"Now, what should I do with you, stranger?".
Inside the garage, it was as if time itself had completely stopped.
There was no movement from anyone, except the raven and the woman with black hair.
"Huh? What is happening here? Why is everyone frozen like this?".
The raven still hadn't comprehended what had happened, he stood in front of Drago and waved his arm at him, but he didn't even blink, and this was the case with the others.
"I have stopped time in this place, you don't need to worry about them".
The raven felt that there might be a problem with his ears and that he had misheard the words of the woman with black hair.
"Excuse me, miss, I think I just heard something ridiculous, could you repeat what you said?".
"I have stopped time in this place".
They both blinked at each other and the raven's lips trembled slightly.
"'What's wrong with this lunatic?', that's what your face is saying".
The raven's eyes widened and he looked to the side because his thoughts had been exposed.
"Not true, I didn't say that".
The woman narrowed her eyes at the raven who was acting as if nothing had happened.
"Sigh, anyway, stranger, do you know that your soul is split into two parts?".
The woman wasn't looking at the raven when she said these words, rather she was looking at the man who looked like him, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed and a smile on his face as if he was enjoying this scene.
"Can you see me?".
"Can you see him?".
They both spoke at the same moment and signs of confusion covered their faces.
'Could it be that she really did stop time here, that she can actually see this bastard after all'.
"Yes, he is part of your soul, but, this is the first time I have ever seen a living human in this state, you are supposed to be dead".
The woman wanted to touch the second part of the raven's soul, but he quickly retreated backward, stopping her.
"Don't touch me, woman".
His dark violet eyes burned with hidden flames of anger, causing the woman to step back without any concern for his exaggerated reaction.
She returned her gaze toward the original raven and began speaking words he didn't fully understand.
"It seems someone has done this, but it doesn't look like you've ever been to Exaylris before".
"Exaylris? What is that?".
The woman remained silent for several moments before stepping forward and standing directly in front of him.
"I will give you my mark, stranger".
When the raven saw her raised hand moving toward his chest, he instinctively wanted to step back but found his body completely paralyzed.
Her delicate hand pressed against his chest and began to glow magically.
"Hey you! What are you doing?".
The raven felt a bad feeling from this light, as if something unpleasant was about to happen because of it.
The strange light vanished from her hand and she stepped back several steps.
"Maybe this will be a successful experiment, or just another disappointment like the thousands before you, it is entirely up to you now".
The raven's consciousness was gradually fading and he tried to resist the drowsiness overwhelming him.
But it was useless, his body collapsed weakly to the ground and his eyelids forcibly shut.
The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the woman turning her back to him and looking at him coldly from the corner of her eye.
And so, the raven's consciousness disappeared completely and he no longer perceived what was happening around him.
For an unknown amount of time, maybe seconds, or minutes, or hours, or even days.
He did not feel time or anything, only emptiness.
As if he were floating above some sea.
This feeling brought him a strange tranquility he had never felt before.
All the thoughts that had troubled him vanished, and his head became extremely light.
Suddenly, sensations began to return to him gradually.
The coldness of the ground beneath him, the heaviness in the air, and the sound of his heartbeat, all these things brought him back to consciousness.
He slowly opened his eyes, still not fully aware of what was happening around him.
"Ughhh! My head hurts, what did that woman do to me?".
He held his head, which felt as if it was going to explode, and began looking around, but—
"Huh? Where am I?".
To his surprise, he was no longer in the same garage he had been in moments ago, but now he was in the middle of a strange forest.
The ground had no grass and was extremely dry.
The trees, however, were extremely tall, with branches stretching dozens of meters, and black leaves instead of the usual green ones.
The stench of disgusting rot overwhelmed his senses, making his face twist in discomfort.
The raven slowly rose from the ground and began to look at the new environment he had found himself in.
"Where is this place? I have never seen it before at all?".
He wanted to move forward, but he found his legs trembling slightly, and his heartbeat was so loud that he felt it might burst out of his chest.
"Are you frozen from fear, coward?".
"Just my luck, this bastard is still with me".
The raven took a deep breath and tried to ignore his lookalike as much as he could and stepped forward.
"For god's sake, this place is absolutely perfect, just climb one of these trees and jump off, you'll die without even feeling it".
"No thanks".
"Yeah, yeah, keep living your fantasy life".
The raven could no longer see his lookalike anywhere, so he let out a sigh of relief because he wasn't forced to listen to more nonsense.
And while he walked through this vast and strange forest, a pair of red eyes were staring at him from afar, while he remained unaware of them.
The raven continued walking for more than an hour, but eventually gave up and sat on the ground, leaning against one of the trees to rest.
"Damn it! There's no end to this forest, as if I'm walking in a closed loop".
He raised his head up and saw the dark sky devoid of any stars or moon.
Crack!.
Out of nowhere, the raven heard the sound of branches breaking behind him, so he quickly got up from the ground.
He began looking around but found no trace of any life.
"Was I imagining things?".
"No, there is something hiding behind these trees, idiot".
"Why didn't you tell me that from the start?".
"Aren't you the one who considers me nonexistent? Why should I help you?".