The Lost World. Every person here was marked by sin, actions that had harmed themselves or those they loved.

The world was split into three regions, with the Voiceless Region being the mildest and most secure. Yet despite that relative safety, Halo couldn't shake how Aeliana's naivety had affected him.

Truth was, he wasn't sure she'd been naive at all. But in the end, authenticity was irrelevant. This world functioned as a sentient catastrophe. Fight your way through, or be consumed entirely.

"She hated bloodshed. I think that explains a lot."

Halo flickered a blade between his fingers, his eyes darting gently into Iris's golden ones.

Dark Saint left before nightfall. Despite the limited time they'd shared, something had shifted in Iris. Her ideas flowed more directly now, presented with a confidence and certainty she'd previously lacked.

"So you couldn't get even a trace of a secret. That only confirms my theory."

Iris's eyes squinted.

"Aeliana's only connection in this operation was her boss, and I'm certain the boss operated the same way. Tracing this cycle will point us toward the mastermind, but it's going to funnel us into a very tight, dangerous route."

The sun was already up, and though they hadn't heard any commotion regarding Aeliana's death and that of the five men, it was clear the townspeople had accepted the deaths as just another Chaos Eater attack.

The concept was clever, Aeliana's dream of a society built entirely on mutual support.

Yet she'd missed the obvious problem… people like Halo, whose former lives had been defined by bloodshed, couldn't pass up the chance to kill in a world where no one else would take that burden.

But Child of Sacrifice's analysis made things clearer…

They'd spotted Aeliana's naivety and turned it to their advantage. People like her operated on faith rather than reason, believing their dreams could materialize from the tiniest spark of hope.

This allowed her handlers to control what she knew, keeping her useful and compliant.

But something didn't add up. Why wouldn't the other conspirators know about their true target? Were they also pawns in someone else's game?

"Not really. Think about it… no one wants to admit they're at the bottom of the chain. Pride and ego choke this world. The moment a person believes they're in control, or even close to it, their confidence swells. They see everyone else as pawns, all except the hidden mastermind who set the board."

Halo began to grasp this better.

Beyond everything Iris explained, Shadow of Death had an epiphany from a different angle.

Since Aeliana only knew her immediate handler, that handler probably only knew their superior, and so on, in a chain where each person believed the next level up was the true mastermind.

The pattern continued all the way to the actual architect.

The compartmentalization maximized operational security. When any pawn was killed, their limited knowledge meant that even extracting their secrets through Sin Fragments would provide minimal intelligence.

Iris's expression darkened. She began playing with her fingers.

It was hard to tell what went on in her big brain, but it was obvious she had discovered something unsettling.

"You said Aeliana claimed her employers took care of her daily expenses, didn't she?"

Halo nodded.

"Then it's fair to say they were the ones who handed her the library. If so, the Dark Saint was right, this figure is terrifyingly powerful. The amount of Sin Fragments they're handing out must be staggering for people to obey so blindly. Someone like that… they're no Knight. Maybe not even an Assassin."

Halo's face showed nothing.

He leaned back in his seat.

He'd already grasped that.

Dark Saint's word wasn't something he questioned, she was exponentially stronger than him.

Still, he couldn't stop going to work after Aeliana's death. He needed to maintain his normal routine until her handler made a move. But before that happened, there was something he needed to understand.

"What about the humanoid Chaos Eaters? What do you think?"

Iris stared intensely into the nothingness for a moment.

"You said they emerged from the bodies of the dead men, didn't you? That means they're evolving. It has to be an injection or some kind of potion."

She smirked.

"I was right. Only a scientist from a past life could create something like this… a prodigy, now warped by the malevolence of this world. Madness was inevitable."

This was the flaw in Aeliana's dream that Halo had recognized. He'd been violent, even ruthless, in his former life. But people like these? They were worse than violent, they were disasters incarnate.

And in this world they all shared, such people would always gravitate toward killing and ideology be damned.

Something felt off, though. If killing was truly the goal, why focus exclusively on StoneHaven? Plenty of other territories had larger populations to prey upon.

"These are only speculations, but they point us in the right direction. For now, I need you to make yourself more available to everyone."

Halo shot her a lazy glance.

"My apologies for making you handle all of this alone. It's just… you're far more capable than I am in matters like these."

Halo shrugged.

"Don't sweat it."

She smiled.

"Actually, I'd be grateful if you could take a look at a tavern by the Never Again Inn. The bartender has this strange aura… I can't put my finger on it."

Halo's expression darkened.

He'd visited that tavern previously, and the woman had indeed seemed out of place in such a decrepit venue. Her appearance and bearing belonged to someone of considerable status.

She seemed suspicious enough, but her guilt didn't actually matter. The tavern was his best bet for information about Aeliana either way. Drunks tended to talk, and one of them might know something valuable.

But before that, he needed to put himself through some intense training. He was lucky to be alive, honestly. A Chaos Eater had actually breached his mental defenses. They were growing stronger, and if he wasn't careful, he might die before this even truly began.

"Be honest with me…"

Iris's words came in sharper than usual.

"Who exactly is Dark Saint? I assumed she'd be a prodigy like myself, yet there's an unusual quality about her I can't place."

Halo kept his face neutral.

Following Saint's mother's and brother's deaths, she'd never attended formal schooling. The type of genius she possessed defied easy description.

"You can figure out how to lure out Aeliana's boss, even estimate when. But Saint… she's on another level. She can predict what someone will do ten seconds from now."

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