The humiliating time ended. Oliver wanted to clench his fists, but did not even have the strength to do so.

Xavier... Xavier! Oliver mumbled the priest’s name in his head as he plotted his revenge.

His revenge would be exacted soon, when the members of Clan Vatican, which Xavier had been singing about, visited the church.

And then, I’ll kill you!

Oliver stared at the Akasha Messages appearing before him.

[You failed to pay the survival tax.]

[You have no items to exchange for Karma.]

[You have no skills to exchange for Karma.]

[You have no stats to exchange for Karma.]

...

[Commencing Chaos Mana corruption.]

[Time left until Chaos Transformation.]

[00:45:52]

[00:45:51]

...

Oliver groaned, sensing the foreign energy entering him.

Is this Chaos Mana?

He was certain that he was about to become a Body, an Invasive Chaos of the human race.

I was already prepared for it ever since I became an escaper! I will kill you, even if I have to become a Chaos! I’ll kill you and bring freedom to my friends!

Oliver was certain that freedom would come with agony, but he had learned that there was no such thing as freedom without suffering. Even on Earth, the freedom he had was thanks to his parents and other adults shouldering the price. However, he had to shoulder it all in the Mirror World. There were no adults to rely on; he needed to become the adult.

I’ll pay for it with my life! Even if I must lay down everything I have, I will take Xavier with me!

He was ready, but the only worry he had was his five friends, who had sneaked out of the church.

Toby, Hassan, Thiago, Sun Jian, Lan Yan... I hope you guys escaped.

They did not know what he was planning. All he had told them was that he couldn’t pay the survival tax and needed to collect ten thousand Karma, which he knew he never could. Just then, the church bells rang, and the weeping children stood up one after another. The children mumbled fearfully, but were hopeful that they would be freed from this hell if they became members of Clan Vatican.

“I-it’s time for the assembly.”

“I’m sure someone came from Clan Vatican.”

“We have to head to the chapel...”

Oliver, whose stats had all been taken, couldn’t move. It was hard for him even to speak. He said, “Guys... Take me... to... the chapel.”

“Are you sure, Oliver?”

“You’re sick. The Vatican clansmen won’t take you.”

“Yeah, just rest here.”

“No... I... have to... go... Please... take... me there.”

The children looked at each other, then took turns supporting Oliver as they headed to the chapel.

Just you wait, Xavier! Oliver shouted inwardly as grey Chaos Mana slowly filled his green eyes.

***

“One hundred twenty-three... We’re missing five,” apathetically mumbled a blond man in silver full-plate armor.

A longsword, the shape of a cross, was attached to his waist, and the same applied to the twenty other knights in formation behind him. They were the Silver Cross Knights, a martial squad affiliated with Clan Vatican.

“What is the meaning of this, Father Xavier?” the man asked.

“Captain Lycander, the five missing children are troublemakers that not even I can control. I am sure they are hiding somewhere in fear from you,” Xavier replied as he bowed.

His face crumpled as he thought, Damn brats! Where the hell did they go?! If I catch you, you’re in for a whipping for a whole day!

The Silver Cross Knights were a renowned squad among the affiliates of Clan Vatican. Xavier couldn’t believe the children dared to humiliate him before Lycander Reynold, the captain of the Silver Cross Knights, and eighty-ninth in the human ranking.

“You two. Find them,” Lycander said as he gestured to two knights in the rear.

“Yes, Captain!” the knights answered simultaneously as they quickly left the chapel.

“The rest of you, check the children’s D Weapons, stats, relations, and ethnicities.”

The knights moved toward the children at Lycander’s command. The children froze in fear.

“Huuu, why do I have to deal with this kind of bottom-ladder crap?” Lycander mumbled as he watched his subordinates taking action.

Mauro, the vice captain, said from beside him, “Hehe, it has to be because of that eye of yours! Your ability is precious, even in Clan Vatican.”

Lycander smirked and pulled out his left eye with his right hand. The blue eye spun above his gauntlet and searched throughout the chapel. This was Lycander’s D Weapon, All-Seeing Prosthetic Eye.

