"Make sure you don't try anything funny again, or I'll come and kill you myself." Lily said to me.
"Lily, I want to talk to Ray for a second." Max spoke.
They had come to drop me off at my home. Lily was screaming the entire way about how I had this habit of self destructing.
"What? How is it something I can't listen to?"
"Please, Lily." Max looked at me. "Just give us a minute."
Lily pouted and stomped her feet before warping herself and disappearing.
"If it's about your sister…", I started speaking to him.
"Do not always apologize so quickly, Ray." Max cut me off. "What is done is done."
He lit up a cigarette and handed it to me.
"We have completed our current Tasks and await the next one. So we know how difficult it is."
"We…?" There were more players?
"Nobody fights alone, Ray. Even if they can dodge and grapple like you."
"..."
"Since you are new, you don't know. But nobody challenges a Trial alone."
They don't challenge them alone?
"A party…" I muttered.
"Yes. So I wanted to ask you, do you want to join hands?"
A sudden offer?
"Think about it. If we work together, we can clear this Trial."
I looked at the cigarette he gave me. Then I puffed it.
"Lily has sent that boy home." Max talked about Taeyang.
Taeyang…
"I'll offer my protection to that boy to show my goodwill."
A party offer does sound good, but… I wasn't in a state to accept or reject any offers.
"As for John Elton, and that girl Ichika. You have to handle them by yourself."
I was already stretched thin. Any help right now would help.
"I've added my number to your phone."
He flicked his fingers. The surroundings started to turn dark.
"You don't have to answer now."
Max turned around.
"Ray. You already have two personas and are planning to make a third one. Be careful, the people in Reji City are strong."
I had debuted as a respectable Saint to the public, a mysterious guy to a select few and now I was planning on becoming a hidden villain in the underworld.
"The media will soon come to follow you. Make sure you hide yourself well."
Darkness crept in on Max and he began to disappear.
"Well then, I'll meet you again soon, Saint."
All of his traces vanished.
He disappeared completely.
I smoked the cigarette and then threw it away. Slowly, I started walking towards my home. I smelled myself and thankfully I didn't reek of alcohol because of Lily's magic.
Uncertainties lay in my path.
Max is right. Even if I am managing now, sooner or later I'll fail. The fact that I'm trying to live as multiple people with a single body will eventually catch up to me. But right now, my biggest concerns are something else.
A red haired girl was sitting at my doorstep.
"Ray!" Enna jumped and came to me.
"Where were you? I saw your fight. Are you alright? Why did you come home so late? Did something happen again? Did you eat something?"
Enna hadn't gone to sleep yet.
It was late. Past midnight.
"Don't you have to sleep? You have school tomorrow." I smiled at her.
"Uhm…", she hesitated seeing how I dodged all her questions.
"Uhm…please tell me…"
"I was hanging out with a friend of mine. We went out to eat." I laid her worries to rest.
"Friend? Is…is that person a girl?"
"No, it's a guy." I rubbed her head.
She smiled and said, "Ah…I, I see."
My biggest concern was standing in front of me.
How do I protect Enna?
Ichika also studies in Ishiyama. Should I coerce her to stick with Enna all the time?
No, I don't think I should do that. I should instead manipulate Ichika to do it of her own free will.
If they both stick together naturally, I'll be able to protect both of them easily.
Meanwhile, I'll have to monitor Elton.
Lily detoxed him but she said that he hadn't really consumed anything other than alcohol. Even though he is safe now, very soon he won't be again.
I need to prevent the gangs from approaching all three of them and also prevent them from approaching the gangs.
Also, I need to go and meet Taeyang and discuss…
"Ray, when are you starting classes?"
"Tomorrow. I mean today."
"Ah…uhm…" Enna hesitated and fidgeted with her fingers.
"Do…do you…"
What did she want this time?
"Do you want to…walk to school together?" She asked me.
No. I do not. If I did, you'll be killed and I'll die trying to save you.
"I am sorry, Enna. The news reporters are trying to follow me."
"Ah…! I see…" She started sulking. "You..you must have it tough. Being a saint is not …so simple…"
"That's not it, Enna." I put my thumb on her lips. "I don't want them to find our home. This is a secret place just for you and me."
Right now, you have to make do with this. If my enemies find out about you, then there will be no one to save us.
Enna parted her lips at my touch.
"Oh", her face lit up at my words." I see!"
She came closer to me.
"Enna! Enna!" Enna's mother started calling her from above.
I pulled my hand back.
"Ah, is that you My Saint?" She noticed me standing with her.
"Yes, ma'am. I was just talking to Enna a little." I bowed to her.
"Oh, my Saint. Please, do not bow to me." She tried to stop me.
Our last meeting wasn't good at all. I can't have her look at me with fear. If she continues to be wary of me because of my fake status, it'll be a hindrance for me. I need her help if I want to protect her daughter.
So I have to win her over. And I knew how to do that.
"Please call me Ray, ma'am. You've given me shelter and food." I smiled at her. "You're like a mother to me now."
"Oh, my." She was moved by my words."Ofcourse…Ray. Feel free to call me mother too." She patted my shoulder.
It worked. Probably because she tried to empathize with my orphan condition.
"Thank you mother."
Her face blushed.
"Did you have dinner? We still have some udon left. My little girl made it for you in case you came."
She then looked at Enna.
Enna looked back at us with a bit of jealousy as we had excluded her from our conversation.
"Yes, ma'am. I had dinner outside. I was just about to prepare for school tomorrow."
"Oh! Enna also has school."
She looked at Enna angrily.
"Don't you, young missy?"
"Yes..yes mother."
Looks like her mother was very restrictive with her.
We talked for a little longer and then Enna went back with her mother.
I too went back to my room and sat down.
The first thing to do now is to look for Lianne. Learning other methods to fight in this Trial will take too much time.
'I have to bring her back.'
Lily said that it was impossible to return from 'that place'.
But I had returned. I knew that I had.
'That woman…she had come to me when I was hallucinating.
I know she did. I had seen her.'
'If she can come out, then I can go in.'
'I have to follow her.'
Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on my chest. My tattoo had some connection to my mana. And my mana was the only thing I could use to enter the dream world right now. I just needed to figure out how to do it.
I opened up my mana and followed the path to its densest core.
With no particular technique or end goal in mind, I just split into the depth of it.
My physical senses slowly started drowning and I began to lose my sense of existence.
Eventually I collided with a giant barrier.
I pushed on it but it repelled my efforts.
If pushing wasn't going to work, then I had to pull.
So I pulled on it with my mind.
Vast darkness surrounded me and slithered onto me.
However, they did nothing to stop me.
Without any real interruptions, I kept pulling, drawing it outside.
Broken pieces of planetary fragments began to appear close to me.
But I continued what I was doing. I had to go in deeper.
I pulled on the wall with all the strength of my soul and after a while…
It pulled me in.