“As a human, you really are too lowly.” Vinny lowered his head slightly as he spoke, turning the still-smoking cylinder of the [Sixfold Inferno].

‘Ah, ah, Mr. Vinny—what’s the point of this? Seriously, I can’t understand you at all. Since you already understand how filthy and muddled this world is—packed with injustice—civilized on the surface, but with its underlying laws no different from the primal chaos at the beginning of creation... then why not join me and smash this world to pieces?’

‘Since this world’s essence is like this, why do you insist on staying “clean,” keeping yourself “pure”? Join it, then crush it. Isn’t that better?’ [Blood-Debt] still refused to give up on seducing Vinny.

“Vinny, you vicious bastard—you think you’re worthy of lecturing me about justice and morality??” Caron’s face was dark and vicious, his fists clenched—clearly, Vinny’s words had choked him so hard he couldn’t even speak smoothly. “Everyone knows what kind of rotten seed you are. Even if they find out I killed you, they’ll all think I was getting rid of a menace for the people!”

‘Mr. Vinny, I admire your courage and resolve. But no matter how grand your ambitions are, if you lose your life, then it’s all nothing. At the very least, you need to live first, right? Before ideals, shouldn’t a person keep their feet on the ground and consider reality?’ [Blood-Debt] continued to persuade him.

‘As long as you give a definite answer—choose to touch me—this guy who talks about benevolence and morality while being rotten to the core will instantly become your nourishment.’ [Blood-Debt] wasn’t in a hurry. After all, the initiative was entirely in its hands. ‘These people who annoy you—you can slaughter them as you please.’

“What the hell are you even saying?!” Caron roared when he heard that.

‘Young Master Caron, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. I gave you one. But you’re too twisted—never decisive. You want power, you want to do evil, and you still want to keep up a respectable façade. It’s truly unimpressive.’

‘I think any [Divine Armament]—unless it’s blind—could never possibly take a liking to someone like you.’ [Blood-Debt] continued to mock him. ‘Other than a garbage dump like me that’ll take anything. Of course, if I weren’t used to eating trash, I wouldn’t really think much of you either.’

“You!” Caron had his very person trampled on, yet he still didn’t dare to speak too boldly. Because if he wanted to carry out his plan and kill Vinny, then if [Blood-Debt] got in the way, he absolutely couldn’t do it—he’d just end up as [Blood-Debt]’s nourishment instead.

‘Think it through, Mr. Vinny. Is it worth throwing away your life because of filthy matters and filthy people? Would you accept that? Would you be satisfied?’ [Blood-Debt] didn’t even bother with Caron. ‘Why not just kill all these hateful people however you want?’

“And then have me contract with you?” Vinny gripped the [Sixfold Inferno], staring calmly at the crimson evil sword before him.

‘Naturally. I’m only a medium. I can’t replace you and kill people for you, you know? Tell me—if you don’t grip me tightly, how am I supposed to help you?’ [Blood-Debt]’s voice carried a bit more laughter now.

“Heh.” Vinny neither affirmed nor denied it.

Vinny, of course, didn’t believe any of [Blood-Debt]’s ghost stories. If it really couldn’t help, then how had it saved Caron with its own will??

Without [Blood-Debt]’s interference, Vinny would already have crushed Caron. Taking a round from the [Sixfold Inferno] head-on—Caron would have had no chance of survival.

Vinny tightened his grip on the [Sixfold Inferno]. There were still three rounds left in the cylinder. Maybe that was enough for Caron, but it was nowhere near enough for [Blood-Debt].

The magical bombardment Vinny left on [Blood-Debt] was being rapidly regenerated and healed by the living blood vessels it extended. It was a blood shield that could regenerate without limit.

‘Decide quickly, Mr. Vinny. I’m very interested in you, but my patience isn’t infinite either.’ [Blood-Debt] continued. ‘Are you willing to be killed by a hypocritical villain like that?’

“...Fine. I’ll agree to your request.” After a moment of silence, Vinny suddenly smiled. “But first, you have to carve that bastard into pieces.”

‘Mr. Vinny, I told you—this requires you to do it yourself. I’m happy to lend you my power.’ [Blood-Debt] naturally wasn’t going to fall for Vinny’s trick before getting anything substantial.

