Chapter 52: Siloque, Playing Dead

Ding…

A scythe appeared beside Myut, deflecting the blow.

Cass swung his blade in pursuit, but Myut gently set down Siloque and leaped backward in a large step, putting distance between them.

“The amount that could make a group of ogres fall unconscious, yet you still managed to wake up. It seems your body is really something.”

Myut smiled, summoning four more scythes.

The scythes attacked!

Cass watched the smiling woman, dodging the strikes, letting her scythe swing through the air twice—then three times.

Upper left, right side…tilted!

Cass sidestepped and retreated.

In a room with a regular square structure, Cass focused on avoiding being driven to the wall, carefully evading attacks.

Several times, blows aimed at his head, abdomen, and heart—lethal strikes—were dodged as he slid away, reducing the friction to zero with his talent.

The unique warm air of the Dungeon slid slickly over his skin.

Eh? What…did I just do?

Cass’s mind lagged behind his body’s reaction.

By the time he realized it, he was already in deep combat with Myut.

That’s right, Myut.

Not satisfied with kissing Siloque’s face, she even wanted to…!

Since Myut is from the Evil Demon Society—

It doesn’t matter if I kill her.

With a burst step, Cass shot forward with a roaring wind, his sword pointed straight at Myut’s neck.

“Ho…a talent?”

Ding——!!

The clash of metal rang out, the scythe blocking the sword.

Unfazed, Myut raised her hand. Above Cass’s head, a vicious red scythe materialized.

It was the move that instantly killed General Ox!

Cass’s [Friction] talent could only extend to the range of an arm at his current level.

If it’s just this strike—

He could dodge it!

The gentle smile on Myut’s face sent chills through Cass.

He felt something was wrong.

Around him, six identical scythes floated in a 360° formation.

Completely surrounded.

Cass gripped his sword tighter, splitting the range of his talent into countless small areas over his body, trying to predict the path of the scythes.

Would her attack shred him first, or could he cut Myut down?

He knew it was futile—a pointless struggle.

Either way, he’d be seriously injured.

Might as well keep attacking.

He couldn’t stand the idea of not giving this ever-smiling woman a cut.

Just as the scythe’s blade flashed, about to strike—

Suddenly, the scythe froze, as if bound by something.

It was a very brief moment, even shorter than a blink, but it stopped for an instant.

Cass saw it—Myut’s smile had stiffened.

Seizing the opportunity, Cass infused his sword with friction elimination—a move that once easily sliced through the armor of a Maple Court Knight—and slashed at Myut.

“—!! Tch.”

It left only a thin line on Myut’s cheek, as delicate as a thread.

Those seductive eyes didn’t even glance at Cass.

Cass leapt sideways, escaping the prison formed by the scythes.

It was only after creating distance that he noticed countless silver threads stretching from the floor and ceiling, wrapping around the scythe and binding it tightly.

“Not bad, not bad. As expected, Mr. Wolf can move too.”

Myut praised, tilting her head with a smile. All the silver threads snapped and dissipated.

In Siloque’s hand was a stick-shaped tool, its tip sprouting countless silver threads.

An R34 Binding Tool, a capture net for large monsters—10,000 R each.

It can be recovered after use, but since Myut broke it, the tool was now useless.

Feeling regret over the wasted tool, Siloque grinned wickedly:

“Your lap is comfortable.”

“I wanted to rest on it a bit longer, too…”

But Siloque’s gaze wasn’t on Myut—it was focused behind her.

The ones they were waiting for had arrived.

In his field of vision, he saw that the door behind Myut was now open.

Two people stood there.

Their uniforms were gray and black, armbands with a red base and black edges, imprinted with the scales of order and a scythe of death.

They unleashed their magic—

“Good afternoon, Tuners.”

Myut had noticed them, too.

She smiled politely, addressing their identities.

Her actions were faster and stronger than their magical activation.

She quickly glanced at Siloque and Cass, then at Jade and Weiss lying on the ground.

Sorry, I couldn’t get you to the Golden Land of happiness.

She summoned a scythe, instantly slicing through the wall.

