"You? Are you lost?"
Raiden looked at himself, his former self, the self that was still Bjorn, who stood up from the computer desk and asked himself.
"Me? Lost... I seem to..." Raiden just looked at Bjorn, in casual home clothes behind him was the long-missed appearance of home.
Flickering on the computer screen was his past ordinary and common life, the life he missed and longed for.
Bjorn reached out his hand to Raiden "Do you want to go home?"
"Go home? Can I go back?" There was some confusion in Raiden eyes.
"Of course." Bjorn pointed down with his finger.
On the ground, there was a visible, dreamlike dividing line. On this side was the world Raiden was in, chaotic and dark; on the other side was the former world, peaceful and beautiful.
"Come back." Bjorn beckoned to Raiden.
Raiden looked at Bjorn. There seemed to be light in his hand, and behind him appeared to be all the good things Raiden had hoped for.
But could he really go back? Raiden looked around himself. He was wrapped in sludge, his hunched figure tightly embracing him. Raiden had already sunk deep into it.
...
"Give up all this, give up everything you've gained in darkness and filth, forget all this, and you can go home." In the cold cave, a bearded man with a West Asian face stood in front of Raiden, enticing him.
And Raiden in front of him, with unfocused eyes, seemed to be sinking into another world.
"If I give up all this, can I really go back?" Raiden mumbled, seemingly talking to himself, yet also seeming to speak to someone else.
"You can, of course you can!" The bearded man said ecstatically, his eyes flashing with golden light.
"Don't you long to go back? Come, hand over these powers." The bearded man continued to whisper in Raiden ear, one hand resting on Raiden head, a ring on his finger emitting a strange glow.
The bearded man longed to obtain Raiden power, he longed to possess magic.
Moreover, this was a kind of magic never seen before, incomparable magic, magic that even the great Supreme Sorcerer had never possessed.
The bearded man was called Mandarin. He was originally an ordinary person, but he had once been fortunate enough to reach a mysterious place hidden in the Himalayas called Kamar-Taj.
At Kamar-Taj, Mandarin was quickly attracted by the magic there, but the Ancient One refused to teach him magical knowledge, even though Mandarin begged for a long time, and was eventually expelled from Kamar-Taj.
However, by chance, before leaving Kamar-Taj, Mandarin took a ring from a room sealed by magic, which was said to contain the belongings of the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme.
After leaving Kamar-Taj, Mandarin soon discovered the mystery of the ring, which gave the magicless Mandarin powerful abilities.
And after possessing this power, Mandarin quickly became inflated.
He began to use the ring magic to seek wealth for himself, he began to do evil.
But fortunately, he still had self-awareness. After causing some trouble, he unhesitatingly abandoned his luxurious life and fled to the Middle East, hoping to find a remote place to live like a local emperor.
After all, he knew that there was still the existence of the Ancient One in this world, an existence that could easily crush him.
But what the Mandarin didn't expect was that he had long been targeted. A mysterious organization approached the Mandarin, hoping he would become their hound.
How could the Mandarin, who had gained power, possibly accept this... But the Mandarin lost, he lost miserably.
Under the coercion of power, he submitted to that organization.
And this time, the task given to him by the organization was to help the bald man regain his influence in the Middle East, and the other was... to capture Raiden, or kill Raiden.
However, after witnessing Raiden abilities, the Mandarin changed his mind. He coveted the power that Raiden possessed.
The Mandarin was determined to seize this power. He was certain that if he could possess this power, even that organization wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
"Give it up, surrender, go home!" The Mandarin kept whispering in Raiden ear, and Raiden face showed an expression of painful struggle.
This wasn't because Raiden was unwilling to give up this power, but because this power had long been deeply rooted in Raiden body.
The Mandarin could feel the power overflowing from the top of Raiden head. He had already grasped that power, but it was like a towering tree, rooted in Raiden body.
He had only grabbed a branch, so how could he uproot it!
However, the Mandarin wasn't disappointed with this result. Instead, it made him even more excited, because the more it was like this, the more it demonstrated how powerful the force Raiden possessed was.
If I could possess this power, wouldn't I become a god? I definitely would, the Mandarin eyes showed a hint of madness.
The bald man standing behind the Mandarin coldly observed everything before him. He could see what the Mandarin was doing, after all, the white, sticky energy overflowing from the top of Raiden head was visible to anyone.
The Mandarin was trying to seize Raiden's power, which made the bald man feel somewhat jealous inside. He had coveted this power for a long time. Compared to that power, the influence he currently had in the Middle East was simply insignificant.
The bald man also wanted to obtain Raiden power, because only then would he not just be a dog under the organization behind the Mandarin.
Only by possessing Raiden power could he have a say.
But the bald man, who knew very little about the mystical side, didn't act rashly.
After all, even if he were to step up, he wouldn't know how to seize the power within Raiden body, so he was secretly observing, waiting for an opportunity.
Suddenly, the bald man noticed that the Mandarin seemed to have become somewhat strange.
How to put it, he noticed that the Mandarin back seemed to have become a bit stiff.
Before the bald man could think much, the Mandarin silhouette seemed to have become somewhat illusory, with black phantoms appearing faintly around the Mandarin.
Has this guy succeeded? Has he seized that power? That power that should belong to me!
The bald man heart was filled with anger, but he couldn't show it. One must bow one's head under the eaves!
The bald man suppressed the jealous anger in his heart and was walking forward, intending to compliment the Mandarin.
Suddenly, Mandarin body collapsed like a pile of sand, along with all the objects on him turning directly to ash. Only a ring fell to the ground, making a crisp collision sound.
After Mandarin body dissipated, the black phantom appeared in front of Raiden, with half of the phantom still connected to Raiden's body.
The bald man and the phantom exchanged a glance. In the darkness, the bald man saw the phantom angular face - it was Raiden face.
Monster, this guy is a monster!
If magic was still acceptable to the bald man, the scene before him was clearly the legendary appearance of a devil.
At this moment, a hint of fear arose in the bald man heart.
"Kill him, shoot, kill him!" the bald man shouted hysterically.
The Ten Rings members standing behind Raiden hurriedly opened fire on him, but they all failed. The black phantom waved a finger, and all the Ten Rings members were frozen, their lives extinguished in an instant.
Seeing this, the bald man tried to flee in panic, but in the moment he moved, he lost control of his legs. He could no longer even feel the existence of his legs - they had been frozen.
The black phantom elongated its body, a long virtual shadow connecting it to Raiden, preventing it from separating from him.
The phantom came before the bald man, carefully examining him, letting out a maniacal laugh. Then, the phantom shrank back, returning to Raiden front.
The phantom turned to face Raiden, saying through gritted teeth.
"This person... I'll leave to you..."
After speaking, the phantom pounced towards Raiden... Raiden opened his eyes.
For an instant his eyeballs were completely black, but in the next second they returned to normal.
Raiden was not quite clear what had happened to him, but it seemed he was one step away from being able to go home.
However, when Raiden saw the bald man in front of him, going home?
This thought was completely thrown out of Raiden mind.
Now Raiden brain was filled with only one idea - kill him.
Kill him Brutally...
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