The Imprisoned Fallen Ones (Part 1)

"Mithras! Wait for me!"

Riko caught up to Mithras and grabbed her hand.

"Riko!"

Seeing Riko follow her, Mithras excitedly wrapped her arms around Riko's shoulders. "My dad will definitely agree to let me join your Exploration Team!"

"Mm."

But Riko was not nearly as confident.

Over the past half year, Saundin had indeed never made things difficult for her or the Rabbit Girl. He would only occasionally take some flesh and blood from the Rabbit Girl for his secret experiments, while offering them bargaining chips that could enhance their strength in hopes that they would participate in his experiments.

But they had both refused.

After being refused, Saundin truly did not force them. Instead, he used other methods to entice them...

On the surface, Saundin seemed highly principled, as though he truly would not cause them any direct harm.

But once, with the Rabbit Girl's help, Riko had removed the masks from the other personnel in Steel Base—

Beneath triangular, circular, and square masks were blank faces bearing traits of Beast Transformation or mechanization. They were all incomplete Fallen Ones who had undergone corresponding alterations. Their original eyes had been replaced with Soul Tools resembling Searchlight Lenses.

Those Fallen Ones definitely had not been created by the Ascension Curse affecting adventurers as they ascended. It was highly likely that Saundin had used them as experimental materials, forcibly making them ascend to conduct his so-called experiments.

Although Saundin seemed as though he would not force anyone, he would offer empty promises to tempt adventurers into agreeing to participate in his experiments.

Therefore—

Saundin was absolutely no good person!

In Riko's view, Saundin's actions would have gotten him expelled from the Adventurer's Guild. He was no longer an adventurer worthy of pride.

Yet when Riko questioned him, Saundin had openly admitted