The woman's shocking words echoed throughout the room — which didn't seem to have any boundaries at all.

'Oh...'

Now that Reivan's mind wasn't muddled by overwhelming rage anymore and he had all of his memories back — as himself and as Ken — he was finally able to think clearly.

He'd activated [Glimpse of Eternity], found himself in a fabricated world, met a fake version of his sister... then something happened to him. It had felt like the moment he'd let his guard down, a strange feeling crawled inside and took something.

Then this woman came along.

After she'd jammed her finger into his forehead, he had to live in another fabricated world for five years without a portion of his memories. In that world... very unfortunate things happened — things that he'd rather not have seen.

Now, he was face to face with this woman again.

For someone like Reivan — whose life had once revolved around consuming literature and anime — connecting the dots was easy.

"I see... it's a pleasure to meet you, Karuna." He smiled before a sword appeared in his hand. "Goodbye."

His legs exploded with power uncharacteristic of a terminally ill person, rocketing him forward as he mentally swatted away the semi-transparent screens that plagued his vision.

The nameless Armenian is using [Arma—

[Beast Gate] has been activ—

[Intent] has temporarily changed into [Killin—

Reivan grunted as he exerted all the force he could muster into a single swing, causing the air to whistle as his blade sliced through space.

But just before its razor edge bisected Karuna's bowed head in two, she vanished.

"Ack!" Reivan's palms almost burst from the feeling of his sword colliding with the floor — which was surprisingly hard, considering that it looked like they were just standing above a bottomless hole — but he ignored the pain and looked around for his target. But then, a chuckle from above made him turn upward.

"Can't say I'm a fan of violence..." Karuna grinned wryly as she sat in the air, her legs crossed. Then she shrugged. "But I understand. Our recent meeting didn't go very well after all. So, I'll forgive your insolent acts for now. Be grateful, hm?"

"Hah?" His face twitched in annoyance before he hurled his blade skyward, aided with [Formless Will].

"You really don't learn..." she muttered. However, she didn't move to stop the sword or dodge it. In fact, she even went as far as to deliberately expose her neck.

Despite finding her actions strange, Reivan urged his Soul Armament to fly faster. Now that he no longer needed to worry about adjusting its trajectory, he could put all his Willpower into force and speed! His blade left a sonic boom in its wake, appearing to get sucked into the woman's neck.

'Huh!?'

But the weapon's edge failed to pierce through; it was as if the woman's skin absorbed all the strength behind the attack. There was no sound of steel meeting flesh, no sprays of blood to sprinkle the air, and no shrieks of pain.

With narrowed eyes, Reivan could even observe that her neck didn't even have a single scratch!

"What the..." He momentarily gawked at the incredulous sight but snapped out of it. His eyes closed as his forehead creased in focus before the single sword multiplied to sixteen.

Each blade relentlessly attempted to turn the woman into a human porcupine. However, they were all just as successful as the first attempt.

"Fucking hell..." He grimaced, curses escaping his lips. Ever since he'd gotten his Soul Armament, everybody and everything he'd fought with it were things it didn't work on. In any case, since his attacks were ineffective, he recalled the Soul Armament.

All sixteen swords disappeared before a single one materialized in Reivan's grasp.

"Had enough?" Karuna asked with half-lidded eyes, her voice monotone while her expression oozed with boredom. After a yawn, she gestured toward their surroundings. "We can't actually kill or damage each other here, y'know? Well, we can hurt each other by pinching or pulling each other's hair or something though... but I'm sure you're well aware of that."

Her lazy giggle really got on his nerves but Reivan inwardly heaved a sigh of relief at her truthful words. After all, he had no idea what this person was capable of.

Although his annoyance played a huge part in his hostility toward her, part of the reason he'd attacked was that he didn't know how to get out of this place yet. And being stuck inside this place with someone so suspicious was dangerous. As such, he'd made the snap decision to attack first and ask questions later.

This entire meeting had triggered his fight-or-flight instincts, and since flight was not an option, he'd chosen to fight instead.

'But if we can't hurt each other...'

That changed things.

However, he still didn't let his guard down. The woman had already proven that she could trap him in some strange dream world while also stealing his memories.

And that experience definitely wasn't something he wanted to try a second time.

His safety relatively assured, Reivan knew that now was the time to collect information. He'd need to learn more about this being to think of countermeasures... or bargains. While carefully watching her, ready to react to whatever she did, Reivan used [Supreme Insight] to reveal as many of her details as possible.

[Glimpse of Eternity]

! This Special Ability is in the process of Manifestation !

'Huh?'

