Seraphina had told me to stay back.

After all, I didn't see any other pretty boy around, so clearly, she meant me.

Obviously.

Still… I couldn't help but feel a little insulted.

Pretty? Really? Not handsome, dashing or even glorious?

It was honestly disappointing for a princess to have her vocabulary in shambles.

I sighed inwardly.

But oh well, what could I do?

Not everyone can have good linguistic abilities.

In any case, at this moment the princess actually looked like someone who could help finish off the abomination.

…Could she solo him though?

Nope. Not a chance. At most, she could injure him.

So yeah, this was clearly her trying to act cool.

Points for effort, I guess.

Still, I decided to stay back. I mean, I could definitely kill that bastard abomination if I tried just a bit more hard…

… But honestly, when someone else is so eager to handle all the hard work, why should I go out of my way to ruin the moment?

No sense in dirtying my clothes or wasting what little mana I had left. I was good to assist from a safe and respectable distance. At least that's what I wanted the bastard to think because I was setting him a nice trap.

And besides, this was actually a good chance to see what kind of monster is born from the blessing of a strong goddess.

I jumped back as the madwoman lunged forward toward the bastard.

Her form blurred.

How the hell was she moving so fast?

No, seriously. How?

She had to be using some kind of elemental affinity, that much I knew and considering she had been a healer, her element was supposed to be light.

That was the rule.

Every healer's Nexus tied to light. Others could get weird or random affinities, sure… but not the healers.

And whatever she was using right now?

This wasn't light.

Because the light was flashy like a woman desperate to show off her brand-new, ridiculously expensive accessory to all her friends even if nobody asked.

In any case, her form was on him before the bastard could even react but, of course, he had his damn curses swirling around him.

The moment her kick shot toward his head, his body melted into the shadows again.

Annoying bastard.

But this time, I was ready.

The sensory domain effect of [Draconic Resilience] pulsed through me, flooding my mind with information, faint movements and vibrations in the air.

It was like [Ember Sense] but sharper.

And within seconds, I felt him moving straight toward me.

Because, of course, he was obsessed.

My cards floated in the air above me, spinning rapidly in the shadows, humming with restrained energy.

I played my part and got into a stance.

Then a shadow flickered ahead of me.

Too easy.

I didn't fall for it this time, my monocle's Appraisal was still active and even with it, there was nothing above the figure's head. No signature.

That meant it was a decoy.

Still, I played along.

Let my muscles tense and let my eyes widen. I acted like I had fallen for it.

Because while the fake loomed in front of me…

I could already feel Seraphina moving again, her form slicing through the air.

I wanted that fucker distracted.

I wanted him to split that overconfident little mind of his between my scared act and Seraphina's reckless charge.

That way, he would ignore the real threat.

My cards which were waiting patiently in the dark.

The bastard still had those damn curses or whatever the fuck they were, circling him.

I didn't know exactly what they did, but I had noticed a pattern.

They reacted to what he saw.

When his focus was on me, Seraphina's kick had landed clean and sent him flying like a sack of cursed potatoes.

But the next time she tried it, he teleported right before the hit connected.

Which meant one thing.

His defense wasn't automatic, it was tied to his perception and if he couldn't see it… he couldn't stop it.

His spear shot toward me, the air splitting with a sharp sound, but before it could land, two of my three cards darted downward at him at blinding speed.

And then they began to spin.

Their edges shimmered.

The spear was inches away from me when my cards came down. But that bastard… he was fast.

Too fast for a deep-shit junkie feeding on some weird elven juice.

He twisted his body at the last possible moment as if feeling something strange. One of my cards missed, slicing through empty air.

…but the other didn't.

The second card sliced clean through his wrist and the hand holding the spear went spinning away, painting the ground red.

"Arghhhhhhh!"

The bastard screamed, glaring at me through bloodshot eyes as shadows moved toward the wound, trying to stitch him back together.

"You, motherfucker!" he cursed.

The grin on my face stretched wider without even caring for his anger.

"You sure you've got time to curse?"

Before he could answer, I pushed my weight back, palms hitting the ground as I bent into a backward lean, just in time for a leg to flash past my face.

A single, perfect kick smashed into his skull with a crack that echoed through the cave.

From my upside-down angle, I saw her, the lower half of a girl's body, steady and confident, standing right behind me.

Umbra Seraphina.

