"Stop putting on that spooky act and show yourself!" Wude called out. Though the situation felt a bit eerie, he wasn't particularly worried. After all, this was Alreis's doing—no way it would harm him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So you really trust that Ascendant Sovereign?" The voice echoed from nowhere, as if it had read Wude's thoughts.

Wude turned a full circle but found nothing suspicious. Cars simply passed right through him... Wait—*through* him? Did he have no physical form?

"Finally noticed?" the voice remarked, unsurprised. "This is your mindscape. Not noticing things here is perfectly normal."

"My... mindscape?" Wude recalled the trope. He scanned the space carefully. This was the place from before his transmigration—was this truly what his heart held?

"You believe it?" the voice asked, uncertain. "Shouldn't you doubt it?"

"I don't know if you're lying," Wude replied calmly, "but this scene exists only in my mind or memories. You couldn't have known this world beforehand. So what else could it be?"

After seeing the car pass through him, Wude's mind sharpened instantly. He deduced this was some form of inner world—but not what he'd expected.

"I sense you're not lying. Intriguing," the voice mused. "Your power is so weak, yet I've seen your past memories..." It paused. "You're... peculiar. Your memories show you were just an 'otaku' holed up at home, working only to get by, with no real attachment to your old world."

"...So what?" Wude dropped his defensive stance. His usual playful grin was gone—replaced by calm seriousness.

"Since arriving here, you've changed," the voice continued, curiosity edging its tone. "But your memories hold nothing that should've triggered it."

"How did you reach that conclusion?" Wude asked, genuinely curious.

"You met Lingyue, an Ascendant Sovereign, yet she only taught you basic magic and blacksmithing. Logically, your mental state shouldn't have shifted..."

"I'm truly curious," the voice pressed. "With your mindset, how did you dare imprint the Slave Contract on such powerful beings and command them so freely?"

"Can't you read my thoughts? You should know," Wude said without hesitation, gazing at the washed-out sky.

"No, no, no. I sense emotions and view memories—but since just now, I feel *nothing*. What's happening?"

"That's a secret. You definitely can't see it," Wude stated with quiet certainty.

"You're no ordinary person. Your memories are laid bare before me—so what don't I know?"

Ignoring the voice, Wude strolled through the memory-laden world. How long had it been? This was his homeland.

"Come to think of it," he said casually, tone suddenly flippant, "are you the power inside that bead?"

Silence.

"Your silence doesn't matter," Wude continued lightly. "Logically, I collapsed from physical exhaustion. Unconsciousness wouldn't summon you. Your appearance ties you to that bead."

"...Are you truly the master of these memories?" the voice returned, not denying his words but clearly puzzled. Wude's demeanor clashed sharply with what it had seen.

"Of course. But that's irrelevant." Wude walked on, taking in every detail. "What matters is—you're being absorbed by me, aren't you? You entered my mindscape to shake my will, control me, even resurrect yourself."

"...Correct." The voice dropped all pretense. "Since you've laid it bare—let's meet face to face."

The city dissolved into gray mist. It swirled, coalesced, and formed a wavering humanoid wisp before him. Darkness swallowed the mindscape.

"Now *this* is right!" Wude clapped once, surveying the void. "This is my mind's true state."

"Just what *are* you?" the mist wavered, fragile as smoke in a nonexistent breeze.

"None of your concern. You'll become my power," Wude said, unmoved.

"Only if you defeat me here! You're no Ascendant Sovereign!" the mist retorted, certain of his helplessness.

"Hmm. Logically, I have no means against you," Wude acknowledged. "But you should've seen it in my memories."

"What do you mean?"

"My Slave Contract enslaves even Ascendant Sovereigns. What can a mere will like you do?"

The mist shattered its form and shot away at blinding speed.

"This is *my* mind," Wude said calmly, not chasing. "Weak as I am—escaping won't be simple."

Colors erupted across the blackness. A rainbow-hued pillar of light slammed into the mist, hurling it back.

"You! How can you manipulate your own mind like this? This wasn't in your memories!" The mist's composure cracked.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Did you think I got this Slave Contract by accident? Of course you couldn't see it." A mocking hint touched Wude's lips. A rune coalesced in his palm.

Outside, Alreis and Tini watched the gray mist—previously barely absorbed in the vacuum—vanish at an alarming rate. Wude's body became the eye of a storm, mist swirling into him until none remained.

"What's happening?" Tini murmured, linking mentally with Alreis. They shared the same confusion. Releasing their mana control, energy flooded back. They set Wude down and probed his state.

Then—his eyes snapped open.

"Whoa!" Both Ascendant Sovereigns jumped back. Not from the sudden movement—but his *pupils*. The same ones from when he'd made Tini sign the Slave Contract. That memory still haunted them.

"Alreis, Tini... what's wrong?" Wude sat up, scratching his head in genuine confusion.

"N-nothing," Alreis stammered, relieved his eyes had returned to normal. She said no more.

Wude stood, shook his arms, rolled his neck. "Have I... gotten stronger?" He felt no change.

"Then let's test it!" Tini declared. She thrust her staff into the ground.

A plant shot upward, soaring meters high in seconds.

"Whoosh!" A vine lashed toward Wude...