***

Malik blinked away from the dream.

He was back on the bed, in the half-destroyed house, in the half-destroyed city.

’So that’s how it happened.’

Indeed, he was an Angel.

The Second Sun.

He had locked his own power away, chained his own Runes, and thrown himself back into his mortal body, all to skip the ’penance.’

All to return before it was too late.

Malik looked down at the once-strong hands of the Sultan.

’I really did this to myself.’

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

So he did neither and instead sighed out loud.

’Hm, that was worth a lot more than just three questions. I kind of got a steal there.’

More than that, much like the descriptions of the Runes he had gotten, this memory came with more context buried in the back of his mind.

It seemed that, indeed, he had died before coming here.

He was on Earth, having just returned from a dungeon. While crossing the road, he had been almost crushed by a massive truck, only to then die due to a random man’s suicide.

Yes, he died a sad death. A much too unlucky one, as if it were decided by a higher power.

Malik was then transmigrated into the Sultan, who was also named Malik, making it obvious who this ’higher power’ that decided his Fate was.

Eventually, through an insane amount of effort, he became one Soul with the original body and ascended into an Angel.

But becoming an Angel wasn’t so easy.

It required him to spend many years absorbing that fundamental change in his being. His ’penance.’ Yet he couldn’t wait, so he skipped it and returned to his home, Devil’s Maw.

’Hm.’

The method seemed somewhat convoluted, but hey, he finally got there in the end.

Essentially, he was both a transmigrator and the man he had transmigrated as.

Malik nodded a few times, coming to a conclusion.

’I barely remember anything because something went wrong in the process. Upon my return, my memory somehow got connected to my strength, so the more of my strength I unlock, the more I remember of my past.’

That was an interesting consequence. One that he didn’t quite mind.

At least for now. Though their interaction was nearly nonexistent, it was already obvious to him that his family and most of his people greatly regretted what they did to him.

Or, well, what they didn’t do, having simply stood by and allowed him to sacrifice himself to save them all.

Their relationship was far from normal or stable.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been this obsessed.

So perhaps if he knew more about them, he might change his opinion. Maybe even end up hating them. He didn’t know.

Anyhow, thanks to his already stellar reputation, despite the fact that he was considered somewhat dead, his Fear amongst his enemies remained present.

No doubt his people’s fanaticism kept it high.

Though, unfortunately, his people’s love for him didn’t result in all positives.

Thanks to their obsession, his family had become branded as Villains. Sure, it was mostly misinformation by the enemy and some other factor that Malik had yet to realize, but the extreme cruelty he didn’t doubt was common amongst them certainly didn’t help.

At this point, he didn’t know what to think about that exactly.

There was so much to think about and so little time.

But, of course, following the now-established trend, he wasn’t given time to.

"Is someone there?"

A feminine voice reached him.

"Yes."

Malik pushed himself up and went outside.

There, he saw a group of people, each looking close to the White Bear faction leader in strength.

Their armor was more ceremonial, but their eyes held the same hardened edge.

Their leader appeared to be someone who didn’t belong on any battlefield.

It was a smaller girl with a scar across her throat. Her hair was black, and her eyes were a beautiful purple. She wore a simple white dress stained with dust at the hem.

Yes, she REALLY didn’t look like she belonged here.

But Malik didn’t comment on that, because thanks to the earlier memory fragment, he knew exactly who she was.

’Dunya...’

It was his sweet little sister. The one who lived next to what used to be his grave since the day of his Ascension.

She smiled once she saw him, both soft and sad.

That smile surprised what appeared to be a maid standing next to her.

Her eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly before she caught herself.

Malik found the reaction weird but didn’t comment on it.

Quickly, to move things along, the maid gestured at their surroundings.

"Soldier, would you please explain what happened here? We have doubts that we’d like to confirm." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

’They don’t realize who I am.’

Malik inwardly sighed in relief and smiled back.

