Done downing and whatever he was given, Malik continued with his favourite pastime, thinking:

’Spending too much time gone from the public eye would kill my Fear Point momentum. I really can’t afford that.’

Technically speaking, he was already healed. Goliath’s Fall had done more than just harden his skin.

It had accelerated his body’s natural recovery, slightly knitting together the worst of his wounds and sealing the torn blood vessels.

What couldn’t be healed by the Rune and what was ruined after by the devouring ants was healed by Safira.

His severed hand as well was reattached before his stump could close into a scar.

His shoulder no longer bled, his thigh no longer burned, so yes, he was fully healed.

His disciple only told him to rest because she was worried about his mind.

And honestly, that was only natural.

What he had gone through would traumatize the strongest of men, breaking them in ways that had nothing to do with the body.

It was his lowest point.

In fact, most soldiers who survived a fraction of such carnage never picked up a sword again.

They sat in dark rooms, stared at walls, and jumped at loud noises until they died of old age or drank themselves to death first.

Malik, however, seemed to be normal...

Or well, normal as could be.

That, in and of itself, must have seemed incredibly strange to her. Perhaps that was another factor that helped mask his identity.

She was too lost in such thoughts that she missed the elephants in the room.

Malik, the owner of those ’elephants,’ lay in the bed for a while, listening to the distant sounds of the palace settling around him.

His mind was calm but not peaceful.

Peace was for people who had nothing left to fight. Calm was for people who had accepted the fight and stopped fighting themselves.

Once his thoughts had settled far from what had happened, he began to plan his next moves.

’I need to buy a few Soul Glyphs first.’

He pulled up the shop.

—

{Shop}

[Soul Glyphs]

[Embers Touch — 4 → 16 FP (Single) | 32 FP (Peak)]

[Goliath’s Fall — 8 → 32 FP (Single) | 32 FP (Peak)]

[Scorpion’s Sting — 8 FP (Single) | 16 FP (Peak)]

[Devil’s Footsteps — 16 FP (Single) | 32 FP (Peak)]

[Zephyr’s Kiss — 32 FP (Single) | 64 FP (Peak)]

[Shifting Ground — 64 FP (Single) | 128 FP (Peak)]

[Eternal Life — 128 FP (Single) | 256 FP (Peak)]

[Thirst’s Quench — 256 FP (Single) | 512 FP (Peak)]

[Dust to Stone — 512 FP (Single) | 1024 FP (Peak)]

—

’Hm... so even single-use Soul Glyphs are expensive now.’

The prices had noticeably climbed since he last checked.

Single-use Ember’s Touch had gone from four Fear Points to sixteen. Goliath’s Fall had more than doubled, matching the price of peak Soul Glyphs.

Malik had two hundred and four Fear Points.

That was a lot, relative to what he’d had before. But he needed to save most of the points for unlocking the next class.

Six hundred and sixty Fear Points loomed in the distance, and every point he spent on Soul Glyphs was a point he couldn’t put towards that goal.

He would only buy what he needed.

Ding!

—

╔══════════════════╗

║SOUL GLYPH PURCHASED!║

╚══════════════════╝

[Ember’s Touch — Peak: 32 FP]

[Goliath’s Fall — Peak: 32 FP]

{Fear Points: 204 → 140}

—

’I spent a lot even though it was only two.’

Earlier, with sixty-four Fear Points, he could have bought three peak Soul Glyphs and two single-use ones. Now, two peak Soul Glyphs cost the same amount.

The price increase was a pain in his bottom.

Again, he could’ve bought Scorpion’s Sting, but he decided to leave it until later.

’Anyhow... pull up the system.’

—

╔════════╗

║Fear System║

╚════════╝

{Class: 10 (Sword of Guidance)}

{Unlocking Class (9): 0 / 660} 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

{Fear Points: 140}

{Soul Glyphs: Ember’s Touch (Peak) x 1, Goliath’s Fall (Peak) x 1, Shifting Ground (Single) x 1}

{Invaders Fear}

[Order (Class One) — 15 % Increasing!]

[Owls Faction (Class Five) — 36 % Increasing!]

[Walkers Faction (Class Six) — 42 % Increasing!]

[Maharajah Faction (Class Seven) — 47 % Increasing!]

[White Bear Faction (Class Eight) — 95 % Increasing!]

