Unbeknownst to Kai, he had just delayed the Soul Thief's plans. He wanted to use Damon and Cole to cause a commotion inside the tournament but now it wasn't an option.

"Damn it!"

The Soul Thief slammed down on the table and sent several piles of paper into disarray. Those papers were filled with inscriptions and writings, full of the research that he had spent his life trying to perfect.

"One died hours after the tournament and the other went missing! Those other three were too weak and died!"

The rage on his face was evident.

In front of him, the angel had no expression on her face as she continued staring blankly at the Soul Thief.

"If only I could find another corpse just like yours..."

Even though he wasn't in public eyes, his features were still covered by a thin layer of darkness. It wasn't hard to do so as the amount of mana regenerated would outdo the mana consumed once the person gets stronger.

"Question. Is that an order?"

The angel spoke in a monotone voice.

"No, I need you close by. Instead, go and search for a graveyard. Not a small one, I want a graveyard with as many buried as possible."

The Soul Thief waved his hands and a white flame-like entity manifested. It didn't look hot but it moved almost like it was really made out of flames.

"The ideal place would be somewhere with ten thousand souls, like where I found you."

The angel didn't seem to have any reaction. A place with thousands of souls, even graveyards were seldom filled with that many. Most souls that linger behind in the real world are those with regrets or those who have died early. But, they don't last for very long.

To have ten thousand souls in one place, it had to be a massive graveyard. Either that or the souls were taken from a warzone between countries.

"Now that I think about it, you're also related to him, right? That annoying knight captain?"

The angel simply nodded in response.

Perhaps bored that the angel didn't speak more than necessary, the Soul Thief waved his hands and sent the angel on her way.

Once she left, the Soul Thief began checking the documents in front of him again.

"...Just a bit more and I'll be able to create the perfect puppet."

He began laughing maniacally.

"An SS-class puppet, I can't even imagine what I'd be able to do!"

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

After the finals, there would be one more day of rest. Kai used that time to remove the flaws in his strategy that could be exploited.

Reo was still busy inside the illusion world and it seemed that he really wouldn't be able to emerge before the tournament ends.

Kai took everyone to the illusion world. He had put it on hold yesterday and the day before but the day before the battle seemed the best time to say it.

"As everyone already knows, Erina had made a bet with me during the tournament and if I lose, I would be forced to give out the secrets I've been keeping from everyone."

It wasn't that he was afraid of their reactions, he just didn't know how to react knowing that Erina and Amelia from the future have neither the memories nor the experiences as the ones in the past. Now that he had come to terms with it, he didn't need to hide it anymore.

"I'll tell the rest back at the continent when we get back. Where should I begin...?"

There were too many things to say to them after all. He couldn't just start off with 'most of humanity dies in the future and we're the last hope'.

Erina activated her magic eye and was glaring right at Kai. No doubt that if he even tries to lie, she'd most likely rip him apart. Amelia was trying to act nonchalant but her entire focus was on Kai as well.

He looked around and took a deep breath.

"I suppose I'll start with... my birth. I lived another life before this one. I met a being that reincarnated me and Erina into our current bodies. The ones who originally would've lived in these bodies died because of stillbirth."

Not just Arata and the others, even Yoko was shocked. He had only told her about the future, he didn't tell her about his other life.

"What has Natsumi told you about?" Kai asked.

"She told us that you were from the Kuroshi Clan and was responsible for the massacre because a demon had possessed you. She also told us about Amelia's origin and the Goddess of Frost. I omitted a lot of parts but that's the gist of it."

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Kei was the one to answer but his eyes weren't completely focused. He was still processing the information that they were just told.

"Many of my spells and unusual habits stem from my past life. That same goes for Erina. My gun, the advanced version of the one in Ethereal Moon took no inspiration from it. In that world, these guns were commonplace. Swords, spears, bows, the number of people who use those for combat are scarce. Instead, we use them for sport."

Kai snapped his fingers and he manipulated the elements to create a visual in front of him.

"My and Erina's souls were taken when we died and were put into these bodies. But, that's not the only case for me."

After he finished speaking, the visual in front of him moved. He had created this spell for the express purpose of revisiting memories and although it was still in its experimental stage, it was enough for simple viewing.

There, everyone saw Kai fighting amongst many humans against the demons and angels. Blood and bodies were strewn everywhere. Cries and screams echoed throughout the battlefield.

The Kai they saw there was very different from the one in front of them. There, he had a face filled with bloodthirst and rage. One swing of his scythe and both angels and demons alike were cut apart. Another swing and the heads of tens would fall.

Magic attacks were raining all over the battlefield not discriminating from friend or foe. It wasn't the same war that they had heard about, it was one where their very origins were at stake. Whoever loses the war would have their entire race wiped out.

"..."

Everyone looked on with trembling eyes. Kai closed his eyes and let the memory sink in.