"Of course. We came here to spread the word of our victory against the second wave. But just as we did, the White Bears came through and attacked the city. We tried to resist, and we did for a time, but we weren’t able to hold them off."

He looked around at the bodies lying in the street.

"Thankfully, it seemed someone else defended the city."

Dunya glanced at the maid next to her, then at her own group.

Her purple eyes lingered on a few of the wounded being carried away.

"Yes, Lady."

The maid nodded and gestured for their people to move, understanding Dunya’s intent with a mere look.

Quickly, those behind the two spread out through the city, kneeling beside the injured, their hands glowing with soft light.

"We’re looking for the one who did. We suspect that it’s our returned Sultan. That’s the reason we’ve personally come here."

Malik shook his head at the maid while mentally noting that his little sister was a mute.

She hadn’t spoken a single word, only smiled and gestured.

"Unfortunately, I haven’t seen someone that great. The invaders hit me hard. I was knocked out for a while."

So far, he ensured that none of his words were flat-out lies. Just in case they had some sort of lie detector or truth-seeking Rune. Yes, he was being that careful.

Before Dunya, he was sure that he needed to be.

Sighing in disappointment, the maid glanced at her leader.

The small girl gave a slight nod, and the maid turned to join the others, leaving only Dunya beside Malik.

"..."

"..."

"..."

And then there was silence.

Honestly, Malik didn’t know how to interact with her.

He didn’t doubt that he would feel the same even if he revealed his identity.

There was barely anything he knew about her.

Was she mute because of that scar across her throat? How did she get it? Why not heal it with a spell? Were they actually blood-related, or was their relationship simply close enough to be considered that of siblings?

So instead of making a mistake, he stayed silent.

And since Dunya was a mute, not a word was heard from her direction, making the moment beyond awkward for Malik.

But that didn’t mean nothing was said. Dunya was stuck staring at him for the past while, her purple eyes boring into his golden ones.

Thanks to that, the silence stretched further, increasing the awkwardness tenfold.

It reached a point where he couldn’t take it anymore.

"What is it, Lady Dunya?"

His sister stared for a few seconds longer and then began to walk away.

Malik found himself following her.

His body almost moved on its own, some deeply buried instinct pulling him along.

"Hee."

Dunya made a small sound and directed his attention to the ground.

Suddenly, words were being drawn in the sand with some sort of spell.

The script was in English.

Malik read the words without showing any emotion.

[The Sultan’s disappearance from before our Last Stronghold made the soldiers misunderstand. They believe that he despises them now. Last I saw, they were all bawling their eyes out, and it wasn’t all in happiness.]

’Hm... Is she trying to guilt me into telling her where I am?’

Maybe. And it would have worked if he really didn’t want to be discovered. But he had his reasons. His Fear Points, his weak state, and the supposed bounty on his head. Revealing himself now would be a mistake.

Dunya sighed—or at least attempted to sigh. The sound came out airy and barely audible.

She wiped what she had previously written with her foot and began to write another message.

[We actually didn’t only come here to heal the injured and identify the Sultan’s whereabouts. This attack by the White Bear Faction wasn’t only to terrorize the city’s folk. It was also to kidnap a very important person. Or, well, a crimson owl.]

Malik’s eyes widened as he read the next words.

[Isha. Sinbad’s youngest daughter, was taken. They knew that this place was her favorite napping spot.]

’I let them take my damn niece!’

The realization hit him like a fist to the chest.

That covered cage-like object the faction lord had thrown to the squad leader. The thing moving inside was Isha. A child. His brother’s daughter!

’That’s why the squad leader survived.’

Ah... Malik had let the squad leader go because he didn’t want to waste Fear Points or risk being found out. He used the man and told him to spread the word of his return.

Now that same man was hiding somewhere with his niece in a cage, planning to...

’...’

No.

"...let me join you."

All the confusing thoughts left his mind.

Malik had to fix this!