As the serpent advanced toward the center of the island, Samael drifted into thought.
Once they left this place… many things would change.
He planned to work for the government. That meant being busy. Extremely busy.
Strangely enough, that didn't seem like a bad thing.
Constant work left less room to think.
Less room to remember.
Even so, his thoughts eventually followed a familiar path.
Sunny.
If his memory didn't fail him, Sunny had spent nearly an entire year on the Forgotten Shore. And there was only one Winter Solstice each year.
Sunny had been inside the capsule for quite some time now.
Which meant…
He should be close to coming out.
— He came out around the Winter Solstice… — Samael thought. — There were even those flowers for Nephis back at the academy…
The memory surfaced with unexpected clarity.
If his calculations were correct, then in a few months…
— Mongrel will be born.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
He already knew what he wanted to do.
There was that "game."
A kind of arena where Awakened could fight without the real risk of death or severe injury. Samael didn't remember all the details, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was Sunny.
Sunny was still mastering the Shadow Dance.
And he had only started sword training relatively recently.
It was the only possible window.
The only real chance.
— I want to see how far behind I am compared to you… — Samael thought.
Just imagining it made his heart race.
Defeating Sunny.
Defeating the Lord of Shadows.
The Sovereign of Death.
Even if it were one of his weakest versions…
It would be spectacular.
Perhaps it was the only version Samael could ever defeat.
While he daydreamed about that unlikely confrontation, Elizabeth was lost in her own thoughts.
— How are we supposed to find other members for our court…?
She sighed inwardly.
Neither she nor Samael was good at socializing.
In fact, both of them were terrible at it.
Forming a functional court was already difficult.
Forming a good one was a nightmare.
— At least, in the government, we'll have more chances to find decent candidates…
She analyzed the situation coldly.
They urgently needed someone with a combat-oriented Aspect.
Both she and Samael were, at their core, support types.
And besides…
— It also has to be someone who can actually coexist with us.
Elizabeth was painfully aware of that.
She and Samael had difficult personalities.
Incompatible with most people.
One wrong choice could destroy the group before it was even born.
Just thinking about it gave her the beginnings of a headache.
The serpent kept moving forward.
Carrying two Awakened lost in different thoughts…
Yet inevitably walking toward the same future.
Elisa continued onward.
Then, they saw them.
Henry.
Summer.
Kevin.
The three of them stood ahead, partially blocking the path.
Summer was still clinging to Henry almost frantically, while he paced back and forth, visibly anxious.
But the most disturbing one…
Was Kevin.
He was smiling.
A smile far too wide.
Around him, two humans and three Man-Eating Serpents stood motionless—obedient.
All under his control.
That was wrong.
The moment their gazes met, a strange sensation passed through them.
Samael felt the mild warmth of Elizabeth's soul tremble for a brief instant.
Elizabeth, in turn, felt Samael's alien cold fluctuate.
Both of them realized the same thing.
Mental influence.
It was a long-term effect—requiring hours of exposure to fully take hold.
And worst of all…
It wasn't directly perceptible.
They couldn't feel the influence acting on themselves.
But they could feel it on each other.
Thanks to the Bonded Armors.
— Elizabeth! — Henry shouted, his voice thick with rage.
On the day they had separated, he already looked worn down.
Now…
He was worse.
Kevin had eroded him.
— Where were you?! — Henry roared, demanding an answer as if she belonged to him.
— What did that miserable perverted freak do to you?! — he bellowed, as the influence amplified his jealousy and pride.
Elizabeth didn't even look at him.
She ignored him completely.
Arguing with someone under mental influence was pointless.
— What now? — Samael murmured.
He already knew the answer.
He just didn't want to bear the weight of that decision alone.
— If they get in our way… we kill them — Elizabeth replied.
Her voice was cold.
Even so, Samael sensed something beneath it.
She didn't want this.
Elizabeth didn't like killing humans.
But she wouldn't hesitate.
Even if she despised the necessity.
Samael felt a sting of admiration.
And, at the same time, envy.
He didn't possess that conviction.
The moment she spoke of killing them, his stomach tightened.
Nausea rose up his throat.
He realized it then.
The part of him that was Ethan rejected this.
Earth's mindset still clung to him—and shedding it wasn't easy.
If it were only Samael…
There would be no hesitation at all.
He had been trained to kill from an early age.
And in this world, even ordinary people committed murder far more easily than on Earth.
Peace had died a long time ago.
But Ethan still remembered it.
And that hurt.