[We’re famous! We’re famous!]

[Please support Silvanus!]

[Handsome, talented, powerful, and even a yandere—he’s the perfect choice for you!]

[That last part feels a little like slander.]

The chat was lively. As a flood of new viewers poured in, the fans immediately began introducing Silvanus to the newcomers.

Silvanus and the others, however, were completely unaware of this. He simply carried Nick and Daisy through the sea of people. His speed was naturally no longer comparable to that of the others. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, they had already dashed from one end of the campus to near the other.

The reason they couldn’t keep running was simple. Silvanus couldn’t afford to use any more of his strength. He needed to conserve it for something else.

For the time being, the other students still couldn’t catch up to them. Silvanus set Nick and Daisy down before quickly saying, "Find anything you can use as a weapon."

The moment Nick heard that, he scrambled away, half crawling and half running as he searched for anything useful. He clearly remembered that the school had several gym storage rooms. There had to be a baseball bat somewhere.

He was going to smash those things’ heads in. How could he let Silvanus protect him forever? He had to become stronger...

As for Silvanus, he already had a plan of his own.

His gaze drifted toward the forest.

Daisy had died there. The only thing he still hadn’t found was her skeleton.

Although her true form was extremely difficult to destroy, every dungeon had to leave behind a path to survival, no matter how difficult it was to find. And the skeleton that had been mentioned from the very beginning might very well be their way out.

Silvanus pondered silently.

Just then, Daisy’s soft voice suddenly broke the silence.

"...Why did you save me?"

Silvanus looked at her. She was staring back at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

He answered casually, "Because you’re not like the others."

If Daisy had turned into one of those monsters, the only thing Silvanus would have done was toss her aside.

But this Daisy was unmistakably real.

And her fate... was truly tragic.

That, however, wasn’t what Daisy had meant.

If Silvanus hadn’t protected her, he wouldn’t have become the target of those people’s pursuit. He could have remained on the same side as the overwhelming majority.

Like so many, so many choices made by so many, so many others Daisy had once known.

Just then, the sounds drew closer and closer. Moments later, figures gradually came into view.

The students had caught up.

At this point, they could no longer be considered human.

Their bodies were gaunt, and most disturbingly, their eyes bulged grotesquely, swelling until they occupied more than half of their faces. They stared fixedly at the trio. Nick couldn’t help but feel as though they had been designed specifically to serve as the dungeon’s mini-bosses.

Other than Daisy and Neo, every boss had that same pair of grotesquely bulging eyes.

He tightened his grip on the wooden club in his hand.

Silvanus stepped forward as well, gently pushing Daisy behind him.

But at that moment, the hem of his shirt was lightly tugged.

Silvanus glanced back at Daisy, only to hear her say softly,

"Don’t worry. In the end... everything will burn."

Daisy smiled at him.

For a brief moment, Silvanus’s expression went blank.

Only then did he seem to understand why Daisy had remained so calm about everything.

Almost the instant she finished speaking, with the grand theater as its center, the auditorium erupted into a towering inferno. The flames surged skyward before twisting together into a grotesque, monstrous shape. It swayed for a moment, then crashed down upon the ground, spreading outward at a terrifying speed.

Silvanus felt a scorching shockwave wash over them, so hot it seemed ready to roast them alive.

Within his field of vision, everything was instantly swallowed by blazing crimson.

The monsters charging toward them from afar seemed as though they had been drenched in oil. The moment the flames reached them, they erupted into fire, turning to ash in the blink of an eye.

Within the crimson ashes, Silvanus could almost make out the twisted faces of Mia and the others.

Nick also felt the unbearable heat creeping through his body.

The searing sensation welled up from the depths of his internal organs, as though a raging fire was about to burst forth from within him.

"Hah... huff..."

Nick’s eyes flew open in shock. The fire raging inside his body had been extinguished by Erebus’s grant, but the brush with death had left his heart pounding so violently it hurt.

Instinctively, he looked toward Silvanus, only to realize that Daisy, who had been standing behind him, had disappeared.

"Daisy... she’s gone!"

Nick’s startled cry snapped Silvanus back to his senses.

Silvanus frowned, his gaze fixed on the forest that remained eerily untouched amid the sea of flames.

"Run into the forest."

The moment he finished speaking, he took off. Nick hurried after him.

The path beneath their feet gradually changed from luxurious marble paving and neatly trimmed lawns into uneven ground littered with jagged rocks and discarded bricks from demolished buildings. Ahead of them lay the edge of the pitch-black forest.

There was almost no trace of the trees’ green leaves or the fire’s crimson glow.

The ground beneath their feet became strangely damp and sticky, slowing their pace considerably. Only Silvanus’s stride remained unaffected.

"Come here..."

Silvanus was just about to carry Nick again as he had before. But the instant he turned around, Nick had vanished.

In his place stood only towering trees scattered unevenly throughout the forest.

Even the path that had led them there had completely disappeared.

Silvanus turned back once more.

As expected, Daisy was standing before a small mound of earth beneath a towering tree.

Her slender back was as graceful and straight as ever, while her long hair swayed gently beneath the wind’s tender kiss.

As though she had sensed Silvanus’s arrival, she turned around, revealing a flawless face and a perfect smile, one beautiful enough to stir the heart of anyone who saw it.