<<Powerful men are about to descend from the heavens>>

Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence that may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

**Fifth Minute of the Battle Round.**

Edmund’s bullets had run out, and his handgun was completely useless. His greatest achievement was leaving a blood hole in the shoulder of the ghoul, but that was the result of multiple shots.

As a price, Baba Hao, who was responsible for drawing fire, had his leg broken by the ghoul.

**Sixth Minute of the Battle Round.**

Shushu Hao was clawed by the ghoul, his intestines spilling onto the ground. Ye Ye Hao hurriedly tried to give him first aid, but the results were…

[First Aid: Failed]

“Damn it! We don’t have a doctor in our team! I knew I should’ve invested points in first aid and medical skills!” Ye Ye Hao was flustered.

Shushu Hao weakly spat out, “Shut up, you quack! Don’t kill me with your treatment. I’d rather die at the hands of a monster.”

“It’ll be fine! Trust me, this time the first aid will work!”

“No, Ye Ge ^[1] Brother! Why don’t you go Baba Ge instead!”

The situation was rapidly deteriorating.

Just as Edmund had initially assessed, D-level anomalies being the most common didn’t mean they were weak. On the contrary, these anomalies, fast, powerful, and with high defense, lacked any outstanding weaknesses, making them well-suited to serve as cannon fodder in various situations. However, for players still in the novice village, this cannon fodder was undoubtedly a boss.

Edmund’s vision blurred, and before he could dodge, a massive force slammed him to the ground. He instantly spat out a mouthful of blood, three deep claw marks erupting from his chest.

He had nearly lost all ability to resist. He hadn’t been in the Inspection Bureau for long, and he wasn’t a full-time combat personnel; facing the ghoul at close range was a foregone conclusion.

Edmund lay on his back on the ground, the heavy scent of blood lingering in his nostrils. He could feel the ghoul’s putrid breath right in front of him, its bared fangs capable of easily crushing an adult’s skull.

Is this how it… ends?

*Thud!*

A stone struck the ghoul, leaving no mark on its tough skin, but it evidently angered the creature. It was like an ant provoking an elephant; the ghoul immediately turned around.

Ye Ye Hao swallowed hard, but fortunately, he had adjusted his pain sensitivity and the smell of blood to the lowest level, so he wasn’t as scared. He shouted at the ghoul, “Come and eat me if you can! You bald freak! Come see how my meat tastes!”

The ghoul lunged forward, and Ye Ye Hao turned to run, shouting as he did, “You all run! I’ll try to lure it… ah!”

On this night, heroes did not appear; only mortals were present.

Edmund struggled desperately to get up, unwilling to waste his companions’ sacrifice. However, he failed. The ghoul’s earlier attack had directly broken his ribs. As soon as he straightened up, he spat out blood, and the other two players also entered a near-death state.

Ye Ye Hao hadn’t run far; the ghoul’s speed far exceeded his. After just four or five meters, he was tackled to the ground, and the ghoul swiftly bit off his head, feasting on him with delight.

Edmund stared blankly at this hellish scene.

He knew it would soon be his turn.

A wave of immense fear crashed over him.

‘Save me, save me, save me, save me, save me! Anyone, anything would do!’

He trembled all over, crouching down, repeatedly calling out Ranen’s name in his mind.

Yet, his prayers and calls did not resolve their desperate situation. There was no divine intervention, no mechanical salvation; the ghoul continued to tear into Ye Ye Hao’s corpse, and soon it would be his turn.

Edmund’s lips quivered, and the images in his mind spun chaotically, replaying every moment he had shared with Ranen. Each memory cut and divided, as if his primal instinct for survival was desperately searching for a chance to escape.

“You need to return to your true self.”

“That will require a catalyst.”

He didn’t understand. He truly didn’t understand what Ranen meant by “self.” This was his self—the pathetic, cowardly person he had become!

Edmund gasped, desperately trying to breathe, tears uncontrollably streaming down his face. What was even more tragic was that he didn’t dare make a sound to disturb the ghoul’s “meal.” His soul had already descended into hell, but his body instinctively clung to life for even a minute or two.

