"You've really made a mess of this place lately." Within the Time-Space Crack, Saine met Gray Mist Level-9 once again.
Compared to before, when it had been difficult to make out the other party's true appearance, now that Saine wore the Faceless Mask and had reached the Level-8 Late-Stage realm himself, he discovered that Gray Mist Level-9 was a middle-aged man with a very large nose.
Calling him a "man" was not quite accurate, however, because strictly speaking, Gray Mist Level-9 was not even a humanoid creature.
Its head was pointed like an octopus's, and gray little tentacles protruded around its cheeks.
Its eyes were quite bright, though, and overall, it could "be considered" a humanoid creature.
Gray Mist Level-9 did not know whether he had seen Saine's true expression beneath the Faceless Mask or sensed some of Saine's inner thoughts.
A surge of gray rule mist rolled forth, and Gray Mist Level-9 transformed from his original appearance into a genuine "human," with every physical trait matching that of a male human from the Wizard World.
He was a man with short gray hair and a somewhat melancholy expression.
Yet the fluctuations produced when he displayed Source Power of Rules forced Saine to treat him with gravity.
"Perhaps you'll feel more comfortable looking at me if I take this form." Gray Mist Level-9 shrugged.
"Your growth has been too fast—so fast that it has surpassed my expectations!"
"I never expected that you would already be able to see part of my true body, to the point that I had no choice but to make some changes," Gray Mist Level-9 said.
Gray Mist Level-9's words plunged Saine into silence.
After a moment, Saine said, "A great many things have indeed happened over the past ten thousand years."
"You say we've made