Rio’s words were sharp and hit exactly on the weak spot, causing Raika to grit his teeth.

With a wave of his hand, Raika opened a teleportation portal and pushed Lia and the others out of the realm.

Rio did not stop him because he could instinctively feel that keeping the rest of the group here was going to cause trouble, and Raika was likely not going to kill them, as he needed all of their power too if he wanted to succeed.

Raika was incapable of properly manipulating the strings of destiny that were floating around Fade; he needed Lia for that.

Link was the chosen one of the world, and Riya was a favorite of the world; he needed both of them to gain the world’s acknowledgement.

"You have really put me in a dilemma, Rio. I was hoping you would never find it all out but, in the end, you did find out after all..."

"It is indeed true that I want revenge but that’s just a part of it all... I want a world where races won’t have to go extinct just because they aren’t compatible with mana or miasma..."

"I want to change this world for the better, Rio, and you can help me do it."

"My ability as the ’Realm Weaver’ grants me the power to simulate the history of the universe inside my realms over and over and I have watched hundreds of thousands of iterations of these simulations until now..."

Raika stared into Rio’s eyes and spoke,

"In all iterations, the world ended with miasma taking control of it all, eventually leading to universal destruction..."

"In all iterations, Fade Crest could not fully eradicate miasma, and just like King Allen, his failure is absolutely certain!"

"I have watched thousands of simulations and I have never managed to find a single method to finally put the sea of miasma to an end, as I cannot understand why it’s so powerful..."

"But you are different, Rio. Unlike the iterations I have watched, unlike the simulations, you exist in the real universe; you are an ’Anomaly’ that does not exist in any of the simulations I have tried to create..."

Raika’s words grew extremely solemn as he continued to speak.

"If anyone can save this world, this universe, and the countless beings of this universe, then it’s you, Rio; it’s you, the greatest ’Anomaly’ in existence."

"Miasma does not affect you, mana does not dare disobey you, corruption does not dare challenge your will and the universe does not dare claim your soul as its own..."

"You are the only one who can bring a change to this dying universe and make all these simulations untrue."

From what Raika had observed, the fate of the universe was always the same; no matter what method was used, it would always end up in destruction.

Unless a force outside of the universe’s grasp acted and interfered, the universe will keep following the same patterns as Raika’s simulations and will die out. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The only external force that Raika knew of was Rio the Anomaly that was completely outside of the bounds of the universe’s basic ’Laws’! Only he could change the direction the universe was heading to!

"That’s why I said, You have to be the ’Hero’ as no one else can."

What Raika said was indeed right: Rio was really the only being in the universe that could change the inevitable fate of this universe, but Rio certainly did not care about being the ’Hero’.

"Did you not hear me? I asked what happened to ’Aino Felicia,’ the Fox Maiden who was supposed to be the guardian of the grand seal where you were sealed up?"

"Do not change the topic and rant about your circumstances when I am asking you something. I don’t like repeating myself again and again, so do me a favor and tell me, where is ’Aino Felicia’?"

As if annoyed by Rio’s questions, Raika lost his patience and spoke.

"Why do you even care about a mere random women!? I am talking to you about the inevitable fate of the entire universe!! I am talking to you about how unique you are and how powerful you are!!!"

"And you are ignoring all that just to ask about a random woman you don’t even know about!? Are you insane!?"

With the usual expressionless look on his face, Rio swung his sword at Raika.

[Sword Intent!]

[Sword Sage’s Enlightenment: Destiny Manipulation: Consciousness Thread Severance!]

*BOOOM!!!*

Raika, who was originally completely unaffected by Rio’s sword attacks, couldn’t defend against this attack at all!

Rio’s sword landed directly on his arm and severed his arm directly!!

No blood flowed from Raika’s body as he was just a manifestation of the consciousness of the crown, but unlike before, Raika wasn’t able to regenerate his arm.

*AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!* *AHHHHHHH!!!!!* *AHHHHHHH!!!!!!*

This time, Raika’s arm was really cut off by Rio, and the pain of having an arm cut off was so intense for him that Raika collapsed on the floor almost instantly and started to scream at the top of his lungs!!

But Rio did not care about his shouts; he put his foot on Raika’s head, pressed him on the ground and asked in his usual expressionless tone,

"Tell me, Raika, where is Aino Felicia? What did you do to her? I don’t have much time to waste on you; I have to go out of this realm of consciousness of yours and tend to my injured girlfriend, you know..."

"So don’t waste my time; tell me, what did you do to Aino Felicia, and I will let you go, I promise."

Saying those words in a flat, emotionless tone, Rio pressed his sword against Raika’s other arm as if to show that he was really going to sever the other arm too.

"W-wait, wait! I will tell you! Stop! Don’t do it! I will tell you everything!!"

Hearing those words, Rio tilted his head and grinned like an evil demon before saying,

"Now that’s more like it; you should have been honest with me from the very beginning! That way you wouldn’t have had to suffer."

Rio’s creepy grin seemed more sinister to Raika than a demon’s, and his entire body shuddered in fear.

From the moment that Rio learned ’Destiny Manipulation,’ it was already his victory; Raika’s struggle was pointless after that.