“That’s right. You have to follow the rules and get moving.” Vinny chuckled. [N O V E L I G H T] “That’s what makes a game fun.”

“Little tagalong with the ferocious personality, aren’t you going to run? Just a reminder—almost thirty seconds have already passed.” Vinny leaned against [Blood-Debt].

Shicodale glared coldly at Vinny, then turned and darted into the nearby woods.

Vinny smiled and continued counting silently.

“All right, time’s up. Everyone, the game has officially begun.”

Three minutes had passed, and Vinny announced it loudly, even though no one was there to hear him.

“Sir Mason, it’s a dead end! The gray-black fluid wall is blocking the way!”

“The main road is cut off, but there are still two smaller paths, aren’t there? Take Her Eminence down this one. I’ll take the other path and draw him away. Go! Take Her Eminence as far as you can and find an instructor!” Mason shouted.

“But what about you?” one of the female students supporting Margaret asked hesitantly.

“This isn’t the time for that! You must protect Her Eminence. Understood??” Mason said.

“We understand.”

Left with no other choice, the female students followed Mason’s instructions and helped Margaret, whose head felt as though it were splitting apart, down the other path.

Mason glanced at the fork behind him but made no move to flee. He remained where he was, staring grimly ahead. His hand trembled faintly around the hilt of his sword, but his resolve did not waver.

“My, my. You watched what happened to your companion, yet you still don’t intend to run?”

Before long, a black shadow spread rapidly across the ground, and a figure emerged from it.

“Are you trying to buy time for that counterfeit with the award-worthy acting skills?” Vinny asked as he strolled over with [Blood-Debt] in hand.

“You’re the counterfeit.” Mason stared fixedly at Vinny. “Our Saintess is kindhearted. She is the Dawn Saintess supported by the people. Trying to twist that against her is nothing but a fool’s dream. No one will believe a butcher whose blade is soaked in blood and whose hands are burdened with countless lives.”

“Vinny, at first I thought you were merely consumed by jealousy. I never imagined you could be this depraved. If someone like you truly is a descendant of Facilis, that would be even more absurd than a Demon Pillar devoting itself to goodness.”

“Oh? So you really did stay behind to buy time for that counterfeit?” Vinny regarded Mason as though watching a comedy. “What am I even supposed to say to you? This is so ridiculous that I hardly know whether to laugh or sigh. Did you not see what happened to that fellow earlier, when I drained his flesh and blood and devoured his soul?”

“Are you truly not afraid?” Vinny idly swung the crimson demonic sword in his hand. “That won’t do. If every player behaved like you, how would this young master’s game continue? Wouldn’t that be terribly boring?”

“Behavior like this simply cannot be allowed. I’ll have to put a stop to it.” Vinny tilted his head. “You may not have broken the stated rules, but you’re not playing according to this young master’s intentions. That’s unacceptable. It makes this young master unhappy.”

“When disaster strikes, everyone should fend for themselves. Right now, you should be doing everything possible to stay alive, even if that means sacrificing everyone else—not remaining behind to protect them.”

“This won’t do. This young master is angry now.”

As soon as Vinny finished speaking, his expression collapsed into cold displeasure.

Mason immediately assumed a combat stance. He knew he could not stop Vinny, but every second he delayed him was another second Margaret could use to escape. However much time he could buy, he would buy it.

“The first stupid thing you did was remain behind for someone else. The second was believing you could stop me.”

“However, I don’t intend to eliminate you just yet.”

Vinny’s mood shifted unpredictably, and the stiff, horrifying smile returned to his face.

“I have a better way to deal with people like you who ruin my games.”

With that, Vinny sank back into the ground and became a black shadow once more. The shadow spread like spilled ink, engulfing Mason’s own shadow.

“Ugh!”

The sword slipped from Mason’s hand.

His entire body was sucked into the darkness beneath his feet. After swallowing Mason, the shadow shot down one of the branching paths at tremendous speed.

“Your Eminence, are you all right?” a female student asked worriedly as she watched Margaret clutch her head and mutter incoherently.

