Inside a small ordinary room, on top of the bed was a brown haired man staring at the floating muscular tanned person opposite of him.
"I've been wanting to ask..." Rio hummed as he looked at the floating man, "But did you know what happened earlier?"
"You can't remember?" Faust raised his eyes as he carefreely cfloated in the air.
"No, not at all. That's why I'm asking." Rio said as he shook his head.
"Some entity kidnapped you midway when y—" Faust nonchalantly answered before he got Rio's voice intervened midway.
"What!?" Rio shouted incredously as his eyes opened wide at the revelation, "Then why didn't you do anything?!"
"My hands were tied, kid. The one that got you was stronger than me, even when I was alive." Faust shook his head as he sighed, "Besides, you're safe now. Don't worry about it."
Rio heavily sighed in response and stayed silent. It was hard not to worry about it. The sudden kidnapping of an higher entity unnerved him. His lack of power of not being able to protect himself and do anything aggrieved him, while he wanted power, never once was he as desperate like now to get stronger quickly.
Who knew if at some point a being infinitely stronger than him would take interest in him and decided to kill him, or worst enslave him to make him do the it's bidding.
Then again, who was he kidding? It wasn't like it had not happened yet.
He hadn't forgotten everything that happened to this point yet. There already was a being like that. One that was infinitely stronger than him, one that took interest in him to the point transporting him to this world, and one that constantly messed with his mind...
'Mystery A'. The being that transported him to this world for an unknown reason. The being that messed with his mind and memories.
Then that begs the question, was it 'Mystery A' the one that kidnapped his soul midway in the ritual?
'...I doubt that.'
Rio thought as he shook his head. Even though it was the most likely possibility, he had a vague feeling that it wasn't the case. While he had not remembered the events of what happened clearly, the intent of the being to kill and devour his soul was still heavily engraved to his mind.
The being that kidnapped him wanted to kill him or devour him. If it was 'Mystery A' then why was he still alive until now? The being already had messed and altered his mind a couple of times, who's to say it wouldn't be able to kill him?
Then if it was not 'Mystery A' then who?
While he was in deep pondering, his thoughts were suddenly disrupted as intense pain burst through his forehead. Rio groaned as he looked at the muscular man, "Damn it. What was that for?!"
"You weren't listening to me, I've been calling you for about a while now." Faust spoke as he chuckled. He waved his hand in dismissal as he continued, "Besides, it was just a weak flick, don't be a crybaby."
"...Your standards for weak is way different from mine," Rio muttered as he rubbed his forehead. Even with a sturdy and superhuman body, the flick still hurt.
"Now that you're listening, when would you want to get out of here?" Faust spoke as he picked on his ear.
Rio shook his head to clear the thoughts on his mind. Right, he never had the time to think about where he was. He raised his head as he asked, "Where are we anyway?"
"In my pocket dimension." Faust hummed as he rested his head on his arm while floating.
"Oh right, you are a Rank A powerhouse when you were alive..." Rio nodded in realization. In the novel, it was stated a couple of times that Rank A Miracle Invokers were able to create their own independent pocket dimension to their liking.
"Spot on," Faust gave a thumbs up as he continued, "Since you're still Rank C, I won't explain about it for now."
"In any case, I want to get out of this place now." Rio said as he stood up. There was no point in staying here any longer. He already had gotten everything he wanted anyway.
"I like the sound of that." Faust spoke as his lips curled. He hadn't stepped out since an eternity. While he was floating, he casually snapped his fingers.
Crack—! Swoosh—!
Suddenly, the room broke apart like glass as a whirling vortex appeared in the middle of the room. The vortex was similar to the entrance of the demon dimension.
"Go out there and It would lead you to where you were before." Faust commented as he abruptly dissapeared, vanishing before Rio's eyes.
"...Huh? Where did you go?" Rio wondered in confusion as he stared at the space where the man abrupty dissapeared. What just happened?
'I'm right here. Inside your body. Don't worry about it, your master is not going to dissapear.' A voice suddenly resounded in his mind as he jumped in shock.
"Telepathy..?" Rio mused as he looked at his body. It felt awkward knowing that someone was living inside his body rent free. Well, not really rent free as he gets to have the man's inheritance in exchange.
However, that did not make it less weird and awkward.
