Seeing Mason's crazed state, Ron instinctively stepped forward, but Fiona stopped him. "He's beyond saving. We can't stop this."
Unless they escaped this dungeon soon, Mason might still have a chance to break free from the curse.
Like the day before, everyone gave their share of at to Leo. Mason ate heartily, utterly unaware of anything unusual.
Prophet sat silently to the side, seemingly not hungry.
As soon as breakfast ended, the two Counts turned cold gazes toward the humans and said, "Detectives, you can explain everything now, right? Why has the castle ended up like this? Have you found any clues about the intruders?"
Drake replied coldly, "We have a lead on the intruders. It's a group of children."
When he finished speaking, the two Counts furrowed their brows and said in unison, "Do you take us for fools? How could many children possibly turn the castle into this state?"
"I suspect you deliberately sabotaged the mansion. Are you in league with the real intruders?"
The accusations were absurd, as if they were unaware of the monsters lurking at night.
Drake scoffed, unfazed. "In any case, we have a lead. We'll continue our investigation today. I won't let the culprits get away." He wished he could have slaughtered all the monsters last night. It was his first ti facing such powerful creatures.
Seeing that they couldn't bla Drake's group, the Counts' expressions darkened further, but they maintained their human facades and only said coldly, "You'd better bring us an answer by tomorrow."
A deadline had been set. It was apparent—if Drake's group couldn't resolve the matter by then, the monsters would have an excuse to condemn them, fully transforming into their proper forms and attacking without restraint.
They had welcod the humans into the castle with open arms, only to reveal their true nature after a single night. Perhaps they were already itching to attack, but the rules forced them to hold back.
The atmosphere grew heavy as everyone's expressions turned grim. Drake waved a hand dismissively, narrowing his eyes as he grinned exaggeratedly. "Don't worry. I'll take care of every last nuisance."
He spoke slowly, enunciating each word, leaving it unclear whether he ant the monstrous children, the Counts themselves, or perhaps all of them.
The two Counts glared at Drake, their eyes brimming with killing intent. They sneered, waved their hands dismissively, and left.
It was as if they were already sure of their victory.
Mason suddenly clutched his throat when the Counts were gone and scread, "What did I eat?! Why did I eat this?! Why didn't anyone stop ?!"
Staring at the pile of raw at on the table, nausea churned in his stomach. He clutched his throat, retching violently, trying to force it all back out. But nothing ca. The at had already been fully absorbed into his body.
Watching Mason's frantic state, Stall spoke softly, "Calm down. As long as we leave here, all wounds and curses will disappear."
Mason howled in despair, "It's easy for you to say! You're not the one going through this! We're all going to die here! Every single one of us!"
His wails turned into hysterical sobs. In the end, he curled into himself, body trembling violently, eyes darting around in terror as he mumbled incomprehensible words no one could understand.
His bloodshot eyes fixated on the leftover at on the table, saliva beginning to drip down like a ravenous beast. Yet, he remained in place as if so sliver of reason desperately held him back.
Jessica glanced at Stall and said, "Forget about him. Right now, we should focus on investigating the castle."
Stall nodded, and the others had no objections.
At that mont, Ron turned to the Prophet, speaking sincerely, "Prophet, can you tell us what we should do?"
There was no denying it—the monsters here were terrifyingly strong, far beyond what they could handle. On top of that, intelligence had never been Team 1's strong suit. If they could gain Prophet's help, everything would move along much faster.
Drake remained silent, tacitly approving of Ron's plea. He also wanted to close this dungeon as soon as possible.
Prophet slowly lifted his head and asked, "Will you worship ?"
Even though his eyes were hidden, everyone felt as if the Prophet wasn't just looking at them—but seeing beyond the dungeon itself through ti and space.
Outside, those watching the live broadcast fell into stunned silence.
They had witnessed this dungeon's sheer difficulty and brutality—its monsters were more potent than ever, and its cunning, insidious quests were unlike any from past experiences. It was a ga where humans were rely playthings for knowledgeable, high-ranking monsters.
Had it not been Team 1 inside this dungeon—had Prophet not been summoned last night—the ga would have already ended, just like it had for the first two teams.
Not only those trapped inside but even those watching from across the continent desperately wished this dungeon to be sealed away. Because they knew—if humanity continued to fail, this dungeon would also spread to them one day.
So, the mont Prophet spoke, almost the entire continent clasped their hands together in prayer, even though they had no idea if their prayers would ever reach him.
At the heart of the Association of Espers, the staff monitoring the dungeon in real-ti also folded their hands.
The sight of an entire continent united in prayer was awe-inspiring and surreal.
At that very mont, a completely unprecedented notification echoed in Silvanus's mind:
[Congratulations, Master! You have accumulated 10 Faith Points!]
Faith Points?
He had never heard of such a thing from the system before.
And along with the notification, countless whispers surged into his mind:
"Please, close the dungeon... end this disaster... lead humanity to the end of this nightmare..."
The sudden flood of voices nearly shattered Silvanus's composure.
What was happening? Wasn't he just a false god?
Then why... why could he hear prayers?
Not only that, but he could feel them. The despair, the urgency, the agony woven into each plea—it was as if he were being forced to experience the suffering of humanity as they had endured this monstrous invasion for so long.
For so reason, an overwhelming rage surged within him—an uncontrollable fury, as if sothing he had vowed to protect had been irreparably hard.
The emotion struck him out of nowhere—strange, inexplicable, and far too real, as though he was deeply, inextricably tied to this world.
"Ngh... hey, are you alright?"
Drake's voice snapped Silvanus back to reality.
Only then did he realize—his hand was trembling.
He quickly grabbed his shaking arm with the other hand and shook his head. "I'm fine."
For so reason, Drake felt that sothing was off. Prophet seed... different. Almost as if the person standing before him was no longer the sa Prophet from before.
But just as the thought crossed his mind, Prophet suddenly spoke again.
"I have felt your sincerity."
His voice was slow and asured, his expression unchanged.
Blood trickled down his face as he continued,
"Go find the gardener. You will uncover the castle's secret and complete the mission."
With this new lead, hope flickered across the faces of several mbers of Team 1.
[Hahaha! Here it cos—the mont humanity believes they've found a way out, only to realize it's a dead end! Not even Prophet can save them. Ultimately, all he has is foresight—he can't change the future! Hahaha!]
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