Margaret did not answer.

“We have to find an instructor as quickly as possible. There’s no way the few of us can protect Her Eminence on our own.”

“But only if we can find one,” another female student said anxiously. “The Church reinforcements should already be on their way, shouldn’t they? Then why haven’t we heard anything at all? Could it be—”

“Don’t say things like that. Didn’t the instructors tell us that the Academy has been sealed behind an invisible barrier wall? Resolving that will take some time. We only have to hold on until the Church reinforcements arrive. Then that counterfeit executioner’s vile true nature will become known throughout the entire continent, and he’ll be dragged to the stake with our own hands!”

“Oh? You haven’t even survived yet, and you’re already threatening to send me to the stake?”

The moment the student finished speaking, a black shadow on the ground rose before them and took human form.

“Vinny?!” The female students stared in shock.

They had been running as fast as they could, yet Vinny had already caught up.

“How unfortunate. This young master originally planned to take his time playing with you. What kind of game ends the moment it begins?” Vinny shook his head. “But someone ruined my enjoyment and made this young master very angry, so I’ve decided to end this boring game as quickly as possible.”

As he spoke, he tossed Mason out of the shadow.

“Sir Mason! Are you all right?”

“Don’t worry. He’s fine for now. Whether he’ll remain that way is another matter.” Vinny raised one hand. Several black bands emerged from beneath the students’ feet, binding their limbs and dragging them toward the black mire below.

“Ugh! Vinny, don’t get too pleased with yourself! Sooner or later, you’ll—”

“I’ll what? What exactly will happen to me?” Vinny sighed. “This is why I say stinking maggots can’t understand human speech. Never mind. I’ll let you keep clinging to that pleasant little hope. I won’t shatter it by telling you the truth—that the Church of the Dawn will never send anyone to save you.”

“What... did you say?” Mason’s eyes widened as he gasped for breath.

“Did you not understand me? Or are you still deceiving yourselves?” Vinny asked teasingly. “Can’t you see that the Church of the Dawn has no intention of rescuing you?”

“Stop trying to confuse us! You know that even if you kill us, you won’t escape the consequences!”

“Whether I’ll escape the consequences, I couldn’t say. What I do know is that if the Church of the Dawn genuinely intended to rescue you, they wouldn’t have remained completely silent and inactive until now.” Vinny raised his chin.

“Keep telling yourself that. Just don’t regret it when the time comes,” Mason said through clenched teeth.

“Regret it? Hahahaha!” Vinny burst into laughter. “Whenever I remember what happened to me, I know I could never regret what I’ve become!”

He dragged Margaret, Mason, and the female students into his shadow.

“All right. Now we can find the final ‘player.’”

“And then it’ll be time for the grand execution.”

With the group carried inside him, Vinny transformed into a shadow again and sank into the ground.

Before long, the prowling shadow reached a wooded area within the Academy.

The instant Vinny entered the center of the woods, he felt like a fish caught beneath a vast net and being dragged toward shore. Strength drained from his entire body.

He looked down.

A pale-green magic array rose beneath his feet. The spell array resembled an enormous net woven from blades of grass, trapping him inside. Then six giant man-eating flowers burst from the earth around the array and dove toward Vinny at its center.

[Forest Spirit Hunting Array]

A flesh barrier threaded with blood vessels rose around Vinny.

With one swing, he severed all six enormous man-eating flowers. With another, he struck the ground and shattered the spell array.

“Using the forest to set a trap and amplify nature magic? A clever little idea, but ultimately pointless.” Vinny spoke as he swung his sword toward the depths of the woods. “Still, prey that struggles is far more entertaining than prey that simply waits to be caught.”

A black sword shadow flashed through the forest.

Trees collapsed one after another until a silver figure was forced to leap down from the branches where he had been hiding.

“My, my. You chose to hide in the woods after all? How unimaginative, ferocious little tagalong.”

As he spoke, Vinny dumped everyone stored within his shadow onto the ground.

“There. I’ve found every last one of you. The game is over.”

