"Haa…"

Rey collapsed on his bed, feeling the soft bouncy effect on his back as he did so. A warm smile circulated his face as he closed his eyes and recollected a lot of fun aspects of his just-concluded meeting with Alicia.

No, calling it a meeting made it sound too boorish.

They hung out in their dedicated spot—the library—and spoke about tons of stuff. It was beyond fun for him, and he could see that their talks did a lot to cheer Alicia up as well.

'Her Divine Summon killed Billy and a lot of the people in the Capital. It also destroyed so much…' Not many people could see it, but Rey knew full well that Alicia was hurting due to consequences of her actions.

It was a miracle that she could pull herself together and laugh with him.

According to her words:

"There's just something about you, Rey. Being around you just makes me forget all those horrible things. I… don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."

It made him feel a little guilty for leaving her so he could go to the Dragon Empire, which further raised the difficulty of him telling her about his arrangement with Lucielle. He nearly even postponed it, until he had a reality check with himself.

'I promised myself not to lie to her…' He sighed. 'Still, just as I suspected, she didn't take it too well.'

Alicia wanted to come with him after he brought up Lucielle, but he had to refuse. Despite how much it made his heart bleed, there was no way he could expose her to any kind of danger.

This wasn't the Land of the Elves, or some vacation.

It was the heart of the enemy's domain.

'It's already risky bringing Lucielle along, but she serves a great purpose.' He inhaled deeply, relieved that he was actually able to convince Alicia to drop the issue.

Still, what was this ominous feeling he had?

'I don't even want to think about it right now. There are a lot of unknown variables that I need to consider if I'm bringing Lucielle with me that I need to consider. To properly bring everything into perspective…' He slowly sat up, watching something materialize before him.

It seemed like tangled-up darkness, with an entity walking out of the dark breach that stained the room. 'Just the person I wanted to see. Ater…'

The red-haired Beast fully emerged from the darkness, causing it to crumble right behind him. He had his sly smile on, and both hands were in his pockets.

"Master."

The moment he saw Rey, though, he bowed his head and ceased his casual demeanor.

With his hands away from his pockets, one was lightly placed on his chest, while the other on his back. His deep, respectful bow would have touched Rey immensely if he wasn't already suspicious of Ater.

Still, he appreciated the gesture with a smile.

"Looks like you're done taking care of matters with the Reaper Group?"

"Indeed, Master. Proper production will begin tomorrow. You can go to the site to observe for yourself."

"I think I will. Thank you."

"It is my pleasure, Master…" After Ater said this, there was a bit of awkward silence between the two.

It felt uncomfortable, but before Rey could think of something to fill in the wide gap between them, his Familiar took the initiative.

"About your trip to the Empire… I'm a little concerned. How do you plan to disguise yourself? You haven't fully revealed the details of that to me."

Normally, Rey would have simply folded and showed Ater all his cards, but he had to be careful here, so he took some time to think very seriously about his decision. Once he made up his mind, he finally spoke up.

"One of the Skills I got from Adrien is called [Perfect Veil]. It'll allow me to change my appearance into whatever I want."

Rey skimmed over the details, such as how his [Perfect Divine Growth] promoted the Skill from its base A-Tier state to S-Tier, and how the Skill could potentially serve as an illusory Skill meant to deceive all whom it targeted.

Using it as a disguise was just one of the many he could utilize it.

"Are you confident that your true identity won't be detected by anyone?" Ater went on to ask.

"Yeah. As long as the person doesn't have a higher Class than I do, it's impossible. And even if they have the same Stats as I do, they would have to get past my [Divine Persona] Skill, that allows me to imbue Divine Attribute to any one Skill."

"I see. So the [Perfect Veil] currently possesses Divine Status."

"Yup!"

"Impressive, Master! You've really thought this through!"

"Indeed."

Once again, there was a brief silence between the two of them.

"Then… may I see the form you plan to take once you are in the Dragon Empire?"

"Oh? Why?"

"Just out of curiosity, Master. I have also studied quite a few of them, so there could be hidden details in your design that could give you away. One has to be meticulous in these things, after all…"

"I see… I see…" Rey couldn't argue against his logic there.

Ater knew his stuff, and he wouldn't be foolish enough to refuse his help, especially since he already knew about how insightful Ater could be.

'Might as well show him…' Rey decided, after expanding his senses to detect any form of trick.

There was no trick.

It was simply Ater standing there, smiling and waiting.

"Here…" Rey rose to his feet and activated his Skill on the spot. Instantly, his appearance and his overall aura changed.

~FSHUUU~

He possessed bright blue hair, with a single horn protruding from his forehead. His eyes glowed brightly, and his small wings and tail flapped and danced as he revealed this form to Ater.

"Here! What do you think?" He smiled, folding his arms as he smirked confidently at the Familiar before him.

"This…"

Ater narrowed his eyes, placing his hand on his chin as his lips curled downwards to form a grim frown.

"... This is all wrong."