The door swung open, revealing the sight inside.
However, Rael’s brows soon furrowed when he realized that it was completely empty.
It was almost like that thought had simply been cut from Alcetas’s mind, leaving the interior completely blank.
But when he turned back toward Alcetas, he was met with a sigh.
"That is what I’m trying my best to figure out," he said. "What is inside, and why exactly do I see this brick house? What does it tie to? Is it my past, or something else?"
"I’ll help you," Rael replied plainly. "But only if you tell me everything that you’ve been hiding from me. By that, I mean this entire Shadow Creation machine bullshit. Why did it start out of nowhere, as well as this sudden interest in my identity?"
"Very well..." Alcetas took a few steps backward and sat down on the grass beside the vegetable garden, then patted the ground beside him.
Rael simply shook his head. They weren’t buddies, so he definitely wasn’t sitting down next to him.
Noticing that, Alcetas shrugged and began his explanation.
"The Shadow Creation machine was started because Solenne wanted to clone you. She wanted to make a shadow out of you, one that she could mold however she pleased."
"Would my shadow have my skills?" Rael asked.
"It would have everything," Alcetas replied. "Your habits, your skills, your bloodlines. Everything."
Rael nodded. "So... how is that going to work exactly?"
"She became one with the Shadow Creation machine," Alcetas stated. "When we get out of the mind realm, she is going to use her avatar as a conduit to forcefully extract your shadow. After that, I can only imagine what she will do."
Alcetas chuckled. "She wants to replace us. You may have more potential than all of the Five Seats combined, but you still lack the experience and strength to rival us."
"You mentioned earlier that shadows are the opposite of us, so if she takes it, will it be loyal to her?" Rael asked. "Because no matter which version of me it is, I find it hard to believe that..."
The opposite of his current intentions was none other than joining the Blazing Sun faction.
It seemed like he had severely underestimated the lengths these beings would go to and what powers existed in this universe.
More importantly, could he really do anything against Solenne?
Premium Trickery: Death [Special-Unique]
—Disappear from the system’s records, and start as a new entity. All items and creations are wiped, but everything else may be kept. Resets causality. One-Time Use. Cost: ??? Consequences: ???.
It was the only thing he knew that might help him out of this situation. But given how vague the description was, he wasn’t too certain. Still, he would keep this perk in mind when the time came.
"So in the end, she started that machine because I caught her interest?"
"Solenne is someone who would sacrifice an army in exchange for one promising candidate," Alcetas added. "You are that promising candidate, and she is more than willing to sacrifice us in exchange for acquiring you."
"I’m not an item," Rael replied, taking a few steps toward Alcetas and leaning down slightly.
He narrowed his eyes. "But I did sense a single lie in the part where you claimed you could only imagine what she would do. You know, don’t you?"
"I do." Alcetas nodded.
Rael grumbled. "Let me guess. She’s going to steal my identity, kill me, and then replace the void that I left behind with my shadow."
"That’s the gist of it. In the face of an all-powerful entity like Solenne, you need not think of extremely grand short-term goals," Alcetas replied. "This is like a drop in the ocean for her, and precisely because of that, she is going to give it her all to get you."
"But we should end this here. I could keep going on and on about what she would do to you, but in your current state, it seems like you’ve already made a decision on how to handle it," Alcetas added and stood up. "So would you mind doing me this small request?"
"Say I help you, what then?" Rael asked after a brief pause. "Will you turn on Solenne?"
"Pfft... are you crazy?" Alcetas chuckled. "Of course not. We will still be enemies. However, I do promise to let you off the hook this time."
"How mighty generous of you..." Rael snickered.
Guess I’ll have to plant a little fear in this guy’s mind so he doesn’t mess with me.
It was pretty ironic, planting a fear into the nightmare prince’s mind.
But since Rael was a superior race, it might just work.
"So how do you want to do this? Do you want me to just go inside your mind and scramble around until I find something?" Rael asked.
"I will shift my mind to show only a single memory. You should be able to pick it up," Alcetas replied, and without wasting another moment, he dropped to the ground, unconscious.
How can he even be unconscious in the mind realm? This guy really has something wrong with his head.
Rael let out a sigh and crouched down, then tapped on Alcetas’s forehead.
His vision darkened, followed by a few familiar pop-ups appearing.
Bystander, huh? Rael thought. I wonder what Voice of Reason is? Can I...
He thought of inspecting it, and soon after, a single pop-up appeared, displaying some information.
—Implant a single lingering thought inside the target’s mind that triggers whenever they do certain actions. This effect is permanent, and the only way to dispel it is to realize that it is there.
It’s interesting, but yeah, Bystander is the way to go here.
Rael hummed, and after taking a moment to himself, he selected the Bystander option.