Life and its unexpected surprises never end.

I couldn’t help but think that as I saw a man paler than bones, with crimson eyes and hair, and a face that looked even more delicate than a woman’s, kneeling in front of me.

At first glance, he looked like one of those traps, you know, men who look like women. Hell, even I was fooled at first, until I noticed his flat chest beneath those robes.

Well, he could still be a flat-chested woman but yeah, chances were low and that wasn’t important right now.

What was important was, who the hell was this guy...?

The moment I saw Lyra moving behind me to knock me out, I knew something was wrong. So instead of resisting, which I definitely had no chance of doing, I sent my consciousness into my domain at the last moment.

Only after I reached the domain did I understand what was happening, because this bastard entered it soon after.

At first, I thought maybe Lyra suspected me of seeing this ghost bastard, maybe she even thought I was possessed by someone and sent him to check my soul... but as he got closer to my Card of Arcana, his true form started revealing itself. Only then did I realize, this bastard was just a scammer and not the ancestor of Ashborn.

I called him into my domain because I was basically like a god in here especially since I had ranked up to D-Rank. I could now create material things out of thin air, as long as it was within the domain.

So, I decided to ask this bastard some questions here. Hell, I even made a throne of flames and held a book in my hand to seem intimidating but what I hadn’t expected... was this fucking scammer dropping to his knees immediately and calling me his master.

I mean, seriously... What the hell was that about?

"Who are you...?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral. "And why do you refer to me as Master?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

I was deliberately using grand language.

The man’s body trembled violently as he burst into tears. "Oh, my master, my dear master... How could you be so cruel? How could you not even remember me...? Your most loyal pet...?"

"What the fuck now...?"

I accidentally blurted out.

But the man, as unhinged as before, raised his crimson eyes.

"Is it because I wear clothes now...? Is that why you do not recognize me, Master...? Is my true form hidden too deep beneath the surface for you to recognize?"

His voice trembled even more than his body.

"Should I strip down to my true form...? Only then will you remember me?"

He grabbed his robes tightly, his jaw clenched as he started moving.

"Hey, wait, you basta—"

I was about to curse him for being some pervert into nudism and pet play, but instead of what I expected, a golden light engulfed his entire body and before I could even complete my sentence, his form shrank rapidly and in the next moment, a small snake appeared where he had been.

Its body was completely white, while its eyes were a serpentine red. It floated calmly in the air as a voice echoed from it once again.

"Do you recognize me now, my master?" The snake said. "I, your most loyal pet, Naga, have been waiting for your arrival for millions of years."

Ohh... so it wasn’t human and it was talking about its true form when it mentioned stripping.

I noted that in my mind.

Honestly, I had already suspected it to be related to Trickster when it first called me Master, but now I was even more sure.

Still, I wanted to be sure.

"Calm down, Naga." I called it by its name and it trembled even more in reverence. "First of all, explain everything to me clearly and who do you think I am...?"

The snake kept floating in the air for a few moments before it began.

"I am Naga, one of your loyal pets and you, my master, are ▒▒▒▒▒, the first true successor of the Supreme Trickster."

My mind started buzzing the moment I heard his words.

The Heavenly Principles had censored a name, I could hear it, but I couldn’t process it.

What the hell is happening...?

The headache kept worsening as the snake continued speaking. It shouldn’t have been possible since I was in my domain but the pain didn’t stop.

That meant it wasn’t interference from some other God, it was a restriction from the Heavenly Principles themselves or maybe a restriction set in my being.

"S... stop," I muttered, cutting him off before he could say anything more.

My vision blurred, everything around me was spinning rapidly. My body felt weak, far weaker than when Vael’runn had injured me back in the Treasury as I fell to my knees.

I knew I wasn’t dying, it was more like my brain was overloaded with stuff it couldn’t process all of a sudden.

"Hey, Rael... what’s happening...?"

I heard a familiar voice, Ra, who was supposed to be slumbering as his face appeared in my vision. Seeing him present, I finally let myself collapse as darkness claimed my vision.

—

When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in my domain anymore. Instead, I was floating above a massive river in an abstract space.

Something immense and powerful could be felt from beneath the river.

My mind still ached faintly.

But before I could understand anything, an impossibly vast and ancient voice echoed.

"An amusing guest has visited..."

The voice was completely neutral, devoid of any emotion.

"Where am I...?"

I asked, my voice barely audible over the sound of rushing streams.

There was silence for a few seconds.

I thought maybe whatever was beneath the river hadn’t heard me, so I was about to speak again but before I could, the voice echoed once more.

"It is not the destined time yet."

This time, along with the voice, came a powerful gust of wind, throwing me back like a ragdoll but before I could crash into anything, my body simply dispersed from the space and I was back in my domain, my breathing rough.

I looked around as I saw Ra floating just above my body, while in the air, a snake was suspended within a greenish cage.

But I didn’t care about any of that because I only had one question.

What the hell was that...?