“You bastard! Do you think that this is some kind of a joke!” That was exactly what Nick thought, but Zich looked offended like he had been greatly misunderstood.

“How could you say such harsh words? I simply wanted to cheer you on,” Zich said.

“Don’t fall for his tricks and activate the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls now!” the leader of the robed figures shouted. Nick was about to activate the pyramid when Zich’s words stopped him.

“Well, Ellie will also lose her life since she is at Pialu, but I suppose that can’t be helped either.”

“…What?” Nick’s face fell in disbelief. This was a provocation that Nick couldn’t ignore in the slightest, and Zich smiled brightly at him after seeing his reaction.

“Since it’s about time for us to wrap up this situation, I called Ellie to Pialu. Walter was fine since he met his dad from time to time, but Ellie whined quite a bit since she hadn’t been able to see her dad for so long. So, to comfort her, I brought the children to Pialu and hid them there. I thought that by doing so, I could also have you as hostage if you tried anything weird.”

“Don’t listen to him, Nick! It’s obvious that he is lying!” the leader yelled.

“Aha. I suppose it sounds like I’m lying considering everything that happened. Unfortunately for you, there’s not a single false point in my statement.” Then, Zich made a slightly sympathetic face. “However, now that I think about it, Ellie is really pitiful. After all, she will end up dying due to her father’s decision even though she loved her father very much. I can clearly picture her in my head, the sight of her crying for her father as she enters a monster’s mouth.”

Nick’s body shuddered. 

“Again, it can’t be helped. For the greater cause, you have no choice but to sacrifice Ellie. Mr. Nick, don’t think of anything else and just quickly activate that Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. You’ll have to sacrifice the small things for much more.” Then, Zich yelled while clapping.

“Sacri—fice!” Clap! “Sacri—fice!” Clap! “Sacri—fice!” Clap! 

Nick, of course, and the leader, the mercenaries, and even the robed figures gave Zich a mortified stare. It looked as if they had seen a monster that they couldn’t comprehend at all.

“Y-You are a Karuwiman Honorary Holy Knight! How could you say such words so easily!” Nick yelled. 

Yet, Zich shrugged his comment off and said, “I am simply cheering you on, Mr. Nick. I don’t know why you are suddenly bringing up my knighthood now.” Zich then made an innocent-looking expression as if he really had no idea what he was doing, and increased Nick’s blood pressure to new heights.

“Well, it’s true that I got the title of a Karuwiman Honorary Knight because I caught a whole bunch of Bellid bastards, and my character had little to do with it.”

“Even the Karuwimans must have lost their minds for giving a bastard like you a holy knight title!”

“What are you so surprised about? You know, I’m best friends with the Karuwiman’s saintess,” Zich said shamelessly and grated Nick’s patience. “It’s time for you to decide now. Decide whether you will activate the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls or not. My legs hurt from waiting so long.” Zich arched his back and massaged his knees. 

Zich’s mocking behavior made his enemies lose their minds, but he was right on one count: it really was time for Nick to decide now. As Nick gritted his teeth, he thought, ‘Did Zich really place Ellie at Pialu?’ If that was the case, would she be able to survive the monster invasion? Zich’s muttering about how Ellie would cry out for her dad before dying passed through his head again.

‘…I can’t.’ 

Nick couldn’t do it. The reason why he had agreed to collaborate with the robed figures in the first place was for Ellie; they had promised him a large sum of money and connections to high-class folks that would allow him to raise his daughter in a better environment and lifestyle. Nick loosened his grip on the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. He was about to say that he was going to surrender when— Crack! He felt a burning pain on his side.

“Urgh!” It was unimaginable pain. Although Nick had endured all sorts of injuries while living as a mercenary, it was his first time experiencing pain like this. Clearly, the current wound was incomparably more severe than anything he had encountered before. Nick looked down at the side of his stomach and his eyes opened wide. There was a giant hole on his side as if someone had violently dug out a huge chunk of his flesh. Nick stared at the figure next to him. The eyes on a monstrous face were looking coldly down at him.

“…You!”

“If you are going to keep hesitating like that, quit it. I will do it,” the leader said.

Nick lost strength in his legs. He fell weakly, but the leader grasped his neck and held him in place. Then, as the leader shook Nick’s body, he took the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.

Thud! When the leader loosened his grip, Nick fell like a sack of trash and collapsed to the ground. Intestines and red blood spilled out like a fountain from his open wound. It was clearly a critical injury and he seemed to be approaching his end. However, Nick’s eyes only focused on the pyramid. The mercenaries were looking at Nick and the leader with confused expressions.

“B-block…that…guy…” Nick gave an order while he was on the verge of death. However, the mercenaries merely squirmed and did not move to follow Nick’s order. 

