Chapter 93: The Weight of a Lie

“That hero, Eve, possesses a truly malevolent heart.”

Xiluo’er’s voice was steeped in grief and indignation.

“She had long detected Shadow’s and the Chaos Cult’s plans, yet she never once revealed them. Instead, she intended to cast a long line to catch a big fish.”

“It’s also my fault. Though I successfully infiltrated her inner circle, I failed to uncover any issues.”

“As a result, on the very night Shadow’s plan was to be executed, he and I were both ready in the City Lord’s mansion garden. Who would have thought Eve would suddenly appear?”

“I nearly thought I was exposed then. Fortunately, Shadow, quick-witted as ever, pretended he had kidnapped me, which allowed us to deceive Eve…”

At this point, Xiluo’er paused, her words filled with praise and fond remembrance for her excellent companion and teammate.

“However, while my identity remained hidden, Shadow wasn’t so fortunate.”

“He was forced into battle with Eve.”

“Shadow had even consumed a potion that could temporarily boost his strength, but who could have known that hero Eve…”

“That woman is far too meticulous in her thinking. Although she consistently displayed only Fifth-Tier strength to the outside world, she had actually already broken through to the Sixth Tier!”

“It’s also my fault. I spent so much time by her side and saw nothing.”

“The outcome was that Shadow was killed by Eve right before my eyes. I could only watch, utterly powerless to help him in the slightest…”

Xiluo’er let out a deep sigh, seemingly heartbroken over Shadow’s death.

Originally, Xiluo’er had intended to feign a cough or two here, but after a moment’s thought, she decided against it.

That was quite enough. It would make it seem as if their relationship had truly been that close.

However, Xiluo’er was confident that this string of lies was, at the very least, seamless.

Not only were half-truths and falsehoods intertwined, making them difficult to distinguish, but the Chaos Cult also appeared to lack the resources to investigate and reconstruct the true situation at the time.

Moreover, her own acting was so superb that it looked utterly convincing.

Indeed, if nothing else, Xiluo’er felt that her acting skills had improved the most during her time since transmigrating.

Slandering Shadow in front of Eve, then slandering Eve in front of the Chaos Cult… wait, no, didn’t that make her sound like a two-faced villain?

Never mind, it wasn’t important. The crucial thing was to get away with it.

Shadow was dead, and Eve was a hero. No matter what, the Chaos Cult couldn’t cross-reference their statements with either of them.

Though she didn’t particularly like Shadow, Xiluo’er had to admit that he had taken too much blame on her behalf.

‘You’re surprisingly decent, you know.’

As expected, after Xiluo’er delivered her smooth, continuous spiel, the voice in the darkness remained silent for a short while, seemingly deep in thought.

“Then, why did you not choose to report these matters to the Cult, but instead silently departed with Eve?”

Xiluo’er spread her hands, speaking with a helpless tone.

“I simply felt there was no need to specifically report it.”

“The Cult has no extra personnel in Karna City, and I couldn’t find anyone to contact in a short amount of time, could I?”

“You know, I am the Grand Priest’s person. The only one I can directly contact is the Grand Priest. But surely, this matter didn’t warrant disturbing the Grand Priest, did it?”

This much was true.

In truth, Xiluo’er wasn’t even an official member of the Chaos Cult; she had never held any formal position within the organization.

She was a dagger specifically cultivated by the Grand Priest, kept close to their side, and naturally, she was originally only accountable to the Grand Priest alone.

She did possess a magic scroll that allowed for quick, long-distance communication with the Grand Priest. Likewise, the Grand Priest could contact her for any particularly important commands.

However, Xiluo’er had no intention of using it. Her plan was to find a trash can and discard it once she was absolutely certain she could truly break free from the Chaos Cult.

If the previous analogy held, Shadow was like an employee of the Chaos Cult who was constantly on a business trip away from headquarters. She, on the other hand, was the Grand Priest’s exclusive personal secretary. There wasn’t even a clear superior-subordinate relationship between the two.

It was just that her role as a personal secretary had unexpectedly led to her being dispatched on a corporate espionage mission, infiltrating a rival group.

‘Ugh, perhaps I shouldn’t use that analogy. In Xiluo’er’s impression, the duties of a personal secretary typically aren’t so… work-related.’

If anything, what she was doing now by Eve’s side felt more like a personal secretary’s duties.

‘Oh no, why does this feel like a cuckold scenario now?’

In any case, her infiltration of Eve’s side as an undercover agent was entirely the Grand Priest’s directive.

Furthermore, someone like her, whose identity was completely unknown, was the most suitable for such a mission.

The person least likely to be exposed was someone who had no “past.”

“My original plan was to follow Eve to Lund City, then connect with the people there and report the situation in Karna City. That wouldn’t have delayed things by more than a few days.”

