What was this feeling?

Something felt off to him somehow. Jitt was a game master... yet instead of using Glare, that guy was fighting using Gazer instead. He thought that only the producers used Gazer while the game masters used Glare. Ace frowned before rolling to his side to avoid a direct attack from Gazer's Dominion Ray drones. This was his first time... fighting Jitt in their transformed state, yet for some reason, it didn't feel like it was really his first time.

Jitt's fighting style as Gazer was quite different compared to the way Niram used to fight him. And as much as this fight felt reminiscent of the time he had fought Suel, he still felt that there was still something that he had overlooked...

And just as Ace attempted to shoot down some of the Dominion Ray drones that kept trying to locate him, he caught sight of one of the holo screens displaying the timer indicating the remaining time they had to get to Keiwa. His blood ran cold as the timer showed that they had less than five minutes remaining!

So that was it! Jitt wasn't trying to take him down, but rather, delaying him to get to Keiwa—Ace immediately removed his Magnum buckle before taking out his Geats III buckle. Was there... something else they were planning to do with Keiwa?

They're running out of time now!

xxx

He wanted... to cry so much!

Why wouldn't... he make his body move? Why couldn't... he get up and save himself?

Sakurai Keiwa... had you always been this weak?

The longer he remained lying on the base of the podium, the more he became aware of the collar on his neck that Jitt had put on him hours ago. What was that collar... supposed to do to him? Was the collar... the real reason why he couldn't even move a muscle?

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Keiwa felt a jolt of electricity running through his spine and spreading all over his body as he started to lose consciousness again...

.

Ace rushed into the room with Win before heading straight towards Keiwa, who was still lying motionlessly on the floor. He lifted Keiwa before frantically trying to shake the other man awake to no avail. Win knelt down beside them and started checking on Keiwa's pulse as Ace tried to untie the gags on Keiwa's mouth.

"Don't worry... he's still alive—" said Win as Ace stared worriedly at the unconscious man. Keiwa had looked so emaciated, that he wondered just how much grudge Jitt had on him to have hurt Keiwa this badly. He shook his head at the thought. No, even prior to this Keiwa had looked even thinner and a lot frailer than he had ever seen the tanuki rider look before. Which just showed how much Sakurai Sara's supposed death had affected the man so much... to the point that Keiwa stopped caring for his own wellbeing.

I'm sorry... Keiwa...

Ace ran a hand to caress Keiwa's face before running a finger over the bruises and cuts that he could see. Once all of them get back home, he'll set things back to their rightful place. Not just to fulfil the promises he made to his late mother to atone for every wrong that the DGP had done but to also restore some bit of happiness into Keiwa's life. Keiwa deserved to receive some bit of happiness after so much cruelty that the man had to endure by himself. He just hoped there was nothing else that had been done to Keiwa without his knowing...

"How amusing... for a little tanuki to cause so much concern to the Great Fox. Somehow I don't feel like relinquishing this little toy that I've acquired—"

Ace frowned as he recalled his exchange with Jitt during their earlier battle. That guy... referred to Keiwa as their 'toy'. That... should not mean when he thought it could be, right? Was it... almost a month ago since Keiwa lost his sister? And that dreadful moment had led Keiwa to lose sight of the path he should be taking.

Because of that, Keiwa ended up taking Tsumuri away... and joining the management's side to turn her into the secondary Goddess and defeat him. Ace bit his lips. It hadn't been that long since his sister had granted Keiwa's wish and revived a lot of the past problematic DGP players, causing everyone so much grief. And he assumed that since then Keiwa should have stayed with those DGP people, which should include Jitt. Such a short time... would it be possible for Jitt to do something to Keiwa during that short period? Keiwa... did seem different ever since they joined the management's side after all.

If Jitt had done something awful to Keiwa—There's no way that he'd let them off for putting their hands on his precious person!

Not long after... Keiwa started to regain his consciousness.

xxx

Ace stared up at one of the holographic displays that was showing a timer that had already stopped counting down. In fact, by the time they reached Keiwa's side, the timer had already reached zero. At first, seeing that Keiwa barely moved from the spot where they fell, he almost thought that they'd arrived too late to save Keiwa. Yet, contrary to what they initially thought, nothing ended up happening to Keiwa after the timer ran out. So what's up with that?

And the more he thought of it, the more things seemed to look suspicious to him. By now, Jitt and Kekera should've recovered enough to chase after them and stop them from taking Keiwa away. Yet, there was no sign of those two coming over to fight them again. Why? Weren't those people trying to use Keiwa as a hostage in exchange for Tsumuri? Why were they giving up on Keiwa now?

Just as he was contemplating what was going on, Ace suddenly sensed a menacing aura next to him before rolling off to his side—narrowly missing the blade that was suddenly swung towards his neck. He winced at the faint cut that had grazed his forearm instead.

"What the—!" Win suddenly exclaimed aloud as Ace glanced up to see the other man struggling to push away the knife that was pointed towards their face. And the one attacking Win was none other person but Keiwa! Ace immediately got onto his feet and scrambled to save Win, before pushing Keiwa aside and tossing the knife they were holding towards another direction.

"What's going on, Tycoon? What are you doing?" exclaimed Ace as Keiwa remained silent. He frowned again.

That was odd. Earlier when he lifted Keiwa to check on the other person, Keiwa's body had felt so limp in his arm, almost boneless. Yet, when he pushed Keiwa away from Win, Keiwa's body felt like a hard boulder.

"It's pointless... Geats."

Out of nowhere, Jitt appeared next to Keiwa looking very smug. The man pulled Keiwa back to his feet before wrapping their arm around Keiwa's body.

"Right now... the only person Sakurai Keiwa will listen to will be me—" Jitt pulled out Keiwa's Desire Driver and placed it on their waist, before pressing the Ninja buckle on Keiwa's grip.

Jitt grinned as he turned his attention back towards Ace and Win.

"So will you surrender the second Goddess back to us now?"

.

Ace gritted his teeth as he kept staring back towards Keiwa who remained still, standing beside Jitt. He frowned as Ace noted the blank look on Keiwa's face. Was Keiwa somehow being controlled by Jitt right now? But how? Aside from the drones that were usually used by Glare to control other people—like how Girori used to control Win before—how was Jitt even controlling Keiwa right now? Was Keiwa being mind-controlled? Brainwashed? What—?

And then something flashing caught Ace's eyes before he turned his attention towards Keiwa's neck. Was that a black collar—?

Just then, Jitt slowly leaned his head over Keiwa's ear before giving his order out loud.

"Kill Geats."