Only I Am A Reader

"Isn't there another problem that we have to deal with first?"

Honestly speaking, Leo actually enjoyed the friendly chat with the protagonist. Regardless of how he was supposed to give her a rude awakening very soon, it was a fresh perspective to casually talk with the person at the center of the world.

Ray had already experienced something like this talking to Ray, even giving Geochin a mental shock was fun in its own way. However, these meetings always happened towards the end due to various reasons.

In his very first run, Leo wasn't capable nor comfortable enough to talk with Ray until he reached the peak of his ability… He was also just more cautious in general due to his illusory grasp over the butterfly effect.

As for when he started to get a better grip in Murim, Geochin was his enemy. He had to meet him less and less to lower the chances of receiving the plot armor's judgment.

'It's a shame.'

It was only now that such worries disappeared. After close to three decades of combined experience, Leo had become aware of the most basic dos and don'ts.

In addition, while their current standing was that of enemies, Leo and Aurora had the same end goal. Truly harming her wasn't Leo's intention, so there was no reason to be wary of plot armor.

Unfortunately…

'But I can't delay it any longer.'

If he wanted to close the curtains right on time, Leo had to go ahead and start the play's exposition. After all, the final challenge wasn't supposed to keep 'loading' for long.

"Hmmm? What problem?"

Confused by Leo's question, Aurora tried to look around again. Let alone something to be wary of, there was nothing to be seen…

Was he possibly worrying over his teammates as well?

"This problem?"

However, just as such a positive thought popped into Aurora's mind, the center of this thought appeared right in front of her at Leo's gesture.

They were precious teammates whose fate remained unknown just a second ago, yet now they were all lying on the ground with the exception of one person.

"A-A-A-A-Aaaaaaah!"

Aurora's face froze and so did her gaze, but the stuttering girl beside her screamed in fear. The sight she just saw was too horrifying.

Although there was no blood and everyone was still in one piece, their limbs were all over the place. It was like looking at broken puppets that lost their strings.

"W-W-W-What is th-this?!"

To Tina, even death by decapitation would have looked easier to accept. This was already terrifying on its own but the sudden appearance exponentially increased the shock factor.

It was one thing to learn that someone you know was dead, another thing to find their dead body yourself, and a whole other thing to have their dead bodies thrown at you by another acquaintance!

"Sorry, was this too much? I didn't mean to make you freak out, I was just showcasing my work."

On the brink of hyperventilation, Tina raised her head to look at the speaker in fear. To her surprise, the sinister face of a demon that she expected to appear wasn't there, there were no horns either.

The handsome face with the sharp eyebrows was the same, and so was the kind smile. It was just that his words didn't seem to match what she saw. Nothing made sense anymore!

"What do you think? I spent quite a bit of time on this."

Tina pondered the possibility that she was under the effect of some monster's hallucination ability, but she immediately denied it.

While it was a rare occurrence, they dealt with that kind of tricky monster before, and Aurora was able to instantly purify it. Even the frozen Aurora next to her was an illusion, Tina knew that the real one would have already saved her.

Although Tina didn't want to accept it, her ice-cold heart told her that everything she saw was real.

"Aurora?"

At incomprehensible times like this, Aurora usually had the answer before they even had to call for help, but for some reason, she reacted even slower than Tina this time.

'I was expecting a more direct response.'

Just like Tina, Leo was also slightly confused by Aurora's delayed reaction. The righteous Hero who should have at least questioned him with force looked conflicted for a second.

"...Did you do this to them?"

Was it just Leo's imagination? As soon as Aurora started looking suspicious, she snapped out of it and inquired in a heavy tone.

"Of course! Didn't I already say that this is my work? I'm especially hoping to hear your opinion!"

Leo's smile only got warmer and warmer, discussing his messed up actions as if it were some sort of carefree hobby, anyone could tell that he was abnormal.

"Why?"

"Eh? Isn't that obvious? I came here to-"

Leo looked like he was stating the obvious when he suddenly paused in the middle and felt his own face using the palm of his hand.

"Oh, right. I forgot to remove this! My bad."

Without any hesitation, he pulled something at the edge of his chin as a faint ripping sound echoed out. Just like that, Leo's face came off, revealing a completely different set of features.

"What about this… Do you remember me now? I'm sure I told you that we will meet again later."

It was a face so memorable that it would be hard to forget. Most people memorized and dreaded it, but things were slightly different for Aurora.

Her memories of a certain incident, public perception, his captivity, his escape… Everyone believed that they figured out Cassian for who they were, but Aurora couldn't get the smallest grasp on him.

"I would love to exchange thoughts about my work. After all, its very center is you. However, we can't start just yet."

While Cassian was still speaking with great zeal, light was starting to shine around Aurora. While she had been strangely patient until now, it looked like her main philosophies didn't change.

"After all…"

On the other hand, Cassian still sounded completely unbothered. With a simple snap of his fingers, all shadows in the area exhibited strange movements.

Instead of focusing on Aurora who was preparing to attack him, his gaze turned to the girl shivering next to her. Ever since the mask had come off, Tina looked like she would pass out from terror.

"It's still unfinished."

The words sounded enigmatic, but even someone who was scared out of her mind like Tina could tell what Cassian meant.

'He is after me!'

Although there was someone else missing from the team, he wasn't here like her. The person who turned out to be the Lord of Shadows wanted to throw Tina next to her twisted friends!

No one had made an actual move just yet, but Tina wasn't sure if Aurora could save her this time. Just when her last hope was about to charge, Cassian's smile grew bigger as he turned back to his victims.

"Now, now, there is no need to be so excited. Don't worry, I have prepared something for you to sample while I work on adding the last piece."

As if to answer Cassian's call, Clara's wriggling shadow increased its intensity as something seemed to be moving within. Be it Tina or Aurora, they could both tell that whatever that was, it was extremely ominous.