“Lund City, known as the ‘Metropolis,’ surely has a significant number of Cult personnel stationed there, doesn’t it?”

Xiluo’er’s final sentence not only served as a defense but also subtly probed for information about the Chaos Cult.

“Alas, there used to be quite a few…”

From the darkness, the voice actually sighed.

“Alright, your explanation certainly has no issues. However, I still need to report these words verbatim to the higher-ups. Whether there are any problems is for them to decide.”

Xiluo’er yearned to stand tall and declare, “Thank you for the organization’s trust!” but she restrained herself.

‘Indeed, my little Xiluo’er brain is simply too clever!’

‘Deceiving someone is still effortless, isn’t it?’

“Well then, if that’s the case, can we finally speak face-to-face?”

Xiluo’er spoke, simultaneously observing her surroundings.

Since she had successfully bluffed her way through, it was time to find a way to scout out the other party’s situation.

Xiluo’er was eager to understand the person’s true nature. What exactly was this ability to mysteriously appear and converse with her in a dream?

“Indeed.”

In the darkness, the beast-like voice sounded one last time.

Then, Xiluo’er saw a very bright, large, spherical lamp appear in the darkness before her.

That lamp… rotated a few times in place, then suddenly turned towards her.

…No, that wasn’t a lamp at all; it was an eye!

Xiluo’er instantly felt her blood run cold. Had the one who had been speaking with her all this time been this unknown, enormous monster?

Before Xiluo’er could react, she suddenly felt a dizzying sensation, a feeling of waking from a dream sweeping through her body.

Yet, when she focused her eyes again, the same darkness still enveloped her, only the colossal entity from moments before had vanished.

“My apologies, I hope I didn’t frighten you?”

“That was merely an illusion conjured during the interrogation phase, just in case.”

Footsteps and a slightly neutral female voice came from the darkness ahead. A moment later, Xiluo’er saw a tall figure, clad in a long, purplish-black robe, walk before her.

Xiluo’er was no stranger to this robe; it was the ceremonial garb of the Chaos Cult.

The hood was removed, revealing a grey-haired girl who smiled at Xiluo’er.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am the Cult’s Executive Officer stationed in Lund City. You can call me Nightmare.”

“Cat Tail, you know.”

The introductions concluded within these two brief exchanges.

Xiluo’er secretly assessed the faintly smiling grey-haired girl before her, speculating about her abilities.

‘Dream and illusion-related abilities, perhaps… Is she related to the Nightmare race?’

Xiluo’er recalled that the Chaos Cult’s main operational base was in the Southern Kingdoms, and further south from there lay the Abyssal Demon Race’s gathering place. It was quite normal for the Chaos Cult to possess methods of the Nightmare race.

She just didn’t know if the girl’s current appearance was her true form or still an illusion. If it truly was her real appearance, could she find some excuse or method for Eve to expose and eliminate this person in reality?

Despite their limited interaction, Xiluo’er was already contemplating how to deal with her opponent.

There was no other way. If she didn’t eliminate her, Xiluo’er would never be able to break free from her identity within the Chaos Cult.

‘I’m sorry, I really want to be a good person!’

Xiluo’er sighed inwardly. In truth, she should have realized that if she had simply vanished and gone into hiding after killing Shadow, she might have been able to escape the Cult directly.

However, to resolve the issue of the poison in her body, she had no choice but to continue acting with Eve. Given this, it would have been truly bizarre if the Chaos Cult hadn’t come looking for her again, especially since she was clearly with the hero.

She had thought too simply before, believing that resolving Shadow would solve most of her problems.

“Well then, Nightmare, I’ll be direct.”

“You should know that the Grand Priest’s secret weapon is not allowed to have any real information known by internal members of the Cult, correct?”

After all, the Grand Priest had cultivated an assassin whose appearance and information were completely unknown since childhood, aiming for a “faceless person.”

While avoiding contact with anyone would be the best way to remain “faceless,” being sent on such an undercover mission made it impossible.

However, to keep “Cat Tail” and “Xiluo’er” separate, the Grand Priest had explicitly forbidden any Cult member from actively seeking out any true information about Xiluo’er when sending her on this undercover mission.

For example, her appearance.

Although such a command was troublesome in practical interactions, no one wanted to cross the Grand Priest’s bottom line.

Thus, even when Xiluo’er was Eve’s constant shadow in Karna City, Shadow never actively sought to learn what “everyday life” Xiluo’er looked like.

He and Xiluo’er only met when wearing masks, so Xiluo’er also didn’t know Shadow’s true appearance.

After his death, she didn’t get a chance to lift Shadow’s mask to see, as he had been reduced to mere bits.

“Couldn’t I have just contacted the Cult actively after arriving in Lund City?”

