]

[It’s fine. You can do this.]

I meant it.

Right now, I needed him to pull this off somehow.

I spoke slowly.

[You’re going to put Aktion back under, sink him below the surface again.]

Then came Aktion’s voice.

[Cut the crap, Mide.]

[Oh, there you are.]

[What a delightful plan you have come up with. I don’t know how Kaeld is still holding on, but it doesn’t matter. The consciousness on the surface belongs to me. He will never overturn that.]

Is that so?

My instincts said otherwise.

Let’s think it through.

My screen, its true nature was still unknown, but one thing was certain: it transcended cognition.

‘And it called itself Bion.’

Trail’s real name had been Bion Kunze.

If their names were the same, then Trail must have received the full support of that screen.

It wasn’t me who once wielded the Eye of Omniscience, it was Trail.

And who had stolen Trail’s body?

That idiot Kaeld.

If I pushed this reasoning a bit further, that would mean Kaeld was the one who overturned the laws of the world.

In other words.

[I have underestimated you all this time. I’m sorry. Truly.]

[What?]

[You have potential. I’m not being sarcastic. I mean it.]

[…]

[You can take back your body from Aktion. I believe that. I will be rooting for you.]

Kaeld stayed silent.

I wet my lips and praised him even more.

[Do you know how nervous I was the first time I saw you? Honestly, I felt like I was facing a wall I could never climb over.]

[Ha. Don’t butter me up, it doesn’t suit you.]

[I’m serious. No matter what anyone says, you’re my equal. Not that useless bastard Aktion who butted in.]

[…]

[Take back your body. If you just let Aktion devour you, your dream of becoming a hero will disappear forever.]

That was when Adwin spoke.

“Hey. Look over there.”

I finally turned my full attention to Kaeld’s bubble world.

‘Ah. So that’s what he meant by “being invaded.”’

Kaeld’s bubble was half black and half blue.

The black side was steadily spreading, Kaeld’s personality was pushing Aktion’s out.

Then came Aktion’s shrieking voice.

[T-This can’t be happening!]

“That’s amazing. To be honest, I doubted your plan would work when I first heard it.”

“They can’t hear us, right? Kaeld or Aktion?”

“No, I have made sure of that.”

“Good. I thought my tongue would fall off from all that fake praise I gave to Kaeld.”

I really wondered if I had to go this far.

Adwin gave a quiet laugh.

I watched the shifting colors of the bubble and murmured,

“He still looks like he is struggling.”

“Yeah. Aktion is pushing back again.”

“Then I will cheer him on some more. Link me again.”

“Sigh… Okay.”

I raised my voice through the soul link.

[Kaeld. Hang in there, you can do it!]

[Ugh. Sh-shut up! I don’t need your damned encouragement.]

[Think back to when you took Bion’s body. What did you do then?]

[That was my body to begin with!]

[Ah. Right, my mistake.]

[…]

[Anyway, back then you were still young and inexperienced. But you still managed to push Bion out. You have grown a lot since then, beating Aktion now should be nothing for you.]

I poured every bit of energy I had into cheering him on.

Whether it was my encouragement or Kaeld’s own survival instinct, I didn’t know, but little by little, the tide began to turn in Kaeld’s favor.

[Ugh! Kaeld, give up! Give up now!]

[Shut up. This is my body. Mine.]

[You damn..!]

Who knows how much time passed.

Their invisible tug-of-war finally tipped to one side.

Aktion no longer called for Kaeld.

Instead, he called my name.

[It’s useless, Mide.]

[What is?]

[Your victory only lasts for this era.]

I ignored him and checked the bubble again.

The black had nearly swallowed everything.

[I don’t care if it’s not this era. I don’t care if it’s not Velosian or Idria. As long as humans exist, the Demon King will descend again.]

[…]

[When you’re dead, I will join forces with that new Demon King and finish destroying humanity.]

I let out a small laugh.

[Hey. Aren’t you tired?]

[What are you talking about?]

[Hating humanity so consistently, aren’t you exhausted from that?]

[…]

[You said the world made you god of this world, right? If I were in your place, I would have just watched from the sidelines and retired.]

I knew there was no point in talking to Aktion for long, but I still wanted to say it.

[I would just keep an eye on things, step in only when things looked bad. That’s probably what I used to do back in “Mide’s world,” even if I don’t remember it.]

[…]

[You poured too much of yourself into it. No matter how hard you tried, nothing ever went the right way, and that twisted you. If you had just treated the world like a hobby after retirement, things might have turned out better.]

[What nonsense are you spouting?]

[Enough. I have said too much.]

Still, something felt off.

‘Does this guy not know? About my plan?’

If he did, he wouldn’t have said something like “When you’re dead, I will join forces with the new Demon King and destroy humanity again.”

Because there won’t be a “next time” for him.

‘Hm. Maybe he doesn’t have the Eye of Omniscience anymore?’

That couldn’t be it.

He was a hero once, after all.

It was probably just that the Eye of Omniscience attached to him had become extremely uncooperative.

And honestly, why would it cooperate with the very enemy of humanity?

That thought eased my mind.

At that moment.

[Get out of my body, Aktion!]

Kaeld’s shout was almost a scream.

And the bubble turned completely black.

I gave Adwin a glance.

“Let’s go back.”

“Yeah. It went better than expected.”

“Right? Kaeld really pulled through.”

“Never thought I would hear you praise him like that…”

We followed the ringing of Neril’s bell.

Soon, we left the underworld and returned to reality.

Before us stood the red door of the special chamber.

Neril asked,

“How did it go?”

“For now, Kaeld has taken his body back. As for what happens next… we will have to see for ourselves.”

“All right. Go on, then.”

Neril turned away.

I gripped the door handle and took a slow breath.

Then.

Click.

The door opened with ridiculous ease.

Trail whistled in admiration.

[Wow. It actually worked this well. How did you even think of this?]

‘Remember when Batore’s personality surfaced for a moment?’

[Hm? Oh, that time.]

‘Yeah. When Aktion was trapped, his whole body was folding, burning, melting, every law was tearing him apart. But the moment he reverted to Batore, it all stopped, like magic.’

[Because the world recognized him as Batore at that instant and stopped enforcing the laws, right.]

Exactly.

The same thing had just happened again, Kaeld’s personality had surfaced.

Which meant the world now recognized Aktion as Kaeld.

At least for this moment, Aktion no longer existed.

Naturally, the special room’s door, which he had locked with his fame, opened easily.

When I stepped inside, a familiar face greeted me.

“Heh, Mide.”

You did great, Kaeld.

Now you’re no longer needed.

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