Cooperation and Betrayal

It was as if a thin white veil had been draped over Iver's eyes. When he could see the world again, the surrounding environment suddenly became dark, and he could not see anything clearly.

But he could clearly feel that he had been bound.

It wasn't a method of restraining prisoners with Handcuffs or shackles, but rather a tough rope thicker than an adult's arm, wrapped around the shoulders and down to the ankles, effectively binding the person like a mummy.

Iver felt a surge of immense power coursing through his body, a body far stronger than his own. Yet, corresponding to this power, he was simultaneously intensely hungry and felt utterly weak.

He needs food.

But when Iver tried, he found that he could not break the rope with brute force—it seemed to have some kind of special elasticity, so much so that the force of its outward expansion was dissipated.

At that moment, a deep, husky, magnetic, and charming voice echoed in Iver's mind.

He immediately stopped trying and focused on listening to the description of the instance that would only appear once:

You wake up with a headache and find that you've forgotten your name. But that doesn't matter. You still have some memories left, and you remember why you came here.

"This is your second day being imprisoned here. The nine of you don't know each other well. You were all caught in a trap while searching for the Holy Lance and were taken by the Giant Pankerde Couple as winter food. The only thing you have in common is that you are all strong warriors."

"The Giant Couple will separate the nine of you into three storage rooms. In an hour, they will go to one of the storage rooms and choose one of you as their food."

"The selection of ingredients is completely random. But if the giants find that someone has died, they will cook and preserve all the dead humans."

"Sealed within the giants' collection is a powerful Holy Lance, a trophy they obtained after slaying an apostle who Dedication Path; they also possess a Magic Cauldron bestowed by the Supreme Heaven, capable of reviving and enlarging dead ingredients within its confines. Thus, even though humans are small to them, one human can sustain them for a day."

"Although you are both very strong, it is impossible to fight against giants. The Giant Couple are protected by the Supreme Heaven and cannot be harmed here by any means other than the Holy Lance."

"But giants are very afraid of the cold, so unless they are disturbed, they will stay in their beds. But if a giant hears a sound, he will go to investigate."

"That's all you know. You don't know if you can escape, but you at least want to survive today."

The next moment, the mission of this ritual appeared before Iver's eyes:

[Necessary Task]

Survive (Points: None)

[Additional Task]

[Unnecessary killing: Kill other people (Points: 300 per person)]

[Escape the Crisis: Leave the storage room you are in (Points: 500)]

[Stay hidden: Don't be discovered by the Titans until the very end (Points: 500)]

[I am the Saint!: Wielding the Holy Lance (Points: 50 per minute)]

[I Can Also Be a Saint: Kill the wielder of the Holy Lance and seize the Holy Lance (Points: 500)]

[Feeding Machine: Forces the Titans to ultimately choose to cook those you kill (Points: 1000)]

[The Nature of the Transcender: Actively attack the giant and deal effective damage (Points: 1000)]

[Successful Escape: Found the key and escaped from Pankerde Temple (Points: 2000)]

[The Supreme Heaven No Longer Exists: The Holy Lance shattered the Magic Cauldron undetected (Points: 1000)]

[Courage to overcome the odds: Slay a giant with the Holy Lance (Points: 3000)]

Iver narrowed his eyes slightly, lost in thought.

Clearly, this is a mission specifically issued for those Path of Transcendence.

This is completely different from the mission style that Iver had when he was promoted.

... Of course, it's also possible that this task was given by the Serpent Father, and therefore differs from the one issued by the Lord of Scales and Feathers during the last Promotion Ritual.

The Necessary Task must be completed; failure to do so results in elimination. Since everyone has the same Necessary Task, there are no points awarded for them.

And the remaining tasks... are filled with murderous intent.

Other details are unclear, but the three tasks, "Escape the Crisis," "Stay Hidden," and "Successfully Escape," should be common to all players. The text style of those task names is noticeably different from the other tasks.

From this perspective, cooperation is actually possible in this ceremony. Because no matter how many people escape, only one key is needed to open the door.

In other words... without considering special victories, it is possible for all three to find the key and escape together.

Nine people were divided into three storage rooms. Each storage room had exactly three people, making them natural allies. If even one person were missing, the team's efficiency would be lower than other teams.

