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Akio couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about Saeko Busujima.
Her voice was soft and gentle when she spoke, but the look in her eyes was sharp enough to cut. It felt like she could leap at him and land a punch at any second.
What the hell was this about?
Puzzled, Akio wondered if he'd somehow offended her. But that didn't make sense—they had never even met before. So why did Saeko seem so openly hostile toward him?
Curiosity got the better of him, and he asked directly, "We've never met before, right? Then why do you look at me like I'm someone you can't stand?"
At those words, Secretary Shoko shot Saeko a disapproving glare.
What's with this woman? I went out of my way to help her, yet she dares show such disrespect toward Lord Akio.
Saeko cursed herself inwardly. She'd let her feelings show too clearly, and he'd seen right through her. That wasn't good. Especially since she'd noticed the irritation in Shoko's eyes as well.
If she couldn't expose this "god" as a fraud, she risked losing Shoko's trust entirely.
In that case… no more hiding. Time to lay her cards on the table.
Taking a deep breath, Saeko said calmly, "Yes, I do have an issue with you. Because in the future I've seen, there is no such thing as a god."
"If you really are one, Lord Akio, then show me."
Akio narrowed his eyes. So not only in Miko Yotsuya's bleak future was he absent, but even in the one Saeko herself had lived through, he didn't exist?
That all but confirmed it. The futures they'd seen, the tragedies they'd experienced—they belonged to a world where he had never crossed over.
But now he was here. Naturally, the story would change.
"Alright," he said easily.
He didn't take offense at her doubt; in fact, he found her challenge refreshing. He was curious about Saeko. If he could best her and then win her over, she'd follow him with absolute loyalty—so loyal she wouldn't even mind sharing him with other women.
A woman like that was a rare prize. Akio liked her already, and a little pushback didn't bother him.
Raising his hand, he pulled Saeko into his Radiant Dimension.
In an instant, the two of them were suspended hundreds of meters in the air.
"Welcome to my world."
He snapped his fingers. A vast spiral staircase appeared, unfurling downward beneath his feet.
From that staircase, Saeko could see the endless expanse of grassland below, and at its heart stood a colossal palace—so massive it looked as though giants had built it.
Even a single corridor stretched like a great wall, immense, overwhelming, almost divine.
Descending the spiral steps, they entered the towering halls of the palace.
Huge. That was Saeko's first impression.
She'd already glimpsed the size of the place from the sky, but walking inside left her utterly stunned. Each floor tile alone was over ten square meters. The ceiling rose impossibly high, dozens—no, maybe hundreds—of meters above.
Walking through it, she felt like an ant wandering through a house made for humans.
No, she thought, this wasn't a palace for people at all. This place was built for giants.
Still, even overwhelmed as she was, Saeko refused to yield. "Impressive, but this alone doesn't prove you're a god."
"What about this?"
Akio snapped his fingers again. The sky instantly darkened as storm clouds rolled in, lightning flashing wildly. Sheets of rain poured down, a flood from heaven itself.
"And this?"
Another snap.
The downpour didn't just stop—it froze midair. Millions of raindrops hung suspended, locked in place as though time itself had been paused.
Saeko stared in disbelief. She reached out, touched one of the droplets. Cold, wet. Real.
Not an illusion.
Actual rain, frozen in the sky by his will.
Her breath caught. It was as if the entire world had been paused.
"And this."
With another snap, the hanging rain morphed into countless snowflakes, drifting silently downward until they buried the massive palace in white. A bitter cold swept through the air. In a heartbeat, summer had become winter.
Then Akio exhaled softly. The snow melted, warmth returned, and life stirred again. Spring had arrived.
Saeko stood frozen, mind racing. To control the weather… to halt time itself… these were impossible abilities, each one undeniable proof of his claim.
He wasn't some charlatan. He was a god, plain and simple.
But then why? Why, in the hellish future she had suffered through, had he not been there? That unanswered question gnawed at her.
Akio seemed to sense her doubt. "Have you considered this? The future you experienced didn't have me… because I hadn't arrived in this world yet."
Saeko blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Think of the future you lived through as the first timeline. Is it possible… that I don't belong to that one?
When you were reborn, a second timeline began. That's when I entered this world. That's why you never saw me in the future you knew."
He looked her in the eye. "I wasn't part of the first run. I came in during the second."
Saeko fell silent. She wasn't stupid; she understood exactly what he meant.
That explained why she didn't know him. Why Erina Nakiri, the future Commander, and Shoko trusted him so deeply.
Because Akio hadn't existed in the first timeline. He was a god who appeared only in this one.
It was hard to believe, almost absurd—but something deep inside her told her it was the truth.
"…Please forgive my rudeness, Lord God."
Drawing a steady breath, Saeko bowed deeply, folding herself into a ninety-degree angle.
Akio waved it off with calm ease. "No need. You didn't know, so there's no blame. In fact, I wanted to ask you something. This disaster—it started in Tokonome City, right?"
Saeko straightened, her voice firm. "Yes. The very first outbreak began in my city—Tokonome."
"Then tell me," Akio said, his gaze sharp as a blade. "Do you know who's behind it? Or at least… who you suspect?"
"..."
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