(S) “… the All-Seeing?”

(Ad) “Really? That’s the one you picked up?”

(Al) “What’s the matter? You have a shitty name, so what?”

(Ad) "You didn't meet Eve? Damn, I thought you would have at this point… Well, sometimes it's hard to differentiate the present from the future."

(S) “The future?”

(Ad) “I told you, this is a recording, I’m not actually conversing with you, but because I know everything that has happen and that will happen, I can do something like talking with you with a recorded message. Stupid say wow!”

(S) “Wow…”

(Ad) “Hahaha!”

(Al) “You know what, I’ll just crush this thing.”

(Ad) “Nononono, not yet. I have a message for you two.”

(S) “A message? Okay, stop. I need to sum up the situation. This is not you, but a tape you recorded and let in the open, so that you could ‘talk’ to us. To deliver a message…”

(Ad) “That’s pretty much it. As expected of my main character, you catch up fast.”

(S) “But why? Wouldn’t it be easier to just… come yourself?”

(Ad) "As you know, or at least should know, the flow of event cannot be changed. What is supposed to happen will happen, no matter what. Also, it's more practical that way, I am… I will be busy right now, whatever that means."

(S) “…doing what?”

(Ad) “Hehe, it’s a secret, but to be fair, it does relate to you..”

(S) “…”

(Ad) “Well, I might as well say what I’m here for before your aspiring waifu crushes me.”

(Al) “Soon to be what?”

(Ad) “First, you. Sam, it’s not because they are guides that they know much more than you. They are especially ignorant of the way classes and virtue works, if you want to get back your foresight, you’ll have to find back to your true self. You are currently going in the wrong direction.”

(S) “What are you… how…”

(Ad) “And you, Scarlet White… don’t be too hard on yourself. It won’t be your fault.”

(Al) “What the fuck are you talking about?”

(Ad) “And… that’s all. Oh, no, one more thing, don’t give the relic to Ogre. Get it to him, but don’t give it, you’ll understand in due time. Or not. Just… trust me on this.”

(Al) “Why should I trust a little piece of shit?”

(Ad) “Because I’m so smart and handsome, wink wink.”

(Al) “…”

(S) “…”

(Al) “I’m gonna destroy you.”

(Ad) “Sigh… you have no sense of humour. That’s why I never liked you from the start. Team Laura for ev…” CRASH!!

She didn’t even let him finish. Well, it was probably for the best, I think. He was starting to give me one hell of a headache.

Damn… that was weird. I’m mean, more than usual.

I tried to use ‘Inspection’ on him, but it didn’t show anything other than a small box filled with question marks. Sam for the scroll projecting the hologram…

I think he told the truth, I had this weird feeling that whatever I could do or say, it wouldn’t have surprised him. As if he knew everything. Yeah… it actually felt like he was using the very power I lost, but different… way more powerful than anything I could pull up. Or at the very least he is a better actor than me.

“Sam…?”

“Oh… sorry… that, that was weird.”

“Yeah. I don’t really know what to think about it.”

"Me neither… he did mention Eve, so… he might be someone really important."

“Who is Eve?”

“Hum… I, I don’t really know, she -hum hum- appeared in one of my vision, well, more or less. I asked Val about it, and she told me that she’s basically a goddess. With omnipotent powers and things like that.”

“Wow, if that bitch said it, then it’s surely the real deal.”

“Yeah, and this Adam is even more… mysterious, I wonder if she also knows about him.”

I took out my book to send a message.

The last line of our conversation is a nice ‘Fuck you’ from my end. I am a bit reluctant to the idea of restarting the conversation, but this is important enough, I hope.

“This adventure is making me crazy. I wish someone would just come and explain everything to us, like, normally, not with some weird riddles or challenges to overcome.”

“You did crush him before he could do that.”

“He was annoying!”

“Haha, can’t argue with that.”

“Say… Sam, about earlier.”

The instant I thought that the atmosphere was lightening a bit, Alice summoned her serious ton, once again.

Of course, I almost forgot but… our conversation from before wasn’t finished

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that about Naomi, and… you’re right… I can’t rely on you forever. It might actually be for the best if I go away for a time.”

“Alice… You don’t have to force yourself, you know… if you need time, we can postpone this Struggle for some days. Like he said, we get the relic but we don’t give it to him, and we wait until we’re ready.”

“No, I told you, I’m fine, I’m not forcing myself or anything.”

“Come one, we both know you hate Nami. And that you don’t regret for a second that you called her a bitch.”

“…”

“Sigh… you said you love me, over and over. And I know we’re not real siblings…”

“What? You knew all along?”

