Nothing was murmured for minutes.

For a long moment, Halo stood there watching her crouch on the ground. What to do with Aeliana? He genuinely didn't know.

Everything was prepared with Iris. The approach was uncomplicated: if he succeeded in killing them all, they'd plant the bodies on the streets. The locals would reflexively blame the Chaos Eaters.

They'd prepared backup plans if the situation went sideways, but given how effortlessly he'd dispatched the attackers, those precautions seemed unnecessary now.

Iris was waiting somewhere close. When she saw the fighting had ended, she'd appear to help arrange the scene.

But this inflexible girl's fate was hard to figure out now.

"I can't tell if I should be sorry or angry right now. I truly thought you were my friend… but your life is at risk because of me, and you weren't even who you said you were. Was everything between us a lie?"

The moment she spoke, Halo walked toward her and took a seat. He had no intention of talking back but he wanted to listen to her speak. Maybe he'd make up his mind at the end.

"In this world, no one lives without blood on their hands, yet we all fear death as if we're innocent. But there was an alternative. A better choice for all of us… even if it meant only a few had to die instead of everyone."

Halo gave her an indifferent look.

"What do you think? Do you think this is the best?"

She finally looked into Halo's blue eyes.

Her head dropped.

"I didn't want to kill…"

Her body began to tremble, her voice cracking.

"I only wanted a life untouched by blood… no killing, no being hunted, just a moment of normalcy. That's why I chose this path. My Purpose, serving people in a library, was everything I ever wanted. And the people here… they gave me the perfect chance to become that version of myself. All they asked from me was to take their hatred and be their scapegoat."

She laughed.

"It was perfect. Truly exceptional. The rumors scared people away from the library, which meant my Purpose would take nearly forever to complete. And these people… they made sure my daily needs were met. I lived without consuming a single Sin Fragment."

Her laughter grew louder.

"This was perfect. I could've lived and died as a normal person, without being forced into becoming a monster like any of you."

Halo's ears were hurting, hearing her talk and laugh.

She turned to Halo.

"But it's all gone now. My loneliness consumed me, and you outplayed me. All of this, every bit of it, could've been avoided. We could've lived in peace… if I hadn't been so unbearably lonely."

Her expression darkened. Halo's indifferent look seemed to have shattered her soul.

"You want the boss's name, don't you?"

"…"

She rose to her feet.

"I won't give it to you."

She said and relaxed in her seat.

"If I tell you, the cycle of killing will only continue. Why can't we just stand together and resist the madness the gods are dragging us into?"

She looked disappointed.

"I know this is the best thing I can do. You might find my boss's name in other ways, but it won't come from me. I have to believe this is the right decision."

Halo sighed and began massaging his temples.

Her voice carried such innocent delusion that Halo questioned whether she was mentally sound.

Those who threw the stone and those who supplied it shared equal blame. Aeliana didn't understand that her involvement guaranteed casualties. People like Halo, assigned to destroy StoneHaven's corruption, had no place in her imagined utopia.

What she really wanted was to escape consequences. Too late for that. Her hands were already bloody. Countless victims had perished because of her role in creating the Chaos Eaters.

When he thought about it, she hadn't killed many people directly, and she intended to die sane regardless. Given her refusal to name her handler, her death served them best strategically. It would draw the mastermind into the open.

He rose to his feet and gave her a long stare. Aeliana flashed him a warm smile and closed her eyes.

He breathed in deeply, willing Magnus to extend into a sword. One clean strike later, her head separated from her body. The smile hadn't faded and her eyes were closed. He'd wanted her death to be quick and painless. It was.

The familiar screen appeared.

***

[ Congratulations! You've slain a Knight. ]

[ You've received a Sin Fragment: Naivety. 1044/10000 ]

[ Your intelligence has increased. ]

***

Footsteps approached slowly. He went on guard instinctively, but the careful, measured pace told him exactly who was coming.

Iris pushed the door open and took in the bloody sight for a moment.

"Have you dismissed the option for a secret?"

She asked and began approaching Halo.

Shadow of Death responded:

"No."

"Would you be willing to trade it for a secret? I need to confirm something first."

Halo shrugged his shoulders.

***

[ Would you like to trade Sin Fragment for a secret? ]

| Yes | No |

***

'Yes.'

Halo had no idea what receiving a secret felt like. This was his second time, and still nothing registered. Not a single shred of Aeliana's personal knowledge came to him.

"There isn't any secret…"

Iris smiled.

"I knew it."

Halo raised a startled eyebrow.

"What?"

Her smile widened.

"I will tell you about it once we are done with this."

They were running out of darkness. The bodies had to be staged before dawn, yet guards patrolling the streets made the task considerably harder than Halo had planned for.

Shadow of Death's clones, Light and Tough did the heavy lifting, transporting the five men's bodies. Meanwhile, Halo and the Child of Sacrifice positioned Aeliana's corpse outside her library.

The masterminds would see through it, but that didn't matter. The locals just needed to believe. So they caved in skulls and mangled brain tissue, replicating the Chaos Eaters' method perfectly.

At least this would be enough to buy them sometime…

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