In this extreme state, he didn’t even notice the mist emanating from his body, invisible to ordinary people.

In a daze, he seemed to return to that terrible nightmare, just like when he was a child. Edmund could only watch helplessly as his companions were slaughtered and torn apart.

Blood, there was blood everywhere.

The shadow of a clown emerged from the blood pool, grabbing hold of Edmund’s ankle. With skin as white as painted porcelain, a gaping mouth opened wide, and he said:

“Smile, Edmund. Why aren’t you smiling?”

“Have you forgotten how you plunged the knife into my neck?”

“Why fear? Why fear yourself? Have you deceived even yourself? That night, no one called the police, and no one came to save you.”

“You saved yourself. Take a good look; who is the person behind the clown mask?”

Edmund lowered his head in confusion. It was the first time he had the courage to look directly at the clown’s face, and beneath that ghastly pale skin, he saw the clown’s features.

It was a face identical to his own.

This was him; this was his… self.

Edmund trembled all over, his eyes wide open, and his nails clawed at his face, almost embedding themselves into his flesh.

That night… that night.

As the clown laughed and reveled in his fear, at his most relaxed moment, he had seized the clown’s knife with his own hands. Ignoring the blade cutting into his palm, he skillfully turned the thin edge and plunged it into the clown’s neck.

Blood splattered all over him, his vision awash with red. He looked down at the dagger and saw the face of the killer reflected in it.

This was his deepest nightmare.

—-

After Ye Ye Hao died, he entered the post-death stage, which was still considered his “first death.” Using the in-game screenshot function, he took a picture of himself and the ghoul, sighing as he complained to the livestream chat, “Man, this quest is way too hard. Is this really a monster meant for a beginner dungeon? This is a total plot-kill!”

The viewers in the livestream began comforting him.

[It’s alright, nothing you could have done~]

[Ye Ye, you looked really cool earlier! Too bad you couldn’t turn the tide.]

[It has to be a plot-kill. I mean, think about it, this is a bonus pool quest, the difficulty must be insane. You should’ve brought more people.]

[Yeah, I thought the difficulty would be in the investigation, but it turns out it’s all in the boss fight. That’s just ridiculous.]

The chat continued with casual banter, thinking that the squad wipe was simply part of the plot and that Ye Ye Hao’s team had no real chance. Still, the players in the livestream admired their effort, and many had already started gearing up to head over to where Ye Ye Hao’s team had been defeated to try taking down the boss themselves.

But suddenly, the previously sparse chat exploded with excitement.

Ye Ye Hao, who had been about to log off and check the forums, froze in surprise.

Because… Edmund had stood up.

“Heh, heh heh ha ha ha ha ha ha~”

He clutched his face, letting out a sharp, manic laugh, which, of course, caught the ghoul’s attention. The creature swiftly abandoned its half-eaten meal and lunged toward Edmund.

To everyone else, Edmund appeared to be standing foolishly, laughing hysterically in the face of death. Just when they thought he had finally lost his mind, the man lowered his hands.

Only then did the others notice that his complexion had turned ghostly pale, as if painted over with white. His mouth, blood-red, formed an exaggerated grin, almost as if drawn on, giving the unsettling impression of a circus clown. Yet there was something deeply unnerving about it.

Suddenly, Edmund made a dramatic evasive move, narrowly dodging the ghoul’s lunge.

And it wasn’t just luck.

On the second and third attacks, everyone could clearly see him slipping past the ghoul’s strikes, missing by mere inches.

In the death-stay mode, Ye Ye Hao was left utterly dumbfounded.

He had faced the ghoul earlier, and dodging was one of his highest-skilled points—next to deception, of course. But even with all his effort, he hadn’t been able to avoid the ghoul’s attacks.

Edmund… when did he become this agile?

The man and the monster exchanged a series of rapid movements, and at some point, they had drawn near to Ye Ye Hao’s corpse. Edmund stopped dodging and grabbed the ghoul’s arm with both hands, even pulling it closer toward himself.

