Jax's voice through the guard was harder now. Colder. The playfulness gone.

"This is just the beginning."

He gestured around. To the fallen soldiers. The dead beasts. The blood painting the stones. The beaten professors. The ruined buildings. The destruction stretching as far as the eye could see.

"The beginning of your doom."

He let the words hang.

"I was upset at first. Watching you all fall apart from just my first wave. Pathetic. Disappointing."

His stolen eyes locked onto Lysandra.

"Not only that. I'm upset to see what your so-called powerful being. Your prodigy. Your shining light."

He spat on the ground.

"Was unable to protect so many of her citizens. And let's not forget how she tasted."

He made a gagging sound.

"She disappointed me. Not just her. Everyone. These weaklings getting beaten by children who couldn't use magic a few weeks ago."

His voice rose.

"That was the very reason I was needed in this world. For its balance. For its growth. For its future."

Silence.

Then a voice cut through.

Aerisya.

The ancient professor stepped forward. Her old eyes burned with something the others lacked.

Courage.

"What you did was just another cruelty." Her voice was steady. "Framed as upliftment. And now it's the same. You're just delusional. A mad spirit clinging to fantasies of grandeur."

While others stood frozen in fear, whether powerful or weak, she alone spoke.

Jax smiled through the guard's face.

"You will soon know the truth. The method was harsh. But it was the only way."

He looked across the crowd.

"You will all learn what it feels like to be powerless. When your life is about to end. The regret of not pushing harder. Not training longer. Unable to dodge your own death."

His smile widened.

"Your methods have always been wrong. I watched you all. Having fun. Using the power bestowed upon you as a showoff. A toy. Measuring yourselves by stupid scales of power and luxury."

His voice dropped to something almost gentle.

"Everything will change now. When I carve into this world the truth that power doesn't speak."

He paused.

"It's felt."

His eyes swept across them all.

"A new era is about to begin. About to rule."

He waited for a response. A challenge. Anything.

Nothing came.

'This is fun.'

He was living his villain fantasy. Enjoying every second of it. But he knew it wasn't over. He needed to build more fear. Eliminate any remaining suspicion.

"An entity dared to interfere in my matters."

He looked up at the sky. As if addressing the heavens themselves.

"Showed the truth through that boy."

He pointed to his real body. Still lying lifeless on the ground where he had collapsed.

"Not that it matters. No one can stop me. Moreover, I don't need to hide anymore."

His expression shifted to something knowing.

"In fact, let me tell you something. The flaw. The misunderstanding. Something even that boy couldn't figure out. Something even that unknown being who showed him the vision missed."

He pointed at his body again.

"What do you think? How am I able to possess this guard's body?"

He spread his arms.

"Isn't it the reverse of what that boy said? How am I able to interfere with this world if I was sealed?"

Silence.

No response. Just terrified faces screaming the question.

How?

"Thanks to you."

His voice was almost warm.

"Thanks to your fear. I am slowly gaining my powers back."

He stepped forward on the beast's corpse.

"Every fear you feed me gives me strength. Just like before. The part they never told you. The part you never paid attention to."

His eyes gleamed.

"All these centuries, I was being fed power. Small amounts. Barely enough to matter. But still enough. Enough to eventually escape this world."

He raised a finger.

"And escaping this world? That meant no curses applied anymore. I wasn't bound to this realm. I was free."

He chuckled.

"I could have lived in other worlds. Become their god. Built empires across dimensions."

His voice hardened.

"But how could I leave? How could I abandon the world I dreamed of purifying? The world I was destined to rule? To become their true god?"

He spread his arms wide.

"Call it revenge. Call it mercy. Call it welfare. Even I can't name it anymore."

He paused. Looked at his stolen hands.

"Ahh. Looks like I'm at my limit. I Need to leave this body."

Then that vicious smile returned. The one that made children cry in their nightmares.

"I can see the air. Filled with fear. Good. Keep flooding it in. Bring your messiah back to his former glory."

His eyes swept across the crowd one final time.