“You didn’t need to proactively seek me out for a meeting, did you? This not only violates regulations but is also troublesome—and this isn’t Lund City, is it?”

Indeed, the place where Nightmare found her was quite a distance from Lund City. Tia’s statement that they would arrive in Lund City tomorrow was purely due to the Adventurers’ Guild’s swift carriage.

“Sigh…” Nightmare sighed, a hint of awkwardness appearing on her face.

“Well, this is a special case, handled specially.”

“Actually, this matter, too, must be blamed on the hero Eve.”

“Originally, the Cult did value Lund City, and many personnel were stationed there.”

“You might have guessed some of it; the Cult has recently been very interested in the movements of The Erudite Club.”

“Initially, the Cult had four executive officers in Lund City commanding the Cult members in the city, and one of these four executive officers was even a quasi-bishop.”

“But now…” Nightmare gave an awkward laugh, “only I, one executive officer, remain.”

“Only you remain?” Xiluo’er was momentarily stunned. “What do you mean?”

While simply playing the game didn’t allow for detailed knowledge of how many people the Chaos Cult had deployed in Lund City, Xiluo’er could still tell from playing that there were many Cult members in this city, including several high-ranking executive officers.

After all, the Chaos Cult was the behind-the-scenes boss of Lund City in the game’s official first chapter, and those executive officers were considered elite monsters along the way.

Xiluo’er had been tormented by these elite monsters when her level wasn’t high enough. Now, Nightmare suddenly told her that these elite monsters had all disappeared without reason… it was very strange.

“Well, literally.”

“The other three executive officers, including that quasi-bishop, you should have actually met them before.”

“All three of them have now been dealt with by the hero Eve, haven’t they?”

‘Ah, this…’

Xiluo’er hadn’t expected it to be due to such a reason.

So, the ones who had intercepted them back then were the Chaos Cult members in Lund City! She couldn’t have known that just from playing the game.

Originally, with three executive officers, one of whom was a quasi-bishop, the Cult thought this lineup would be sufficient to seize the club’s items.

“So, simply put, among the four executive officers in Lund City, I, with the weakest combat ability, was left behind to guard the base.”

“As for what happened next, you already know, don’t you?”

Nightmare offered an awkward yet polite smile.

“Who would have known that hero Eve was actually Sixth-Tier? Those few people never returned.”

“Actually, it’s quite strange when you think about it. The three Fifth-Tier executive officers, and one who was very likely to be promoted to bishop soon. Even if the Adventurers’ Guild had Sixth-Tier individuals, they should have been able to escape even if they couldn’t win. How did they all perish?”

Nightmare’s words made Xiluo’er feel a bit guilty, and she averted her gaze.

She had also realized then that if the Cult’s reinforcements had been found among the protagonist group, those three executive officers might have retreated.

But they had matched secret codes with her, after all.

And now that she thought about it, the one who had matched secret codes with her at the time might have been that quasi-bishop.

‘Well, some people, after matching codes, just… ceased to be.’

“After the three of them were gone, I simply couldn’t handle the Cult’s affairs in Lund City by myself.”

“You see, what was originally a four-person job is now handled by me alone. Moreover, I wasn’t the one in charge of commanding and leading before; it was that quasi-bishop…”

“If the Cult were to send reinforcements from the Southern Kingdoms, they wouldn’t arrive anytime soon. And precisely at this time, I received orders from above to check on your situation…”

Nightmare’s voice sounded unexpectedly aggrieved.

“What could I do? I was already overwhelmed, and I still had to consider your identity… In the end, I had no choice but to come up with this plan and wait for you here in advance.”

Nightmare now even resembled a corporate drone being exploited by her boss.

“You wouldn’t report me to the Grand Priest, would you? I really had no choice…”

Nightmare looked at Xiluo’er, blinking a few times pitifully.

“I know the Grand Priest’s orders. I won’t tell anyone that you… are actually a little loli.”

Xiluo’er’s mouth twitched subconsciously.

“Appearances can be deceiving.”

Ever since coming to this world, she had been mistaken for a loli by too many people, which now made her somewhat resistant to others seeing her as one.

“Ah-ha, indeed, indeed, so—”

Xiluo’er sighed helplessly and said, “I certainly won’t report such a thing to the Grand Priest.”

“You just said it yourself, special circumstances, special handling.”

In truth, Xiluo’er now simply felt there was nothing to complain about regarding this matter. More importantly, Nightmare’s expression, like someone late for work desperately begging a security guard not to penalize her salary, was truly a little heartbreaking.

“So, you specifically came here to find me?”

“That’s right. The Adventurers’ Guild will be transporting goods to The Erudite Club. With this characteristic, waiting for you in advance along the inevitable path would be easier.”

