Soul search failed, Kaecilius gravely wounded!

Red Order headquarters, detention room.

Ikaris stood with a blank face and vacant eyes.

Kaecilius stood to his left, pressing the index and middle fingers of his right hand against his temple.

A wisp of crimson mana carried a fragment of his spiritual consciousness swiftly through Ikaris's mind.

Yet a faint unease began to stir within Kaecilius.

He discovered that the structure of Ikaris's mind was utterly different from a human's.

Rather than flesh and blood, it resembled some sort of precision machine.

Suddenly, a speck of white light appeared ahead.

Kaecilius suppressed his unease and sped forward.

Pop!

The crimson mana forced its way, along with his spiritual consciousness, into the sea of memories hidden deep within Ikaris's soul.

Every drop of water in this sea was formed from a second of his past memories.

Trailing a crimson flame, the fragment of spiritual consciousness skimmed across the surface, leaving a long wake before abruptly turning and plunging into the depths.

Strange scenes flashed before Kaecilius's "eyes."

A Six-Eyed Giant whose body dwarfed a planet...

The enormous planet Olympia...

Ten "Eternals" selected from billions of Superpowered Individuals...

Suddenly, Kaecilius murmured softly, his face dazed.

"Earth—Emergence—"

"And—"

"Arishem the Judge!"

The moment he spoke that name, the terrifying six-eyed, multiarmed giant, larger than a planet, abruptly turned to look at him.

[Who dares spy on Arishem the Judge?!]

An immense wave of sound struck, and Kaecilius instantly felt an agonizing pain as though his soul were being torn apart.

"Aaaah!!!"

He clutched his head with both hands and screamed in agony.

The tranquil sea of memories deep within Ikaris's soul suddenly erupted into furious waves.

Crack!

The crimson mana shattered instantly.

The now-unprotected fragment of spiritual consciousness was immediately ground to dust.

At the same moment, Kaecilius's body shuddered