“Hehe, I’m sure it is better than the Veritas Oculus that only pure-blooded high elves can use.”

“Has anyone told you that you have a smooth tongue, Mauro?” Lycander smiled as he placed the All-Seeing Prosthetic Eye back in his eye socket.

He knew it was flattery, but it felt good to hear his D Weapon being compared to Veritas Oculus. He examined the D Weapon’s description.

[All-Seeing Prosthetic Eye (D Weapon)

Rank: A(58)

Description: A prosthetic eye that sees into the target’s talent, emotions, mana patterns, movements, and more.

Unique Skills: (4)]

Yeah... It could be compared to Veritas Oculus, Lycander thought.

With this eye, he rose to the seat of Ranker and was granted the prestigious position of captain of the Silver Cross Knights.

It’s a shame that I failed to fill the vacancy of Charles Borromeo, the former captain of the Golden Cross Knights, but... It’s not impossible if I continue to achieve more.

Lycander had no idea what these children would be used for. Useful children were accepted as clansmen, and the rest were to be sent to members of the Inquisition.

If I want to collect achievements, I need one big enough to stand out, rather than dealing with small stuff like this... For instance, discovering a clue to the whereabouts of the Fourth Fiend, whom Clan Vatican is searching for at full force.

Just then, Lycander’s All-Seeing Prosthetic Eye caught a rather interesting mana pattern. He stared at a boy lying on the floor; his eyes—filled with resentment, bloodlust, and grey Chaos Mana—were fixed on Father Xavier.

“Oh?” Lycander expressed with an interested smile.

***

[Commencing Chaos Mana corruption.]

[Time left until Chaos Transformation.]

[00:09:44]

[00:09:43]

...

A little more... Just a little more! Oliver desperately begged as he stared at the timer.

He wished God, if there were one, to allow his revenge. However, a god would have no interest in trivial human quarrels.

Lycander Reynold, the captain of the Silver Cross Knights, walked toward Oliver, his gold sabaton clinking, and asked, “Do you wish to kill Xavier? So badly that you would become a Chaos?”

How did he—

The powerless Oliver, lying on the ground, widened his eyes in shock.

Seeing his expression, Lycander laughed, “Ahaha! It’s been a while since I’ve seen such madness in one’s eyes. It’s like I’m seeing a member of the Inquisition.” He nodded in satisfaction and continued, “People like you are useful. Become my subordinate. I will make you a knight within three months.”

Father Xavier gasped.

“Captain?” Mauro expressed, tilting his head in confusion.

“Why...?” Oliver asked, using all his strength.

Lycander answered, “My eye sees your potential. You could become a wonderful hound. Those willing to lay down their life are several times stronger than others!”

Oliver thought momentarily about what Lycander said, and asked as he glared at Father Xavier, “If I... follow... you... can you... kill... that... person... for me?”

Lycander nodded, expressing even more satisfaction. “Ahaha! Instigating murder already, are we?! I knew it, you have talent. Very well. I will kill him for you, so follow me.”

“C-Captain Lycander?” Xavier stepped backward like a terrified, old rat, sweating profusely.

Seeing his behavior, Oliver was both dejected and enraged. He thought, All this time... Against a pathetic man like that...

It felt like all his humiliation, contempt, despair, and rage were being denied.

I thought Father Xavier was the Devil, but... was he just a docile sheep before someone stronger?

Tears flowed down Oliver’s cheeks. He was at a borderline; if he followed that knight, he could never return.

What is there to hesitate for? There is no salvation. I can’t stay a child forever. If the adults won’t help me... I have to become one myself!

He had already given up on life once; he could easily do it again. As he was about to accept Lycander’s offer, an explosion echoed.

“Who’s there?!”

“Intruder!”

The Silver Cross Knights simultaneously unsheathed their blades. The dust settled, revealing the chapel door, cut as if it were a sheet of paper, and a man standing.

“Are these two men, who couldn’t even unsheathe their swords properly, your comrades?” the man asked as he threw the heads of the two knights Lycander had sent to find the five children.