As a result, more deep, bone-revealing gashes appeared on Edmund’s shoulder, yet he didn’t seem to care at all. With a low chuckle, he leaned in close to the ghoul’s foul-smelling face and whispered, “Hurts, doesn’t it, bad dog~”

With that, he brutally drove something into the ghoul’s eye.

It was only then that Ye Ye Hao noticed the dagger that had been next to his corpse was now gone, having somehow found its way into the ghoul’s eye socket instead.

[What the hell, did anyone see that?]

[No… no one did, it was too fast.]

The ghoul let out a pained screech, and while it writhed in agony, Edmund didn’t stay idle. Somehow, he had produced brass knuckles, and with a savage punch, he slammed them into the ghoul’s other eye.

[Oof… that must’ve hurt. Its head looks deformed.]

Now completely blind, the ghoul was no better than a lamb awaiting slaughter in front of this newfound, terrifying version of Edmund. Amid the shrill laughter, Edmund pulled the dagger out of the ghoul’s eye and viciously stabbed it into the creature’s heart, kidneys, temples, and throat—every fatal point he could reach.

Dark red blood sprayed everywhere, nearly coating Edmund in it, but the man with the clown-like face seemed unfazed. As he continued his brutal assault, he laughed hysterically, taking twisted pleasure in the violence.

Finally, after the ghoul was chopped into minced meat by the dagger, the clown seemed to have exhausted himself. He stopped, quietly gazing at the results before him.

This is… the extraordinary.

The leader’s words briefly flashed through Edmund’s mind: overcoming the first test of the Dream Rift had a high probability of awakening one’s origin. Those who awakened their origin would gain extraordinary abilities.

Just like now, the ghoul, which could easily slaughter an ordinary investigator team, was decapitated by the awakened clown.

Without looking at the two near-death players not far away, he hummed a tune as he walked off.

Ye Ye Hao was left staring, dumbfounded, while the live stream chat exploded with comments.

[What a maniac, I love it.]

[Crying, crying, he’s so handsome. My new husband.]

[Feels like the birth of a villain. Why did this NPC suddenly become so strong?]

[Where is he going? Looks like he’s heading in the direction of that person with the butterfly specimen from earlier!]

—-

Ranen’s face was starting to feel numb from smiling.

Karens was still introducing the guests present, but Ranen had never attended such a grand event before, and no one had told him how to act in this kind of situation. So, he thought about his current persona and from beginning to end, didn’t respond—he simply maintained a perfunctory smile.

This nonchalant demeanor, however, seemed natural to everyone else.

For those who possess power, everything they do is justified.

Especially when it involves the mysterious. This city held too many secrets, and in the underground of Arkham, the mafia and gang organizations were the ones closest to mystery and death. They knew better than the police how many vagrants and thugs went missing or died under strange circumstances each day.

Of course, there were those who understood the situation, but plenty of others had risen through sheer force.

An unsettling voice suddenly broke the atmosphere:

“A fraud pretending to be mysterious, yet he’s got all the gang organizations fooled. Well, today’s been eye-opening.”

Karens’s expression darkened as he looked toward the direction of the voice. The people around instinctively glanced at each other, quickly avoiding Karens’s sharp gaze. Eventually, his eyes landed on a man with a scar over his right eye.

“That’s John from the Blood Wolf Gang, a recently risen group,” someone whispered.

“Tsk, a ‘nouveau riche’ who is said to have climbed to the top by being ruthless,” another murmured.

Despite the murmurs around him, John didn’t seem to care. When he noticed Karens and Ranen looking at him, he put down his wine glass. Instead of feeling intimidated, he provocatively approached the two. “What? Did I say something wrong? Why don’t you pull off some trick and show us you’re not a fraud? Hah!”

Has he lost his mind?! Karens’s face grew even more menacing as he stared coldly at John. If the banquet hadn’t banned firearms, he would’ve already drawn his gun and aimed it at John’s head.

“Do you want to die?”

