Cassien slowly stood upright, fixing his posture while the pain gradually simmered away from his side. He looked down toward his abdomen, but there wasn’t any actual blood. The wound never truly existed. It was only the sensation, a punishment so realistic his body genuinely believed he had been stabbed.

"Coming..."

His voice stayed calm while his hand slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out the pistol hidden beneath his coat. Just looking at the person standing ahead of him now made his skin crawl.

Cassien raised the gun directly toward him.

’Adam Shrill... your time’s up.’

His eyes narrowed coldly.

’I seriously let your illusion magic fool me this badly.’

With his free hand, Cassien pulled out one of his daggers and lightly sliced across his own forearm just to confirm whether what he was seeing remained another illusion. Blood slowly trickled downward. The pain was real. The image before him stayed exactly the same. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Which meant the truth itself was real too.

Somehow, Adam had successfully trapped him inside an illusion powerful enough to make him perceive Adam as Ren the entire time.

’But when did he even cast it?’ Cassien thought irritably. ’No... doesn’t matter anymore. I just need to kill him.’

Slowly, the fake appearance around Ren’s body began melting away, and Adam’s actual features revealed themselves beneath it.

"W-what’s wrong, Cassien...?" Adam asked shakily while turning around. "W-why are y-you pointing a gun at me?"

Cassien smiled faintly before sucking a bit of blood from the cut on his arm, only to spit it onto the ground a second later.

"Twat."

He laughed quietly.

"Go rot in hell, you pathetic bitch."

His finger pulled the trigger.

Boom! Boom!

The gunshots exploded throughout the cavern as both bullets pierced directly through Adam’s torso. Adam lowered his gaze toward the holes blown through his own body, yet somehow... remained standing.

"Huh...?"

That same disgusting expression from earlier slowly returned to his face.

"D-did you just shoot me?" Adam asked weakly. "W-why? T-that had to be a mistake..."

Cassien casually blew the smoke escaping from the pistol barrel after the magical recoil circles faded away around it. Then he aimed directly toward Adam’s face.

Boom! Boom!

Two more shots echoed violently through the cavern. Both bullets pierced straight through Adam’s eyes this time, snapping his head backward from the impact.

And yet...

He still didn’t fall.

Cassien squinted coldly.

"You still haven’t dropped?"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shots continued relentlessly.

Cassien kept firing over and over, unloading rounds into Adam’s body without hesitation. He wanted to physically see him collapse. He wanted proof this man could die.

Eventually, Adam finally coughed blood from his mouth while swaying slightly in place.

"So..." Adam looked down at himself blankly. "I’m dead?"

Cassien still had plenty of mana reserves remaining, meaning there was no reason for him to stop firing.

Boom! Boom!

’How the hell is he still alive?’ Cassien thought. ’Adam only had low-tier illusion magic in the novel. Even after cutting myself, I should’ve escaped every remaining effect completely.’

"Oh..." Adam suddenly muttered as realization crossed his face. "I get it now. You figured out I wasn’t actually Ren—"

"Just die already."

Boom! Boom!

Cassien immediately interrupted him with another pair of shots. At this point, the bullets almost felt meaningless, but he refused to stop.

Weirdly enough, Adam still seemed capable of speaking normally, almost as if his body had become disconnected from pain itself.

Adam slowly looked down toward the countless wounds covering him.

"You want me to die?" he asked quietly. "Then why don’t I just do it myself?"

Before Cassien could react, Adam suddenly shoved his own hand directly into his chest. Blood exploded outward as his fingers pierced deep inside his body.

Grip.

Then he ripped something free.

His heart.

As soon as it emerged from his chest, a notification erupted throughout the cavern like a violent echo.

------------------------

[Transmigrate #12 Has Died.]

[Earth Name: Estavio Maria David]

[Novel Name: Adam Shrill]

[Role: Victoria’s Butler]

[Fate #2: Fated To Become The Bastard Side-Character]

------------------------

Another interface immediately appeared beside Cassien afterward.

------------------------

[10 Points Acquired Upon Murdering Adam Shrill].

[Exchange Points On The Game-Shop Anytime!

------------------------

The system voice faded away shortly after.

But something about this situation immediately felt wrong.

Adam had unlocked another Fate... despite supposedly being dead.

Which only raised one horrifying question.

Was he even dead at all?

Because Adam was still standing.

His fingers tightened around the organ in his hand while blood continuously poured from his chest.

"There you go," Adam whispered while smiling weakly. "I killed myself. How do you feel now?"

Cassien slowly lowered the pistol before holstering it back into his coat. Clearly, bullets weren’t solving this anymore. Instead, he pulled out both daggers and spun them lightly within his palms.

"I still don’t feel satisfied," Cassien admitted while staring at him carefully. "Mostly because you’re somehow still standing."

He tilted his head slightly.

"Seriously, Adam... what the hell are you?"

Adam suddenly laughed.

The expression on his face twisted painfully before the nails on both his hands sharpened unnaturally, almost like claws. Then, without hesitation, he shoved both hands back into his own stomach.

This time, Cassien could tell it genuinely hurt him.

Shrkkkkk!

Grip!

That was when Cassien finally saw it.

A glowing purple crystal buried inside Adam’s body.

For one brief second, Cassien genuinely believed Adam had done one of the stupidest things imaginable.

He had infused himself with a Demon Core.

Adam immediately vomited blood afterward before forcefully shoving the crystal back deeper into his abdomen.

"You’d really go this far just to kill me?" Cassien asked. "I’m honestly flattered."

Adam’s body suddenly let out a monstrous growl that sounded closer to a Demon than a human being. Purple mana began pouring violently off his body like smoke.

"You dare try taking Victoria away from me?!" Adam roared. "You dare steal my love?!"

Cassien smiled one last time before tightening both grips around his daggers.

"Guess this is where I find out whether dual-wielding actually works in this cursed world."