Reincarnator.
The Judicator.
The two pieces of information slammed into my mind, and it took every ounce of my will, bolstered by the [Pendant of the Liar], to keep my expression from shifting.
Seraphina wasn't a transmigrator from another world like me. She was a native soul of Aethelgard, caught in a cycle of rebirth. She had lived and died in this world multiple times. Her knowledge wasn't just a cheat; it was the accumulated experience of centuries. This explained her deep understanding of the world's politics and power structures. She wasn't just playing a game; she had been playing it for a very, very long time.
But the second piece of information was far more terrifying. A dormant piece of the Judicator—the cosmic law officer of the Netherworld—was inside her System. It wasn't a punishment or a parasite. It felt like… a marker. A leash. Or worse, a symbiotic partner.
Was she an agent of the Court of Inevitability? Was her entire existence, her multiple lives, a long-term operation to... what? Observe? Control? Ensure the Netherworld's investments paid off?
My 'Wager of Realms' had just become infinitely more complicated. I hadn't just made a bet with the court; I had just shaken hands with their hidden agent on the ground.
My mind was a firestorm, but my voice was smooth as glass. "Excellent," I said, giving her hand a confident squeeze before releasing it. "Our first order of business is to consolidate our position. The prisoner in my cells is a key asset. His power is unnatural, and I intend to find its source."
Seraphina's smile was radiant, the perfect mask of a new, enthusiastic ally. "A wise decision. Information is the sharpest blade. While you handle the prisoner, I will use my family's network to monitor your sister. If she makes a move, I will know."
See? Already she was positioning herself, taking control of the intelligence network, ensuring that all information flowed through her. Devious. I had to respect it.
"A perfect division of labor," I agreed. "We will be the unseen daggers that carve up this empire from the inside out."
"I look forward to it, Kaelen," she said, using my first name with a newfound intimacy that was both a promise and a threat.
We parted ways, two System users, two cosmic players, now bound in a partnership of pure, unadulterated treachery. She thought she was the one in control, the experienced native manipulating the upstart prince. She had no idea that I knew her two greatest secrets.
As I walked back towards the palace, I re-evaluated my entire strategy. My enemies list had been re-ordered.
Seraphina Vane (and by extension, the Court of Inevitability): The greatest, most subtle threat. The true puppet master. My new "partner." She was to be kept close, fed a mixture of truth and lies, and used as a tool to dismantle the others until I was strong enough to deal with her directly.Lyra Ravencrest: The immediate, active threat. Her homicidal intent made her dangerous and unpredictable. She needed to be suppressed, isolated, and eventually, broken. Her regression was a powerful tool, but it was limited by the scope of her single, previous life.Lin Feng: The weapon. The World-Breaker. He was currently the least threatening, a leashed dog in my dungeon. But he was also the key. His power, his destiny, his very blood held the secrets to this entire affair.
My priority was clear. I needed to extract every last drop of information from Lin Feng before Lyra or Seraphina could make a move to free him.
I didn't return to my chambers. I descended once more into the darkness, to the Black Cells.
The two guards snapped to attention. "Your Highness."
"I am not to be disturbed for any reason," I commanded. "No matter what you hear."
They bowed. I entered the cell, the heavy iron door booming shut behind me, plunging us into absolute darkness and silence.
I let a small ball of Qi ignite in my palm, casting a faint, flickering glow. Lin Feng was still chained to the wall. He looked up, his eyes filled with a mixture of defiance and a sliver of fear.
"Have you come to kill me, brother?" he spat, the word dripping with venom.
"Kill you?" I chuckled, the sound echoing unnaturally in the small space. "Oh, no. Death is a release. A gift. You haven't earned it yet."
I walked over to him, my shadow looming large on the stone wall. "I am going to dissect you. Piece by piece. I'm going to learn every secret your pathetic soul has to offer. I'm going to find the source of your 'cheat', and then I am going to take it for myself."
"You're insane!" he snarled, rattling his chains.
