"Looks like my other self had good judgment. Splitting her off back then was the right choice..."
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...
Ren Yu was still submerged in the water, completely unaware of what was happening outside.
He had finally caught that shadow!
Because his brakes had failed and his coordinates had shifted too far off, he had to turn around and loop back before finally catching up to that strange figure.
This time, the sense of unease in Ren Yu's heart grew stronger and stronger. He felt that he had to get to the bottom of this.
Taking a deep breath, Ren Yu slowly asked, "Who are you?!"
As if he had not heard him, the shadow continued muttering to himself. "If I want to seal off the Time Dimension, my current power alone isn't enough to stop anyone from passing through. I need to..."
Ren Yu raised his voice. "Hey, what the hell are you? Why did you suddenly crawl out of my body?!"
As though he had seized upon some crucial point, the shadow's voice gradually rose.
"Rules... That's it, rules! I can set certain restrictions, just like the one who first created this universe, and make those Ninth Order bastards behave themselves..."
Ren Yu continued forward. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Right. Once I establish the rules, I can hand control of this universe over to capable people and free myself! Like that Tree, or that Sea—she has the ability to..."
"Hey!"
By then, Ren Yu had already reached the shadow.
But just as his right hand touched the other's shoulder, the shadow seemed to notice something and slowly turned his head.
In that instant, an extremely familiar face appeared before someone's eyes.
"You..." Ren Yu's pupils abruptly constricted, and he was completely dumbfounded.