Resisting the urge to rub his eyes, Reivan used his ability again. But the information didn't change. Even after he made multiple consecutive attempts, what he saw was the same.

'Maybe that dream made me a little crazy...'

"You're not crazy, y'know? And your ability isn't lying either." Karuna chimed in from the side, her eyes gazing at the air in front of Reivan.

As if she could see the screen too.

"You..." Reivan began, but he was interrupted by the damnable woman's throat clearing.

"Well now, let's not talk while we're standing... or in my case, floating." Karuna gently descended like a feather. Once her feet touched the ground, she snapped her fingers.

Pak!

Reivan blinked, and the next thing he knew, they were in a completely different place.

A very familiar place.

"I thought we could chat more comfortably if we're in a familiar location. So I picked your room." She casually gestured toward the table placed by the large window that Reivan always liked to loiter in. "Shall we take a seat?"

Reivan watched with narrowed eyes, and it wasn't because of the bright sunlight. His wary gaze followed Karuna as she sat on the chair opposite of the one he usually occupied. Once the woman materialized an entire tea set and a tray of pastries, he finally couldn't take it anymore.

He gnashed his teeth as his cheeks twitched in irritation. "Hey."

"Yes? Is there a problem?" She raised an eyebrow at him as she poured herself a cup of tea.

The picturesque scene of a beautiful young woman's lips kissing the edge of the porcelain with the endless blue skies as the backdrop was a scene that would pull any down-on-their-luck artist out of their slump. Perhaps if it were any other time, Reivan would've stopped whatever he was doing and taken his time admiring the sight in front of him.

The problem was that the impostor was still doing all of this while wearing Kyouka's skin.

"How long do you plan to stay looking like that?"

"Oh, my. You're right." Karuna covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. "I suppose I've fooled around long enough."

'"Fooled around"...?'

At the thought that she'd just been messing with him, Reivan's fist trembled from anger as his fingers clenched tighter around the blade's handle. Even if he couldn't hurt her, it sure as hell would've felt good to bash her with it a couple of times — or a couple of thousand times. In the end, he couldn't take seeing her for more than a second, so to calm himself down, he turned his head away to admire the elegant craftsmanship of his room's carpet.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Is this better?"

A surprisingly childish voice made Reivan look up, only to be met with the sight of a doll-like girl who didn't seem older than thirteen. Her small face was framed by a crown of snow-white hair just like his mother had — except its length barely reached her shoulders — while her eyes were a deep, dark blue. The pearly skin wrapped around her frail limbs seemed to glisten under the sun's radiance, making her appear like some sort of divine being.

[https://i.postimg.cc/4yrgBM5w/Karuna.jpg]

Karuna leaned on the table while resting her chin on her hands, a cocky expression on her face. But that only lasted until she heard him muttering to himself.

"A loli...?"

"I'm not a loli!" she retorted immediately, her forehead creased as she grit her teeth.

Reivan was shocked by her violent reaction at first, but then he smiled. "But you are, though? You're a loli."

"I said I'm not!" Karuna slammed her fist on the table. "I belong to a race of noble fae! Unlike you humans, we remain youthful for eternity! This is the optimal form to channel our unique abilities!"

"Oh, I see... my apologies." Reivan scratched his cheek and dipped his head in an apologetic bow.

The fae seemed ready to continue arguing her case, but when he backed off, she heaved a relieved sigh. "As long as you understand..."

"Oh, yes. Of course, I understand. You're not a loli..." Reivan looked up, a shit-eating grin on his face. "You're a lolibaba."

"You piece of shit!" Karuna wore the face of a demon as she threw her empty tea cup at him.

Reivan saw it coming and calmly tried to move his face out of the way, but his eyes widened when the cup sped up before he managed to dodge.

"Ack" he reflexively cried out as the cup became acquainted with his nose, his back colliding with the floor soon after. "You bitch!"

"Oh shut up. It doesn't actually hurt, now does it?" Karuna rolled her eyes, her barren chest rising up and down as she huffed from anger. "But if you call me that again, I'll do things I know will hurt. Comprende?"

Reivan glared at her while massaging his poor nose, realizing that it wasn't broken despite the force behind the cup sending him flying. "You know what... I'm not all that inclined to sit down and talk with someone who does all the shit you just did. Especially to a person they just met."

Karuna scoffed as she leaned back on her chair, her slender legs crossing under the table. "You may think this is the first time we've talked with each other, but you're wrong, y'know?"

"Huh...?" Reivan's brows furrowed in thought as he searched through his memories. But if he'd ever met such a rude person, he definitely would've been able to remember her.