Rio shook his head as he looked at the whirling vortex. It was time to return. He had gotten everything he wanted here. Hopefully there would be no accidents this time.
Suddenly, Rio's face twitched as his body suddenly felt a chill.
Did he just jinx himself again?
—
In dark and damp forest, a black haired man with a mature face was silently hiding behind the trees as he leaned on his left to look at the group of people that were discussing something ominous.
"So these are the people that commited the massacre..." Ciel muttered as he grabbed something in his pocket. It was two shining silver stilleto dagger. They have a handle with a thin, circular loop at the butt and a long, conical point designed for stabbing and thrusting.
"A bunch of serial criminals too, so permission to kill is allowed..." Ciel commented as he looked at the small group. The group was just full of Rank D with one Rank C in the middle. He had to neutralize the weak one's first before the strongest.
Ciel nodded as he dissapeared in the darkness, blending in with the dark atmosphere like a silent assasin.
"So, we're returning to that insane bastard now?" A yellow skinned man asked as he stared at the group, "Aren't we still missing one for the quota?"
"Apparently the boss is super pissed as a dude managed to escape them." Another man voiced as he chuckled.
"Hah! That bastard, Dallas deserves that..." The others hatefully muttered.
As they were discussing, all of a sudden, a small long device was thrown at them mid air. It was dark in color, blending in with the dark forest.
"Oh sh—!" A voice in the group shouted as they noticed something amissed with the device. However, before they could appropriately react, the device abruptly exploded.
Poof—!
Black smoke engulfed the place as most of the group were blinded, bar from the the large muscular man in the middle who had reacted much faster.
"Damn it, an enemy! Prepare yourself!" The large muscular man shouted as he took the sword in his back. He hadn't expected an ambush at this time.
Swoosh—!
Suddenly, a gut wrenching scream resounded from the sides, "...Uahh!!!"
"Damn sneaky bastard!" The muscular man muttered as he ran over to the voice. However, before he could even take a step forward, another gut wrenching scream followed on the opposite side.
"...Uahhh!!!"
Swoosh—! Swoosh—!
"..Argh!"
Sweat poured down in the muscular man's forehead as the screams of his companions echoed one after another. Even with his Rank C vision, he only had barely saw the figure that was killing them off one by one.
The figure was a dark shadow that abrupty vanished and reappeared inside the smoke moments after. The figure was so fast that he couldn't see it move. It was like a professional assasin, a living shadow that blended in with the dark and preyed upon them like mere cattles.
Thump—!
A device suddenly rolled off the ground. The muscular man looked at it and noticed the name at the corner. His eyes went wide open as he took a step back.
"You're from the TOAJ aren't you!?" The muscular man shouted as he brandished his sword and swung it to his front. The smoke drifted away as the sword clashed with something.
Clang—!
A long thin dagger clashed with the sword as the dark figure appeared in the smoke.
"Quite astute of you." The figure replied in a flat tone as he retrieved back the long thin dagger and waved it.
"Tsk, so we got caught..." The muscular man clicked his tounge in annoyance as he raised his sword once more. Instantly, lightning suddenly appeared in the swords blade.
The figure didn't reply as dark transluscent energy suddenly appeared in the long thin dagger. Then, the figure took a step back as he abruptly vanished in the smoke.
"...Don't take a step forward, or else.." The man spoke as he smashed the sword vertically, the lightning exploding mid air as the smoke drifted away into nothingness. He cautiously looked over the dark forest as he raised his sword once more.
Suddenly, his instincts warned him of danger from behind. Without hesitation, he swung his sword to the back in a fast motion.
Swoosh—!
However, it hit nothing but air. There was no one behind him.
Rustle—! Swoosh—!
A rustling sound suddenly echoed beside. His eyes looked at the side and caught a glimpse of a fast shadow holding a long thin dagger covered by translucent dark energy rushed towards him.
The muscular man's eyes went wide open as he tried to dodge the dagger heading for his throat, however the figure was just simply too fast. Before he could even react, the dagger was already stabbed deep in his throat.
Swoosh—!
The dark figure stood still as he watched the corpse fall to the ground. Behind the dark figure were the corpses of other members in the group, all of their eyes were wide in suprise before they died.
Ciel looked at the muscular man's corpse as he muttered, "...What were you getting overly confident for?"