'It fucking hurts...'

Reivan groaned as his bones ached and creaked with every bit of movement. His body felt like it was under constant pressure from every direction, and even his organs felt like they were being lightly squeezed by invisible hands

However, he somehow still managed to get a little used to it. At least, to the extent that he didn't feel like dying anymore.

'It really hurts... ugh...'

Despite the feeling of death vanishing, he was still in a lot of pain. It was a good thing he was used to suffering, otherwise, he may have started crying for his mother to save him or something.

With great difficulty, Reivan stood from his spot on wobbly feet. He took a few seconds to steady himself before shooting his guardian knight a proud look.

"I did it, Sir Valter."

"Indeed you did, Your Highness. Well done." Valter seemed truly pleased and amazed, wearing a large smile that his face was obviously not used to. He passed Reivan a fresh towel. "And you've done it in such a short time as well. I have no words to describe my awe."

'You just did, though. You described it as "awe".' Reivan quipped inwardly while taking off his soaked shirt and wiping himself off. After he'd put on some new clothes, he asked his knight, "Well... now what?"

He was surprised when the answer came from a different direction though.

"Now, it is just about time for us to meet."

Reivan's heart shook as the voice that seemed to carry the weight of time itself echoed in his head. The tiny hairs on his arms and legs stood on their ends. He resisted the instinctive urge to bow down to the owner of the voice, instead turning to face him with a smile.

"I greet the Aizen's guardian, the Sword Star."

Rolf smiled and bowed in return. "This humble warrior greets His Highness, Prince Reivan. I'd like to say that it's a pleasure to meet you, but I've actually seen you quite a number of times."

'Oh, I bet you have.'

"Still, I suppose this counts as our first real meeting, so it's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine... sir." Reivan stiffly greeted back.

The old warrior's eyes widened in apparent realization. "Oh... this should be enough testing. You can relax now."

With a slight wave of his hand, the suffocating feeling that had been attacking Reivan's body from the moment he'd passed through the torii gate disappeared as if it was never there.

The sudden disappearance of such a great force relieved the young prince greatly, but it also disoriented him for a short moment. If it weren't for Valter supporting him from behind, he would have tipped over backward and slammed against the stone floor.

Rolf's lips curled up into a warm smile as he looked at the boy. "That's better, isn't it? Now you don't have to be so stiff. Let's get along."

"...Thank you, sir." Reivan, still somewhat stiff, smiled as he thanked the Sword Star.

Truthfully, the pressure contributed to it, but the biggest reason for Reivan's awkwardness was the being standing in front of him.

'So this is a Transcendent...'

Of course, he'd seen and talked with an even greater existence before, but he hadn't felt the same sense of majesty and awe when he'd met the World-Devouring Serpent.

'Maybe the gap between a puny thing like me and an Archon like Zell is just so large, I can't even comprehend it. Or Zell was just really good at making me feel comfortable...?'

Those were the only explanations he could think of for why he was able to easily interact with Zell, but find it extremely difficult to form words while in the Sword Star's presence. Was the distance between a mortal and a Transcendent closer than he thought?

'Well, this old man can still kill me without any trouble at all though.'

Even if he could see the peak of this proverbial mountain, it was still a long long journey to reach it. Becoming a Transcendent would likely take quite a while, and the power behind that realm was nothing to scoff at for an ant like Reivan, no matter how small that power was when compared to an Archon's might.

Rolf cleared his throat, snapping Reivan out of his musings. "Hm. I'd love to chat a bit more, but first, why don't we complete the task you came here to do?"

"Yes. I think that would be better." The young prince nodded.

"Wonderful."

Jingle!

With that, the familiar sound of a tinkling bell echoed in Reivan's mind as the scenery changed again.

"Ugh..." Reivan groaned as his face twisted into a grimace.

Putrid fumes wafted into his nose as the dim, bluish-green light revealed an expanse of trees — trees that seemed to be made of hardened black tar. His feet sunk lightly, making his frown deepen at the disgusting feeling that was comparable to stepping on a pile of shit. Just in time, a chilling wind brushed past his skin, raising goosebumps all over his body and bringing more of the rancid air for his unwilling consumption.

"The Outlands..."

It was precisely the unstable world connected to Aizen's basement through a portal — the Outlands. In a single instant, Reivan, Valter, and the Sword Star had traveled to another world.

"Indeed." Rolf nodded, blowing away most of the foul odor with a single wave of his hand. "You were just here last night, no? I apologize that you have to visit such a place in quick succession like this."

"... I don't really mind it that much." Reivan put on a fake smile as he pinched his nostrils to save his sensitive nose from the agony caused by the remaining stench.

'In my mind, it's been a few years since I was last here after all...'

He'd spent five years within a fragment of eternity, so to him, he wasn't visiting this accursed place in quick succession.

'I don't really feel thankful for the experience though.'

Horrible things had happened in that "dream" after all. He absolutely didn't want to live through another one of those.

Shaking his head to get his thoughts back into the matter at hand, Reivan looked up at the Sword Star and asked, "Can I ask what I need to do here?"

Rolf pointed at his own eye. "I just need you to look at something with your ability."

