It seemed like Moriarty wanted to kidnap the Queen, but that alone wasn’t the full picture. The more I listened and pieced things together, the more it became obvious that this was something far more calculated. He wasn’t just trying to take her. He wanted to shape a narrative as well as to push the idea that the Queen herself should carry the entire burden for the instability spreading throughout the kingdom.

The way it was being set up made it almost disgusting in how clean it looked. Everything pointed toward her becoming the perfect scapegoat. Someone to blame when people demanded answers. Someone to throw in front of the public so they could say, this is the reason everything went wrong.

And once that image settled in, once people started believing it without question, they would execute her in front of everyone. A public spectacle. A clean ending. A false sense of justice.

Julius even had the audacity to call it justice.

That part almost made me laugh, if it wasn’t so irritating.

Fortunately, the person sitting in the castle right now wasn’t the real Queen. It was just an automaton that was something that I carefully crafted to take her place. A decoy. A shield. Something that could be sacrificed if things went wrong.

The real Queen was somewhere else entirely. Hidden under the Leonamon, far from the immediate danger. As things stood, she should still be safe there. At least, that was the assumption I was holding onto.

"Well then, I suppose we should find a way to get the Queen out of her castle," Moriarty said, sounding almost casual about it. "With Portal Maker, reaching the location should not be an issue. The only thing we must be mindful of is the presence of the anomaly. If we proceed without a proper plan, there is a chance we may fail to secure her safely. I would assume that he has already taken precautions regarding this matter."

He was right about the precautions. I had already considered that much.

What caught me off guard was the way he spoke. It wasn’t just confidence. It sounded like familiarity. Like he already knew what I would do before I even did it. That kind of tone wasn’t something you just picked up randomly.

That thought alone sent a small chill down my spine.

It made me wonder if there was someone watching me this entire time. Someone I didn’t even know existed. Not exactly a comforting idea.

"Why can’t we just go there and do it?" the Prince said, sounding impatient.

The ritual had already been completed. That part was obvious just from looking at him.

They had turned him into a Great Red, just as expected. That confirmed my earlier assumption without leaving any room for doubt.

That single fact explained everything about his attitude.

He looked confident. More than that, he looked certain. Like he genuinely believed he could take me down without much trouble.

And honestly, that confidence wasn’t baseless. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

If anything, it was justified.

To be completely honest with myself, he could probably defeat me right now.

Even thinking about it sent a faint chill crawling up my spine. It wasn’t fear exactly, but it was close enough to make me take it seriously. He had grown far stronger than before, to the point where ignoring it would just be stupid.

For the first time in a while, I found myself questioning whether I could actually win.

At least not like this.

That realization alone was enough to shift my mindset. This wasn’t going to be a simple fight. It wasn’t something I could just breeze through with confidence and a bit of luck.

This was something I had to treat seriously.

His power had increased tenfold compared to before. That wasn’t a small jump. That was the kind of difference that turned a manageable opponent into a real problem.

Winning against him like this would be difficult.

Which meant one thing.

I might need help.

***

I opened my eyes and found myself in a place that felt... strange.

Calling it strange didn’t fully capture it though. There was something oddly familiar about it too. Like walking into a place you hadn’t visited in a long time, yet still remembering exactly how it felt.

This was the space where I would meet the one who created the body I now inhabited.

The one who resided within it.

The one waiting for the day she would return.

The Great Black, Lilith. One of the Great Ones responsible for the creation of this world.

"Thou seemest rather weary, mine dear boy," she said.

Her voice carried a soft, almost teasing tone.

She was lying on a bed shaped like a heart, her form that of a young woman. Twin tails framed her face as she lazily held something in her hand, her posture completely relaxed like she didn’t have a single concern in existence.

A smartphone.

Seeing that in a place like this felt ridiculous. Out of all the strange things I had seen, that might have been one of the most out of place. Then again, this entire space existed within me, so trying to apply logic here felt like a waste of time.

At this point, the bed itself was already strange enough. The phone just added to it.

"Thou hast been quite occupied with curious endeavors of late," she continued, a faint smile forming on her lips. "I had not expected to find such amusement in thy actions, yet here I am. Verily, I am entertained. Deeply so."

The smartphone in her hand vanished without any warning, as if it had never been there.

"Why am I here?" I asked, keeping my tone steady.

"Art thou not in search of aid?" Lilith replied, tilting her head slightly. "If such be the case, then I am willing to grant thee mine assistance."

"I don’t really need your help," I said. "If I set up a proper trap for Julius, everything should still fall into place."

"Art thou truly certain of that?" she asked, her smile shifting into something more knowing. "Thou dost not yet comprehend the true extent of our might, we who are called the Great Ones. Though thou possesseth power enough to lay waste to all who stand before thee, even that individual whom thou observest now, such strength alone shall not avail thee against beings such as us."

Her gaze lingered on me.

"Thou mayest indeed defeat him," she continued, her voice soft yet firm, "yet such a victory would not come without cost. The world about thee would crumble alongside him. Tell me, dear boy..."

She paused just long enough for the weight of her words to settle.

"Art thou prepared to bear the ruin that would follow?"