"I am being kind to you by not being kind to you."
With those words, the recorded feed of the masked man concluded.
The bearded man's once-sturdy room fell into a heavy silence as the spectral rendition vanished.
Unlike the usual tranquility he found in silence, the bearded man's expressions shifted through various shades all of a sudden. He abruptly stood from his seat as the identity of the masked man dawned on him. The last line of the masked man struck the bearded man's heart like a bolt of raging lightning.
"Eren!" exclaimed the emerald-green-eyed man, shock painted across his face as memories of time spent with his son in Anfang flooded back.
"When? How? And he... he became a demi-god? What… What exactly happened in Anfang?"
The initial shock transformed into worry as he realized his son had found a way to Labh Salem, despite leaving him in Anfang, a closed-off realm hidden from the denizens of Labh Salem.