"And the remaining fear I need? It will be given to me by my army. The champions from other worlds who still serve me."

His smile grew wider.

"Till then—"

Jax released Soul Thief.

The guard's body went limp. Eyes rolling back. He fell from the beast's corpse. Tumbled down. Hit the ground hard.

Made the exit look realistic. Dramatic. Perfect.

'Hope some of them pissed themselves.'

Jax was back in his own body.

Face first in the sand. Lips tasting dirt. The familiar discomfort of being himself again.

He saw their faces through half-open eyes. Fear. Confusion. Horror. They were all staring at the fallen guard.

Exactly as planned.

The area erupted with whispers. Frantic conversations. Panic spreading like wildfire.

"Brother."

Maya's voice. Close. Worried.

"What's happening to you? Tell me. Can I ask for a healer? A healing potion? Will they give one now?"

Jax hadn't heard a single word.

He just laughed.

Slow at first. Then louder. Barely noticeable to most. But the front line heard it clearly.

The professors.

"Fools."

Jax pushed himself up slightly. Sand falling from his face.

"Every single one of you. Do you still not believe it?"

He looked at Maya.

"Do you still believe her a threat?"

His laugh grew darker.

"You know what? I'm happy this happened."

Everyone went still.

"Well, not the part about them targeting Queen Adelina. That I'll never forgive."

His eyes scanned the destruction around them.

"But yeah. I'm really happy. Happy to see these deaths. This destruction. This fear."

Confusion and anger spread across the faces watching him.

"Because this chaos will surely bring sense to you all."

He forced himself to his knees.

"This fight was inevitable. We all knew that. Deep down."

He stood up slowly. Maya supporting him.

"This fight brought us together. And it will bring more of us together. For the future. For what's coming next."

His eyes locked onto Lysandra.

"This was just a start, Headmistress. And it will surely escalate. These were mere pawns. Small fry. The weak ones sent to test us."

His voice hardened.

"The more powerful ones? The ones still hiding? Growing stronger with each passing day?"

He let the question hang.

"Imagine what they'll do to us."

Lysandra finally spoke. Her voice was controlled but strained.

"So what are you saying? We release every captive? Because they were manipulated? They're innocent for killing so many just to save their own lives?"

Jax shook his head.

"I didn't say that. Each one of them is guilty. Guilty for following her."

He pointed at Maya.

"Or rather, following the Dark Lord himself."

He stepped forward.

"I'm not asking for mercy for all of them. Actually, I want you to show them hell for their sins. Use them as guinea pigs. Let these frustrated professors take out their anger."

He glanced at the beaten Aldric and Edric.

Then his voice softened.

"But this girl is innocent. And I don't know why I want to protect her. My gut feeling says the unknown being who showed me the vision wants the same."

He placed a hand on Maya's shoulder.

"And therefore, I'm doing what my feeling says."

Lysandra's eyes narrowed. Calculating. Analyzing. Weighing every word. Every option.

The silence stretched.

-- -- -- --

Meanwhile, in an unknown space.

A throne room that existed outside of reality. Outside of time.

A woman sat there. Human in appearance. Long black hair cascading down her shoulders. Eyes closed. Seeing everything that was happening in the mortal realm.

Her lips trembled.

Then she burst out laughing.

"OH MY GOSH!"

She grabbed her stomach. Tears streaming down her face.

"The boy is INSANE!"

She opened her eyes. Rose from the throne. Still clutching her sides.

"He literally used your name for his plans, Dark Lord!"

She looked down at her feet.

"He manipulated everyone! Again! Showed them fear with just another act!"

She wiped tears from her eyes.

"If you could see that performance, Dark Lordy, you would have died from embarrassment! Your own villainy! Your own terror! Played by some random kid as a comedy skit!"

She laughed harder.

"He made you into a MEME!"

The response from below wasn't words.

It was a groan of pain.

"Ahhhh..."

Because beneath her feet, serving as her personal carpet, laid the Dark Lord himself.

She pressed her heel down slightly.

"Don't you disappoint me now, my—"

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