He was given bonus rewards on top of the +10 earlier... almost as if he had killed the same person twice.

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

[Transmigrator #12 Has Officially Died.]

[Rewards Distributed.]

[+10 Points]

[+5 Bonus Points For Eliminating A Demon-Core Host]

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

Cassien stared quietly at the floating interface for a moment.

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

[Earth Name: Estavio Maria David]

[Novel Name: Adam Shrill]

[Role: Victoria’s Butler]

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

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

Then slowly looked back down at Adam’s corpse.

"...You know," he muttered, "for a side character, you were unbelievably annoying."

He lightly kicked the body once before turning away.

’Let’s see what these extra points can actually do...’

But the second he started walking deeper into the tunnel, while lost in thought...

BOOM!!!

A massive shockwave exploded from somewhere deeper inside the cavern system.

The entire ground beneath Cassien’s feet shook violently while dust and loose rocks rained down from above. His eyes immediately narrowed.

"This tunnel leads somewhere else..." he whispered while glancing ahead. "If that sound means what I think it means... then the girls are already fighting something."

That pressure didn’t feel human.

And it definitely didn’t feel anything like Adam.

Cassien slowly stared toward the darkness deeper ahead before rolling his sore shoulders with a tired sigh.

"Of course, something else had to happen."

He tightened his grip around both daggers once more before continuing deeper into the cavern.

...

Meanwhile, fragments of Jameson’s shattered Demon Core slowly began twitching again while the system death message echoed repeatedly inside his mind.

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

[Transmigrator #12 Has Officially Died.]

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

’There’s no way that idiot actually died against someone like him... EHHHHHHHH!’

The mere thought of Cassien’s smug expression made Jameson’s blood boil with rage.

Aiysha noticed the regeneration immediately.

"Victoria!" she called out while raising her sword. "Infuse lighter traces of mana into my weapon!"

"Already on it."

Victoria instantly lifted her staff as dark purple mana flowed outward from her palms before wrapping itself around Aiysha’s blade in thin spiraling layers.

Umbra and steel naturally clashed against each other, but that was exactly why Aiysha requested it. The unstable mana would interfere with the regeneration process occurring inside Jameson’s body.

"Now!" Victoria shouted.

Aiysha disappeared forward instantly.

Step!

Her movements were sharp. Clean. Almost impossible to properly follow.

Meanwhile, the shattered remains of Jameson’s Demon Core continued twitching violently across the floor while flesh slowly attempted reforming itself around the fragments again. Bones cracked. Veins stretched outward. Purple mana leaked uncontrollably throughout the cavern.

Then—

Slash!

Aiysha’s blade cut directly through the reforming flesh before stabbing into the center of the regenerating core fragments.

The Umbra coating exploded outward instantly.

Crackkkkk!

Jameson let out a horrifying scream as the regeneration process suddenly destabilized.

Victoria narrowed her eyes carefully.

"It’s working!"

The fragments slowly began dimming one after another while Aiysha continuously slashed through every reconnecting mana pathway she could spot.

But then—

BOOM!!!

A violent pressure suddenly erupted from deeper within the cavern.

Both women froze.

Even Jameson’s twitching corpse stopped moving for a second.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Someone was walking toward them.

The sound echoed calmly throughout the cavern while smoke and dust drifted outward from the tunnel connected to the opposite side.

Victoria’s eyes widened slightly.

"...Cassien?"

A silhouette slowly emerged from the darkness.

His academy uniform was torn apart in several places, and dried blood stained portions of his sleeves. Both daggers remained coated in distorted purple mana, and a pistol rested loosely in his right hand, smoke still trailing from the barrel.

And behind him...

A trail of blood dragged across the cavern floor as Adam’s corpse scraped lifelessly behind him.

Cassien slowly approached the two girls before stopping beside them casually. Then he glanced down toward Jameson’s regenerating remains with visible disappointment.

"Another one?" he asked. "Do these idiots ever know when to quit?"

Aiysha looked at him carefully.

"You fought one too?"

Cassien sighed while rolling one shoulder slightly.

"Yeah. Some mentally unstable loser implanted a Demon Core into himself because he couldn’t handle rejection."

Victoria blinked twice.

"...I’m sorry, what?"

Cassien ignored her entirely.

Instead, he crouched beside Jameson’s twitching remains while quietly observing the unstable mana circuits reconnecting underneath the flesh.

"This one’s farther gone than Adam was."

Aiysha immediately frowned.

"Adam? Also... where’s Ren?"

Cassien paused briefly.

"Long story." He pointed behind himself casually. "Body’s right there if you’re curious."

Jameson’s distorted face suddenly twitched upward violently.

"You..." his broken voice rasped weakly. "YOU!"

Purple mana erupted outward as the fragments desperately attempted to reconnect themselves.

But Cassien only stared blankly at him.

Then—

Boom!

He fired directly into the center of the regenerating core.

The explosion interrupted the process instantly.

Jameson screamed again.

Cassien let out a tired breath.

"Can these people stop screaming every five seconds?" he muttered.

Victoria stared at him in disbelief.

Something about Cassien felt different now.

Like whatever happened inside that other tunnel changed him somehow.

Jameson’s fragmented body still twitched violently across the ground.

"...Interesting," Cassien whispered while observing the regeneration closely. "So this Demon Core rebuilds itself through mana circuits, too."

He slowly spun one dagger between his fingers.

"Then all we really have to do..."

Step.

Cassien suddenly stabbed the blade directly into the glowing fragments.

"...is cut the pathways."

Crack!

The second his dagger pierced through the fragments, distorted mana burst outward violently like uncontrolled electricity. Purple light flickered across the cavern walls while Jameson’s body spasmed uncontrollably.

Cassien narrowed his eyes slightly.

"...Yeah. Same structure."

The mana circuits looked almost identical to Adam’s.

Not perfectly.

But close enough.

The Demon Core continuously regenerated through connected mana pathways inside the host’s body. As long as those pathways stayed active, the host would continue rebuilding endlessly.

Which meant destroying the core itself wasn’t enough.

You had to destroy the flow itself.

Slash!

Cassien carved another line directly through the glowing fragments while Mana Threading activated instinctively through both daggers.

The reconnecting veins destabilized immediately.

Crack!

Jameson let out another painful roar.

Aiysha unconsciously stepped backward slightly.

"You figured out how to kill it already?"

Cassien didn’t even look at her.

"I killed one five minutes ago."

’Plus, I want these extra 10 Points, which would be useful during the [Transmigration Games].’