"If all of this is to catch my attention," Adyr said, looking at the carefully crafted sign of arms without a flicker in his expression. "You really succeeded."

Then he kept walking in the direction shown to him, this time not hurrying but moving quite slowly because he was sure there was no need to rush, since whoever was behind this bloody mess only wanted to play a game.

This was exactly his kind of game, so he chose to play along.

As he kept walking the corridors unhurriedly, he followed every sign left behind.

Each one was bloodier and more gruesome than the last. The man placing them knew exactly what he was doing. He arranged them to impress Adyr, and he slipped in veiled references to Adyr's past, almost as if he knew who Adyr had been in his previous life.

The most disturbing part was that many of these bloody signs were the very ones Adyr had used in his previous life to scare his own victims.

As he continued forward, he grew more certain that the man not only knew who Adyr was but also knew his former life as a serial killer in unsettling detail.

Following the bloody signs, he passed dozens. It was apparent that their creation had probably required the deaths of hundreds of STF personnel and staff.

Eventually, following the gore-streaked markers, he found himself on the rooftop.

The rooftop was wide, open, and empty, with only a single hoverjet sitting idle on the landing pad.

There would normally be many STF personnel here, always on alert, but now there was not a single soul to be found.

"Where are you?" Adyr murmured calmly.

At this height, the wind was cold and harsh, and it scattered his messy dark ash-gray hair with every gust, yet it was not enough to dim the crimson light in his eyes as he searched as far as he could see.

He tried to find the next bloody clue that might have been left behind, but he could not. He tried his Presence-and-Gaze combo again, but again it brought nothing.

It felt as if the man had led him here to a dead end, yet Adyr was certain there had to be something hidden, something not so simple to dismiss.

And as he thought, there really was someone, or rather, something waiting for him.

While his eyes failed to find the enemy, his senses took over, and every instinct told him he was being watched.

With that feeling, Adyr spread the wings on his back at once, summoned the Tower of Worth into his hand in staff form, and stood ready to retaliate the moment he could pinpoint the threat.

Soon, the danger he was trying to see reached him as a voice.

"Did you enjoy the arts I left behind?"

The voice was calm, even pleased. More than that, it was familiar, something Adyr had heard long ago, which tightened his insides and turned his stomach.

He turned toward the voice to see whose it was and saw a man standing very close to him, wearing a researcher's lab coat.

"You..." As soon as he saw the man, his eyes widened and his mind trembled as if he were seeing an illusion.

It was not only that the voice sounded familiar. The man's appearance also belonged to someone Adyr had known long before.

He was a middle-aged man with a shaved scalp and a long scar that began at his forehead, crossed his thin brown brows, and ran down to his chin. He had a bulky body and the stance of a retired soldier. All of it was clear and unmistakable.

Realizing his emotions were slipping for a second, Adyr pulled himself together quickly. He stilled his shaking hands, set the staff into position, slowed his racing heart, and steadied his uneven breath.

Then, regaining his calm, he asked, "Who are you?"

The man's appearance left no doubt. He was the one who had turned Adyr into

a monster-a serial killer-in his previous life.

But he had already killed him. On top of that, this was a different world, so seeing the same face standing here should have been impossible.

Then again, this world ran on fantastical rules. Spark, with many unimaginable skills, could bend almost anything. In a place like this, even the impossible could happen.

Seeing how quickly Adyr recovered, a small flicker of surprise crossed the man's face. "I thought you would be more surprised than this."

His voice almost sounded disappointed, but it did not last long as he laughed. "But considering who you are, it's expected, I guess."

At the man's words, Adyr raised one eyebrow and asked calmly, "Are you that

Mad Scientist whose name I've been hearing so many times lately?"

Now the man's face showed surprise once more. "Hey, hey, how did you guess?

Damn..."

It had actually been a blind guess, but it looked like he was right.

This was Earth, not Beyond, and the only one Adyr suspected who could be strong enough to slip past his Presence-and-Gaze combo had to be the Mad Scientist, so that was his first guess.

The real problem, though, was why he had the appearance of someone from Adyr's past life.

"You're wondering why I have the appearance of someone from your past life, right?" the Mad Scientist said with a smile, as if he were reading his mind. His earlier disappointment was completely gone. On the contrary, he seemed to be

quite enjoying the moment.

"No, I was thinking how ugly your face might be, so you're hiding behind

another face," Adyr replied, smiling as well.

"You have a good sense of humor." The Mad Scientist didn't seem offended. If anything, he looked entertained and started laughing again.

His laughter subsided a few seconds later, and then his appearance began to change. "Sorry for this. I just wanted to make my first impression on you memorable, but it seems it didn't work much."

His tall, bulky frame tightened into something more ordinary. He settled at an average height, lean yet athletic. Short, sun-bright golden hair sprouted from

his once-shaved scalp.

Next, the scar on his face faded as his features took on a younger cast. His eyes shifted from dull and ordinary to a molten gold like his hair, bright as two

burning suns.

"How is it? I'm not that ugly, I suppose." He chuckled confidently, and indeed,

he wasn't ugly. Instead, he now looked like a very handsome man in his 20s, quite the opposite of what people would imagine the centuries-old Mad

Scientist would look like.

"Now, please let us forget my previous introduction, and let me introduce myself once again." The Mad Scientist took a step closer to Adyr, stopped, placed one hand over his chest, and bowed slightly in a gentlemanly way. "My name is..." He hesitated for a moment. "Just call me Mad Scientist. I've forgotten what my name was."

Then he straightened, met Adyr's eyes, and spoke without losing the smile on his lips. "I have been waiting to meet you for so long, longer than you can imagine, and at last Fate has allowed me this moment."