She'd also just said that she was [Glimpse of Eternity]'s previous wielder and a fae, so she couldn't possibly be from earth.

'But where the hell did we meet then?'

"You're curious now, huh?" Karuna grinned before gesturing at the seat in front of her. "Let's sit down and talk, hm?"

Reivan frowned, hesitating. But soon, his shoulders slumped in resignation. He got up and walked over to take her up on her offer.

----------------------------------------

"Tea?" Karuna raised an eyebrow.

"..." Reivan stiffened for a moment, thinking that accepting something from her might be a foolish idea. So he chose to ask. "Yes or no, are you hostile to me? Say the opposite of your actual answer."

"Oh? Sure." She poured him a cup of tea without his permission before smirking as she answered. "Yes."

[Lie Detection] has activated!

"Then do you wish me harm?"

"Oh, that's a definite yes. You piss me off." Karuna truthfully confessed as her lips curled up in disgust while staring at him.

'This bitch...' Reivan gnashed his teeth.

"That said..." The white-haired fae heaved a sigh. "I am on your side."

"..."

"Oh, wait. I'm supposed to lie, huh?" She took a sip out of a new tea cup before saying. "It is not to my advantage that you become stronger."

[Lie Detection] has activated!

"It is not part of my greatest desire to see you become unbeatable."

[Lie Detection] has activated!

"I do not want to become allies with you... okay. That's not a lie. Shit." Karuna tapped her chin, ignoring Reivan's pointed glare. "You are not my only choice as an ally."

[Lie Detection] has activated!

"Oh, and lemme just throw this out there, just so there aren't any misunderstandings..." After clearing her throat, she took a deep breath before saying, "You are not the most repulsive person I know."

[Lie Detection] has activated!

"Heh. Is that enough to prove that your special abilities work on me and that I'm at least a little trustworthy?" Karuna pushed a cup of tea toward Reivan once she'd finished saying all that needed to be said. "Here you go. It's quite good, y'know? Back home, people went crazy for this stuff."

"...Thanks." Reivan took the cup and raised it to his mouth for a sip before his eyes widened in surprise.

"It's good, right?" The fae woman excitedly asked, obviously quite proud of her homeland's specialty.

"Meh." He shrugged. "It's okay."

"This bastard..." Karuna visibly deflated before sighing. "Whatever. Pleasing your rich-boy tastes is a waste of time. So let's get back to the main topic, yeah?"

"Sure." Reivan nodded and motioned for her to continue. "You said it wasn't our first time talking?"

"Uh-huh." She plucked a bite-sized sweet from the pile of pastries and threw it in her mouth.

"..." Reivan waited impatiently for her to finish. However, even after she finished the first one, she just kept eating more. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "So?"

"Mrhm?" Karuna let out a muffled hum, her mouth bursting with food.

The prince of Aizen's face twitched in irritation. "Elaborate. Where and when did we first talk to each other?"

"Oh, so that's what you wanted." Karuna licked her fingers, a mischievous grin on her face. "You didn't ask anything else, so how should I know you had more questions?"

'What do I do... I'm so angry I feel like I'm going to faint.'

Reivan suppressed his temper with great difficulty. This midget just had a way of getting under his skin. In the first place, just the fact that she impersonated his sister was already enough to make him hate her, but then she just kept going and going, making him angrier with each passing minute.

Karuna giggled as she eyed the fuming Reivan. "Fine, fine. I'll stop playing around and get serious now. That good with you?"

"Kill yourself."

"I'll take that as a big yes." Cackling, the fae woman then began to explain. "The first time we talked was while you were floating around the rift between worlds — which, because of your [Supreme Insight], I now know is called a Corridor."

"Hah...?" Reivan frowned. "But the only perso—"

"Shut up. I'm getting to that part." Karuna pushed the tray of pastries toward him, gesturing for him to stuff his face and be quiet. "So here I am, yeah? Within the [Glimpse of Eternity], which was on its way to... well, wherever the hell it was going to, and then it stumbles upon you. So it attaches to you and you become the new owner of the ability!"

Although he was listening quietly while eating, Reivan's confusion was only getting worse. Questions were being born faster than they were being answered.

"Even though you weren't actually conscious, you still kinda knew what the ability did... which actually really pisses me off cuz it took me a couple of decades before I found out that I even had an ability." After grumbling, she cleared her throat and continued. "So anyway. You were immediately able to make dreamworld while also foiling the ability's attempts of devouring your soul... and then when I went to talk to you, thinking I'd congratulate you as your senior, maybe even teach you a thing or two... you kicked me out without hearing what I had to say!"

"I did...?" Reivan's brows furrowed. He really couldn't remember doing any of that.

