"Ugh... where am I? Last I remembered... I was... that Shadow... I think I blacked out shortly after it left, but why..."

"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■..."

"...? Is someone there? Who... or what are you?"

"F̶I͜͞R̷̴̛ST͝ ͠C͢͏̵O͢͟͠M͟͞E̷͢͞S̕͝ ̡D̸͝͞E̛S̀͡T͏̸̡R̨̕U͢C͏̶͡T̨̡I̸̷O͝N̢͘͏.͏̧ ̴I̴ ͏̴͝B̀R̵I͢͡NG̢̢͟ ̢F̛O͢RTH̨̡̢ ̸̡͟N̸̛̛Ò͞T̴HÌ̕Ǹ̛͘G͡͡.̨͝ ̸I B͜L͞E͏͜S͏̶S̴̕ ͘N̷O͡THI̷̸N͘G̶̕.͘͡ ̷̷I ́͜͟S̀͘À̡̨V̢̡Ȩ̕ ̧͞NÒ͘T͟Ḩ̵̵IN̨̕͠G̷̡̨.̶̡ Į Ş̷ÌMP̡L̀͏͘Y D̸͡E̷͟S҉T͞R͠O̵Y̢͟͞.̡̛͝ E̶V̷E̴R̸Y͡T͞HÌ̵̸N̷͠G̸̛͟.̛͢ ̴̡͞W̧ITH͡O̷͡͠UT̸̨ ̷̧ȨX͜C̀̕E͟P͏͡TIO̕N͜..҉ ͞҉"

"Uh-huh. Did you not understand my question? I asked. Who. Are. You?"

"I̸̵ ̛A̢M̵͝ ̀Ý͘O͘͝U͢R ̵҉̛I̧N̵̶̕N̴E̷̢R ̧̡S̛͢É̢L̶F҉.͏́͟ ̸̨̀TH̢́͡Ę ͏̴̶MAN͞͝IF͏E͘S͏T̴͢͟ĄT͏͠I͟ON͝͠ ̨͘O̡͢͞F͡͞ ̴̵TH̴̕E͏ SIN҉GL̸Ȩ̴ M̡O͏̛S̨̕T̛͘ ̶̛P̵̨͟Ơ̷W̸Ę̸́R̀́F́͢͜UL̸͟T͝ ̷D͢͝E̴͡S̡I͜RE͘ ̴͏̸IN̨͠ ̨҉Y̧OUR̷̸̕ ̷̡H̢͡͠E͢A̶̷R̛͏̨T: ̕͏T̛͏H̛̛E͠ ͝A͟N͜͠͡N̶͢H͞Į͞LA̛T͢͝Í͢Ǫ́͟N ͠OF̴͞ Á͘͏L͟͏L̛ ̧O͘F̨̢̕ ͠͞Ę͜X͘͟I͞͠S҉T͝EN̛͘̕C̀͟͠E͞."

"...What the hell are you talking about? I mean, I know I have an unnatural obsession with fighting and all but that is something else entirely. I'd never wish for meaningless destruction."

"HM͞P̧̀H.̴͞.͏҉.̧҉ ͝Y͏͟͏O͏Ų̨́R̢͜ ̷̛I̴G͠N̷̨̛OR̵͢͡A͜͝N҉̵͟CĘ҉ ̡̧Ẁ̵I҉̡Ļ͠L̨ ̧͞B̴E̡͘͟ ͞Y̛͢͡O͏͜͡U̴̵R ̶͝U̧҉̨N̶DO͢IǸ̢͜G̷͜.͘ J́̀͡ƯS̶͘T̨͠ ̧̛R̀͠E̷͡͠M̧̀E̶͡M̨̀B̵E҉҉R.̶̀ ͏͘Y̨̕͞O̡U̧͡ ̢AR͠E̢̛ ̷͢N̡̨O̵͡T̡ ̡̛O̶Ņ̕E̸͟ ̛͜Ó̢F̶ ͏̕T͞H̷É͘M̷̕.̕͡ ͞Y̷͟O̡U̷͟ ̸W̴̨͞IL҉̸Ĺ́ ͜͡NE͏̸V̕ER ̴̴̨͢B͏E͏ ̕O̶͠Ń̢̛E͝ ̧̡͟O̢͟F̴ ͝҉͝TH̵EM.͟͜ "

"Aah, now you're just getting annoying. Spare me the cryptic sentences, 'my inner self', and let me wake up already."

