"Who are you?"

For a moment, everything went still and my mind blanked.

Did the Trickster's power… make her forget as well?

My heart started pounding, each beat heavier than the last as questions erupted in my head like a dormant volcano waking up.

Honestly, if her expression hadn't been like that, I would've brushed it off as a joke.

But it wasn't.

Those weren't the eyes of Viola, my childhood friend and my almost-sister.

No.

That was the look of a stranger, confused and faintly irritated, like someone who had just been interrupted by a total nobody.

What is happening?

"Who are you?" she asked again.

"I… I'm Rael," I managed to say the words.

But then I saw it, that same unfamiliar look in Seraphina's eyes and even in Bearlo's.

They didn't recognize me either.

No. This wasn't just memory loss.

Something was different.

If the Trickster's power had worked on everyone, it should've done so back in the forest.

Bearlo and Seraphina recognized me there, I was sure of it.

So what changed?

Did the Trickster's curse not affect those inside the Forest of Unmasked… and only take effect once we left it?

I didn't know.

My thoughts sprawled uselessly, hitting walls of questions with no answers.

Then, almost instinctively, I turned my head toward Arza.

She had recognized me just moments ago.

She had accepted my offer to be my bodyguard.

But now…

She was gone without a trace or sound as if she had never been there at all.

This made me sure.

Something was wrong.

Someone was playing with my mind.

But that should be impossible with my Myths <<Holder of Card of Arcana>>

Then, what the hell is happening?

Unless… I transmigrated into a different world.

Or some god decided to mess with my fate.

But that shouldn't be possible, not if what Trickster said was true.

He had made it clear he set things up to keep the gods away at least for a while.

So unless he lied… or his definition of "a while" meant a few hours, someone or something on a divine level had to be involved.

Just then, a name surfaced in my mind.

Someone capable of creating exactly this kind of situation.

Someone who could twist reality just enough to make me question my own existence.

Not through mind intrusion, something deeper and fundamental.

Reality-bending and physical illusion-twisting.

The Demon King.

Just thinking he might be involved made sweat roll down my neck.

But I didn't lose my composure or my smile.

I mean, what kind of Trickster would I be if I did that?

If the Demon King was really involved, then he wanted to see something in me.

He must've realized that mind-domain magic wouldn't work on me, so he switched tactics instead of breaking my mind, he twisted the world around me.

This wasn't an illusion of the mind.

That bastard had forged the entire environment through elemental manipulation.

Heat, distorting my vision so I would see my friends.

Air and sound to mimic their voices.

Earth to give their forms solidity, make them seem alive.

He had perfected it and with his class and those reality-bending abilities, pulling off something like this would be child's play for him.

I was ninety percent sure it had to be him now.

But that raised a far more important question…

When the hell did he pull me into this illusion?

And what the hell does he want with me?

Noah was in the second layer of the forest too but nothing like this happened to him in the novel.

So why me?

But at this moment, nothing else mattered.

I needed to know what he wanted and how to get out of here alive.

I didn't have any solid information yet, but from the way he had thrown me into an illusion instead of an interrogation… and how I was still here, that bastard wasn't sure what he wanted either.

That meant I wasn't at a disadvantage.

Not yet.

In fact, I knew a hell of a lot about him and he didn't know a damn thing about me which, in my book, meant I had the upper hand.

So, I guess it came down to this.

I could act pathetic, let him see Rael Von Ashborn as a pitiful, harmless little human and make him think I was nothing worth watching.

Or…

I could act like someone important, draw his attention and maybe even earn his favor… maybe even become his disciple.

Honestly, I've never been a fan of that cliché where the protagonist hides his power for the sake of drama but I'm also not a fan of charging headfirst into a divine death trap just to prove a point.

So, what should I do?

—

Within the vast training grounds of one of Noxvalen Academy's towering buildings, a man, seemingly in his mid-twenties, stood calmly.

His crimson eyes were locked onto the boy standing alone in the open expanse below, staring blankly into nothing.

A faint smile tugged at the man's lips.

The obsidian horns curling from his head were proof enough of his lineage.

He was the Demon King.

The one who ruled over the Demon Realm.

The one of the first who denied and defied the divinity.

Ashavar Ashen Noctharion.

Sovereign of Demons.

"He is interesting." He muttered softly, almost childlike.

But those same words sent a shiver down the spine of the woman standing behind him.

Morvana didn't know what was happening… or why the Demon King himself had ordered her to summon this boy, the same one she had met before.

She and the Demon King had been monitoring the teleportation circle for a while before the students arrived and then… without explanation, the Demon King had ordered the boy to be redirected to a training grounds.

Azriel, with his masterful control over spatial elements, carried out the command flawlessly, teleporting him without his knowledge.

But what happened after that was beyond comprehension.

The Demon King had used his reality-bending skill to twist the environment itself, forcing the boy few to live out what looked like normal lives, except in this illusion, everyone had forgotten who he was.

Morvana didn't know why he did it but she didn't question.

For demons, Ashavar Ashen Noctharion was the wisest sovereign their race had known after the first Demon King.

He was kind and merciful but equally wrathful.

Under his reign, the Demon Realm had advanced farther than it ever had under any king before him, hundreds of times over.

He had done something no other Demon King would have dared to do. He had let go of ancient grudges and forged alliances with humans and dragons alike.

So, if he had asked for something, there had to be a reason.

Her gaze shifted toward the boy standing at the center of the training grounds.

Rael Von Ashborn.

She didn't know what he was seeing but if the Demon King found it interesting… then the boy definitely had something.

—

Meanwhile, somewhere else at the site of the teleportation circle, Viola stood with a deep frown etched across her face.

"Where the hell did that bastard go?" she muttered, glaring at the spot where Rael had been standing just moments ago.

She could've sworn he'd been standing there, probably thinking about some useless nonsense, looking as stupid as ever after chatting with that demon girl and listening to the demon professor.

And then… he just vanished.

Viola gritted her teeth.

If only you had trusted me with the rusty pole, Lyra.

If only you had given it to me instead of that ungrateful bastard… I would've disciplined him properly even here.

Still, Viola forced herself to calm down.

She had promised Lyra she would look after that ungrateful bastard and make sure he survived, no matter what.

But the Forest of Unmasked was beyond her control, and the thought of him wandering through it had worried her sick.

…And yet, that bastard.

That ungrateful bastard had the audacity to vanish without even saying hi.

He needs to know…

He needs to be reminded of the discipline he's forgotten.

I'm sure Lyra wouldn't want him to forget it either.

A smile appeared on her face as she thought about the creative ways to greet him when she sees him again…

The smile that sent a shiver down Seraphina's spine the moment she saw it.

She had just arrived with Bearlo, both of them searching for Rael as well… but now, seeing that smile, she wasn't sure if she should keep looking or start running.

Just then, a boy crashed into Viola with a heavy thud.

"Ouch—!" Viola stumbled forward, barely catching herself before hitting the ground.

She turned toward the assailant, ready to shout… but stopped.

A handsome boy with white hair and crimson eyes stared past her, handsome, yes, but his body was covered in blood.

His gaze darted wildly, unfocused, as if he wasn't even aware she existed.

"Where is she?" he whispered, his voice trembling and desperate. "Where is Arza?"

She was already pissed off about Rael's sudden disappearance and now this bloody idiot had the audacity to crash into her?

"Watch where you're going, you bastard!" she snapped, cursing The Prince of Demon Realm.

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