"Link, what do we do?" Once they saw their leader returning, Link's subordinate asked about the future.

"The exchange was successful, so I got the location of our successor. But I won't be able to move freely for a while."

"Everyone is waiting for orders."

"I'll meet with them while the medical unit reviews my state. But you should leave as soon as possible."

"What? Is that?"

"Yes. Immediate extraction."

"If that's the case, what about the quarantined area?"

"No involvement with it further allowed. So, make sure the ones watching from afar don't become over-curious. Chain them to their units until the celestial fruit breaks."

"Alright, I'll pass by before the extraction and implement the restrictions myself."

"Come then. I'll need help to transfer the position since I'm exhausted."

---

From the outside, the area around Pel merely blinked out of existence for a split second.

Immediately after, Pel had a closed bowl in his hand, and all the structures supporting the black orb had been destroyed.

Pel took a few steps back and stared at the orb slipping away from its restrictions.

The ball began slowly falling "down" in the same direction that the liquid dripped.

At first, the movement was sluggish since, despite the surrounding destruction, the intent of chaining it down still tried to uphold its duty.

But all those laws struggled to no avail because after Pel extracted Higgs' refined soul, the orb gained a new nature. Unwavering, any interaction trying to control it got rejected.

Still staring, Pel began to laugh, almost crying.

As he recalled all those masters drooling toward Higgs' refined soul, Pel thought, 'If only they knew it was merely some tainted by-product.'

"My friend, you truly played us all for such a long time. And indeed, to convince others perfectly, you must convince yourself first, right?"

Once he looked at the bowl in his hand, Pel's expression turned even more ecstasy as goosebumps appeared on his arms.

"Incredible. It's only fitting for it to have the same grave. What better trashcan than that chaotic place."

A snap sound reverberated through the air once the orb finally broke free, so Pel quickly glanced at it again.

And after confirming the success, he began to jump around like a happy kid, commemorating as he skipped away.

---

Link had barely arrived at their main base when the news came, informing that the quarantined celestial fruit began to crumble apart.

"And what about the dimensional seed?" Link asked.

"It's falling, abiding by the celestial tree."

"Watch it until it leaves our perimeter, but don't follow it. How is the influence that Pel mentioned?"

"The watchers are struggling, but no one lost control. The preparations were enough."

"That's good news. Anyway, we should be getting outsiders yelling at us soon. I thought we would have more time."

"We already activated the emergency state. Things will be messy for a while, though."

"That's fine. Once Rich gets the kid, we will fully close our border."

---

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"Dan, what is happening? Are you okay? Dan!"

Once Dan fell to the floor, putting his hand on his head, his girlfriend, Lua, worriedly tried to help him.

Their Party was walking toward a dungeon, but they canceled their mission after Dan began hearing voices and visions.

"< Long time no see. >" Dan kept hearing on repeat those words he couldn't understand.

This image of a thin teenager with black hair flooded his mind.

And if it was just those words, Dan might've kept control. But months of experiences overwhelmed him. Visions of a life that wasn't his but that he felt were so familiar.

Acquainted faces mixed with strangers.

This familiar world turned so alien.

"< Long time no see. > You can call me Higgs. It seems we've been thrown in the same trash can again. How unfortunate, right? That shitty Heaven should keep their hands to themselves."

"Who are you?" Dan yelled, tied to his hospital bed.

"< Long time no see. >" The words echoed, driving Dan crazy.

"What do you want?" His voice cracked, but every single medication failed to put him to sleep. And their healing spell also had no effect, not even the ones that tried to put him in an illusion.

Dan remained awake, drowning.

"I don't think you understand. I've been here for so long ago. You'll find it hard to take control of the world from me. And I need it, you know, I'm almost exploding. Why don't you try next time? I can help you prepare."

...

"If the heavens wanted you to have it all, they wouldn't have sent me here. I wouldn't mind dying back there, but here? No way! That's such a waste! And I didn't ask for this, either."

...