"Oh, I see..." Reivan nodded in understanding, even though he didn't really understand a lot. But he didn't need to, since he would probably gleam more information from using his ability on whatever they wanted him to look at. "Okay."

"Good." The Sword Star turned toward Valter. "Shield him. I will restrain myself as well, but it is better to be sure."

"Understood." The purple-haired guardian knight nodded before moving to stand between Rolf and Reivan. With a casual wave of his hand, a spherical dome of obsidian encased him and the young prince, sealing them off from everything else.

'No. Don't do that. Now we're locked in here with the stench...'

Reivan knew better than to voice his complaints though, so he just tried his best to hold his breath.

Valter noticed this and glanced back to apologize. "Sorry about this, Your Highness."

'It's not really your fault though.' Not bothering to speak, the prince merely waved off his concern.

"I'll start now." Rolf's voice sounded out from beyond the dark barrier.

Right after he spoke, Reivan felt a jolt as an intangible pulse of energy passed through him and swept across the land. He bent over and clutched his chest. It hadn't hurt or caused any breathing difficulties like when he first passed through the torii gates, but it was still an experience he would find hard to describe.

'It felt like... my soul was nudged or something...?'

That was the best he could do at the moment. He lacked the knowledge to even comprehend what could have possibly happened.

"It should be fine now." Valter dispersed the dome that surrounded them and turned toward Reivan with concern. "Are you okay, Your Highness?"

"I'm not all that sure, but I think I am?" Reivan smiled wryly as he straightened up, only to gape at the state the surroundings were in. "Did we... teleport again?"

"No, Your Highness. We did not."

"... I see. Alright."

'So what happened to all the trees then?'

They were all gone. The trees, and any hills or mountains behind them. Everything was gone, replaced by a flat wasteland that stretched as far as Reivan's eyes could see. Even the muddy ground that felt like an endless swamp of feces was gone, except for the spots where Reivan, Valter, and the Sword Star — who was likely the cause of this strange sight — were standing.

"There you are..." Rolf muttered as he narrowed his eyes while looking at something in the distance. He then beckoned Reivan over while forming a circle with his thumb and forefinger. "Quickly. Look through this."

"Ah, okay." Reivan hurriedly got out of his isolated puddle of goop and onto the surprisingly firm ground. Still a bit confused, he brought his face closer to the old man's lowered hand and looked through the hole. On his way, all he could see was the scenery beyond, but the moment he got close enough, it was like an entirely different world was within the space between the Transcendent's fingers.

"The crab. Take a look at the crab with your skill, young one," The old warrior prompted.

"Yes, sir."

Looking through the "hole" again, Reivan could vaguely make out that he was looking at a creature that was underwater. Whether it was water illuminated by blue-green light, or blue-green water illuminated by normal light, Reivan couldn't be completely sure. But he was sure that the crab floating around in the middle was massive, seeing as there were what appeared to be ruined buildings beneath it.

The crab seemed to see him too since Reivan was sure their "eyes" were meeting at the moment. Its giant glowing orbs stared into his, and with a threatening flourish of its pincers, it seemingly wanted to tell him to cease his insolence for staring.

Or maybe it just wanted to eat him. Reivan wasn't certain, but he was more willing to bet it wanted nothing but to crush and perhaps devour him than because it was shy.

"Don't worry," Rolf assured with a gentle voice. "Nothing will happen with me here."

"Ah... yes."

It was then that Reivan noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead, which had unknowingly formed while he had a stare-down with the creature. He wiped it away with his palm before using [Supreme Insight] on the giant crab.

~^+— Unit's Statistics —+^~ Name: N/A

Species: Archon Fragment (Dream-Weaving Moth)

Realm: Ascendant (Mortal)

Age: 8

Sex: N/A

Special Abilities [None] Might: 15,600 (156) Extra Skills Elemental Affinities: [Water] [Darkness] [Trickster's Puppet] Favor: (Hostility) -100 / 100 Threat Level: Absolute (Threat cannot be resisted)

'Wow. It's younger than me.'

Its incredibly young age was the first thing he noticed, but he'd somewhat had a feeling that these things grew stronger at a different pace than normal when he fought a zero-year-old Nightmare Spawn in his coming-of-age ceremony.

'This is why they're such a threat.'

Seemingly endless numbers and a bogglingly fast growth rate. They were truly the greatest threats to Aizen's prosperity.

Aside from that, the various text in the parentheses made him curious, but Reivan couldn't examine them closely with [Supreme Insight] for some reason, so he went over to the lone extra skill that the titanic crab had.

[Trickster's Puppet]

An [Extra Skill] bestowed to a finely-crafted puppet.

Passive:

Allows the unit to share the Trickster's powers of deception, fooling the unworthy with a veil of lies.

Anything from appearance, realm, and even physical might can be falsified.

Sub-Skill #1: [Glass Eye] Passive: This unit's vision can penetrate dimensions to a certain extent.

Active: Allows this unit to share its vision with its puppeteer, no matter the distance between them.

'This... looks pretty bad.'

