"So you won’t talk normally, huh? Fine," Rael said plainly and then accepted the connection.
Moments later, she took a deep breath and spoke directly into his mind.
[That’s relieving. For some reason, speech exhausts me. Is it because I’m old, or is it because that avatar of mine is insufficient to portray my voice? Who knows...]
"What do you want, Solenne?" Rael asked coldly.
[A final proposal, if you will,] Solenne replied in her angelic voice. [If you join me, I will give you the position of the Fifth Seat. Added to that, I will put our previous altercation behind me. I won’t attack you, nor those you care about.]
She took a step forward and smiled.
[In exchange, I want you to lead us to this place called the Depths. It’s that simple, right? Treat it as a mercenary job. If all goes well and you enjoy working with us, then you can even join us. How good does that sound?]
Solenne paused, glancing at his reaction.
And when she realized the scorn and unwillingness were still there, she let out a sigh.
[You will die here, Rael Sutekh.]
The moment she finished those words, she flapped her wings, causing an extremely powerful burst of wind to send him hurtling toward the ground alongside Lilith.
As they were about to collide with a sharp rock, he made his mosquito wings larger and grabbed Lilith.
One flap was all it took to suspend himself in the air, and another to return in front of Solenne.
To his surprise, there was another figure beside her, one that he recognized.
It was Halemire, or rather, Alcetas.
—Alcetas Audagar, The Prince of Nightmares (Grade 3 | Noble Class) [Level 142] | Vitality: Tier 16 [100% / 100% HP]
[You two fought before, right? I heard from Alcetas that he beat you up pretty badly, so what do you say to a rematch?] Solenne suggested with a sadistic smirk.
"Don’t get ahead of yourself," Alcetas chimed in. "We are being gracious enough by not destroying this entire continent. This fight isn’t something you can refuse either."
Rael tilted his head, noticing something interesting.
"By not destroying this continent? Is that what you said?" Rael mused. "That thought seems a bit far-fetched considering all the players are here. If you destroy this continent, then all of Solenne’s work would be wasted, would it not?"
The air seemed to grow colder, but Rael wasn’t done.
"I know you two aren’t idiots. Well... Alcetas might be an idiot," he said plainly. "Flaunting a baseless threat like that around means you have some sort of other agenda, and considering how much you’ve been pestering me, I’m guessing that I’m the one you’re after. Is that right?"
[You are headed in the right direction, but you’re slightly off. It is not you we want, but something belonging to you,] Solenne corrected. [Once dawn has passed, you shall understand your true purpose in this grand ordeal.]
"How cryptic..." Rael chuckled. "Twinkle fairy and her child don’t scare me that much."
Solenne and Alcetas exchanged a glance when, all of a sudden, Rael’s vision turned dark.
He felt wind brush against him, and then, his vision returned.
However, he was no longer in the sky above Elarin’s ruins. Instead, he was in some crimson palace.
Moments later, his vision distorted, and he found himself in a two-way hallway.
The halls seemed endless, lit by red chandeliers that dripped blood instead of wax.
There were screams echoing from the distance, but no matter how much closer he walked, they didn’t seem to be getting closer.
And soon, the pop-up he was waiting for appeared.
The pop-ups kept rolling. After a moment, Rael turned his head slightly and spotted Alcetas standing only a few meters away.
Right away, Rael set up several dozen barriers around himself using his own Mental Integrity.
"What’s the occasion? Want to kill me before Solenne gets her hands on me?" Rael asked playfully. "Or wait, do you really want to go on with the rematch?"
"There isn’t much to rematch," Alcetas replied with a shrug and summoned a glass of wine from thin air.
He took a sip, then continued. "If we fight, then I will win. That has been decided ever since our last encounter."
"And you’re sure of this because of what? That I didn’t improve at all since the last time we fought inside the mind realm?" Rael mused. "That’s pretty lame. Looking down on me might not be in your best interests."
"Perhaps." Alcetas took another sip, then tossed the glass aside and met Rael’s gaze. "But even if I do somehow end up losing, Solenne will finish the job. She always does."
With those words, Rael felt a certain wave of energy head toward him, pushing him back.
His Mental Integrity doubled since last time... Rael thought with a slight frown and readjusted himself.
The halls suddenly expanded, then curved inward, circling the two of them.
It was almost like he was in some sort of arena, just without the expected spectators.
Alcetas took a few steps forward, then slightly lowered his posture.
In the next moment, he dashed toward Rael, appearing before him in an instant.
Rael was slightly surprised, not because Alcetas was fast, but because instead of using mental attacks, he was insisting on fighting physically.
But if that was the case...
Rael narrowly evaded the punch, turning on his heel as he backhanded Alcetas straight on the chin.
He was sent flying into the wall of the makeshift arena, slamming into it with a grunt.
Rael tilted his head in confusion.
"Are you trying to test me or something?"