Seemingly grateful that Xiluo’er did not intend to report her, Nightmare nodded vigorously, answering her question.

“Then…”

Xiluo’er secretly pondered in her heart.

“How did you recognize me?”

The previous suspicions had been brushed aside, and now Xiluo’er was trying to gather information about her opponent.

Shadow’s incident had taught her a lesson; if she had known about Shadow’s strange, shadow-manipulating ability beforehand, it might have been much easier to deal with.

“Actually, I didn’t recognize you. Today, among your group, besides the hero Eve, I infiltrated all of your dreams.”

Nightmare stuck out her tongue.

“In everyone’s dreams, I shapeshifted and tried calling out ‘Cat Tail’ twice. Finding someone who reacted to that name and matched it was all it took.”

“I didn’t expect you to directly realize in your dream that someone from the Cult was looking for you. Normally, it’s very difficult for a regular person to realize they are dreaming. Should I say it’s worthy of the Grand Priest’s person?”

“Oh, and before you started talking to me, you even shouted something. What was it, ‘Freya’…?”

“Cough, cough!” Xiluo’er quickly coughed twice, guiltily changing the subject.

“But, isn’t your method quite risky?”

“Well, as long as they don’t idly discuss their dreams tomorrow morning and realize everyone had the same dream, it’ll be fine.”

“This was a last resort for me. As for the rest, hehe, I’m quite confident in my dream-infiltrating ability.”

“I specifically added sleep aids and sleep quality enhancers to the food you all ate tonight to increase the success rate of dream infiltration.”

Xiluo’er suddenly understood. No wonder she and Eve hadn’t found any problems with the food tonight.

After all, this little trick Nightmare played wasn’t physical poisoning, nor was it magical poisoning.

“Oh, by the way, let’s put that aside for now, Cat Tail…”

Nightmare suddenly looked at Xiluo’er with a very serious expression.

“Could I ask you for a favor?”

“You know, the Cult is short on personnel in Lund City recently. I know you are the Grand Priest’s person and have to complete the Grand Priest’s mission, but my own mission here is becoming a bit impossible to complete…”

‘Nightmare wants me to help her?’

To be honest, Nightmare’s attitude made Xiluo’er a little unaccustomed. The only Chaos Cult member she had interacted with before… Shadow certainly didn’t have this kind of attitude.

Well, Shadow wasn’t the only one, but she hadn’t had a chance to talk to the other three she encountered later either.

If Nightmare’s current attitude were to be described with the previous analogy, it would be an underperforming corporate drone, unable to meet quotas, now asking colleagues for help.

“First, tell me what it is.”

“It’s just that, you’re going to be with the Adventurers’ Guild people to complete the transportation commission, and then…”

Xiluo’er was startled and quickly waved her hand.

“I don’t think I have the ability to help you steal the goods in front of such a large group of people!”

‘Are you kidding me? Three Fifth-Tier executive officers couldn’t handle it, and you expect a frail little maid like me to do it?’

“No, no, no, that’s not what I mean.”

Nightmare also quickly waved her hands.

“I mean, when the Adventurers’ Guild delivers the commission, they will definitely have contact with both the Destiny Observation Society and The Erudite Club.”

“If you have the opportunity to interact with people from the Destiny Observation Society, I hope you can help me investigate their leader, the one known as the ‘Witch of Destiny,’ Ellen.”

Although there were only the two of them in the dream, Nightmare subconsciously lowered her voice.

“The Destiny Observation Society has recently arrived in Lund City. Those witches seem to have reached some sort of cooperation with The Erudite Club…”

Xiluo’er already knew all these things Nightmare was talking about, having experienced the game’s storyline.

In the game, the Destiny Observation Society, as the organization that made the world-ending prophecy, had formed a partnership with The Erudite Club. They aimed to use “destiny” to more deeply predict the specific factors causing the apocalypse.

As for the specific details of the cooperation between the two organizations… well, Xiluo’er wasn’t clear on that.

After all, in the original plot, Eve lost the goods needed by both organizations, so neither organization gave her a good impression and didn’t reveal much to her. Players, from Eve’s perspective, naturally couldn’t understand what the two organizations’ plans truly were.

However, one thing Xiluo’er was clear about: whatever the plans of these two organizations were, they ultimately failed completely.

On the grand stage of Lund City, both organizations ultimately lost to the Chaos Cult. Not only did their plans fail, but both organizations suffered heavy losses in the end.

However, in her final moments, Ellen, the leader of the Destiny Observation Society and the Witch of Destiny, still pointed out one last prophecy to Eve.

‘Defeat the factor that destroys the world: the World-Destroying Demon King of the Abyssal Sea.’

This meant that only after the story of the Lund City map concluded did Eve embark on her journey to the Southern Kingdoms to subjugate the Demon King.

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