Kaden truly didn't understand why The Will was acting like this toward him. Making him slaughter beasts like worthless pigs, going as far as to make him destroy a whole ecosystem…

Kaden paused on that thought.

"Well, maybe it didn't tell me to destroy the forest specifically, but hey — it started all of that by giving me such a ridiculous quest," he defended himself.

After all, he wouldn't have destroyed that outer zone if not for the quest.

And now that he was planning to get an evolution stone and do the quest, well yes…he couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

"I will just deal with—!"

He stopped mid-sentence as his gaze fell to Reditha lying silently on his lap. A faint smile crept across his lips, making his eyes squint in a way that reminded him of Vaela.

"No, you'll be with me, Reditha. We'll go through this together, as always. Even though I haven't been giving you the attention you deserve." His last words carried a note of guilt.

But Reditha pulsed with a joyful crimson glow, telling him it was alright.

"You make me feel even worse when you act like this. I want you to be angry with me," he said, gripping her handle, then raising her into the air, letting the crawling sun of the morning shine through her bloody blade.

Red light reflected across the room, tainting it in a beautiful crimson as Reditha pulsed in answer to his words.

"You are a simp for me?" he repeated, suppressing a grin but soon an open smile spread across his lips.

"How do you even know such a term?" he asked, laughing.

Reditha answered that it was from him, though Kaden didn't quite remember saying such a thing in this world. Still, he laughed, finding it absurdly funny to hear Reditha utter that word.

"You deserve more attention. I'll make sure to correct that," he whispered to his sword, holding her tightly.

After that, he stood and stretched his body lazily.

"I'll go to Daela, then gather food, water, clothes, and artifacts in my space ring before heading back to Fokay…today," Kaden decided, striding forward. Reditha pulsed faintly under his tight grip.

…

Fokay – City of Pain.

The City of Pain was divided into two main zones. The first was the residential zone, where all the houses were the same lifeless shade of monochrome grey. Their shapes and sizes differed.

Some were small with barely any space, others were tall and imposing. Some favored intricate, complex designs, while others were plain.

Some homes held entire courtyards within, even gardens of grey flowers tended by servants. Others barely had enough room to house their families.

Some walls were cracked, their doors creaking with every howl of the wind, while others stood immaculate, untouched by dust or corrosion.

It was obvious, this was the disparity of wealth.

It was also within this zone that the Tycoon's merchant branch resided, alongside the seat of the Church of Sorrow and, of course…the prison.

The second zone was the marketplace. Shops, restaurants, and every kind of establishment people steeped in fear, sorrow, and pain could imagine were found there.

Predictably, nothing lively.

Today, Rea had left the church to walk through the marketplace. She wore a simple white dress that reached her knees, sleeveless, paired with red ballerinas on her feet.

It was midday. The sun hung high, casting a murky grey light on the rocky ground.

Rea had decided to stroll, to immerse herself in the fears of the city's people, to better prepare for her quest.

By now, after months of wielding her power to see and influence fear, she had mastered it enough to turn it off and on at will.

She walked the pedestrian path to the left, the right side lying beyond a wide stretch paved with smoothed grey stones. Carriages drawn by horses — or, for the wealthy, small tigers — rolled past.

Shops and restaurants lined each side, their walls glowing with sleek grey light, each marked with the insignia of the Church of Sorrow upon their doors.

A constant breeze drifted through the city, carrying with it an undercurrent of pain and sorrow. As Rea walked, even before activating her skill, all she could see were people with eyes filled with deep-rooted fear.

They walked, talked, smiled, argued all with sorrow etched into their faces, as though joy itself were forbidden within this city.

Even children, meant to be innocent and full of life, trembled as they glanced around. Every passerby spoke as if suppressing tears, others walked as if the weight of the world pressed their backs into the stones, their dragging feet scraping the ground with an eerie sound.

It was maddening.

It was eerie.

Rea still couldn't get used to this sight. How could people live like this?

What kind of fear did they carry to act as though the entire world was collapsing?

She activated her skill to know.

The moment she did, she staggered back, her body swaying as though she might collapse.

She clutched her skull with both hands, her fingers digging so hard it seemed they might pierce through.

A splitting pain pierced her mind, her breath choking, gagging, coughing, spit spilling from her lips.

She fought with everything she had not to drown in the bottomless ocean of pain.

People saw her but no one cared.

They were all in pain. Seeing someone collapse under it was nothing unusual in this city. They passed her by without even a second glance.

At some point, Rea fell to her knees, sweat dripping down her body, soaking her white dress until it clung to her skin.

She was seeing too much pain.

So much…so damn much…

It came in endless forms. Some dreadful enough to infect her with new fears of her own, some pathetic enough to make her chuckle bitterly amid the ocean of anguish, like a deranged soul laughing in the face of despair.

She stayed like that for a long while before forcing herself shakily to her feet. Her legs throbbed, her body tilted, but she took a step.

Then another.

She stumbled, tripped, then fell face-first.

Gritting her teeth, tears streaming, she pushed herself up and stepped again.

Step after step, until she was walking once more with her eyes red with tears, her body shuddering, her mind fraying at the edges.

But still…

She endured it and walked through the ocean of others' woeful memories.

After all,

'I…I need to be ready,' she stuttered in her mind, brokenly.

…

Fokay — Unknown place.

It was a world covered in lush green, leaves drifting like raindrops from a behemoth tree that stretched into the sky.

Beautiful houses bloomed from flowers, others were carved into the trunks of trees.

The air was perfumed with sweet meadow scents, relaxing and soft.

It should have been peaceful, beautiful, and serene.

But the atmosphere was instead smothered in heavy silence, the faces of its people etched with tension and forlorn dread.

"T-this…this can't continue. We have to speak with the Majesty!" a male voice rang out inside a vast meeting hall filled with people.

All of them had silver hair, pointed ears, and eyes of varying colors.

Elves.

"But what do you propose? We've tried to request an audience with the Majesty, but the Princess…the Princess and her subordinates always block us," an old woman said, her face lined with wrinkles, her voice soft.

"All of this…" a young man began, dressed in wealthy green clothes to match his eyes, his body trembling with fury,

"…all of this started when that human entered our kingdom. I told you all to kill him! I told you, but what did you do, huh?" He roared, veins bulging like serpents across his forehead.

He slammed his hands on the table, making it creak under the strain, holding himself back from striking everyone present.

"But all you did was oppose me and allow the Princess to meet that disgusting human. And now look at us! The Princess suddenly changes overnight, seizing our resources because — conveniently — the kingdom is in dire need of money. What is this bullshit?"

"And don't forget how she's inviting our strongest warriors into her castle. Tell me…what do they look like after they come back?" He growled like a starving beast, his fury making several elves yelp in fear before one finally answered.

"They…they change," a frail woman stammered, lips trembling.

The young man, Dame, glared at her until she squealed and hid behind another elf.

He breathed harshly, forcing himself to calm.

"What do we know?" another asked, voices uncertain, desperate.

They couldn't contact the King, nor the Queen. They were blocked at every turn.

"What else?" Dame grunted.

No one said anything, they just stared fearfully at the raging Dame.

A soft but tense breeze fluttered the emerald canopy as Dame parted his lips, his voice dripping with killing intent.

"We will kill that blue-haired bastard, of course."

—End of Chapter 205—

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