Ferry City

End of Death did not need to act personally.

That line had been buried long ago.

The aura of the King of Absurdity would leave a mark on everyone deeply connected to Hector.

He carried that "theater ticket," that "Dice of Paradox." These were ropes that could not be severed.

Every strand of aura attached to those things was an extension of Hector's authority.

And Hector's authority was absurdity.

The essence of absurdity was randomness.

Anyone who tried to borrow randomness as a tool would eventually discover that randomness was a blade sharpened from both directions at once.

End of Death knew this perfectly well.

So He did not try to control that blade.

At the right moment, He merely changed the angle at which the blade had been placed, ever so slightly.

The King of Absurdity could not be chosen. That was a well-known fact, and it was also the foundation that had allowed that Joker to survive until now.

But the "aura" of the King of Absurdity was not entirely the same as the King of Absurdity Himself.

The aura attached to those existences scattered throughout the world that were connected to Him.

They were all remnants of absurdity, extensions of authority, but they did not possess the complete unpredictability of His true self.

They were afterimages, the lingering resonance a song left in the hall after the performance ended.

What End of Death borrowed was that wisp of lingering resonance.

He triggered it, but did not actively drive it.

He let randomness cause a teleportation to happen to someone who had briefly lost protection in the gaps between authorities.

The destination of the teleportation was also the result generated by that wisp of absurdity itself.

As long as the teleportation happened, Ron would be unable to return