“Vinny, you bastard!” Caron ground his teeth as a flame blade he’d been condensing in secret suddenly chopped toward Vinny.

He decided to strike first.

However, how could [Blood-Debt] possibly give him that chance?

‘Ridiculous.’

One blood vessel after another shot out, binding Caron tightly in midair.

“Damn it! You bastard!” His sword fell to the ground. Caron was tied up in the air—no matter how he struggled, it was useless. He could only roar.

‘Young Master Caron, please be quiet. Don’t disturb my transaction with Mr. Vinny.’ [Blood-Debt] completely ignored Caron’s curses.

‘Mr. Vinny, this guy is fish on the cutting board. As long as you come up and contract with me, his life will be yours.’

“You!” Of course Caron wasn’t going to sit and wait for death. But the gap in power was too large—he simply couldn’t break free of [Blood-Debt]’s control.

‘The choice is yours, Mr. Vinny. But I have to say this up front, alright? If you try to play tricks, you’ll be cutting off your own way to live. I won’t have any extra patience left to give you.’ [Blood-Debt] added.

Vinny said nothing. He stared at [Blood-Debt], then glanced at Caron, and calmly walked forward.

“You rotten seed full of bad intentions—I knew you’d be this kind of person!” Seeing that, the only thing Caron could do was rage helplessly.

Would Vinny choose to contract with [Blood-Debt]?

Of course not. He had never even considered that possibility.

He was searching for a turning point.

If he got close to [Blood-Debt] and Caron, was there a way to deal with both of them?

Maybe there was—but with overwhelming probability, there wouldn’t be enough time.

What should he do??

Also, he felt his feigned compromise couldn’t fool [Blood-Debt] at all. This was an old demonic spirit that had lived for who knew how many years—how could it possibly be deceived??

Just as Vinny was at a complete loss, two sets of footsteps suddenly intruded, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Vinny, we finally found you—y...” The moment she saw the situation clearly, the joy in Fennia’s eyes instantly filled with hesitation and shock.

Vinny’s heart tightened. He turned his head toward the two people who had rushed here in a hurry.

Amisha and Fennia.

Why now??

Vinny cursed inwardly. These two had arrived at the worst possible time. This scene was far too easy to twist into a misunderstanding—if someone guided it on purpose.

Before Vinny could think further, the thing he feared most still happened.

“Fennia, Amisha! Run! Vinny’s lost his mind! He hates me, and to kill me he actually teamed up with the Most-Evil Divine Armament [Blood-Debt] to set me up!” Caron’s face changed like a stage mask. A moment ago he looked as vicious as a hell-demon—now he instantly became a self-sacrificing good senior, a knight of noble virtue who put the big picture first.

Vinny’s expression hardened as he turned to look at Caron.

In this situation—Caron {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} was being controlled by [Blood-Debt], while Vinny was walking toward [Blood-Debt], even faintly looking like he was about to reach out and grip it—anyone who saw this would misunderstand.

“What?!” Fennia was dumbstruck. She looked at Vinny, who was within arm’s reach of [Blood-Debt], then looked at Caron, restrained by [Blood-Debt] with the look of someone who’d rather die than submit.

‘What are you hesitating for, Mr. Vinny? Didn’t we agree? Work with me, I’ll help you kill your enemy, and then we’ll overturn and smash this filthy, disgusting world together.’ For the “assist” Caron handed over, [Blood-Debt] naturally wasn’t going to refuse. It immediately followed up on Caron’s words, its voice laced with amusement.

‘Two more people who know the truth is no problem. We’ll just kill them along with this knight, and that’s that.’

[Blood-Debt] was pushing Vinny to the world’s opposite side—leaving him no choice but to board its pirate ship.

Because in a scene like this, Vinny should understand very clearly: if he let Fennia and Amisha go, then his being in bed with the Most-Evil Divine Armament would be “confirmed.” From then on, he would have no place left in human society.

Only a decisive slaughter of every witness here would do. But if he did that, Vinny would never be able to turn back again.

With [Blood-Debt] stirring things up like this, it was like smearing black over black—now there was no way to explain this misunderstanding at all.

“...” Vinny could only fall silent, unable to argue. He quietly shifted his gaze, looking at Fennia and Amisha.

