Was this always here?

Iono's face was the definition of calmness while decapitating the man in cold blood.

It was obvious that this wasn't what he deserved, but Iono is not one to care about that. The agreement between him and the Jester of Chaos was to kill him, no questions asked.

This only goes to show how much of an influence gods had in the lower realms, even through they were pretty much restricted by Heaven.

After killing Troban, he had to make sure there were no witnesses. What Viper warned him about, and what Iono knew and was afraid of, was the organisation that Troban belonged, "White Day". They were famous for avenging their own with the cruelest ways possible. But if no one knew who did the killing, there was no way to avenge someone.

Iono released his mana, altered it's structure to fire, and turned the two bodies into nothingness, while glaring at the two women that were scared out of their wits.

With a scythe in his hands, and a black hood, Iono looked like the reaper who came to collect.

What he previously used to seal their voices, was an energy ring he placed moments before attacking. It was a rather simple one but if one had no knowledge of rings, they wouldn't be able to avoid it. Before he released the ring, he said,

"If you scream, you'll be next."

He released the Mouth-Sealing ring, and the girls immediately fell on their knees.

"Please, spare us, we have nothing to do with them, we were only trying to make some coins, please, spare us, please.", tears streaming down their beautiful eyes, they pleaded Iono while kneeling in front of him. They grew up on the street, they worked on the street, and therefore knew what to do at situations like this.

Their beautiful eyes, alluring bodies, and the fact that they were at his mercy, made Iono's goblin nature come forward, and almost made him lose it. His eyes flared, and his chin almost drooled.

That was until, with a swift movement of his scythe, he decapitated both, and turned them into ashes. He may have urges, but he was no fool. He had pride and morals, and he also knew that any loose ends would just come back to bite him in the ass.

What was terrifying about Iono, was that their innocence was not even a factor in his decision to kill them. This was cold-blooded murder, and Iono didn't even flinch.

After taking care of the scene, and using some energy rings to conceal any mana or aura remnants, by using the shadows of the buildings and the cover of the night, he disappeared and return home.

He didn't have to worry about Viper, because he knew that he suspected Iono was of royal blood. As a spy of the kingdom, he wouldn't dare rat Iono out.

---------------------

On the way home, while dashing through the trees, Iono heard a subtle roar. It sounded like the earth was howling. He stopped in his tracks and looked around, to find nothing.

Suddenly he felt his very being shaking so hard, he almost fell of the tree.

"Down."

A voice, so baritone, and so overwhelming whispered those words inside his head.

Iono was terrified because he knew, speaking inside someone's head, was an ability that someone had when he was close to becoming a God.

He looked around searching for the source but again found nothing.

"This is either one of those lucky chances, or I was practically dead the moment the voice found me. No choice but to follow, even if I die I'm just going to start a new life."

Without further ado, Iono jumped off the tree, and using his bare hands, started digging downwards.

After a couple of minutes he hit something really hard, and a few moments later, when the sunlight hit the hard material, it started shining brightly.

"Tungsten."

Iono was appalled, this was one rare metal. It was unbelievably hard, and resistant to basically everything. He tried to dig around, but found it impossible.

Turns out, this was a whole cave made out of tungsten. Iono dug the whole area of the forest, until he found a small entrance to the tungsten cave.

Before he entered he placed a concealment energy ring around the entrance, so no one would follow him in, and focused his mana and aura in his eyes, ears and nose, to enhance his senses. This was a trick he learned way back, and it was relatively hard to do.

After making preparations, he pulled out his scythe and walked in the cave. What surprised him the most was the amount of energy rings in this cave. There were stuff that he didn't even know, and he had more knowledge than anyone in this continent.

Concealment, space, time, trapping, all kinds of energy rings, just waiting for him to walk through and trigger them. The space and time rings were rather rare, they made the cave bigger on the inside, than it looks outside, and the time rings, made the time flow differently.

These king of energy rings were lost in time, and were so rare even gods looked for them. This cave was definitely nothing to scoff at.

Iono couldn't determine the scale of change the rings brought, but he was still rather impressed.

"I definitely hit it big this time!", he though inwardly.

He walked further in the cave, while using his scythe to knock on the walls, to check for traps and study the energy rings.

After a few minutes of walking he reached the inner part of the cave, where a small pond laid.

Many stalactites of Tungsten surrounded the lake. But Iono could tell from first glance that this lake was not normal, because it was redish white. It had a very weird colour, and it was difficult to see through it.

