The mark didn’t exist.

It appeared on the hands of every Otherworlder, but not White, who quietly slipped his hands back into his pockets, hiding it away.

’Does this have something to do with being an Otherworlder King?’

"Mainly."

The Otherworlder replied, continuing,

"Those three at the top must have a higher hierarchy than the rest of the Otherworlders here and must have done a Loyalty Oath of some sort with them all before now, allowing their mark to affect them as well."

"But none of them are beyond you in hierarchy, nor do they have a Loyalty Oath on you, so it won’t work on you."

The Otherworlder reassured, but White’s eyes creased softly.

Even though he was staring at another blank area of the hall, he could feel the gaze of two amongst the seven people on that altar currently pinpointed right at him, though he pretended not to notice.

One thing was sure:

They must have noticed his abnormality.

_________

The hall returned to its calm, murmurings filling the air.

The longer White stayed, the more he noticed how little familiarity existed among the Supernaturals.

Humans had always believed they moved in families to terrorize mankind, yet judging by the scene before him, where most groups were introducing themselves, it seemed none of them had ever met.

"Ayana City."

White said to Beta Esmerie by his side.

"It sounds just like the name of the world, Ayana."

He noticed as she nodded.

"It was derived from it. To act as a reminder of sorts."

"I guess most of the Supernaturals live there as one."

He said, and she nodded but once.

"The Supernatural World here on Earth has territories that are not prone to being crossed. We Werewolves have our territories, same for the Vampires."

"But of course, once in a while, some people, mostly in the name of freedom, choose to live away from their territory to a place more...open."

"That is Ayana City."

She said, and White couldn’t understand any better.

He noticed some movement down below.

"Beta Esmerie..."

He called, taking steps back and bowing slightly.

"Thank you for the company."

"The pleasure is mine, MadWhite."

She said, returning his bow, and quietly, he disappeared amongst the crowds of Supernaturals and Otherworlders.

"Seems like someone might have been able to make firmer relationships with our newest allies than even some of the leaders."

The feminine words echoed behind, followed by heavy sounds of footsteps.

Beta Esmerie turned slightly, coming to face a group of five, led by a woman.

A woman with long golden hair, falling over her shoulders like hers, but her eyes were glowing red, with runes of power in their depths.

The same was true for the four men behind her, all of their eyes glowing in that same red color.

"Alpha Eslie."

She greeted the woman, ignoring the rest.

"Our mission here is done. I trust you haven’t revealed any information that may jeopardize that to him?"

She asked, as Beta Esmarie replied.

"Unless waltz dancing knowledge is somehow jeopardizing information, then no, it’s fine."

"Good."

Alpha Eslie said, her hands grabbing at Beta Esmarie’s shoulders and gently pulling her along to one of the rooms that led out of the halls, with all four Alphas following protectively behind them.

As White moved across the crowds of Supernaturals, his attention remained on the golden notification panel, which currently had a long line of text being displayed.

[Soul Deciphering Complete.]

"Soul Deciphering?"

[New Presence Detected: Anomalous Otherworld Entity.]

[Grade of Power: Unknown???]

[Power Type Accessed: Oblivion.]

"Oblivion?"

[Power Accessed Through Soul Has Been Deciphered.]

[Deciphering into Useable Skill Complete.]

[Congratulations, Host has gained a New Ability Category: Otherworld Skills.]

[Congratulations, Host has gained a New Ability: Oblivion Metamorphosis.]

"Speak of the devil."

The words reached White as he arrived before a gathering where a total of three Otherworlders sat. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

As White reached 3 meters away, a total of four Otherworlders stepped in his way.

"I’ll take over now."

The Otherworlder’s voice echoed in White’s head, and in the next moment, the change happened almost instantaneously, as blood began dripping out of White’s eyes.

"Step aside."

At the simple command, all four Otherworlders were driven back by an unseen force, their feet scraping across the floor until they stopped five meters away.

White strode to the table, grabbed a chair from another one nearby, and set it among them.

These three Otherworlders were the so-called New Leaders representing the Otherworlder race, as he had been informed by Huracan.

"It’s not every day one gets to see an Otherworld King in action...especially a Fractured One."

One of the three Otherworlders, one taking the body of a crimson-haired female, said, as White’s hand reached for the mug on the table where the juice was, and he poured himself a cup.

He closed his eyes and took a slow sip.

The three watched the movement in his throat as he swallowed. Then his eyes opened, and he asked,

"I’m curious why you chose the juice over the blood."

"Does staying in a human body warp your ideology about drinking the same blood now flowing through your veins?"

White asked, eyes tracing an arc that moved across all three.

"I simply don’t enjoy the taste of iron,"

One of the three Otherworlders replied, his hair blue in colour, the same for his eyes.

He had somehow been able to manage to keep his human eye colour, though his status as an Otherworlder was still evident, simply by the crescent moon tattoo on his forehead, oozing with pitch-black mist.

"The juice tastes better and less repulsive."

Another man, this one a bit chubby, with dirty brown hair and a weird pair of eyes: the right brown, while the left was dark in colour.

The last one yet to reply was the female amongst them.

"For me..."

She had not completed her words when White raised his hand, and she paused.

His next question sent a vein popping on her head, as her eyes reddened in anger.

"And why is she...."