To him, nothing happened in between his real death and his reunion with Bertram — or rather, Zell. So the things Karuna was saying really sounded like someone talking about the flat-earth theory.

'But the thing is... this flat-earther's words aren't triggering [Lie Detection].'

He'd already proven that the ability affected her, so the fact that it didn't get activated must've meant that she either believed everything she said to be real, or they were real.

"You bastard. You're probably saying that I'm some kind of lunatic in your head, aren't you."

"Yes." Reivan agreed without delay. Satisfied by the disgruntled face his adversary made, he then sent her a dirty glare. "Also, can you please stop calling me 'bastard'? We're not close, so you can't cuss me out so casually and get away scot-free. You've been this rude since the beginning..."

"Hmph." Karuna harrumphed. "You may not feel very close to me, but I do to you. I know everything about you after all."

"Huh..."

"Remember? I've been with you ever since you got this ability."

Reivan stiffened.

"I've seen everything."

Reivan trembled.

"I know what you read when nobody's watching..."

"Ah! Stop!" Reivan slammed both palms on the table, sending tea and pastries all over the place. His face was akin to a tomato as he yelled, "Don't judge me for what I read...!"

Karuna looked at him like he was filth. "You disgust me..."

"No..." Reivan hung his head as he buried his face in his hands.

The fae woman sighed. "I wasn't always like this, y'know? Actually, I really sympathized with you at first... When I saw you crying your heart out as you recorded those messages for your loved ones... well, I cried a river for you."

Reivan raised his head to look at her compassionate gaze.

"But then you just kept reliving your life... over and over and over again..." Karuna clutched her temples as if she had a headache. "The second and third times, I still cried. A lot."

She grabbed a fistful of her white hair and pulled as she gnashed her teeth.

"I still got teary-eyed after a couple of times... but then you just kept going."

There was an audible snap as two batches of snow-colored locks were extracted from Karuna's head.

"The tenth... then the hundredth... and then the thousandth time... I just reveled in your suffering. I just wanted to scream in your ear to get the fuck over it already!" She screamed hysterically as her eyes vacantly stared off into space. "I can't even remember how I talked before I met you. For reals, it feels like I'm using too much slang... I'm pretty sure I talked in an elegant and noble way that inspired awe and fear in those that heard me... but now I sound like a boomer."

"Uh, no. I don't think you talk quite like them..."

"Shut up! You don't get an opinion on this!" Karuna growled, her ferocious eyes boring down on Reivan. "So if you're wondering why I'm rude to you, there you have it. I've had just about enough of watching you live as Kagami Ken, okay? It was finally getting a little exciting after you were reborn as Reivan, and then you switch back to being Ken? Fuck you!"

Reivan flinched as spittle came flying into his face, but he felt like the so-called fairy in front of him would really lose her mind if he spoke at this time.

He wisely chose to shut up for now.

"I'm dead and stuck with you forever. So the least you can do is live an exciting life so I have something cool to watch!" Karuna stood up and started kicking every piece of furniture in sight. "I'm so goddamn tired of soap operas! I've been watching the same fucking thing for countless millennia! My tear ducts are nonexistent at this point! Fuck!"

'Rather than a boomer... you curse like a sailor.'

Reivan, again, wisely chose to keep his thoughts to himself.

Once the only thing right-side-up in the room was the bed and the chair Reivan was sitting on, Karuna stomped over to him and grabbed him by the collar as she breathed roughly. "Hey, you."

"Y-yeah...?" Reivan stuttered, intimidated by the energy coming off from his assailant.

"You get it, right? I'm not crazy for being super pissed at you, yeah?" Karuna's pleasant breath that smelled of baked confections wafted into his nose. "You agree, right?"

"Uh-huh..." He reflexively nodded as he counted the veins in her eyes.

"Right?" She smiled widely as she brought her face even closer than it already was. "So don't you have something to say to me?"

In truth, he did feel a little apologetic. But it wasn't like he knew she was watching. Rather, wasn't he the one who was aggrieved here? Someone basically peeked into everything he's ever done in his entire life. If he compared Karuna to certain social media sites, certain governments, and a bunch of other sites on the internet, then she was much worse in terms of invading privacy.

But right and wrong hardly mattered to someone who was forced to watch the same movie for countless millennia.

This was why Reivan just chose to try his best to appease the woman. He really wanted as much information as he could get out of her. Especially on how to get back to real life, seeing as Zoro-chan was unable to wake him up despite so much time passing.

Resigned to his fate of sucking up to this crazy bitch, Reivan suppressed a sigh. "I'm very sorry."