But before he could say the moniker of the bond he had feelings for, Evelyn suddenly hugged him from behind, stopping the words cold. She squeezed him playfully before turning to the rest of us.

"Hey. What are guys talking about?"

Julius cleared his throat and replied in a strained voice. "Oh… uh… nothing."

Evelyn frowned and pouted. Then she pinched his cheeks that had turned red. "Come on, tell me."

Meanwhile, the three other girls also came around the fireplace, which meant it was our turn to wash.

The boys all stood up, with Julius quickly taking the lead, and headed to the edge of the river.

We spent a short time by the river and when we were done, I was the only one who changed into new clothes from my inventory. We then went back to join the girls at the fireplace.

Shortly after, we settled around the fire and had lots of jerky for our first real meal in a few days. As for water, we scooped it from the river, ran it through a cloth filter, and purified it by boiling it over the fire. Finally, we were able to drink enough water to our satisfaction.

The party hung around the fireplace chatting, until half an hour later, when it was time to go to sleep.

Ino volunteered to take the first watch while the rest of us all went to sleep.

***

Barely a few seconds after I went to sleep, I woke up to suddenly find myself in the throne room of a colossal, utterly black castle. Massive pillars of basalt, rose toward the ceiling, lending the immense space a suffocating sense of grandeur.

Large braziers of cold, ethereal blue-white flames illuminated the hall, casting sharp, dancing shadows and leaving vast corners shrouded in impenetrable gloom.

'Where am I?' I thought, looking around the silent space.

At first, I thought I was probably dreaming. But just then, a smooth, male voice suddenly cut through the heavy silence: "There you are!"

I immediately snapped my head toward the raised dais where a large, jagged obsidian throne stood.

Seated on the throne was a man of intimidating height, his features sharp and pale against the darkness. Beside his throne, on the ground sat a woman whose features I couldn't really see from where I stood.

The moment my eyes registered the two figures, a massive, crushing pressure slammed into me, and a deep chill suddenly ran down my spine.

The man let out a low, resonant laugh that echoed unnervingly through the immense hall. Then he tilted his head, studying me with chilling amusement, and said: "Finally. We found you."

'Who are they? Where am I?'

My mind began to race as the man slowly stood up from his throne. He reached and slowly grabbed the slim cane that lay beside his throne, then began his descent down the steps of the dais. Each step he took seemed to intensify the pressure around me, making my knees tremble and my breath catch painfully in my throat.

A deep dread began to grip my chest. The fact that this man's aura alone was strong enough to have this much effect on me physically meant his Grade was easily more than twice mine.

I watched in growing terror as he fully descended the dais, and that was when I could see him properly. He looked to be in his early twenties and wore a long, black modern coat and a turtleneck with black trousers and boots.

His figure was lean, almost unnaturally tall, radiating an effortless power that didn't rely on bulk. He had black eyes and impeccably styled, short black hair. And his skin was unnervingly pale, making the darkness of his clothes seem intentional.

Feeling the intense killing intent he was also emitting, I immediately called out mentally. 'Gamer Privileges…'

I needed to know who this man was. However, a deep frown crossed my face and my panic intensified when Gamer privileges did not activate.

'Huh? What's going on? Gamer Privileges?'

I frantically called the command again and again, trying to activate it, but no matter how many times I did, nothing happened.

"Who are you?" I asked taking a cautious step back as the man continued to approach me. "How did I get here? Wh-where is this?"

The man halted, then he smiled and pointed his cane at me. "I believe I should be the one asking you that question." He tilted his head, and his smile slowly disappeared. "You see, in this world, I am omniscient. I can know everything about anything and anyone. It doesn't matter if there are otherworlders like you, or the beings of this realm. I know everything. And yet, I do not know you."

He paused and tapped his cane on the floor, and then his voice grew more intense. "You are an anomaly, a being that should not exist within the threads of my awareness…" He narrowed his gaze and added through gritted teeth. "…a being that if left alive, would actively interfere with the fundamental knowledge of this reality. And that is why, ever since I learned about your unwelcome existence, I have looked for you, yet I couldn't find you… until now."

He began to slowly twist the tip of his cane. "It seems that whatever power that had been hiding you from me, is failing."

As he spoke, he drew out a slim sword from his cane.

Seeing that, I shuddered and immediately called out, "Aika!"

…But even Aika didn't answer.

'No, no, no.' A cold sweat instantly broke out as I immediately raised my hand and rolled my sleeve back. Then my eyes widened in horror when I couldn't find my tattoo.

'Aika…?'

At that moment, the man resumed walking towards me, and the smile on his face slowly began to grow wider, feeding on my despair.

"Since you are a variable I can neither predict nor control, I will end your existence right now."

Hearing that I immediately braced myself. I could still feel my mana, which meant I could use my skills. And even though I already knew that I wouldn't be able to do anything to him, I decided to at least try and defend myself.

Remembering how I died to Tae-hyun, I needed to make sure that he couldn't get close to me, and so, I immediately expelled mana into the air and a vortex of deep, swirling black flames instantly erupted around me like a scorched, impenetrable cocoon. It kept expanding outward for a few meters around me in a circle of cold fire and shadow.

At the same time this was happening, I raised both hands to the side pinching my index fingers and my thumbs, then I expelled even more mana into the air and suddenly, twenty balls of intense black flames ignited into existence in the air around the circle of fire.

They hung suspended, crackling ominously in a perfect, threatening orbit and when I released my fingers, all of them suddenly launched toward the man.

He stood still watching as the flames descended one after the other and impacted him in a rapid sequence of deafening, black explosions.

The noise and shockwaves from each impact was enough to send cracks into the nearby pillars and by the time the last ball of flames descended, all I could see in front of me was an intense cloud of churning smoke and dust that had momentarily swallowed and obscured his form.

'Did I get him?'

My mind continued to race as I narrowed my eyes. Flames of Decay were known to force everything they touched into rapid disintegration. Yet, despite the fact the man didn't move or try to defend himself and was completely engulfed by the attack, I couldn't help but feel my heart beat faster, fueled by the intense, growing dread within me.

While I was still pondering, the man's cold voice suddenly cut through the silence:

"Dispel."

My eyes immediately widened as the cocoon of flames that were surrounding me suddenly collapsed inward with a whisper, vanishing instantly as if they had never existed.

'What the…' I gasped, my gaze darting frantically around the empty space where my defense had been.

The smoke in front of me gradually dispersed and then I could see the man's figure again.

He was utterly unharmed.

'Wh-wha… how? How is this even possible?'

Of course a huge part of me was panicking at the fact that he had survived my Flames of Decay without so much as his coat decaying. However, the reason my blood ran cold was because I could see that in his right hand, he was now calmly wielding a small, intensely concentrated ball of my own black fire.

"These flames…" He tilted his head as he studied it. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen."

A few seconds passed and then he lifted his gaze to me. A sly grin slowly grew on his lips as he added sheepishly. "Now I'm curious. What other amazing power would I be able to wield after I kill you?"

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