"The first clue has been given? This isn't a clue, you imbeciles—it's a death sentence! We're never getting out of here!"

"At this point it sounds like they want everyone dead. What sort of task is this?"

"I should never have come for this exploration. Damn it!"

"No one is asking the main question—how much time has passed in the outside world? I have a family to return to!"

"Oh, a genius. What's talking about that going to change?"

"This place isn't all that bad… we can be lawless here."

"This freak—he might actually be the monster."

The place was absolute chaos.

The massive gathering had descended into shouting matches and accusations, everyone at each other's throats despite being forced together in the same space. There were roughly five hundred people assembled here—yes, that many—all crammed into the clearing with tensions running dangerously high.

"The clue states that one of us is not human. We just have to eliminate that monster and all the trials will be done. We can finally get the spoils of this damned place!" someone shouted above the din.

"Good, but one question—who is the monster? Because I don't think someone would be stupid enough to admit they are," another voice called back.

"Yeah, we're all going to die here, aren't we?"

"We definitely are! This damned place wasn't meant to pass on treasures or legacies. Whoever created this world just wanted to watch blood fly and watch people lose their minds!"

"BE QUIET! WE WILL HANDLE THIS! WE JUST NEED YOU ALL TO COOPERATE!" The general of Guardira amplified his voice with mana and roared over the crowd, but then…

"SHUT UP, GENERAL! THIS ISN'T THE REAL WORLD—WE DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU! FOR ALL WE KNOW, YOU MIGHT BE THE MONSTER!" someone suddenly shouted from deep within the crowd, and the rowdiness broke out once more with renewed fervor.

However, Eliot had already gotten what he needed from observing the scene. He now stood far removed from the chaos, perched on a thick tree branch deep in thought. After some time, Sheila returned to his side.

"It seems no one is getting out of this place alive," she said suddenly.

Eliot looked over at her. "You also think so?"

He glanced back toward the crowd beyond them. "I know so," Sheila replied with certainty. "From the start, it's always been about mind games. It's clear this world was created by a demonic spawn. Those things feed on negativity."

Eliot frowned and focused his attention fully on her. "Demons exist?"

She gave him a blank look and was just about to say something cutting when a look of realization suddenly stopped her short. "That's right… most of what's left of the world is kept in the dark about what even happened in the past. The demons that plagued humanity existed hundreds of years before I was born." She paused, her expression distant with old memories. "They were purged long ago, but their influence remains in places like this."

Eliot frowned thoughtfully but finally spoke after a moment. "Demons, huh? It seems there are a lot of things you're going to need to help me understand."

She shrugged at that. "Fine by me, but a favor always requires one in return," she said with a slight grin.

"Fine. We'll talk about that later. For now, I want to understand why you think this has something to do with a… demonic spawn, as you called it?" he inquired.

"Well, here's the thing," Sheila began, settling into explanation mode. "Just as deities and demigods at the point of their deaths created these worlds to pass on their legacies—as well as a tiny piece of their souls to any unfortunate soul unlucky enough to stumble upon them—powerful demons fearing the same end did something similar. But unlike those deities and demigods who use treasures and trials to attract potential candidates for their inheritance, a demon's world actually forces anyone nearby into these pocket dimensions. Then they subject them to torment to generate enough negativity to feed the remnant soul trapped here. When it's had its fill of suffering… MAYBE it'll let the survivors out." She delivered this explanation with the casual air of someone discussing common knowledge.

"So there's actually no relic or inheritance to obtain here?" Eliot asked, processing this information.

She nodded grimly. "Most of the time, yes. In fact, ninety-nine percent of the time there's nothing but death and madness."

'So then, how did Nora get that relic for Jason?' Eliot wondered internally, but no answer came to him. Well, unless she had obtained the relic AFTER escaping the mystic world somehow—that was the only logical explanation.

With a heavy sigh, Eliot raised his hand and pointed it upward toward the sky. Slowly, he established a connection with Annabelle's power through their link. The next instant, a massive ball of concentrated flame manifested before him in the air, growing larger and compressing simultaneously in a cycle of building pressure. He maintained this for a full twenty minutes, letting the power accumulate to dangerous levels, before he abruptly severed the connection and launched the compressed fireball in an upward trajectory.

The blazing sphere shot up into the sky rapidly, climbing higher and higher until it became a distant point of light. But just as happens with everything possessing mass that goes up, the ball of flame began its inevitable descent back toward the earth.

KABOOM!

The explosion detonated right in the center of the gathered crowd—specifically in the cleared space the guardians had established for the commander to address everyone. It erupted with such tremendous force that every tree in the surrounding area shook violently from the shockwave, and screams of panic immediately filled the air.

"What are you doing?!" Sheila demanded, whirling on him with a sharp frown of disbelief.

"Speeding up the process," Eliot replied calmly, his eyes fixed on the chaos unfolding below. "The more negativity it accumulates, the faster I get out of here. I'm done with this mess of a world."

His logic was simple: if things proceeded as he calculated, that explosion would trigger a chain reaction of paranoia and violence. People would start turning on each other, accusations would fly, and eventually they'd begin killing one another in their desperation to identify and eliminate the supposed "monster" among them. Hopefully, the demonic entity would gorge itself on the resulting negativity and release everyone else once it was satisfied.

Why was he placing so much trust in Sheila, someone he'd barely just met? The reasoning was straightforward when he considered his options. It was either trust her words or rely on the system and Nelia. One party had been forthcoming and open with information. The other had been secretive and clearly attempting to manipulate him through his lack of knowledge about this world. The answer was obvious.

"What? If you wanted to leave, you could have just told me," Sheila said, her tone suggesting this should have been obvious.

For the first time in a long while, Eliot's face showed genuine, incredulous shock. His carefully maintained composure cracked completely.

"Eh?"

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