“You’re not qualified to scare me,” John sneered, then looked at Ranen, his gaze filled with greed and lust as it swept across his face. “If you want to intimidate me, at least show some real skill.”

Ranen: …Uh, does this guy seriously expect him to perform some magic on the spot?

Ranen remained expressionless, but inwardly, he was lamenting his situation. This wasn’t a game; back when he played, sure, he memorized a bunch of spells, but now? He couldn’t cast a single one.

“What’s wrong? Can’t do it?” John’s sneer deepened, and Karens grew increasingly anxious, casting worried glances at Ranen.

Karens desperately wanted to cut down the insolent fool in front of him, but he held back, concerned that such an action might displease Ranen. He thought that Ranen would prefer to personally punish the arrogant guy.

However, Ranen did nothing, acting as if he hadn’t heard John’s taunts at all. His gaze wandered off in the distance, as if waiting for something.

In this strange silence, the onlookers’ expressions also became more peculiar, and Karens’s heart sank.

To suppress these wolves, he needs to use overwhelming force. Just as Karens was about to speak up again, something strange occurred.

Guests on the outermost edge of the banquet began collapsing, one after another.

Everyone froze in shock, and soon enough, they all felt waves of weakness coursing through their bodies.

Only Ranen could see it: multicolored bands of light connected to each guest, passing through their bodies and converging faintly in midair. Following the direction of the lights, Ranen noticed that the champagne tower at the center of the banquet had somehow been replaced by a glass platform. Atop it was a strikingly vivid black-and-red butterfly specimen.

Compared to the one Ranen had seen before, this butterfly looked even more lifelike, as if it might take flight at any moment.

Karens struggled to fend off the weakness spreading from within his body. Following Ranen’s gaze, he spotted the butterfly specimen. The moment he glanced at it, a sharp pain pierced his eyes, forcing him to cover them as he rasped, “W-what is that…?”

“The butterfly specimen I mentioned earlier,” Ranen’s voice sounded beside him, shifting between faint and clear. “To be precise, it’s the Soul-Eating Butterfly specimen, and it’s about to come back to life.”

He opened the players’ bonus pool task and, unsurprisingly, saw that there were only five minutes left on the countdown.

He had thought this task was no longer relevant to him, but who would have expected it to rear its head at this critical moment?

“Impossible…” Karens sharply pinched his thigh to stay conscious. “I reported this to the boss before, and he said the specimen had already been dealt with.”

Ranen hummed in response but said nothing, a growing sense of unease stirring within him.

That feeling was quickly validated. Guests began to react, shouting angrily, likely thinking the drinks at the banquet had been spiked.

But soon, they couldn’t shout anymore.

No one knew how it happened, but when the first guest was tackled to the ground by a monster, the crowd erupted in screams.

Through the gaps in the panicked throng, Ranen caught sight of the creature’s form.

A D-class anomalous ghoul.

Ranen’s pupils contracted slightly.

“Ahhhh! Help me!”

“There’s a monster!”

“Damn it, where’s my gun? Give me back my weapon, now!”

In the face of absolute crisis, even the powerful figures in the underground world panicked just as much as ordinary people, because they had no weapons on hand!

Many lunged for nearby attendants, desperate to reclaim their weapons, but the boss of the Black Poker had already decided to let everyone die here. How could he not have anticipated this? The weapons they had turned in had long been removed.

Some individuals made a swift turn toward the exit, but their movement startled the ghouls. Two ghouls were guarding the front and back, ready to hunt down those trying to escape.

The scene was filled with screams and roars, and what made it more desperate was that due to the butterfly specimen, the life force of the guests at the banquet was being continuously drained. Many could barely manage a few steps before losing their strength, let alone resist the ghouls.

“Is this… are you doing this on purpose?” The group near Karens and Ranen, who had not yet become the ghouls’ targets, trembled as they spoke, their eyes bloodshot with rage as they glared at Karens. “Is this the Black Poker’s conspiracy?!”

“Karens… are you not going to give us an explanation?”

Karens’s expression also darkened as he fell silent, realizing that his leader, the boss of the Black Poker, was nowhere to be seen.

