James glanced at his shadow clone before stopping him. "Don't change the plans of my current crusade out there," he said in a serious tone, "and don't flirt with my women!"

"C'mon, he is you, not someone else," the sound laughed before adding, "he has all your memories, wisdom, and of course arrogance."

"I'm not arrogant!"

"Yes, you aren't," the sound laughed before adding, "go now, we don't need to make that witch suspicious."

The clone nodded to James before vanishing from the world. "Sigh, I didn't know such a thing existed," he muttered.

"You don't know a lot," the voice said before adding, "for example, you don't know about the academies outside this universe, and now you're pumped into two at the moment."

"Tsk, don't tell me about it," he sighed as he went towards a pile of stones he used to sit there whenever he came here. "But at least one of us knows what's going on here, right?" he laughed while the sound said:

"It's not that funny if you knew the truth."

"Which is?" James wasn't that shocked after hearing her words, after all he prepared himself for the worse.

"One is from a light academy and one is from the dark academy," she said.

"I know that already," James nodded while adding, "tell me what I don't."

"Like both are bad choices for you to make," she finally said something new, "the dark academy is bad, and the light one is even worse."

"Why is that?" he muttered, "I hate the dark side, but at least isn't the light side better?" he added.

"You are wrong," she said, before explaining, "the light academy that reached out to you isn't the best out there. In fact as far as my knowledge goes, this academy is infamous for their dirty acts," she then paused before adding:

"For example it's a wide known rule not to meddle with people like you before they finish their trials. Coming near you is considered a shame act, and even trying to recruit and force you to join one academy than the other is much worse."

"Wow, never knew there were such rules," he exclaimed in surprise, "but as long as there are rules, there must be consequences for breaking them, right?" he asked.

"Not really," she answered before adding, "these rules are friendly ones, with only a side effect would be the bad reputation the academy doing this would have. Of course for already infamous academies, this is considered nothing."

"Tsk, such loose rules in a harsh world; who would listen to these anyway like this?"

"Don't underestimate the power of reputation," the sound replied, "besides you aren't in any bad situation either," she added.

"How come? I was almost killed and my own women and empire are threatened by the same fate right now," he shook his head in regret, "if only I was stronger!"

"This isn't considered bad, as you already know the way to unlock the cursed parasite used by that witch," the sound said before adding, "and you guessed the answer to this dilemma correctly; by getting stronger you won't stop by anything in this universe."

"But I'm weak!" he argued.

"You are getting stronger everyday, and what you are doing with your harem is the best thing you can do right now."

"I have no time to get strong enough to save everyone," he shook his head.

"You don't get it, don't you?" she said in a deep tone before adding, "being victorious at the tournament is considered as saving everyone here."

"Really?" he smirked as he didn't believe in what she just said. "With me being harassed by two I can't even touch?" he added.

"Don't worry yourself about these," she said before explaining, "the two might look scary, but when you gain the recognition of the universe and win the tournament, nothing inside this universe will hold you back anymore."

"Meaning?" he demanded, "will I be able to remove this curse from everyone then?" he asked his most pressing issue.

"Sure, you'll be able to do that and much more."

"How?" he asked, "Will I gain a new ability? Develop something to control everyone here?"

"No, you'll only do one simple thing," she said and paused.

"Which is?"

"To kill the witch."

"What?!!!" he was shocked that he even stood up from the pile of rocks he was sitting upon. "I… you can't be serious!" he stuttered before shouting at her.

"I'm dead serious," she added, "when time comes, you'll know you'll be able to do even more than that."

He tried to calm himself and took a couple of moments to do so before returning to sit over his seat. "You are dooming me," he shook his head in disapproval to what she just said. "By the time I do that, all my women and people will be long dead."

"Wrong," she said, before explaining, "you won't lose anyone."

"How come? They are all already infected!"

The voice sighed before saying: "She can't reap any soul before reaping the main soul."

The eyes of James' shone and this time he felt little hope finally. "Do you mean…?" he paused as his mind was now exploding with one possibility.

"Sure, you are free from her curse, and as long as you are like this; she won't be able to touch a single hair of your beloved girls and people."

"I love that plan," he finally laughed, releasing all the stress he already piled deep inside him, "I like you."

"Hehehe, I know," and she laughed with him. "Now, as your concerns were cleared, you need to be ready to face your next opponent."

"Wait," he stopped her, "what about that man?"

"The one of the light academy?" she asked.

"Sure, no one but him," he nodded, "can I kill him as well?"

"Yup, but that one is a little sneaky," she said, "I believe he left already the universe, fearing you."

James paused for a moment while thinking about that man again. "I also had the same belief," he nodded, "but what about that pill? I'm sure it's not only to sever the spying link of the witch!"

"You are right, it's not for that," she said before adding, "it's a simple tracking pill."

"Tracking? Me?"

"Yes, he wanted to know your location all the time," she replied.

"Stragne," he muttered, "isn't he able to find me anytime he wants?" he asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Sure, provided that he is still inside the universe," she said and her words made James understand everything.

"You don't mean… he is this coward!!" he was so surprised by this.

"He is much more cowardly than you think he is," she laughed, "he is afraid to even touch the universe again, so he just used this pill to keep track of your location from outside."

"What for?" James asked, "he couldn't do this for nothing, right?"

"He wants to know your fate first before deciding what to do," the sound said.

"Meaning to be eaten by the witch or victorious in the tournament, right?" he bitterly smiled before adding, "why is everyone thinking so low of me? Sigh! That's frustrating!!"

"You are weak, and you already know it," the sound said.

"I promise to make him disappointed," he laughed before adding, "but if I lost and turned into a meal for that witch, what is there for him to track me then?"

"He will be able to track the witch," she said before explaining, "the witch uses a difficult technique to protect herself and stay away from any trouble. He would try his best to find her with other means and still fails. Only this way he will be one hundred percent sure of getting her."

"Wow," James opened his mouth in disbelief, "I turned from a meal to a decoy, just amazing!"

"Hehehe, who made you such a weak one?" she laughed while adding, "are you enough of your questions now? Shall I invite our next prey?"

"Hehehe, sure, send him in, I have some anger inside to vent after all."

"Hahaha, then I will choose someone stronger for you this time."

"they are all weak, tsk," he shook his head while adding, "and they only had one queen."

"It's a great milestone to have one queen, y'know."

"Tsk, but it's taking more time," he sighed, "can't you summon two in a row? Or one each day?"

"My current energy can't allow me to do that," she said in a deep sad tone, "I need more to die on your hands for me to evolve."

This answer made James realize something. All this time he kept killing whoever she sent here, and he emptied all their stocks of artifacts and queens, yet the bodies remained here.

And these bodies went missing every time he visited again. "Scary," he muttered to himself, "she is feeding on dead bodies, scary!"

"Are you ready?" she asked again.

"Sure, send it my way, and let's grow stronger together," he laughed, as this scary girl was now on his side, so he was very excited by her scariness.