He knew a scene like this far too well.

Back when he was a child, it was always like this. Evil deeds he never did—yet with only someone’s one-sided words, plus a misleading picture, they would shove it onto him. No one believed him.

After that, Vinny’s reputation grew worse and worse. He gradually became a rat crossing the street—everyone shouting to beat him. Once that kind of stereotype formed, no one believed him anymore. People would even blame every evil act on him when he wasn’t even present.

This time... would it be the same?

Vinny stared deeply at Fennia and Amisha.

“Vinny, what exactly is going on?” Fennia looked at that terrifying flesh-and-blood demonic sword in alarm and doubt.

This was absolutely the ancient evil thing that had been hiding inside the academy lately.

Vinny... had ties to it??

Fennia didn’t want to believe it. But the scene in front of her was simply too misleading.

“I have nothing to do with it. The person it approached is Caron.” Vinny explained calmly.

“Hah! Vinny, at a moment like this, do you think anyone will believe this bullshit you’re spewing?! Do you think everyone’s blind? Stupid?!” Before Vinny could even finish, Caron cut in. His voice was heated, righteous, and loud.

‘Yeah, Mr. Vinny. Stop hesitating. Dignity can’t fill your stomach, can it? Stop maintaining that dignity. Everyone already knows what kind of person you are, don’t they?’ [Blood-Debt] echoed along, deepening the misunderstanding.

“Do you know what kind of person I am?” Vinny suddenly smiled. Then he turned around and smiled at Fennia and Amisha. “What about you? Do you know?”

“I haven’t done anything that deserves heaven’s wrath. Not once. Are you going to believe me... or believe them?” Vinny asked Amisha and Fennia again.

After he said that, Vinny lowered his gaze slightly. But not long after, a small jade-like hand covered his.

“Vinny, we believe you.” At some point, Amisha had walked up in front of him. Fennia followed behind her.

“Vinny, Fennia and I will always believe you. Always follow you.”

Vinny’s eyes widened as he stared at the pure, flawless girl with milky-golden hair. Right now, Amisha was like a lamp in the night. Then he looked at Fennia behind her—Fennia also nodded at him with firm resolve.

“You... are willing to believe me?” Vinny was deeply moved—and also shocked.

“Even now, Vinny, your eyes are still clear to the bottom.” Amisha held Vinny’s hand as if she wanted to warm his frostbitten hand with her own.

“So what exactly happened?” Fennia asked as well.

“Caron. He colluded in secret with the demonic sword, brought it in here, and before that, he tried to kill me.” Vinny told the truth.

“Vinny! You’re slandering me! You two—look at the situation! It’s obviously him, blinded by greed, colluding with [Blood-Debt] to get rid of me here!” Caron shouted.

“You’re lying.” Amisha’s soft, babyish voice was filled with certainty. “Vinny’s magic revolver is still smoking—it clearly fired earlier. If Vinny really colluded with the Most-Evil demonic sword, then why would he use the magic revolver at all? And why didn’t he manage to kill you??”

“So what was Vinny’s magic revolver bombarding earlier?”

“Senior Caron, your eyes are full of filthy, foul lies, hiding a poisonous mire that churns and bubbles in the deepest place... what did you do, to make the base color of your eyes look so terrifying?” Amisha took a step back.

Caron instantly fell silent.

‘...Ah. So it’s [Immaculate Eyes].’ After a moment of thought, [Blood-Debt] spoke with helplessness. ‘So I ran into something like this, huh?’

‘Little girl with that baby voice... right now, I really want to carve your eyes out.’

“You dare?” Vinny pulled Amisha back, shielding her behind him, and pointed the [Sixfold Inferno] at [Blood-Debt].

‘How boring. With something like that, there’s no fun anymore.’

‘I finally found a suitable host, and yet [Immaculate Eyes] pops out to ruin my good thing.’

‘Little girl, do you know that sometimes pretending you didn’t see anything—or pretending you’re mute—can make it so you don’t die quite so painfully?’ As it spoke, [Blood-Debt] released its restraints, and Caron fell with it.

“What are you doing?!”

‘Don’t pretend, Young Master Caron. You’ve already been exposed. They only believe Vinny. If you let the three of them go back safely, do you think you’ll still have a place in human society?’