"O̷N̕͟E͏͡ ͞D̢̕͡A̴͜Y̸̧͡ ̛YƠ̴͡U̷Ŗ ͏͘O͡W҉͏Ǹ̡ ̵̡PO҉̶W̷E͘͢R̴͏ ͞WI̸LL̡͟ ̷̡͡C̷͡͞O̸͏̕N̸̕S̷UḾE̶͞ ̧Y̷͟O͝͠Ư͟.̕ ̧͜W͘͠H̀͘E̴͘͜N ̧̕T̀H̵̸͜A̡͞T͢ ͟͡͏D̷͡͠A̧͜Ý͏ ̕C͘͠Ò̢M̧̨͝E̕͏Ş͜,͡ ̸Ę͜V̵̷E̛̕͠RY͝O͜N̛͞E͟͢ ͏̴Y̢O̶̴̡U̧҉ ̵̵Ḩ͢O͏͡L̕͝D̀ ͘D̴̴͠E̷҉A̴̵̕R̢ ̶͜W͢ILL͡ ̢F̷́͠A͝͏̀L̛͠͠L B҉Ỳ ͟YO̸̕͡U҉R̶ ͟͢͟H̢A̛͞N̢D̨. MAR҉̕͞K M̧Ỳ͞ ͏̷W̸̢Ó̸̸R͢D̵̶͢S͏̸̧.͏̧.͜. T̕͝H̨͏Í͘S͜ ͏I̧S̶͟͞ ̧̧̧O҉N̡͢ĻỲ T͞H͏E͘ ͠B̷̛̕E̡G̡I̕͠ŅŃ͡I͜N͠G̵̛͡.̕҉.̕͢.͏"

The first words that came out of Ragna's mouth when he regained consciousness was:

"Why the hell am I lying down on a fishnet?"

He quickly got up from the ground, clearly noticing the difference in terrain compared to the bridge that they were on before he blacked out. For some reason, Drakensange was placed right next to him; he pitied the poor sod who had to carry that hulking weapon over here. As he picked up his sword, he pondered to himself,

"In the end, I still don't know why I blacked out all of a sudden back then. It was definitely not from exhaustion... perhaps that entity caused it to communicate with me. Well, not that it matters now."

Quickly tuning into his mental link, he asked,

"What happened while I was out? I need a quick summary."

"After the Shadow left, everyone just idled around and talked. Most importantly, Alvin has assumed leadership position alongside you, so you'll be working with him from now on."

Bestie replied instantaneously.

"Alvin, huh... looks like he finally gave in to Arthur's persuasion. He had always been the best candidate..."

Although Ragna was puzzled at why he did not get his leadership role completely taken away, he decided not to question Arthur's decision-making. After all, even he still had his doubts about Alvin.

"Anything else I need to know?"

"We had to move because the icy ground we were on previously started to shatter at a rapid pace. Solaru tied you up in a fishnet and had Reis carry you while you were unconscious... and that's about it. Moreover, are you feeling well? We were all taken by surprise when you suddenly collapsed back there."

"...I'll be fine. It's nothing serious this time."

He decided against telling his Summons about his 'encounter'. Nothing productive would come out of it anyway - it would only create more unnecessary anxiety.

"Looks like we're still on the move. The best course of action would be to find either Alvin or Arthur - I need to ask a few things."

As the group continued on the move, Ragna approached the closest one of the two he could find - Alvin.

"Alvin, w- oh. What... the... hell..."

He could not believe his eyes - in front of them stood two people who should not have been there. The first was Alek, who he was certain had been sent back to Grand Gaia by Alvin's Kiravel. The second...

"...Sonora? You... you're..."

He quickly stopped in his tracks.

"I see... so that's what this is all about."

As Alvin stood rooted to the ground with tears trickling down his face, Ragna put his hand on his shoulder.

"Snap out of it, Alvin! These people are not who we think they are. If a demon's involved in this, there's a very high possibility that the Sonora and Alek standing in front of us are illusions created to mess with us. If we let our emotions sway us now, we'll just be falling into their trap!"

/u/Muttl3s