Vale closed his eyes and leaned back on the comfortable throne.

'I can see how Sloth sleeps so easily in these.'

Vale thought back to the chameleons…

Specifically, the tough one he'd fought, which had awarded him 5 Aether, yet denied Vale the kill. As well as those who remained after the Dugeon Master's death.

Not once had those beasts slipped from his mind.

After all, they were not on par with Ximena, meaning they were most likely warriors; however, the one Vale fought was way too strong to be considered a warrior of an Aberrant dungeon.

It also had an ability.

While that second fact made Vale consider it may actually be a weak Nascent Anathema, Vale had no idea what happened when his warriors leveled up. They all still had a '0' next to their level, despite how much they trained.

It was entirely possible that they had conditions for leveling up like Vale, but that wasn't what was on his mind.

What was more important was that Vale had no idea what it meant for a warrior, or even a worker, to level up. It was highly possible that they would unlock a special ability when they did.

After all, right now they were 'Warriors of Lust,' yet their fighting style had nothing to do with lust at all. It still fit because he was 'Lust' and they were his warriors, but it still struck him as a bit odd.

So, when assuming there was a chance a normal warrior could gain an ability when it leveled up, it would become possible for what Vale fought to actually have been a mere warrior.

However, there was no way that particular beast was a warrior of a Nascent Aberrant dungeon. It was a much higher level and skill than Vale's own Vice Warriors.

Vale's first thought was that another dungeon was backing the chameleons and sending them after him. He just didn't know who or where they were.

It was entirely possible that some random Dungeon Master had learned of his existence and wanted him gone, but it was too far away to risk committing any notable troops.

'But what's more likely…'

Vale had very little to go on, but all he knew was that Wrath knew of his dungeon's location, and Envy might have as well.

He also knew from what Wrath and Laertes said that Envy's dungeon would be relatively close…

There were three more hints as well, two of them quite damning.

First and foremost, those chameleon bastards had a unique way of communicating through changing colors; however, they could speak. But they could only speak by way of replication of vibrations they've experienced.

Yet… they had called Vale 'Lust' without him, Salome, Toy, or anyone saying it.

They had known who he was before they fought him.

Maybe they could instinctively sense he was Lust, or at least a Vice, but it made no sense that they knew how to say it.

Making it seem like they'd been briefed on who he was.

Not to mention the one he fought being articulate in human language.

Next was the fact that they were so adamant in killing Vale over the Dungeon Core.

From what Wrath had told him, if someone were to break a Dungeon Core, all of the Aether as a reward would immediately be transferred to the breaker, only up to the amount they could hold.

Yet, if a Dungeon Master was killed and the core preserved, then the masterless core could be absorbed by an active Dungeon Core for full Aether.

Vale's core was worth a lump sum of 700 Aether — nothing to scoff at. So it wouldn't be surprising that his death and preservation of the core would be prioritized…

That could mean any dungeon was responsible, not Envy…

But, Vale was certain his initial conjecture, before he knew any of this, would have been correct if there were no external factor involved.

His conjecture that no non-Vice rank dungeon would be stupid enough to risk letting a Vice live on in proximity and grow stronger.

He'd come to the conclusion that only a Master of Vice would be daring enough to aim to kill another Master of Vice over going for the Dungeon Core.

There were a few more minor things that all pointed to someone pulling Calumma's strings. Like Calumma resigning to his fate of death despite Salome's words embued with Charm that she'd spare him if he won.

Bottom line is: Vale concluded the Calumma was being used as a hitman for someone who wanted him gone, yet also wanted the reward from his death. A person who didn't want to, or was unable to, do it themselves.

Therefore, the culprit was most likely Envy…

And her words earlier, knowing Vale won, yet missing the last meeting where he told Wrath, made him near certain.

The only other explanation was that Envy had been spying on him.

While that was likely, regardless of whether she was the culprit. He'd made his rationale based on her knowledge, alongside the aforementioned clues.

Vale sighed, then opened his eyes.

"Aaahrrghh! What the fuck!"

'How did I not notice her?!'

Sloth stood right in front of him, standing on top of the table, looking down at him with a chilly glare. The bright blue glow of her pupils was brighter than ever.

'50/50 chance I'm dead, huh…'

With a glacial stare, Sloth moved slowly as she knelt and leaned forward.

Vale shivered in fear, but if Sloth wanted him dead, there was nothing he could do at this point. All he could do was gulp and hope.

Sloth's terrifying vacant stare continued as she raised her gloved hand and brought it to his cheek. She began gently stroking his soft skin, rubbing her thumb under his eye.

In her banshee-like voice, Sloth uttered:

"Pretty…"

Then, an eerie smile crept onto her face as she slowly brought hers to his and kissed him on the lips.

The kiss was sweet, frigid, damning, scary, horrifying, and strangely awesome.

He felt something within him stir… or maybe something within him left. Vale couldn't tell.

Vale wanted to scream.

'H-h-help!'

Dread threaded through his every nerve. He felt the cold hands of death would warm him.

He couldn't calm his rising fear.

'S-s-somebody H-help!'

He felt his heart beat wildly, the pounding in his ears — he could hear the sound of silence.

Yet, he dared not retreat.

Sloth finally pulled her face away, but still held her delicate hand on his cheek. Then, she leaned in and whispered in his ear, her own pointy ear rubbing against his skin.

"You'll be the one… You'll free me."

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