{Items}

[Holy Relic — Stranger’s Ring]

[Holy Relic — Golden Throne]

[Holy Relic — Spine Splitter]

[Holy Relic — Stranger’s Necklace]

{Runes}

[Ember’s Touch — Rank 5]

[Goliath’s Fall — Rank 5]

{Traits}

[Wielder Of Spine Breaker]

[Sultan of Blood and Fire]

[Misunderstood Villain]

[Bane Of Corruption]

[Flipper Of Armies]

[Second Sun]

["Stranger"]

{Quests}

{Shop}

[Soul Glyphs]

[Embers Touch — 16 FP (Single) | 32 → 64 FP (Peak)]

[Goliath’s Fall — 32 FP (Single) | 32 → 64 FP (Peak)]

[Scorpion’s Sting — 16 FP (Single) | 32 FP (Peak)]

[Devil’s Footsteps — 32 FP (Single) | 64 (Peak)]

[Zephyr’s Kiss — 64 FP (Single) | 128 FP (Peak)]

[Shifting Ground — 128 FP (Single) | 256 FP (Peak)]

[Eternal Life — 256 FP (Single) | 312 FP (Peak)]

[Thirst’s Quench — 312 FP (Single) | 624 FP (Peak)]

[Dust to Stone — 624 FP (Single) | 1248 FP (Peak)]

{Wheel Of Fortune}

[One Roll — 10 → 11 FP]

[Fate Points: None]

—

Malik stared at the screen for a long minute, tracing the numbers with his eyes.

It hadn’t been long since he... returned to this world, but it felt like a lifetime.

One thing after another, nonstop.

No one truly could handle the weight of the crown. That was what he had learned. The crown didn’t make the man. The man made the crown, and the crown crushed him in return.

Sighing out loud, Malik turned to the next item on his agenda.

’How do I get out of here undetected?’

Safira likely had Arcane etched into nearly every surface of her office. The walls, the floor, the ceiling, the furniture—everything pulsed with a low hum of a spell.

He could feel it pressing against his skin.

If he opened the door, she would know.

If he touched the window, she would know.

If he tried to break through the wall, she would definitely know.

Malik couldn’t simply break his way out. That would insult her help and hint at his true identity.

Safira might be oblivious now, but a smashed door would make her start asking questions.

So... after a lot of thinking, he saw only one path out of here.

He had to trick Safira herself into getting him out.

’But, well, how do I do that?’

The Sultan hummed a little more, tapping his fingers against the blanket, then chuckled.

’Maybe the Wheel Of Fortune will show me the way.’

It was a ridiculous thought that he loved coming back to.

Even if designed, the Wheel Of Fortune was a gamble, a random draw from a pool of unknown rewards.

There was no way it could pick and choose what reward to give him, at least not indefinitely.

The Holy Relic he’d gotten in the beginning was the only thing he was likely sure to get.

It was almost like a guaranteed drop in gacha games to bait players in, but now, he had no more reason to believe that it would give him anything he couldn’t do without.

There was no way a Divine Kingdom could actively react to such complex situations, right?

But then again, he was the one who designed the system. And if he had designed it, he might have built in some kind of failsafe for situations exactly like this, expecting them.

A way to detect if he was being locked up somewhere with no available exit.

That was his excuse, anyway.

He honestly knew that such an idea was incredibly far-fetched.

The truth was far simpler, going against his earlier desire not to waste a single Fear Point, which was certainly strange but acceptable.

Malik was curious; he wanted to see what the wheel would give him, if anything at all.

And so, without further ado, he bought one roll.

’Fortune’s Wheel.’

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick—

DING!

—

{Cyrus’s Diary (1/?)!}

—

Malik tilted his head.

’Who?’

It took him a moment, but he eventually remembered that the Former Sultan was named Cyrus, the very man Malik had killed. The one that left him with the heavy duty of defending Devil’s Maw.

This wasn’t at all what he needed, but it was too interesting not to check out.

Calling upon his system, he willed the diary into existence—the first part of it at least.

A fancy, high-quality book appeared in his hand, bound in leather that had once been expensive but was now worn smooth by handling.

Gold letters on the spine spelled out a name he now recognized.

’Now let’s see.’

He opened it and found... many empty pages.

’Are they all— ’

His thoughts paused as he flipped further in.

Near the middle of the book, ink appeared, scratched onto the paper in a slanted hand.

[I’ve met with Ayyub’s wife again.

God, what a woman. Even better than last time. Ayyub still doesn’t know, and he won’t, such a pathetic fool.]

’...’

’...’

’...’

Malik silently stared at the words.

’...what?’