"I'm a scientist," I corrected him calmly. I pulled up the system interface, the blue light illuminating my face in the dark. I reviewed the preliminary results of the blood analysis. His genetics, his abnormal Qi density, his latent connection to the Netherworld.
But to truly understand him, I needed more than a blood sample. I needed to see his soul. I needed to see his System.
I opened the System Store. My remaining balance was just over 5,000 SP. It was time to spend it.
I navigated to the 'Forbidden Skills' section, a tab that was only unlocked after I had devoured the Imp.
[Skill: 'Soul-Peel' (Lesser)] - Cost: 4,000 SP
Description: A forbidden Netherworld interrogation technique. Allows the user to physically manifest and peel away the outer layers of a target's spiritual defenses, exposing their core soul and memories. Extremely painful for the target. High chance of causing permanent soul damage, insanity, or memory loss.
Warning: Use of this skill will accumulate negative karma.
Negative karma be damned. I thought. I was already the villain.
"Purchase," I commanded.
...4,000 SP DEDUCTED. [SOUL-PEEL (LESSER)] HAS BEEN ACQUIRED.
A wave of cold, cruel knowledge flowed into my mind. The intricacies of the technique, the precise way to apply my Qi to another's spirit, the incantations to strip away a man's very identity.
I looked at Lin Feng, who was watching me with a wary, confused expression, unable to see the system screen.
"Let's begin the experiment," I said, my smile devoid of all warmth.
I placed my hand on his forehead.
He flinched. "Get your hands off me!"
"[Soul-Peel]," I whispered.
My fingers began to glow with a faint, sickly black light.
Lin Feng's eyes went wide. His arrogant defiance shattered, replaced by a look of pure, primal terror. It wasn't a physical pain. It was something far deeper, far more intimate.
He began to scream. A raw, ragged, soul-tearing sound that echoed in the small cell, a sound the guards outside had been ordered to ignore. He was feeling his very essence, the armor of his consciousness, being flayed away layer by layer.
And through the connection, I began to see. Glimpses of his past. A different world. A truck. A sudden flash of light. A meeting with a shadowy figure—the Shadow Lord—in a void between worlds. A contract. A system, but not like mine. His was a crude, brutalist thing, all sharp edges and blood-red text, focused solely on combat and domination.
I was seeing the birth of the World-Breaker. I was looking directly into the source code of my enemy.
But just as I was about to peel back the final layer and expose the core of his power, a hidden, dormant protocol within his soul flared to life. It was a defensive measure, a last resort planted there by the Shadow Lord.
A massive wave of pure, chaotic, demonic energy erupted from him, aimed directly at my soul. It was a psychic kamikaze attack.
My [Mind's Eye] skill flared, trying to defend me, but it was like trying to stop a tidal wave with a wooden shield.
Just as the wave was about to hit and annihilate my consciousness, a new, completely unexpected force intervened.
The dormant trace of the Judicator—the one that my system had detected inside Seraphina—suddenly appeared in my mind. Not the full being, but an echo, a whisper of her authority. It had been transferred to me during our handshake, a tracking marker she had planted on me.
The echo of the Judicator's power met the Shadow Lord's soul-trap head-on. It didn't fight it. It judged it.
A new screen appeared in my vision, the text a severe, judicial amethyst.
[COSMIC LAW VIOLATION DETECTED.]
[Entity 'The Shadow Lord' has deployed a soul-destroying trap, a Class-3 Forbidden Art, against a participant in a sanctioned 'Wager of Realms'.]
[THIS IS A BREACH OF CONTRACT.]
[PENALTY WILL BE EXACTED.]
[The Protagonist's 'System' has been found to be in violation of the Wager's terms ('No Cosmic Interference').]
[JUDGEMENT: The Protagonist's 'System' is hereby temporarily sealed.]
[Duration of Seal: Until the debt holder, Kaelen Ravencrest, deems it fit to be unlocked.]