"That's unfortunate them. I thought we could be friends again, but alas."

...

"Hahaha! Your wife is quite daring, isn't she? Does she think my goodwill will force me to eat her bullshit? If she pulls that shit again and hurts anyone closer to me, I'm taking her head. And if you want to make an enemy out of me, then so be it. I can send you off, so Heavens might plant you in some better soil, one lacking a parasite like me!"

...

"What? Did I begin it back then? Your wife sent assassins to kill my friend. You're just a bunch of entitled babies thinking you're the center of everything. Reality is so much bigger! And it's not even like your people didn't try to do that again! They merely couldn't after I closed all the doors since I wanted to avoid conflict due to my good memories of you."

...

"I don't see your property deed. If you want to rule everything, try to take it. But I'll tell you, if you break those chains, don't be surprised once everything goes kaboom."

...

"Demon Lord? That's fitting. But I won't be an idiot, though. Don't expect me to wait around until you make miracles after miracles. I've already seen it once!"

...

"There will be no fight, but I decided to allow you to see it. You might think you're an army, but I consider you're just an audience.

So, come and see! The end is near! And if you want to blame someone, blame your parents or whatever they are. They're a piece of shit for putting a poisoned bomb inside me!"

...

The loud voices mixed with unsynchronized images flooded Dan's mind.

Decades of experience consolidated over a couple of hours.

...

"So, were you the one that robbed my subordinate eye? Very odd." The sky reverberated barely intelligible sentences.

Dan's eyes were dry and red, but he could see it. The despair leaked from the confident Demon Lord as he activated the altar below his feet without even trying to reply to the thunders.

"I asked Link if you were under their protection. How funny, though, to not accept it. How cute it is to be dumb."

Dan's mana became unstable as he recalled those weird memories. Because inside them, the whole world fell into Higgs' control as he tried to isolate this dimension.

"Quite talented. But Link's successor is there, you know. You could've killed him and closed the connection. But you didn't. So, come here! I want to see what deserves to be called Heaven's Oddity."

The Demon Lord began to float. But resisting, his skin became black, and every bit of mana in this world flew toward him.

But it was to no avail.

As the resulting cries of agony filled Dan's ears, his instinct flared up with anger.

Fortunately, right now, Dan was young. So the hospital kept the resulting mana storm under control. But the people watching it feared for his life.

"Just a rat struggling. How pitiful. Do you want to die sooner? I wanted to torture you a little first, though."

" { WHAT? FUCKING TRY IT, THEN! I WANT TO SEE YOU BREAKING THROUGH THIS RAT'S SKIN! AND I RATHER BE THIS THAN A FAKE DRAGON AFRAID OF VULTURES! } "

While the teenager-looking ancient man still yelled in pain, the remaining mana trembled, replying.

Those weird words from an unknown language resonated all around the world. But before the Demon Lord sucked all the mana, his floating body disappeared, leaving behind a dreary silence.

The absolute existence they all feared, who many thought of as a god, vanished.

Following this, Dan saw the deterioration of the world's technology due to the magic thinning. But even until he died, he heard no news from that apocalyptic event, and only the memories of that shriek remained.

Nevertheless, after studying the Demon Lord altar, they at least discovered that at least one person was able to ascend.

...

After that whole life flashed through his eyes, Dan snapped back to his present reality.

His body was a mess, but using the knowledge from his time as an Archmage, he quickly healed himself.

He woke up confused, but once he saw some friends jumping onto him and hugging him, Dan recalled where and when he was.

"We should cancel that dungeon conquest. That place is not something we can deal with, and I don't think that will be there to save us," Dan whispered weakly, knowing deep inside that somehow those visions wouldn't come true.

"Why are you still thinking about that!" His friends yelled in reply.

Dan laughed, full of conflicting feelings.

He knew he was not the same anymore, but he didn't know what to do either. And more than ever, Dan didn't even know himself. So, he laughed, trying to ignore this humming dread growing inside him.