The young man was kicked in the face repeatedly, forcefully bringing him back to the present time, as his wounds continued to ooze blood and the number of masked figures in his sight continued to increase…

The blonde teenager, his brother, continued to laugh and jeer at him, but the young man strangely felt his attention drawn to somewhere else. With the amount of blood that was pooling around him and new injuries that were slowly being added to his body, one would think that he would already feel his consciousness slipping, but he only felt the pain…

『Mental Corruption(lv.1) received...』

The young man’s eyes now both possessed the same golden streak that seemed to be leaking a strange black fluid into the whites of his eyes, yet he didn’t seem to notice…

-Please...I don’t want...to see this again…

Fate’s cries sounded from within in pupils, but the horrific scene continued to play out around him, as the young man slowly focused his gaze on a figure that was propped against the wall. They wore a mask the same as the others, but a strange pale-blue glow emanated from both eye sockets, which sent chills up his spine as he looked at them.

The figure, having seemingly noticed the gaze of the young man, now began to slowly walk towards him, lifting their mask slightly to reveal a massive grin plastered on their face…

『Mental Corruption(lv.2) received...』

『Do you remember now? It wasn’t just your family who betrayed you, was it?~』

Other figures began removing themselves from the shadows, all following the example of the first in slowly removing their masks, of course, they didn’t share the same ominous gaze.

The young man continued to receive injury after injury, suffering as he was stabbed, and his face stomped on like a piece of garbage, yet still, he continued to gaze in the direction of these few…

[Kick!] [Kick!] [Kick!]

???: “I can’t believe that we got him this easily! That goddess better be ready to pay up!~”

The young man couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to the appearance of the voice that began to chime in a sickening tone but could see a tongue rolling over its owner’s lips. However, the gradually emerging voices were almost entirely tuned out as the young man continued to stare at the lead figure, who was still approaching him at a casual pace while peeling off their mask…

-Stop…

[Kick!][Kick!][Kick!]

Fate and the young man’s combined vision continued to flicker in and out as they were repeatedly covered by the barrage of blood-stained shoes, as the figure seemed to grow closer and closer with each kick…

???: “She’s giving us a do-over in another world, don’t trash talk her generosity you scrub!”

???: “Yeah, yeah, who f*cking cares?!~”

???: “We do, asshole!”

『Mental Corruption(lv.3) received...』

Soon though, the continuous hammering of his skull ceased, as he stared above at the crowd that had gathered around him, all with sinisterly smiling faces, but all looking towards the figure with blue eyes with nervous gazes…

『He was your friend, right?~ I would've thought that you would’ve known about what he was capable of…~』

Tears formed in the young man’s now jet black eyes as the figure continued to slowly reveal their faces…

『His name was always sooo annoying though, so you kept calling him by that nickname...now what was his name again?~』

『Mental Corruption(lv.4) received...』
『Mental Corruption(lv.5) received...』

Jack: “Mat…!!!”

A falling mask covered his vision as a young man with auburn blonde hair, freckles, a depraved smile, and a pair of pale-blue glowing eyes stood over him…

Matt: “I really couldn’t f*cking stand that face of yours, it always looked so damn pathetic…”
…
Meanwhile, outside of the illusion, chaos reigned. Tornadoes of black water surged into the sky, helping midnight blue lightning reach into the sky, raining down on the Witch, who currently had her hand firmly clenched around the throat of the creature while floating in midair!

However, her expressionless face hadn’t changed and wouldn’t change, no matter what tricks the deranged being tried to play on her, as she casually waved her staff, creating a sparkling indigo barrier at her back…

The world around them was torn apart, with massive gaping holes dug in the sea and the dark clouds in the sky, and indigo and purple energies clashing with black light

The lightning sputtered out from the sky, seeking out the Witch like rabid beasts, only to be dispersed when striking against the shield. The creature was grimacing with two mouths and its rows of sharp fangs.

Witch of Fate: “Do you enjoy being humiliated as much as your counterpart does?”

The Witch spoke in a cold voice while looking down at the pathetic creature in her grasp, while it seemed to struggle to continue its assault, still raining lightning from the sky and attacking her from every angle with blasts of black light and tentacles of black water…

However, she suddenly seemed disturbed by something, shifting her gaze to look towards the ashen skies, and even beyond. Meanwhile, the unconscious body of Fate on the red platform began to radiate with an ominous black light…

The creature that had been struggling underneath her now seemed to be relaxing, enjoying itself as it beamed a vicious grin at her.

???: “Awww, what’s wrong, did you forget that you have prior arrangements? I’m truly flattered that the only one you could think about was yours truly...~”

The Witch ignored the creature, now beginning to rise to the sky, glowing with indigo and purple light as her long dress trailed up behind her, while she allowed the creature to plummet from the air...

Witch of Fate: “It seems that I will have to deal with his ego at another date, but it looks like it’s doing well in…!”

Suddenly, a glowing tome emerged from Fate’s body, as the black glow around him condensed into a set of interwoven black chains that wrapped around the book before stabbing into the Witch’s chest, while the falling creature began to smile further…

???: “But that said, I’m not letting you leave here so easily!!!~”

The book began to bathe in the black aura as the Witch scowled at the creature, who had now begun to drift towards Fate.

???: "There's a price you gotta pay first!!!~"
...