-???-

  I navigated the opulent ballroom with a calculated ease, each step a testament to my carefully practiced fa?ade. As I walked around the polished floors, I exchanged pleasantries and false laughter with the elite. The soft strains of music provided a nice backdrop as I observed my surroundings with a keen eye. With every subtle glance, I assessed potential threats and clueless collaborators, my true mission never far from my thoughts. The Humans, blissfully unaware of the spy in their midst, continued their frivolous conversations. As they did that, I walked towards a balcony that overlooked the mansion’s small courtyard.

  While I was alone on the balcony I took some time to oversee the sprawling city laid out beneath our feet, the mansion’s short walls doing little to hide the fact that the opulent mansion was hovering high in the sky like some grand display to the rabble below.

  I, myself, didn’t have many negative feelings towards the Humans; but Demons had a strict hierarchy, so I followed my orders without much care for the harm it would do to the Humans below.

  As I stood on the balcony, I internally debated my next moves I would take in this strange Dungeon city. As I was thinking, the thrill of my deception surged through me, and I almost lost myself and reveled in it. However, as if to chastise me for having such frivolous thoughts, I received a call from one of my more competent subordinates. Taking out the fancy black rectangle the Humans liked to use for communication, I made sure to cast a sound barrier before answering the call.

  “What is it?”

  “Leader, I am calling to report on a potential suspect that might be involved in the future prediction anomaly.”

  “Ohoh, so soon?”

  “Yes Leader. Though it was more by accident than I would like to admit. But the suspicious person is proving difficult to track through magical means, and they are much too wary and vigilant of their surroundings to trail manually.”

  “Hmm, I assume you didn’t just call me to tell me how difficult it is right?”

  “Yes Leader. I’ve already predicted some of the likely routes and locations the target will head to, and I’ve managed to keep track of their movements so far while I’ve tried to gather more information.”

  “As expected. I knew it was right to promote you.”

  “Thank you Leader. However, while looking into the target, we discovered a bigger problem. The problem is, the target seems to be involved with the Guild leader’s son. So it would be difficult to apprehend the suspicious person without trouble.”

  “Hmm, That is troublesome. Do you need my help to pull a few strings to make it possible?”

  “No Leader, at least not yet. I was fortunate enough to be the one that first ran into the target, and was able to give them a meeting location with an invitation to come and talk some more. I’m not absolutely certain they will come, but they didn’t seem against the idea when I was with them. So we should wait a few days to see how things play out before taking any drastic measures.”

  Splendid. Having competent subordinates makes everything so much easier.

  “Indeed, your competence never fails to surprise me. If this suspect actually has a favorable interaction with us, then maybe we can use them for our own purposes. Keep doing as you were, and keep me updated if any unexpected situations come up.”

  “Yes Leader. That was all I had to report.”

  “Alright, then I look forward to your performance.”

  With that I hung up the phone and lifted the sound barrier. Everything seemed to be going well with the future prediction problem, due to having such a competent subordinate.

  I was previously having headaches because of the large amount of chaos that had suddenly raged into the spiritual and magical plane out of nowhere. The sudden chaos had been causing, not only me, but every large organization in the city, headaches. So with the news on a possible lead, I was feeling great and ready to get back to my outward play.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Because, regardless of the indeterminable future, I had a job to do, and Demon hierarchies didn’t take kindly to failure.

  -Radiant Experience-

  It was a strange experience being called by my Earth name once again. Literally, since my name back on Earth was Experience. It was crazy to think that I hadn’t gone by that name for over two hundred years though. It felt like I was hearing my long forgotten childhood nickname. Every time I heard it there was a slight pause before I recognized that they were talking about me.

  It was jarring every time, but I hoped it would get easier.

  After leaving the train station, I got to view the floating city in much more detail than was possible from the distant Waystation.

  It was a massive city floating heavily in the sky, and reaching deep underground, but such a description didn’t do it justice.

