“And yes, I’m worried about the exact same thing. No amount of sorcery or meditation would keep a person’s heart beating for five centuries unless the hearts that beat in their chests now don’t belong to them, or there’s something else at play that we’re unaware of.” Teivel sighed. “Either way, history is repeating itself—what happened five centuries ago is happening again now.”

Darius bit his lip and frowned deeply. Then, he said, “What should we do to prevent the situation from worsening? I honestly have no idea how to proceed from here; I thought I’d eradicated the black-robed people, yet here they are, appearing before me again.”

Teivel laughed, but it wasn’t mocking. He said, “They can’t be eradicated—not in the way you think, anyway—because no one could’ve stopped the mastermind after I died. I know my opponent well, and he must’ve thrown himself into expanding his forces after my death. He’s extremely conscientious, and not even his death would put a halt to this organization’s