"...This is just a small part of the war that will happen in less than three years. —no, it may happen within the next year. There are too many discrepancies in this life compared to the one I had lived before."

Several of the same screens that looked like holograms appeared. It was only possible because of the illusion world which turned reality into illusions and illusions into reality.

There, they saw the discrepancies Kai had pointed out.

Erina's salvation from the devil happened earlier than it should. Superbia never existed. 'Satou Kenji' never went to school in Alteria Academy. Memento Mori went by a different identity. They only got united in this life. Anne hadn't fallen in love with Kai, instead, they were mortal enemies. Auparith was destroyed in Central's place. The heroes summoned this time are different from the last.

They were viewing many memories but each one left them feeling shaken. They had risked their lives several times but Kai's memories showed them in straits direr than what they could ever imagine.

Once everyone had trouble breathing trying to let the shocking truth sink in, Kai removed them all and made them focus on a single screen.

"The enemies—no, the true enemy in this war isn't the demon nor the angels. In fact, they are just victims of this war much like us. The true enemy is..."

Kai raised his hand and the Supreme Being Medallion appeared in his hand.

"Howard Greylock—the former hero of Eleorid. The one in the tragic story. He's a real person, and his myth couldn't be more real. Except, his death was fabricated. In truth, the entire kingdom was wiped out because of the hero's power after integrating with a spirit. To this day, he remains the strongest existence alongside the King of Gods and the Demon King."

Kai swiped his hands and several more screens flashed.

"The Blind Swordsman is but one of his mighty generals. Each one is more than enough to destroy this world if the Gods and Devils don't intervene. Even I won't stand a chance against a single one of them."

He gave them time to memorize their faces then changed the contents.

"The only exception to their immeasurable power is until before the war, although I have no clue as to why all of them have their power suppressed to their absolute limits. The reason why the war starts after a couple of years and not immediately is that they are waiting for the suppression to disappear."

At that point, Amelia talked with a face that looked as if she was about to cry.

"Kai, you've been fighting against these people by yourself? You were sent to the past to fight them alone? Why didn't you tell us?"

She wasn't blaming him at all. Instead, she felt sad for him to have to carry all this burden alone. And, she also felt anger for the ones who pushed the role onto him.

Kai felt her emotions and began talking again.

"Angels are subservient to Gods, and the Gods are subservient to the King of Gods. But, do any of you have a clue as to what the existence beyond a God is?"

They all kept their eyes fixated on Kai.

"...The ones who gave the Gods their powers is a single Supreme Being. And, that Supreme Being isn't even the strongest of them. I have no clue as to how many there really are but one thing is for sure, each and every one of them holds power beyond your wildest dreams. Those who have the potential to surpass the King of Gods, Demon King, and the former hero are called Supreme Being candidates and are given a Supreme Being Medallion."

Kai inserted mana into the medallion and the world began trembling. It was the same scene with Reo. The medallion began glowing and beams of light shot out in several directions but before they could get very far, Kai stopped.

"The reason I've fought them alone until now is because—"

The screen changed once more and this time it showed Kai exuding a different air. They all felt themselves trembling and the feeling to bow down arose within them.

"—I, a former God, and at the same time, holder of the Supreme Being Medallion have a duty to destroy that threat."

That was one of the biggest bombs that he had dropped today.

"You're a God?!"

Iori yelled out in complete shock.

"A former God. Well, I wasn't a God in the truest sense. I never bowed down to the Supreme Being who gave them their power. My power was a fake given to me by my grandmother but in this timeline, that has yet to happen."

The screens vanished and Kai held out his hand. There, a small speck of mana manifested.

"Think of this tiny bit of mana as the average human's mana crystallized."

The mana became larger and turned into a ball.

"And this is an S-class' mana. In comparison, a God's mana is like this."

Under their gaze, the small ball that fit his palm became several times larger until it towered over Kai completely. It was larger than a wrecking ball from Earth.

"This is the mana of an average God while the King of Gods holds twice as much as this. Now, has anyone noticed anything?"

They all looked at each other confused. Arata hesitantly answered.

"That a human's mana is insignificant compared to a God's?"

Kai shook his head.

"It's that humans' mana grow. Gods have a limit. Once they are bestowed their power, they can still grow but they are limited. My grandmother is a perfect example. She is the second strongest of the Gods—only a little below the King of Gods but no matter how much hard work she puts in, she will never surpass him. We are different.

"Our limits are not set by the Supreme Beings. We hold unlimited potential. We can go from F-class to God-level. It would take time and a normal person wouldn't be able to achieve it even with several lifetimes but the point stands that the Supreme Being Medallion is only given to those who hold potential to surpass Gods."

Kai gestured for Arata to near him and once he did, Kai created an illusory version of Arata's future figure to overlap with him.

"Arata achieves SS-class after unlocking his innate ability during the war. If he can go from B-class to SS-class in just a few years, what is stopping us from kicking that former hero's ass?"