The pieces fell like children’s building blocks, raising a cloud of dust as Myut escaped.

The two Tuners pursued silently and swiftly.

After confirming all three had left, Cass moved closer to Siloque.

“Thanks, Siloque. Is your body…alright?”

“No problem, the plan just started a bit early.”

To be precise, it was a backup plan.

Siloque brushed dust from his long hair, removed his armor, and scanned it with the Ring Chart, storing it in the warehouse.

He had originally been pretending to be dead on the floor, secretly sending messages, and threw out a Barrier tool as soon as it looked like Cass couldn’t hold out.

Siloque wasn’t really worried about Cass being cut into seven or eight pieces.

According to Myut’s principles, she’d help sew him back together and even use a tool to heal him.

Cass looked down at the pattern Myut had left on the ground:

Two entwined branches, half withered and half fresh, green leaves, and a large yellow circle in the center representing the golden moon.

The symbol of the Evil Demon Society.

Cass had seen it in textbooks before.

“…Myut was discovered by the Tuners. She should be caught soon, right?”

“Probably not. Even taking her down is impressive.”

“Eh?”

“The Blinding Black Cloth she used has cognitive interference effects. It prevents anyone from correctly identifying her true identity.”

“There’s actually a tool like that?”

“This isn’t much. There’s one called the Enchantment Ring that’s even more impressive—it can completely change how others perceive you. If a goblin equipped it, nobody would think twice about a goblin drinking at a tavern. It’s impossible to obtain without deep connections.”

Cass:……..

“By the way, Siloque, Mr. Jade and Miss Weiss…”

Siloque walked to the two lying figures and retrieved Antivenom Magic Potion from the Ring Chart, administering it to them.

They needed to wake up soon.

If they kept sleeping, the spider monsters in the cave would eventually find them, and Siloque had no intention of sharing the Monster-Repelling Barrier Tool.

“Siloque, I remember you bought Transfer Crystals. Do you have any extras?”

“Yes. You want to give them to those two?”

Those two Tuners wouldn’t kindly return to help Jade and Weiss.

Their only mission was to capture the Evil Demon Society’s followers.

That kind of coldness fit Siloque’s impression of them perfectly.

Indeed, the warm-hearted Tuner he’d met in the library before was the exception.

“Let’s give them to them. It’s fine—we can buy more later.”

“It’s your money anyway, I don’t care.”

Siloque smiled, taking two amber Transfer Crystals from the Ring Chart and placing them in their arms.

Transfer Crystals were expensive and could only transport you to places you’d already been.

By imagining the destination and crushing the crystal, they would activate.

“Uh…”

Lying on the ground, Jade slowly opened his eyes, seeing a blurry black-haired figure.

His eyelids felt heavy.

He wanted to say something, but the overwhelming drowsiness left him speechless.

“Rest, Jade. The sedative won’t wear off for a while. Don’t force yourself up. We’ll stay here until you’re both awake.”

And so, Jade fell back to sleep.

Once Siloque had finished arranging everything, Cass wiped away a cold sweat.

Now there was time to talk about what had just happened…

He hadn’t waited for the signal and acted on his own.

Cass found it hard to explain.

Because when he saw Myut trying to kiss Siloque, his body moved on its own…

Doesn’t this make it look like, like, like I…toward Siloque…!!

Cass was glad he wore a huge helmet, so no one could see his burning cheeks.

Siloque doesn’t like men—I can’t let him think I’m disgusting again.

He’s going to scold me… He must be angry.

“I’m sorry, Siloque. Please forgive my impulsiveness this time. I promise, it’ll only be this once…”

Even though Siloque couldn’t see, Cass’s gaze remained fixed on him, his tone earnest.

Which only made Siloque think of a puppy again, ears drooping after making a mistake.

At the time, he’d only been able to sense with four senses other than sight, so he didn’t understand why Cass suddenly rushed over.

He’d felt the touch of Myut’s lips, then a gust of wind, the clang of sword and scythe, and when he opened his eyes, saw the two in fierce combat.