The butterfly specimen that should have been dealt with had appeared at the banquet.

Suddenly appearing monsters, missing weapons.

No matter how he looked at it, this was clearly a trap set by the Black Poker.

But the key was… he didn’t know!

Karens’s heart gradually sank. He was so smart; how could he not have guessed that he had already been abandoned by the leader of the Black Poker?

But how could the other side have such confidence in a do-or-die situation? The Black Poker had already become the uncrowned king of Arkham’s underground; there was no need for such actions. Moreover, other organizations must have known that their high-ranking members were invited to the banquet by the Black Poker. If these people couldn’t return, it was easy to foresee that Arkham would definitely face huge turmoil after tonight.

He had never heard of the Black Poker raising such monsters…

Unless the true purpose of this scheme was…

Karens couldn’t help but glance at Ranen, and the other underworld bosses present seemed to catch the hint in his eyes. John, who had provoked earlier, now wore a sinister expression, his eye scar writhing like a centipede as he took two or three steps toward Ranen.

His movement was so fast that Karens didn’t have time to react. The others watched in shock as he rushed in front of Ranen, originally thinking this guy couldn’t hold back any longer and was finally going to attack Ranen. Who would have thought that he would kneel down without hesitation?

Huh???

Everyone else was taken aback.

In this alternate world of the game, kneeling wasn’t common. For most city residents, simply removing one’s hat or bowing was sufficient as a sign of respect. Kneeling on both knees had long been relegated to the dust of the past; nowadays, even if it did exist, it was used to insult others.

Yet now, a gang leader, who valued face more than anyone, actually knelt before Ranen without hesitation.

“Please forgive my disrespect earlier; I was truly misled into saying that by someone!”

After witnessing the existence of the monster, John’s face changed between shades of green and black, and then his attitude did a complete one-eighty.

John bluntly admitted that he had been used as a pawn and sincerely apologized to Ranen: “The one who instigated me is Wilt from the Serpent Gang. He told me that you were nothing but a fraud, brought in by the Black Poker to stabilize their position and intimidate others. I foolishly believed his slander, and I beg you to save me. If I can leave here alive, my gang will be at your service!”

The surrounding people felt embarrassed and instinctively stepped back several paces. Karens, on the other hand, found himself somewhat admiring this guy. He was willing to sacrifice his pride and take risks for a chance at advancement, showing keen insight by letting go of sunk costs and trampling on his dignity to survive.

If he didn’t die here today, he would surely have a place in Arkham in the future.

But unfortunately…

Karens looked at Ranen and found that throughout it all, his expression remained indifferent. Whether it was when the monster started attacking or when John knelt before him, he maintained that calm demeanor, as if nothing was worthy of his concern.

This indifferent demeanor, seemingly unconcerned about the imminent crisis, took on a different significance in the eyes of others.

He didn’t mind the provocations from others nor did he care about John’s kneeling apology.

Karens felt a sense of irony at the flicker of hope that had arisen in his heart and thought bitterly:

Would a deity care about the thoughts of ants?

They would only crush them casually.

To expect to collaborate with such an existence is far too naive of him.

—-

Damn it, it’s over.

After the ghoul appeared, scenes from the hospital at night quickly flashed through Ranen’s mind. Back then, it was similar; ghouls emerged from the neighboring ward, effortlessly tearing players apart.

But this time, there was no Spider-Woman to battle it.

In the face of John’s kneeling and apology, Ranen appeared indifferent. On the surface, he seemed unconcerned, but in reality, he was also quite indifferent, as he was reminded of his time in the hospital at night. To put it in psychological terms, he was experiencing a bit of PTSD.

Ordinary people might react to PTSD with screaming, withdrawal, anger, or anxiety, but Ranen was a psychologist. He realized long ago that he simply couldn’t self-treat. Despite this, he maintained a facade of maximum calm, though that gloomy emotion from the hospital still crept back in.

He felt a bit like giving up.

—-

[Wow, what a twist!]

[Is this banquet a trap? How could a monster appear?]