“Honestly, that was no fun at all. This young master had planned not to use magic. I was going to search slowly, finding you one at a time. Whenever I passed your hiding places, I would pretend not to notice you. Then, just as you finally relaxed, I’d suddenly appear above your heads.”

Vinny described his malicious plan with obvious delight.

“Unfortunately, someone ruined the game for everyone by refusing to hide. This young master lost all desire to continue.”

“Now every one of you has been caught. This game is over.”

“But although this game has ended, the next one is about to begin.”

“Since it was a game, losing naturally deserves punishment. However, my mood has suddenly improved again, so I’ll offer you a choice.”

“There are six of you. Killing everyone merely for losing one game might be a little too cruel. So I’ll only kill half.”

Vinny raised three fingers.

“Decide among yourselves. Three people need to die, and the other three may live.”

Everyone fell silent.

“I’ll allow you to discuss it. Go ahead. Begin.”

Vinny smiled cheerfully. He seemed delighted by the thought of what was about to happen.

He wanted to watch people who normally got along reveal their true natures as they fought over the right to survive.

“One more thing. If only three people remain before I act, that will count as well,” Vinny added.

That was no merciful clarification.

“Go on. Start discussing it. I’m willing to give you some time, but not very much.”

“If you take too long and still haven’t reached a decision, all six of you will die.”

Vinny’s voice gradually turned cold.

“Don’t believe this bastard!” After a long silence, Mason was the first to speak. “No matter what we choose, this monster won’t let any of us go. Kill only half? Not even a dog would believe that! You only want to watch us turn on one another!”

“That’s hardly fair.”

Vinny’s smile vanished completely.

He raised one hand, and a black band wrapped around Mason’s throat. With the slightest effort, Vinny could have strangled him to death, yet he deliberately maintained only enough pressure to cause pain and terror without killing him.

“I have always been merciful, and my word is absolute. You shouldn’t slander me so casually.”

“Or are you volunteering to become the first sacrifice?”

A barbed vine lashed through the air and chopped downward. It failed to sever the black strand around Mason’s neck, merely coiling around it.

[Thorn Slash]

“Oh?”

Vinny turned toward Shicodale.

Another vine whipped toward him.

Vinny raised his sword to block, and the vine wrapped around the blade of [Blood-Debt].

At that moment, an enormous flower bud erupted from the earth behind Shicodale.

Its petals gradually unfolded, exposing the stamen within. Leaves from the fallen trees throughout the surrounding forest lifted into the air and converged upon it.

A green beam formed within the floral cannon, composed entirely of condensed life energy and radiating terrifying power. Like a whip reaching into the heavens, it lashed toward Vinny.

A deep trench was gouged through the earth along its path.

This was the strongest spell Shicodale could currently use—a high-tier nature spell that required him to absorb the vitality of large amounts of vegetation already on the verge of withering.

[Withering Flower-Spirit Cannon]

The blast surged forward like a tsunami made of leaves and flowers.

It was a sea of blossoms overflowing with life energy, yet possessed of enough destructive force to erase life with ease.

A verdant storm swept through the forest. Harmless flowers and weeds gathered into towering waves capable of swallowing a person whole, bringing nature’s harshest punishment down upon one who disrespected the forest and destroyed the elves’ habitat.

Yet the terrifying storm of flowers and tidal wave of leaves were effortlessly split in two by a single sword strike.

Shicodale had exhausted his mana and was still gasping for breath when a black band shot toward him.

It pierced straight through his lower abdomen.

“Ugh!”

Shicodale’s eyes widened. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

His legs could no longer support his weight. His knees buckled, and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.

“Stupid. Utterly stupid!” Vinny roared.

His expression was glacial as he walked step by step toward the silver-haired elf lying on the ground, blood continuously spilling from his mouth.

“You had enough power to attack me, yet you refused to use it against them. Do you think this young master truly can’t kill you, or do you think they’ll save you??” Vinny demanded, beside himself with rage.

A pack of damned, stinking maggots.

Was this what he wanted to see??

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