“No way, I should be thanking you, Cass.”

“…Eh?”

“You’re amazing. You lasted over ten seconds against a Level 32 Evil Demon Society member. It’s like you won a round against an evil female executive. Your potential is limitless.”

Siloque grinned and gave a thumbs up.

“Siloque…”

Cass felt warmth in his heart.

“And you jumped in because you were worried about me, right? You thought Myut was trying to kill me?”

“…Yeah.”

Cass hesitated.

Seriously, Cass is such a hot-blooded guy.

Siloque understood.

Myut’s kiss was fine, but her next move made Cass misunderstand that she intended to kill him.

“But don’t worry. Even if Myut wanted to kill me, it would be instant. I wouldn’t feel a thing.”

“Siloque, you’re as insensitive as ever…talking about death so casually…”

Siloque was just being honest.

Letting people die without pain was Myut’s creed.

Siloque gave a bitter smile.

“But I was at fault this time, too. I didn’t explain the full plan and made you overthink things. Next time, we’ll cooperate better, Cass.”

Cass said nothing, coughing awkwardly.

“It’s fine, Siloque. As long as you’re okay with it. I promise again—this will be the last time.”

Siloque didn’t really mind.

After all, the outcome wasn’t any different from the Side Story or the Game Original Line.

Myut escaped, and they gained free upgrades and a pile of resources.

Siloque looked at Jade and Weiss.

Judging by their carefree appearance, you wouldn’t think it, but Jade’s profession was a firefighter.

He’d risked the second floor after hearing the price of Amethyst would rise next week, hoping to sell and pay off his mother’s kidney disease treatment loan.

As for Weiss, she’d planned to help Jade finish the task, then confess to him over dinner that night.

No wonder she disliked Myut. Jade’s invitation to Myut had ruined her plans.

In the game, both these two died in both the first and second playthroughs.

In the first, it was helplessness; in the second, the blackened Cass ignored them and left after their deaths.

But Siloque wasn’t that dark.

It was no big deal to help a little. As for whether the world’s correction force would kill them later, that was out of Siloque’s hands.

Still, deep down, he hoped they’d be safe.

If they survived, maybe it would prove he wouldn’t die during the major midgame events, too…

“That, Siloque.”

Cass looked at the two sleeping soundly on the ground.

“I don’t understand. Why would Myut go to such lengths just to kill us? What’s the point? I can’t comprehend it…”

“You’re not supposed to. If normal people could understand their motives, the Evil Demon Society wouldn’t be called a cult. They’d be a legal religion, building churches everywhere and collecting believers’ money.”

“…So the Evil Demon Society collects money too?”

“They do—but it’s not the amount of money, it’s the number of kills.”

“…Madmen.”

Cass said angrily.

“As long as you understand. Cass, if you ever meet the Evil Demon Society again, don’t hesitate to cut them down.”

They were all dangerous cultists, after all.

Simply put, the Evil Demon Society was a group of weirdos who saw killing as an act of love.

Sending humans to the Golden Land by killing—that was their principle, or their doctrine.

Exterminating all of humanity, in their eyes, was delivering everyone to the Golden Land and freeing them from the painful reality of this world.

Because their doctrine was to send the dead to the Golden Land, their understanding of murder differed from person to person.

Some experimented with disembowelment; some insisted on snapping four fingers; some strangled with stockings…

Compared to them, Myut’s method—letting people die in their sleep—was the gentlest.

In this world, the Evil Demon Society was synonymous with perverts and lunatics.

The thought that the later bosses were mostly this type of psychological monster made Siloque break out in a cold sweat…

In the message Siloque sent, he specifically suggested which Tuner should engage, but whether those two could defeat Myut was uncertain—the game left this outcome to chance.

His face had been exposed; related parties might be in danger.

So Siloque genuinely hoped Myut would die.

If Myut lost, she’d be out of the plot; if she won…

He could only prepare backup plans, just in case.

Annoyed, Siloque decided to record today’s incident in the Notebook function on the Ring Chart:

April 21, 16:21 PM, Myut escaped pursuit by the Tuners.