[A-Long, hurry and look! That butterfly specimen in the center of the banquet, isn’t it the one from the bonus pool quest?]

[Damn, what’s up with the streamer hiding under the table? Isn’t that embarrassing for us players?]

At this moment, A-Long was indeed crouching under the table. Seeing the barrage of comments floating by, he helplessly muttered, “Damn it, did you not see that the ghoul could knock a child out with one punch? I might have selected combat skills, but I’m still dealing with a debuff! It would be easier for it to kill me than to kill a chicken. If I die, how am I supposed to livestream for you guys?”

Now, the surviving players could see the debuff hanging over them.

[Health continuously decreasing, -1 every ten minutes.]

Originally, the players couldn’t even fight against this anomaly, and now with the debuff, it seemed impossible to escape.

“This has to be a plot kill; at this stage, players can’t do anything at all,” A-Long complained to the viewers in the livestream. “Look, the countdown for the bonus pool quest has started. There’s bound to be some commotion.”

[What kind of commotion?]

[Looking at the task description, ‘before the butterfly flies away,’ it seems the butterfly specimen will revive, right?]

[Damn! That’s an A-level anomaly! Isn’t it going to kill everyone present?!]

[Except for Ranen, but right now, it looks like Ranen has no intention of intervening at all.]

[Of course! He’s an evil god; do you really think he’s some benevolent being? They don’t care about human life at all.]

[Damn, I came from the livestream next door, and this can actually connect?? Hang in there, streamer; a strong man is about to drop in!]

A-Long happened to see that comment and muttered in confusion, “A strong man dropping in?”

Just then, the screams outside started up again.

A-Long snapped back to reality and shifted the camera to the outside, allowing the viewers in the livestream to see what was happening.

The two ghouls had finished attacking the fleeing attendants or those approaching the exits and were now gradually moving towards the encircled crowd.

The two monsters sniffed the ground, as if they had caught the scent of something enticing, and suddenly pounced toward the center of the crowd.

In an instant, angry curses and screams filled the air. Humans reacted in entirely different ways to the crisis: some fierce individuals who usually showed no fear collapsed to the ground, letting out shrieks sharper than those of young girls. Others shouted curses, charging forward with shards of broken glass only to be torn apart by the ghouls. Some disregarded everything and ran toward the exits, but they were quickly caught and killed by the ghouls.

The crowd began to move, as if they were sheep driven by a shepherd dog.

Only one person remained standing still.

When the ghouls locked onto him from a distance, Ranen felt his whole body stiffen. He could sense that the two ghouls were coming straight for him.

No matter where he retreated, once the crowd was torn apart, his fate would already be sealed.

So why escape at all?

He lost the strength to move with the crowd and just stood there. Karens had originally intended to run, but seeing that Ranen wasn’t moving, he gritted his teeth and ended up standing still alongside Ranen.

As the crowd shifted, the two figures were exposed.

The ghouls were about to pounce on Ranen.

*Bang—

The tightly closed banquet door suddenly swung open at that moment.

A figure stood at the entrance.

Everyone at the banquet was stunned, momentarily unable to react or seize the chance to escape.

Or perhaps some knew this was an opportunity for escape, but no one dared to move.

The person standing at the door was dressed in clothes almost soaked through with blood.

His pale skin and wide-open mouth resembled a bloodstained clown.

“Hehe~ What a lively banquet,” he said, lifting his head and grinning so widely his mouth nearly reached his ears. “Why hasn’t anyone called for me?”

“Roar…”

The two ghouls sensed the threat and leaped into the air, soaring over the heads of Ranen and Karens to attack Edmund.

“Ahhahahaha~ Little doggies, I’m so scared~” Edmund said, covering his mouth, unable to suppress his laughter. “But why can’t I help but laugh?”

In the instant the ghouls lunged at him, Edmund suddenly bent backward with a flexibility impossible for an adult, dodging their attack. Then, straightening up, he swiftly slashed at one ghoul with the dagger in his hand, leaving a deep gash. Dark red blood splattered out, and at that moment, the other ghoul charged in as well, the massive impact sending the clown flying into the champagne tower.