When Iono approached the lake, he touched the stalactites around it, try and feel the tungsten.

Then he bend down to touch the weird liquid, only before he touched it, the water moved to create a word,

"Down"

So Iono, dove in the lake, and swam for a few moments, before he saw something really weird. It was rather difficult to see, given that the liquid he was in was not particularly transparent, and also rather viscous.

But in front of him lay a white wall. Iono was surprised to see a white wall appear out of nowhere, seeing as a few moments ago, he was in a tungsten cave.

Therefore, he thought he reached the boundaries of the lake, and swam back and then kept going downwards.

Then Iono turned around swam a few meters to the other direction only to see another white wall.

Iono dove again, and swam for a few moments before seeing the surface and emerging from the liquid.

After opening his eyes he realized the space around him had been tampered with, since he dove downwards but ended up upwards again.

But the surprise from that realisation was minimal, compared to the surprise from the fact that, the white walls he witnessed before, where actually gigantic rib cages, of an enormous skeleton, Iono could not see the beginning or the end of.

Iono's eyes where wide open, trying to comprehend the scale of this skeleton, and realising how much power over space the creator of this cave had, to create a place where such a gigantic thing existed, only for the outside to look smaller than a hut.

After emerging from the liquid, Iono climbed the rib cage, and saw the spine of the creature's skeleton. It was terrifying, extending into the darkness, and it had spikes coming out of it, that looked sharper than any blade he had ever seen.

"Just had exactly did I stumble on? I think I underestimated the voice the bade me here."

The bones of the skeleton where much harder than the tungsten the surrounded it.

"How much tempering should one go through to reach such a level?", he pondered.

While Iono was admiring the skeleton, unbeknown to him, a mist was slowly surrounding him. He only realized too late, when a figure could be seen, walking towards him.

When Iono saw the figure, inwardly he was terrified, but he showed no fear facing it.

After a few moments, a man with no facial features approached him. He had the figure of an adult man, but he looked like he was made of dark flames.

"Mad Hound, why are you here? More importantly, why is my brethren in your care? "

His voice seemed to be echoing from all over the place, and it was deep, rasp, but as placid as a lake.

Iono's eyes widened once more at the sound of the name the figure addressed him with.

"Mad Hound", was the nickname the gods used for him, in the previous run of this life. It was a reflection of his unending battle will, and the way he maniacally battled against fate itself.

How could this man of unknown origins know that, given that it hasn't happened yet?

Iono's mind went into a spiral and he lost himself in thought, forgetting to reply to the man.

"It seems you are clueless of your own situation. How low you've fallen, oh wielder of chaos. I'll explain everything, once you tell me how you obtained one of my brethren."

The voice was emotionless and calm, it made Iono's scalp tingle.

"What does he mean by brethren? I don't carry anyone with-, the egg. He is talking about the egg.", he though inwardly.

"It's best to tell the truth. This guy not only knows that nickname, but even if I lie, he'll see right through me. With his strength, checking my pulse to make sure I'm not lying is child's play. He may even be able to check the Karma fluctuations. Better not risk it."

"The jester gave it to me, we had an agreement. I'm sure you can feel his Ether."

The figure remained silent for a moment.

"Then it's only fate that brought you together, not my place to intervene. Beware, Mad Hound, unless properly treated, my brethren can be quite violent. Now, what are you doing here? You-", just before he could finish his sentence, Iono's chest trembled, and Kyomu came forth.

The figure had no facial features, but you could discern the surprise by his body language.

"The bearer of Chaos? You actually-, how did it even-, forget it. Those morons in the heavenly realm finally gave up, huh? Well all is well, it was supposed to be with you anyway. But this isn't where you belong. This is not your universe. Actually, it's not even the correct frequency. You-", once again Kyomu cut him short, by trembling slightly.

"Ah, I see." , he said and then faced Iono.

"Mad Hound, all will become clear at some point. For now, you should know this. Any decision you make, WILL matter. This is neither a dream, nor a simulation. Behave appropriately, or else, your karma shall make you pay."

Iono watched this unfold and stood unmoving trying to comprehend the situation.

But the figure's words made him realize something, that almost made him fall on his knees.

What if this isn't a lucid dream, but is something real?

This realisation made him remember everything he did until now. From killing himself in his last life, to selling his soul to the jester, and experimenting without fear of death.

What if death, is still lurking behind his neck, ready to take him away?