And damn, her timing was impeccable.

This definitely wasn't something we planned and yet she improvised.

…unless, of course, she really was aiming for my head.

Nah, that couldn't be it, right?

"Hey, pretty boy. We meet again~ hehehe," she giggled.

Yeah, no. I didn't have time for a who-can-giggle-more competition.

So instead, I triggered [The Magician] effect on one of my cards and vanished. In the next instant, I reappeared at the far end of the cave, right where that bastard had crashed.

I had already predicted his landing spot the moment I had sensed Seraphina darting behind me.

Simple physics, really.

Estimate the angle of her kick, the force, his mass, the distance and send one of my cards there first.

Naturally… to deliver the final blow.

I arrived right in front of him.

His body was still slumped against the ground, blood snaking down from the corner of his mouth, pooling beneath him.

He lifted his head just enough to glare at me, his face crawling with bulging, dark veins.

Quite unsightly, really.

And even more unsightly… was the look on his face.

The bastard was crying.

For all his bravado, his pride and his "I'm-so-powerful" act, he was actually crying.

So pathetic.

"Ahahahahahaha!"

The laugh echoed through the cave, bouncing off the walls.

…What the hell?

I froze.

Did my inner thoughts just leak out?

Slowly, I turned and there she was.

Umbra Seraphina, standing right beside me, her presence so close I could feel the heat radiating off her.

One hand rested on my shoulder, light… and almost playful. Her grin stretched wide, eyes glowing with amusement.

"Isn't that bitch pathetic?" she muttered, her tone dripping with delight.

What the hell?

I froze where I stood. Since, when were we this close?

But, I didn't bother correcting the manners of a psychotic bitch. Instead, my attention drifted back to the pathetic crybaby on the ground.

"Please… spare me," he whimpered with his voice cracking. "It was that elf. He was controlling my body, please, save me."

His words trembled.

Like I would fall for that pathetic act.

I mean, seriously, this deep-shit thought he could trick a trickster?

The sheer balls to even try that… Unbelievable.

I mean, this was the same guy who, not five minutes ago, was spouting cliché villain lines and demanding I "hand over my body."

Now look at him, shaking like a wet mutt.

What a downgrade.

My mana was running out, barely enough left to summon a single card.

"Thank God you're still fine," I muttered, crouching beside him. My voice sounded calm and almost kind. "Let me help you."

A golden glow shimmered between my fingers as I called out one last card.

His hands trembled too much to even hold it, so I gently placed it on his stomach.

There. A perfect little gift.

"Hold it tightly," I whispered in a gentle voice. "I'm activating the healing effect."

"So, please resist the elf, no matter what. Don't let it take over, no matter what it says. Let me help you."

My tone was steady but inside… I was calculating.

Honestly, I wanted to say the word. The one that would test everything—the name of my game.

If he really was a transmigrator, he would recognize it and would trust me.

And if he wasn't… Well, he would just hear nonsense.

But I didn't because the Underworld existed and if this bastard died knowing too much, he could talk.

One careless word, and he would spill everything about me too, ruining the divine memory wipe Trickster granted me.

No… I wasn't risking that.

As for why I was even bothering to put on an act. It was because I didn't want that damn elf pulling another transformation stunt.

As long as they were focused on each other, neither of them had the time to turn into something worse.

And more importantly… I wanted to see his face when that fragile little spark of hope finally shattered.

After all that arrogance he had thrown at me a few minutes ago, watching it crumble would definitely feel satisfying.

I had expected some doubt or suspicion but this fucker trusted me like the damn gullible idiot he was.

It seems survival had dulled whatever little intelligence this bastard had.

Across from us, Seraphina lifted her eyes but didn't say a word. She just smirked as if she understood what I was doing.

Damn. She's good.

At least better than that unreliable bastard of an assistant still lying on the ground, snoring his way through the apocalypse.

I turned and walked a few distance away.

"Boom." I muttered.

My card started glowing in unstable mana as I saw the expression on his face twisting, finally catching up what was happening.

"You bastar—"

The explosion drowned his scream.

But before I could celebrate, a new system window appeared before my eyes.

[Skill: ??????? is activated.]

What the hell?

This was my final skill, the one I hadn't tested yet.

Hell, I hadn't even checked the description… and somehow it was activated.

Before I could think anymore, my vision darkened and my consiousness drifted.

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