Nick forced his lungs to breathe and was about to squeeze his words out when the leader cut him off. “This guy will soon die, and we still have enemies who are eagerly waiting to kill us. I don’t think I even have to waste time to explain which side would be more advantageous for you to follow.” 

The mercenaries also agreed with the leader. They glanced at each other, and in the end, they ignored Nick. 

“N….no…” Nick fell into despair at his subordinate’s betrayal. He kept on thinking about how his daughter would get eaten by a monster. “Please…ju…st…Ellie…” Nick pitifully shouted as he died, and then finally stopped speaking. He stopped breathing.

“…Nick.” Til looked at Nick’s corpse. His friend had changed from a faithful comrade to his closest enemy in a day. His eyes looked conflicted as he looked at Nick’s corpse. 

Nick had betrayed his closest friend to fulfill his own greedy desires. None of those desires had been fulfilled, however; instead, he had met a pathetic end in a nameless forest. Nobody except for Til thought much of his death; only Til looked at Nick’s corpse with despondent eyes. This made Nick’s death even more pathetic. 

Ziiing! The leader immediately infused mana into the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. Then, he looked toward Zich and Til and said, “Is it okay for you to be so relaxed? I recommend you two to get to Pialu as fast as possible so that you can save at least one more person.” 

However, even while facing the possibility of a giant army of monsters ambushing Pialu, Zich and Til were way too calm. Instead, Zich was even pushing the leader to quickly call the monsters to Pialu. “Ah, that? You don’t have to worry. Even if we’re going to Pialu, we’ll figure that out by ourselves. You don’t have to worry about us, so just quickly call the monsters.” 

The leader narrowed his eyes. “Your bluff is too much. I’m different from that idiot Nick.” 

Did he feel annoyed that the leader insulted Nick?—Til slightly furrowed his brows. However, he didn’t do anything else and stared at the leader’s actions. Time passed, and the leader continued to infuse mana into the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. However, nothing changed. Did nothing change on the opposite side too when it was activated? 

However, judging by how confused and taken aback the leader looked, that was definitely not the case. Zich thought it was funny when a look of befuddlement appeared on the monster’s face. “W-what? What’s up with this?” The leader increased the amount of mana he infused into the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. However, there was still no visible change. The leader grew anxious and increased the mana input twofold. 

Crack! An ominous sound came from the Pyramid. 

“What?!” The leader frantically scanned the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls. He saw that there was a large crack, and small fragments were falling off.

“Oh my? What, is it broken?” 

The leader couldn’t even hear Zich’s mockery. The leader quickly put his hand on the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls in a desperate attempt to fix it. Of course, there was no way he could fix it by just pressing on it.

Crumble! Instead, the crack grew bigger, and a fragment that was as big as a nail fell from the Pyramid. He saw the inside of the Pyramid from the cracked hole. 

“…What is this?” The leader pushed his finger into the hole. 

Crack! The hole grew bigger and more fragments broke off. The leader began scraping the surface of the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls as if he was cracking an egg, and what he found inside was a One-Sided Pyramid of Lamentations that was firmly placed so it wouldn't move around. The leader became silent; no, he couldn’t say a word. He couldn’t understand what was going on, but he was sure of one thing—the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls he was holding was a fake. It was a mold that only looked like the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls on the outside.

“Ha! Hahh! Heeahahahaha!” 

The leader heard sounds of laughter; it was twisted laughter full of glee. It was a type of laughter that made one wonder how could there possibly be a burst of laughter so full of mockery and ridicule.

‘Zich Moore.’ The person who was laughing was Zich. He had one of his hands on his face, and his shoulders shook with laughter. Although the leader had many memories of Zich defeating him, he felt a keen sense of déjà vu. And his sense of déjà vu was right on the mark.

“Are you perhaps looking for this?”

The leader was beyond shocked when he saw what Zich took out. Zich was holding an item that he had been sure was in his possession—the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.

‘What the hell happened!’ Why was the fake Pyramid of Vengeful Souls with Nick, and why did Zich have the real Pyramid of Vengeful Souls? ‘No, is that also a fake?’ The leader looked at Zich suspiciously. 

“Perhaps, are you doubting if this is real? Why don’t you have a little bit of trust, my friend? This is definitely real.” Zich shook the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls in an exaggerated manner. “It’s the real Pyramid that allowed me to use the monsters in the Denest Mountain Range to wipe out all your comrades.”

The leader’s face twisted in shock. The only people who knew about this were the robed figures and the person who caused this incident. ‘It has to be true!’

“Ah man, I had no idea that you’d like the fake so much. I didn’t know that you’d really kill Nick to get that. No, that’s wrong of me. Since one’s preferences are crucial to determining the value of an item, I full heartedly support your personal taste. If I knew ‌you would like it so much, I would have made a couple more.” As Zich’s high-spirited voice rang out in the air, the leader’s fury exponentially increased.