“Of course, I’m not that stupid. I just… love you, as a sister. And I love Nami as… well, as the woman of my life.”

“…”

Okay… it's probably not the best time to say that… I hope I didn't make everything worse, but it's not like I can lie to her - firstly because my conscience wouldn't allow me, and secondly because she would instantly know anyway.

“You really love her…”

“Yeah…”

“But you love me too…”

“Ye… what?”

“It’s not like I have no chance at all.”

“Well…”

“Yes! That’s it! I just have to try harder!”

“Are you listening to…?”

“It’s not like I tried that hard until now anyway.”

And I lost her in an interminable monologue, in which she started planning how she will - supposedly - make me fall for her. I always knew she was an adept of reverse psychology, but I never thought she would react so fast.

“Prepare yourself! ‘Brother’, your heart is my new target, and there’ll be no escape!”

“I… Do I have a choice?”

“Sure. But are you really willing to go against your beloved little sister?⎾Kitten Eyes⏌”

“O-okay, you’ve won.(fucking eyes) Do you feel better now?”

“Yes!”

“Can we move on then? We have stopped for a while.”

“I don’t know…”

“What?”

“Can you tell me what happened to your foresight?”

“Oh… hehe. About that…”

Fuck! She didn’t forget. Well, of course she didn’t, who am I kidding… screw you, Adam!

“When were you planning to tell me?”

“…soon?”

“That’s a lie.”

I am so fucked.

“Guys! Emergency meeting!”

While everyone was busy looking at their respective pupil, one person disturbed the relative calm offered by the surveillance room.

The shout caught everyone’s attention easily. First, because it was rare for one of them to scream like that, and second because it was Valentine, who barely attempt meetings, let alone calling for one.

“What is happening? Did Sam died?”

“Fuck you Will, I said emergency MEETINGS, sit down and wait for the others.”

"Sigh... I wonder why you're still single."

“We both know you use me as fap material so shut the fuck up.”

Willam’s face instantly went red from embarrassment. At this very moment, he thanked the gods that the others weren’t there yet, but at the same time, a question crossed his mind…

‘How does she know?’

After a few more minutes, everyone finally gathered up around Valentine’s desk, visibly annoyed for most of them.

“Okay, thanks for you to come on such a short notice.”

“Wow, Val is being polite, the worlds is going to end!”

“Shut the fuck up Quentin!”

“…”

“So! As I was about to say, I called you all for an important reason. You probably know I don’t really care about team spirit, effort, or whatever, you can all die for all I care. However… Adam is back.”

The news dropped like a bomb in the middle of the room.

As Questers that has finished their Quest, there weren’t much for them to fear about the worlds. Nonetheless, it was only true for normal threat, and entities such as the Kunans and the 4 Destroyers were miles above them on an individual power level scale, with only gods to top them.

For a long time, they thought mother Kunan was the last stage of power one could achieve, but that was before he appeared.

Soon after the 7th guide, Quentin Quetazl (Conjurer of Charity), arrived in the last stage, one man came to the surveillance room, presenting himself as one of the last Bosses.

Everything happened fast, they fought, and the seven of them got completely wiped out, with the most frightening part being that they went all out while he didn’t even break a sweat.

Despite this crushing defeat, his existence gave them a glimmer of hope toward the resolution of the adventure. They had a final objective: to beat Adam. Of course, Val recently learned that Eve was also involved, and quickly realised the two of them were linked in some ways, but she didn't think too much of it, as she couldn't really do anything before… you know what.

“Are you sure about that? What did he do? Did he killed Sam?”

“No, he just talked to them, gave them some vague advice and… Sam’s sister crushed the scroll.”

“The scroll?”

“Yeah, he wasn’t there per say, but he recorded a message, sort of.”

“I see…”

After waiting a few instants for the information to sink in, she turned herself toward Jules, the unofficial chief of their group.

“So, I didn’t want to say it, but it might be safer this way. I don’t want to deal with this douchbag anytime soon, and it could be useful to hook you up.”

“On what?”

“I met someone, someone at least as powerful as Adam. She asked me to kill my own pupil. But, after thinking for a while… I think we should all do it.”

…

To her surprise, there was no uproar. No one said anything, instead, they all turn toward Jules, who sighed heavily. He knew for a while that Valentine was up to something, and even though this proposal was close to a worst-case scenario, it wasn’t outside his own prediction.

Nonetheless, Valentine’s attitude was way too different from usual, and he couldn’t dismiss her like that. It’s been centuries since she’s been that serious.

“…this person you met. Can you tell us more about it?”