The crisp sound of shattering glass filled the air as golden wine splattered across the floor. The clown laughed maniacally, gripping the ghouls by their upper and lower jaws. “You want this? Here, have it!”

With that, he threw a powerful punch into the ghoul’s mouth and casually picked up a shard of glass, using it to slice open the ghoul’s eyeball.

One ghoul lost its vision, while the other, seemingly oblivious to its injury, continued to recklessly lunge at the clown. The clown, however, picked up the scattered glass shards around him.

In his hands, these ordinary shards transformed into deadly weapons, becoming broad blades and flying knives, slicing through the air in dazzling arcs like a circus performance. Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, he systematically used the glass to obliterate the ghoul’s senses before swiftly severing its neck.

The clown then turned to deal with the other blind ghoul, presenting two severed heads to the stunned audience with a slight bow.

The performance concluded.

The response to the clown was not applause or smiles but the terrified faces of the onlookers, who witnessed one horror being vanquished by an even greater terror.

The clown set the two heads down, placing them on the table where the champagne tower had been, and then walked toward the crowd, which parted silently until Ranen and Karens were revealed.

Under the gaze of the few remaining survivors, the bloodied clown walked straight up to Ranen and knelt on one knee.

“Giggle~ My lord, I’m late.”

My lord?

At this moment, Karens’s frozen nerves finally regained some feeling. He instinctively glanced at Ranen, noticing that he still wore that expressionless face, as if everything happening here was entirely within his expectations. No, it should be said that this was likely the scenario the other party had anticipated.

He had witnessed the ghouls slaughtering people as easily as killing chickens. He had also seen this bloodied clown brutally killing the ghouls.

There was no doubt that they were at a level far beyond what humans could reach.

And then there was this title?

The words the leader had said suddenly echoed in his mind; they refers to such beings as… disciples?

—-

[What the hell, what]the hell, what the hell, what the hell!】

[Damn, damn, damn! How cool is this?]

[Wuwuwuwu, is this the ‘heavenly handsome guy’? This fight made me feel all tingly. Did anyone see the last move he made?]

[No, but it was so damn cool! Glass like blades, every strike draws blood; it’s a real bloody execution!]

[Is this not an animation? This isn’t an animation? A job change? I want to see a hot-blooded battle manga!]

[Does anyone care that this heavenly handsome guy is Ranen’s? I heard him call him ‘my lord’!]

[So what? How many tough guys can a dark god’s minion have?]

[I declare he’s my new husband!]

—-

Ranen was stunned.

Literally stunned; not only was he frozen in place, but his face also felt numb. From the moment the ghoul lunged at him to the sudden appearance of the clown who dispatched it, and then to this clown kneeling before him, he was so shocked that he didn’t react in time. He didn’t even step aside and ended up taking the knee.

Who is this??

Confusion filled Ranen’s eyes as he carefully observed the man kneeling before him. After a while, he finally recognized a hint of familiarity in the clown’s makeup.

“Edmund?”

“Yes, I’m here.” Edmund beamed with a bright, radiant smile. “I have followed your teachings and accepted my ‘self.’ I finally know who I am and what I should do. I am willing to be your hands and feet, your senses, your eyes and ears, until my lord’s glory once again spreads throughout this world.”

Ranen: ???

‘Wait a minute, what did I even say to you?’

Ranen felt completely dazed. ‘Wasn’t that just ordinary psychological therapy? What’s wrong with you? Wake up!’

Before Ranen could deny it, the surrounding survivors began to collapse one by one.

What? Didn’t it end already?

Suddenly, Ranen remembered something and quickly turned his head to look at the crucial butterfly specimen. Previously, everyone had overlooked it due to the shock caused by the ghouls.

However, in this trap, the most lethal danger was precisely the crisis that was easily ignored.

“Edmund, go and—” destroy it.

Before Ranen could finish his sentence, the glowing links connecting to the fallen people suddenly snapped, and at the same time, the guests’ faces began to show signs of aging.

The butterfly specimen had come to life.