  It was suspended on enormous spheres of varying materials, some shiny, some colorful, and some with varying levels of opacity. Each visible sphere seemed to be either supporting the buildings around it via metal beams and suspending cords, or were isolated from everything else like a precious gem put on display. The city itself was an architectural marvel, with sleek, futuristic buildings soaring skyward and interconnected by delicate bridges that seem to mock gravity. Lush, verdant gardens flourished atop many of the tall building’s roofs, adding bursts of vibrant life to the predominantly metallic spectacle; with spires and domes glinting in the falling sunlight, reflecting off of the buildings and through the gaps in the web of metal like a kaleidoscope.

  The air seemed to thrum with a gentle hum even from a distance, as if the city itself was alive and breathing. Throughout the sky, airships drifted lazily, and the occasional flash of a distant vehicle streaked across the skyline, leaving white trails in their wake. It was a vision of a world both familiar and fantastical; because although I had lived in this magical world for over two hundred years, this city was a unique sight to behold.

  I had expected to get into an autonav and head into the big city to be registered at the Guild. We did get into an autonav, but, instead of going to the city in the distance, we drove only a few blocks away to a small Guild building near the train station. It seemed that this building was here mostly to handle things related to the Dungeon that we had just come from.

  The others in the group did take care of the few things they had picked up in the Dungeon while we were inside, but it was secondary to our main purpose, which was to get me registered for a Guild membership. The male secretary seemed unfamiliar with the registration process, but he eventually figured it out, and said that I would have to participate in a test, in the main Guild building in the city, in a couple of days if I wanted to get registered.

  I had never signed up as a Guild member in my past life, so I was in for a whole new experience. But the future message would most likely have a few things to say about it, seeing as how it was the only way my companions seemed aware of to get a new and legit identity for me. But I decided to wait until I was alone to go through and search for the information. I mean I had only received the future message around twenty four hours ago and had only somewhat come to terms with the fact that multiple versions of me had basically ‘died’ and sent back their final words to try and change the future. And yet, despite multiple attempts, I apparently still hadn’t figured out who exactly was after me.

  It just went to show me, once again, how utterly absurd the power level of some of the beings I was up against was. I mean, going up against gods? Pre-Transcendents? If anyone said they were going to do such a thing, they would be called insane. And yet, here I was trying to do just that.

  I shook my head to clear away the useless thoughts. I shouldn’t be worrying about the unknown stuff right now. I need to focus on the present, especially tomorrow. The Radiant before me, I’ll just call him Radiant 13, gave me a time sensitive task of obtaining the black market account of someone who is soon to no longer be in need of it. I don’t know all the details yet, but I’m sure that he said to get into it and change the account details before the account gets hijacked and sold to the highest bidder.

  But that was also something I would save to look through later, when I was alone. And that wouldn’t be too much longer, as we were now all leaving the Guild building after finishing everything.

  I thought that we would all get into an autonav again, and said, “So where in the big city are we all going? It looks a bit intimidating to have to find your way in a place like that.”

  Kratimane, or her nickname Kané, said, “Well, most of us live on the outskirts, so we don’t really have a reason to head into the center city with you. Only Minex and Yesemio will be going with you from here on.”

  “Oh, then I guess it’s goodbye.”

  She chuckled, “Hehe, more like see you later. If you’re serious about starting anew, then you’ll need to start working, and since you’re going to be a Guild member anyways, then it’s likely that we’ll be seeing eachother again.”

  “I guess you’re right about that.” It would definitely be pretty suspicious if someone wasn’t working but was still spending money out of nowhere.

  “Well then, see you later Experience. And good luck with your test.”

  “Thanks. See you later.”

  Everyone else also said their goodbyes, while they dispersed and got into separate autonavs that they had called beforehand. And I joined Minex and Yesemio in their autonav to head off and enter the floating city. Hopefully there wouldn’t be too many unexpected difficulties from here on, but with my luck I didn’t have too much confidence.