As he waited for the antidote to take effect, Darius imagined something nasty happening. In his mind's eye, he saw his body opening its eyes though his spirit had yet to merge with it … because another spirit had taken his spot. His breathing sped up. This wasn't impossible, so he had to be careful. When Darius saw his skin return to normal, he tried and failed to enter his body multiple times in succession.

Then, he stopped and glanced at the mirror, looking worried. Everything that had happened was way beyond his horizon, and the scene he'd imagined earlier—though ludicrous—was not impossible. After all, Teivel had also talked about wanting to merge with a better body than his own.

Darius exhaled, clenched his fists, and turned his attention to the mirror. He saw Teivel had already stepped away from Pearl; she collapsed to the floor, looking exhausted. Then, Teivel approached the mirror and suddenly appeared before Darius.

The latter raised an eyebrow and looked at the former thou