Now, he felt like he was looking at a King that was nothing but a deep abyss, and if he got closer to this abyss, he would be swallowed whole.

'Just what is this feeling. I never felt this way,' The Vampire King thought as he frowned.

High Dukes were feeling the same way. High Duke Oris didn't delay any further as he took the impersonator with him. High Duke Mila, High Duke Eston, and Rale were left behind, who just looked at Ryder, sitting on the throne like a real ruler.

"You! Tell me! Was there any other impersonator or spy?" Ryder asked Maon in a grim tone.

Even Mao was sweating as he lived in Ryder's eyes. He had forgotten the pain of the Vampire Venom; all he could remember were the devilish eyes.

"N-no. We only had one spy! You already caught him," Mao replied.

"Good. Last question. Did the Bloodline Prince and the Death Envoys know about Elisia's plans?" Ryder asked again.

"No. Princess Elisia kept it a secret from them. They weren't told anything," Mao answered as if he was answering his master.

Ryder stood up as he nodded his head.

He walked towards Mao.

"I-i answered. Can I go?" Mao asked Ryder with a hopeful gaze.

Ryder stopped before Mao as he brought the Moon Scythe out of his Storage.

"You can go. You are of no use to me anymore. I punish you to death!' Ryder let out as he slashed his Moon Scythe, cutting the neck of Mao.

*****

In a faraway place, a man was sitting on the throne. It was a world with a blue sun. The trees were red instead of green, and the people could fly.

The man was sitting in a beautiful golden palace.

He was wearing a golden Armor. There was a red cloak behind his back. He sat on a beautiful throne, listening to two people talking before him, when he suddenly felt something strange. He had long red hair.

He hurriedly stood up as he looked towards the sky.

"Was that my misconception? Why did I feel the same energy as that person? It's impossible. He should be dead. We all killed him together! There's no way I can feel that man's aura. Was this really my misconception?" The man muttered as he frowned.

"Uh, Flame Lord? Did something happen?" the people that were standing before him asked the red-haired man in concern.

"Ah, nothing. I just remembered an old friend... an old friend who is dead. I must be missing him," the red-haired man muttered as he shook his head and sat down on the throne again.

****

Ryder slashed his Moon Scythe and cut the neck of the Mao. Mao's head was separated from his body, and fell down on the ground.

...

One after another, level up notification started resounding in Ryder's ears as he killed Mao.

Generally, he would have been happy, but at that moment, his mind was not normal. It was as if his mind was taken over in anger. He didn't care about it.

Ryder looked at the notification, but he didn't care about it. It was as if he was detached from the game.

He ignored the notification and walked back to the throne. The notification was still in his notification panel to upgrade in the future if he ever wished to select yes in the future. There was no timer for acceptance.

As Ryder killed Mao so suddenly, no one could do anything. They all felt strange, though. Since when was Ryder so ruthless? Vampire King hadn't known Ryder for a long time, but from the time he interacted with Ryder, he had a completely different perception of Ryder than what he was seeing at the moment.

High Duke Mila and High Duke Eston also looked at Ryder in shock. Today, they were getting shocks one after another, and it all happened after Ryder heard the news about the potential death of Devilia. It was as if the news of the death of someone close to him had woken up something inside him. It had woken up a small ruthless side in Ryder's heart. That's what they felt like.

They even wondered if Ryder had ever gone through the trauma of losing someone before, which was deeply buried in his memories, and it was suddenly brought up by the news of Ryder's death.

Watched the dead body of Mao with an expressionless face.

"I won't let anyone kill me," he muttered as he walked back to the throne.

Ryder sat again on the throne.

"All of you. Sit down. We are done here," Ryder muttered softly as he closed his eyes, but the intimidating aura around him didn't disappear.

While Ryder had his eyes closed, Janus' voice responded in his ears.

Ryder didn't reply to Janus. He opened his eyes again, and time seemed to have stopped. It seemed as if the High Dukes and the others present in this room were paused in time.

" Janus, Why are you here? I told you not to interfere with whatever happens after that moment, didn't I? You dare disobey me?" Ryder muttered in a grim tone.

Janus asked in a shocked tone.

"I never forgot anything. I always remembered. How can I forget you, little guy," Ryder muttered as he smiled.

Janus inquired again as if he was having difficulty believing anything that was happening.

"I'm back, but not for long. I feel like I will forget everything soon. This is not the time for me to appear. I don't understand how this incarnation of mine managed to wake me up, but it's only temporary. This body is not strong enough for my memories yet. I can only stay here for a few more minutes at maximum before I'll disappear again. If I stay longer, he'll die," Ryder let out as he sighed.

He looked into the distant horizon as if he was able to see the history of the universe.

Janus told Ryder like an excited boy that was talking to an elder.

"You little kid, You didn't need to do anything. Do you have any idea what will happen if Father knows what you're doing? Don't take the risk. Let it happen at its own pace. It would be fine. The right time will come. I will get back everything that was taken from me," Ryder let out softly as he closed his eyes again.

"Her? Oh, right. Her name is Alice, isn't it? I can see many more people in the memories. Hah, they all came here as well. Those idiots. You're all idiots," Ryder muttered as he smiled.

" It's fine. Everything will happen at its own pace," Ryder muttered as he glanced at the bracelet on his wrist.

" I'm reaching the limits. I can only stay here for a minute before this body starts destroying itself. Even the Bracelet of Immortality won't be able to heal it then," Ryder muttered as he sighed.

"It is really good to talk to you again, little brother," Ryder let out as he smiled.

Ryder was about to reply when the door of the Great Hall opened.

High Duke Oris entered the Great Hall with Devilia and the Impersonator Lu that had returned to his real body.

"I still have a few seconds. Might as well use them to do something," Ryder muttered as he stood up.

High Dukes and the Vampire King were paused in time. They started moving once again.

High Duke Oris placed Devilia on the ground and threw Lu down.

Ryder walked towards Lu with his Moon Scythe in his hand.

"You dared to harm her and put her in your schemes? Anyone who dared to think about harming people close to me deserves death! Die for me?" Ryder let out as he slashed with his Moon Scythe, cutting the head of Death Warrior Lu.

A notification resounded in Ryder's ears, but he ignored it.

As Ryder killed for the first time before High Duke Oris and Devilia, they were taken aback in shock. The others had already seen Ryder kill Mao before, but even they were shocked to see how easily Ryder killed Mao again.

"Thirty Seconds left. Might as well do something good for the little guy," Ryder muttered as he walked towards Devilia.