Aiysha stayed silent for a moment, then slowly looked toward the corpse Cassien dragged behind him.

"...You’re serious."

"Fortunately," Cassien sighed.

Jameson’s body suddenly convulsed again. Purple mana burst outward from the shattered fragments while pieces of flesh desperately tried reconnecting around the broken Demon Core. Veins stretched unnaturally across the ground while bones cracked back into place with disgusting sounds.

Cassien looked genuinely annoyed.

"Oh my God... just die already."

Slash!

His dagger carved directly through another glowing mana pathway.

Crackkk!

Jameson screamed again, but this time the sound came out weaker than before. The mana leaking from his body started flickering unstably, almost like a flame about to burn out.

Victoria tightened her grip around her staff. "The regeneration’s slowing down."

"Because the core’s panicking now," Cassien explained calmly while crouching lower beside the twitching remains. "It’s trying to reroute mana through damaged circuits."

Another slash. Another crack.

Jameson’s body jerked violently against the cavern floor.

Cassien stabbed directly into the center fragment.

Boom!

A small burst of mana exploded outward. The remaining purple glow dimmed almost instantly.

Jameson’s distorted face slowly turned toward Cassien one final time.

"You..." he whispered weakly. "Why... are you..."

Cassien stared at him coldly.

"Because none of you know how to stay dead. It’s always the extras of the novel trying to act the coldest, when in reality, you can never win." Cassien leaned over to Jameson’s ear, then whispered, "You know... I already killed one human transmigrate, so killing another will now technically make me a serial killer back on earth. But want to know something...?"

Cassien leaned even closer now.

"I was already a serial killer back on earth."

Crack.

The final mana circuit snapped. Every remaining fragment lost its glow at once.

And just like that... silence returned.

No regeneration. No twitching. No mana leakage.

Jameson’s corpse collapsed lifelessly onto the cavern floor.

A system notification immediately echoed inside Cassien’s head.

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

[Transmigrator #3 Has Officially Died.]

[+10 Points Awarded]

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

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

The game-master’s voice returned shortly after.

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

[Transmigrate #3 Has Died]

[Earth Name: Ishido Kuroka]

[Novel Name: Jameson Sparrow]

[Role: Third Rate Villain]

[Fate #1: Fated To Team-Up With The Third-Rate Villain]

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

Cassien blinked once.

’Another one.’

Victoria slowly lowered her staff while staring at the body in disbelief. "That’s it?"

"That’s it," Cassien replied while standing back up.

Aiysha looked toward him carefully. "You figured all of that out during your fight?"

"I didn’t really have a choice." Cassien wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth before spinning one dagger casually through his fingers. "Either I learned fast or I died fast."

The cavern finally became quiet again.

Then Victoria suddenly looked around.

"...Wait."

Her expression immediately changed.

"Where’s Ren?"

Cassien paused for exactly one second too long.

Aiysha caught it instantly.

"...Cassien."

He exhaled slowly.

"Yeah," he muttered. "That’s the problem. I don’t even know where he is."

...

It took Cassien nearly thirty minutes to explain everything that happened. By the time they finally exited the cavern, both shattered Demon Cores had been stored away, while Adam and Jameson’s corpses remained abandoned deep underground.

The sunlight outside felt strangely warm after everything that happened below.

And near the entrance of the cavern, they found Ren tied tightly with mana-infused ropes while desperately trying to break free. Beside him, the farmer Cassien spoke with earlier was restrained the same way.

Apparently, nobody came to help them.

"Ehmgmmhhh!" Ren yelled through the cloth stuffed into his mouth.

"Relax," Cassien muttered while walking over. "I’ll do the honors. But seriously... how did you get tied up without any of us noticing?"

"He’s an idiot," Aiysha added immediately.

"It happens," Victoria shrugged.

Cassien cut Ren loose first before shifting his attention toward the farmer. He grabbed the older man by the shoulder and helped him stand upright.

"What’d I say?"

The farmer lowered his head sadly. "I guess my brother was just weak."

Cassien stayed silent for a second before reaching into his jacket. He pulled out a small glass jar filled with ashes and tiny bone fragments. Folded neatly inside was a handwritten note.

"Don’t say that," Cassien said quietly while handing him the jar. "He was strong enough to leave this behind before he died. I found it while walking through the caverns."

The farmer stared at the label attached to the glass.

[To: Farmer]

"Name...?" he whispered shakily.

Cassien glanced down at the note. "Chris Heaving."

The farmer quickly took the jar before unfolding the letter carefully. As he read through the final message left behind by his brother, tears slowly began falling from his eyes.

[Brother, if you’ve read this note... just understand, being strong doesn’t actually mean being strong.

I know you’ll understand. [:

So... be strong.]

The farmer looked up at Cassien, tears pouring uncontrollably now.

"T-thank you... thank you so much..."

Cassien looked down at him quietly, feeling an unfamiliar warmth settle in his chest.

Aiysha looked away while speaking jokingly. "What did you do this time?"

Cassien lightly patted the farmer’s straw hat.

"I guess I really am a bastard, no matter what I do."

Aiysha walked closer, her expression softening slightly.

"Just messing with you," she muttered. "That was actually nice."

Meanwhile, Victoria continued lecturing Ren over almost getting himself killed back inside the cavern.

But strangely enough, this entire situation made Cassien realize something important.

A villain didn’t always have to be cruel.

Most people only judged villains through the perspective of heroes. And once a hero labels someone as evil, nobody really cares about the explanation afterward.

Because a hero’s story is almost never told through the villain’s eyes.

...

Fifteen minutes later, the four of them sat inside the chief’s negotiation room discussing the rewards promised for clearing the cavern. Sunlight still poured through the windows while tension filled the atmosphere heavily.

This time, however, the chief had brought two large guards into the room with him.

Cassien immediately noticed.

"Hmmm...?" he whispered while leaning back slightly. "Are those two supposed to intimidate us into accepting that garbage reward?"

The guards stepped forward while gripping their spears tightly.

Cassien smiled coldly before standing up slowly.

"What?" he asked while pulling his pistol from the holster. "Do something about it."

The room instantly became silent.

"I’ll genuinely shoot both of you if you interrupt this conversation. So either sit down quietly... or test your luck."

The guards immediately surged forward with mana coating their spears.

Cassien sighed.

"So annoying."

Step.

His body blurred forward instantly.

Bam! Bam!

Both guards collapsed onto the floor unconscious before anyone properly realized what happened. Cassien casually spun one dagger through his fingers afterward.

He didn’t kill them. They simply weren’t worth the effort.

The chief’s daughter immediately stood up in panic. "Stop! Please just stop for once! We only brought them because we were scared the Demons might escape the cavern!"

Cassien sighed while sitting back down again.

"No surprise there," he muttered. "You people never had faith in us from the start."

Victoria leaned back comfortably in her chair afterward.

"Now then," she smiled lightly, "let’s get down to business."