They rolled like bowling balls, hitting Lycander’s feet.

“Who the hell are you?!” Lycander shouted as he observed the man who destroyed the door.

He couldn’t make out the man’s face, covered by a black hood. However, he could sense the man’s chilling presence from the pair of blue lights inside the hood.

“I am Chok Chun-Gyong of Koksan, the son of Wi-Gong of House Chok, and a warrior of Goryeo. Who will challenge me?”

The Silver Cross Knights mumbled dumbfoundedly.

“What?”

“Is he crazy?”

However, Lycander did not find the situation funny. “Is that... a sword?”

In his All-Seeing Prosthetic Eye, he could see a single sword that could cut anything in the world, exuding a blue aura.

“It has been a while... since I have experienced war!” the man shouted, the corners of his mouth ascending.

He was the undefeated martial god of Goryeo, known for his astonishing feats on the battlefield. His enemies’ bloodlust was as welcoming as the morning sun, as if telling him he was home.

***

His every step was compact, and every swing of his sword was simple. He stepped where he needed to go and placed his sword where it needed to be. However, the results were extraordinary, as the man’s every action ended with a dead enemy.

“This one is called Direct Message. This one is called Cutting Grass to Find the Snake. This one is called Step Forth and Kill.”

Six heads had already fallen to the ground.

“H-he’s a monster!”

“He must be a Ranker!”

“Get in formation!”

The remaining twelve knights assumed formation with the vice captain, Mauro, in the middle. They were in a circle, resembling a cogwheel made of swords.

“You are not swordsmen,” Chun-Gyong mumbled in disappointment. “Your swordsmanship has regressed, and your footwork is nonexistent. You simply let that strange power swing you around.”

“Skills make everything convenient. I am no different from them,” Seong-Hwi mentioned.

Chun-Gyong shook his head and replied, “At the very least, you do your best to make my technique yours. You are nothing like them, who don’t even know how to grip a sword properly.”

“I’m honored you think so.”

“I feel stupid for hoping to see some new swordsmanship. That’s enough. Let us end this.”

Chun-Gyong vanished, then appeared in the middle of their formation.

“He fell for it! Reverse!” Mauro shouted.

The weakness of a circular formation was that it was obsolete if the enemy managed to enter the formation. Hence, they set a trap for those who tried to use that weakness against them. The Silver Cross Knights’ Reverse Circle Formation surrounded and killed such enemies.

The knights turned around and thrust their swords as if they had waited for this moment.

Chun-Gyong apathetically mumbled, “Rising Sun.”

He raised his sword high like the morning sun, deflecting the twelve knights’ swords upward. It looked as if they were paying their respects to Chun-Gyong, standing in the middle of their formation.

“Dammit!”

“Son of a...”

They felt time was slowing down with their hands in the air. Chun-Gyong thrust his sword twelve times into each of their wide-open chests as if it were natural.

“Straight Thrust,” he said.

Twelve corpses formed.

***

“Ah...” Oliver mumbled in a daze.

The silver-clad knights, who made the devilish Father Xavier feel small, were defeated powerlessly by one man. He wondered who the man was: a demon from Hell, or an angel from Heaven. Either way, it didn’t matter. They were the same.

Angel or demon, if only they would destroy this shitty world—

“Oliver!” a boy holding a cricket bat shouted, interrupting Oliver’s thoughts.

The boy shoved his arm under Oliver’s armpit and dragged him backward.

“To...by? What... are you... doing... here? What about... the... others?” Oliver asked.

“Hassan, Thiago, Sun Jian, and Lan Yan are okay. They’re in a safe place,” Toby answered as he dragged Oliver toward a wall.

There, the shaking children were unable to take their eyes off the battle, in a daze as they watched the performance of the greatest swordsman who had polished his swordsmanship to the extreme.

“Beautiful...”

“How can he move like that?”

“He’s not even using flashy skills. With just one sword...”

“Toby... who is... that man?” Oliver asked, being certain that Toby had brought him.

Toby clenched his cricket bat and said tremblingly, “He’s... an adult.”