This ceremony was distinctly different in style from the previous Iver Full Moon Ritual ... If the last one was mainly about the plot, this one focused on a game of strategy. The plot was even blurred; Iver didn't even know the name of the body he was using, and had no need to play a role whatsoever.

All that Iver knows now is that this place is called "Pankerde Temple".

What they had to do was carefully and quietly find a way to leave...

...wrong.

Iver suddenly realized—this wasn't Full Moon Ritual, but a competing New Moon Ritual.

If everyone escapes, it's the same as no one escaping. The amount of points is meaningless; what determines promotion is the ranking.

This ceremony can only promote three people, but it comes with two special victory conditions. Therefore, the only person who is guaranteed to be promoted is the one ranked first in points... the second and third spots could potentially be taken away.

Unless the person who has fulfilled both victory conditions happens to be in first or second place in the standings, the third-place finisher will be deferred to the next highest scorer.

Therefore, it is actually unsafe to work together as a group of three to obtain points.

No one knew the other people's mission details, and there was no published, real-time updated leaderboard. Even if the three of them always acted together, their scores would inevitably vary.

I see.

No wonder the first mission was called "Unnecessary Killing".

This ritual doesn't require killing anyone... it's not like a gladiatorial arena where you have to fight to the death; in fact, it requires a certain degree of cooperation. However, because the temporary teammates' current scores and all their tasks are unknown, suspicion can lead to killing each other.

Because of those two special victory conditions, the three-person teams are inherently unstable and one or two spots may be taken away at any time.

Therefore, the more sincere and efficient the cooperation between them, the more necessary it is to eliminate each other in the end—because the more tasks they complete together, the higher their teammates' scores are likely to be.

This is a ritual about cooperation and betrayal.

Help me, Shadow Fiend.

Iver called out in his heart.

A thick shadow seeped silently from his body, easily corroding the rope. He struggled and broke the rope, turning over and sitting up. He had few clothes on, only a clean linen cloth without buttons wrapped around his neck.

In terms of its composition, it's more like a diaper than a robe...

There was still no light source around, Iver couldn't see anything.

But just then, a pale blue light suddenly appeared in the darkness. That light caught Iver's attention.

He quickly realized that it must be someone's dense phoenix-shaped tattoo.

The next moment, flames erupted from the tattoo, burning away the ropes binding him but leaving the linen cloth untouched. By the light of the human torch, Iver guessed who the person was.

This must be the monk who had remained silent and uttered no words earlier.

Although the body he was currently using had hair and clothes, his silent demeanor still allowed Iver to recognize his identity.

The monk looked at Iver, who had silently broken free of his ropes, and nodded slightly.

Then he slowly raised his right hand, and the flames rising from his body flowed like liquid down his skin, gathering in his palm. He thus became a lamp, illuminating the previously unlit storage room.

As Iver's eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, he took the opportunity to look around.

I felt so small—the huge bronze door must have been about thirty meters tall, and from that angle, the giant must have been at least twenty meters tall.

—It's about half the height of Ultraman.

Isn't that a bit too huge? For warriors, that's definitely beyond their capabilities...

To the giants, a human wrapped in linen would be about the size of a Chinese crepe. Or rather, just how big could this Magic Cauldron grow a person to be enough to feed a pair of giants of that size for a day?

Seeing that the other two had broken free, the other person in the room cried out, "It's me, Hong! Help me!"

Iver turned around and found that the Red Lady was not using a female body at the moment—but a young male warrior with muscles all over his body, just like them.

Red was also bound like a dumpling, but she didn't seem to be in a hurry. But unlike Iver and the monks, she didn't have the ability to break free of the ropes... or perhaps she wanted to conserve her Magic Power and was unwilling to use her Extraordinary Ability to escape.

Iver prefers the latter.

Trying to hide your strength from the start?

—Then you might as well just die here.

"Yes, Ms. Hong."

Iver narrowed his eyes slightly, slowly walked over, and said in his own voice, not Shadow Fiend's, "I am Aleister..."

But just before Iver got close, the monk suddenly stretched out his other hand and blocked him.

"Don't save him."

The monk said simply, "Kill him."

His voice was filled with murderous intent.