Reivan immediately understood the implications of the skill, so he wasted no time in telling Rolf about it. And about how its apparent stats and realm were likely fake.

'The ones in the parentheses are obviously the real ones...'

Understandably, the Sword Star's gaze sharpened as he looked at the crab. In an instant, it was bisected in two for seemingly no reason. "It's true... I barely used any strength, and yet it died so easily."

"Sir Rolf..." Valter's brows creased in thought as he looked at the crab's dissolving corpse. "Does this mean...?"

"Mhm." Rolf nodded with a frown as he pensively said, "It seems like we'll have trouble on our hands soon enough."

Reivan watched the two with worry. Perhaps an actual child might have had trouble connecting the dots, but Reivan wasn't one.

'The crab was a scout...'

If Reivan had to pick the aptest term for it, he would pick "drone". The massive creature was merely a puppet used by someone or something as a way to observe them while staying far away. This implied that there was an entity capable of doing so, and that they were intelligent enough to scout ahead for information before doing anything.

Intelligence.

That was what bothered Reivan the most. It meant that somewhere out there, there was a monster with a certain amount of intelligence and the caution to bide their time for the right moment.

'Were Nightmare Spawns such creatures...?'

From the little experience he had with them, Reivan had the impression that although they weren't utterly mindless beasts, they were still pretty lacking in IQ. After all, the creature he'd fought had still fought him despite being surrounded by numerous people in the Ascendant realm.

'Most intelligent creatures would've tried to run away in that situation.'

No matter how futile, the chances of running away were still much higher than surviving in that place, surrounded by such powerful knights. If the creature had been capable of despair, it would have felt that instead, and perhaps even begged for mercy.

But that wasn't what happened. The spawn had instantly gone after Reivan because he was the weakest one present, paying no regard for the people behind him — who were all obviously there to protect him.

Even wild beasts weren't as feral as that spawn.

That was why, the possibility of something other than a Nightmare Spawn being responsible for the crab flashed across Reivan's mind.

'Could it be... the Darkin...?'

Naturally, he wouldn't forget about the favor Zell asked of him all those years ago. Since nothing in his world shared the qualities that Zell had revealed, Reivan now assumed that the Darkin were from this world. The idea that they had somehow managed to harness the powers of the Nightmare Spawns and were using the creatures as scouts wasn't all that farfetched.

'No... that doesn't seem right.'

Reivan inwardly shook his head. If the Darkin were the ones responsible, then the crab's hostility wouldn't make sense. After all, Reivan had already confirmed from his father that there had never been any encounters with creatures similar to Darkin. So, that meant that there shouldn't be any conflicts between Aizen and them.

Even Freed had only gone down to -70 Favor despite Reivan almost revealing one of its deepest secrets. So the fact that the crab had -100 Favor would've meant some extreme hatred.

That was why Reivan decided that it probably wasn't the Darkin. The crab's master was likely another Nightmare Spawn, or something else that despised Reivan and Aizen.

'Judging from these two's faces...'

The severe expressions on Rolf's and Valter's faces made it apparent that this "trickster" was an aberration. A freak of nature amongst freaks of nature. Something that should not be taken lightly.

"I suppose we'll have to pull back most of our agents abroad." The Sword Star stroked his chin in thought. "We can take no risks when it comes to intelligent spawns..."

"Agreed." Valter nodded gravely. "Then, the autumn skirmish with the empire..."

"It would be foolish to cancel it. They would grow suspicious. Besides, most participants in the skirmish are mortal knights. We need Ascendants for this."

"That's true. I shall report this to His Majesty immediately." Valter closed his eyes and gripped the dream crystal on his wrist, seemingly focusing on communicating with Rodin.

"Yes. Go do that." Rolf then turned away from the knight and faced Reivan. "You've been a great help. If it weren't for you, we may have gotten blindsided once again."

"I... was only doing what I could to help." Reivan modestly smiled. But then, he could no longer hold back his curiosity. "Sir Rolf, may I ask you something?"

The Sword Star nodded with a small grin. "Of course. I shall answer to the best of my abilities."

"Thank you. So, uhm... what do you think was controlling that giant crab...?"

The smile on Rolf's face immediately vanished as his voice dropped to almost a whisper. He took a deep breath before and sighed before explaining, "You see, Your Highness, it is not Aizen's first time to encounter a seemingly intelligent Nightmare Spawn. There was a previous incident, and in that incident, plenty of our knights died because we were unprepared. The Nightmare Spawn had gathered an army of monsters weaker than itself before charging at the portal, wanting to devour the lives of Aizen's citizens. It was a Transcendent Nightmare, so I was the only one who could hold it back while the others desperately tried to shave away the horde. In the end, we triumphed over them and I managed to slay the Nightmare, but even now, we can never forget how much blood was spilled on that day. The old knights still tell stories about it to the younger knights, just to scare them into training..."

Reivan gulped. The knights of Aizen were strong, but they still suffered. Still, to cause so much damage, the monster must've been truly the bane of their existence. "W-what was the monster like, Sir Rolf...?"

"Humanoid." Rolf's eyes sharpened. "It was a Humanoid Nightmare Spawn."