Suji gave Ilaine a slight nod.

If they were to divide the roles of bad cop and good cop, they needed a good cop, but Ilaine seemed to have no intention of showing any friendliness to Nature.

Before Suji could urge him again, he shook his head firmly.

He must have known from the beginning that Nature belonged to 〈Messiah〉, so he probably expected them to reveal this at some point. Moreover, their individual personalities simply didn’t match at all.

‘We need to be in sync to threaten someone properly.’

Suji placed her hand on her side and sighed loudly on purpose.

“You knew everything but didn’t tell me. You’re no different, Ilaine. You’re no help at all.”

At her quietly whispered words, Ilaine’s eyes widened in slight surprise.

Come to think of it, just as he had accepted everything Suji wanted to do, she had also been quite generous to him. Even if his opinions were not accepted when the team had to make decisions, she had listened to almost everything else he said.

And she had never reprimanded him like this before.

But even as he turned to look at her, Suji didn’t apologize and only shrugged her shoulders.

She had her own justifications.

From his perspective, it was partly understandable that he hadn’t said anything about regression or 〈Deviation〉 out of consideration for Suji, but for her, it felt like she had become a fool who knew nothing because of what Ilaine had hidden from her.

Recalling how she had talked about this and that without knowing anything, she felt so embarrassed that her head was spinning.

Grumbling to this extent wasn’t enough to satisfy her.

“I’m sorry.”

But while Ilaine apologized, he seemed to have no intention of coaxing or comforting Nature.

He stuck out his tongue and spun around. Then he approached Nature, who was tied to the cabin floor, and squatted down beside him.

If he disliked it that much, she would do it herself.

Nature was in a mess.

Being constantly dragged around while tied up, his handsome face had become dirty, and his neat hair was in complete disarray. His eyes were sunken from not being able to eat or drink properly, and there was even fear in his eyes, perhaps because of what Piece had said.

“You’re thirsty, right?”

When Suji spoke soothingly, Nature quickly nodded.

“Do you have anything to say to me?”

Nod, nod again.

“But if you say the wrong thing, it’ll cause problems again, right? I saw last time that very bad things happened to Zero.”

This time, he shook his head.

Such expressions of intent couldn’t be 100% trusted either.

He was someone who had tried to put a knife to Suji’s throat and threaten her with his own life from the beginning. If she let her guard down even a little, he might try to kill himself in some way.

But people often struggle more with trivial things than expected.

Rather than dying, being tied up and dragged around constantly without being able to drink a sip of water might be more painful.

Suji smiled as if being benevolent and pointed her finger behind her.

“Behave properly. Even if I’m like this, my teammates have killed so many monsters that making someone unable to die or live is nothing to them.”

“Umph… umph!”

Piece chimed in at Suji’s words.

“If I see any suspicious signs, I’ll cut your tendons right away. So you can’t move. And I can do much worse things too.”

Piece’s following words were too much to bear listening to. Nature also seemed to not want to hear any more, shaking his head vigorously up and down.

Suji smiled bitterly to herself.

Anyway, everyone seemed to get excited and couldn’t stand it when given even a small role.

As she reached out and loosened the gag, Nature cried out urgently.

“I, I’ll talk. I’ll tell you everything. I’ll summon it if you want. How can you threaten me like that without giving me a chance to speak?”

Seeing him cry out like that with half-crazed eyes and a voice squeezed out as if his throat was being torn, he really seemed desperate.

“The person who can call forth the Rift, it’s really Nature, right?”

“…That’s right.”

It was unbelievable.

Really.

“…You knew.”

Suji closed her eyes tightly, feeling like she might slap Nature’s cheek without realizing it.

She couldn’t understand how he could do that even though he knew everything. Anyone else might not matter, but Nature… Even if he had joined some pseudo-religious group, climbing the tower with Suji should have come first.

How could he have kept his mouth shut so tightly when he knew Suji was desperately searching for the Rift?

“So even your hospitalization in the Hunter’s ward last time was all a show, right?”

Nature squirmed as if he wanted to wave his hands.

“That’s not it. I think there’s a misunderstanding….”

“Oh, really, what misunderstanding? Forget it, since when has it been?”

“…Daphne, listen to me for a moment, cough, look. It’s not something I can do just because I want to. I’m just a medium, and sometimes other mediums are chosen.”

“You call that an explanation?”

Suji muttered as if it was unbelievable and placed a water bottle opened in front of Nature’s feet. She didn’t even want to show the kindness of feeding him.

He skillfully lifted his upper body and sat up straight even with his arms tied behind his back, and drank from the water bottle held in his mouth.

Suji stared at him with cold eyes.

“You still look fine. I guess you can stay tied up longer.”

Nature, his mouth dripping wet, quickly denied her words.

“I’m really not doing this for my own benefit. Daphne, you can be chosen.”

“If you mention Messiah or anything like that one more time, I’ll throw you to Piece and leave, so think carefully before you speak.”

At Suji’s words, Nature closed his mouth and meekly rolled his eyes.

“Just answer what I ask.”

“…Got it.”

“How do you open the Rift?”

“There’s no specific method. However, that gatekeeper instinctively seeks prey.”

“Prey?”

“Yes. Right now, I’m the offering.”

Suji frowned.

She didn’t understand why everything 〈Messiah〉 did was so bizarre.

“It sounds like there’s a monster that creates rifts that transcend space, and you’ve pre-designated targets to control that monster. Is that right?”

“More or less.”

“And it’s also true that you deliberately joined our team to make that monster target me?”

When Suji questioned him as if interrogating, Nature hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.

“That’s not the ultimate goal, but yes.”

“Then even the sudden appearance of the Rift last time when I wasn’t in the tower…”

“That happened because I had gone near the tower beforehand.”

“…Why couldn’t I have noticed this earlier?”

There were so many clues.

Suji swallowed a sigh.

Unable to overcome the sense of futility and keeping her mouth shut, Saint, who was enjoying the role of bad cop next to her, asked instead.

“So if we go to the 〈Tower of the Sage〉 with Nature, there’s a possibility that a Rift will appear? Is that right?”

Nature glanced at Saint and nodded.

“That’s right.”

Saint tilted his head to one side.

“Then did Nature want to make Team Leader Daphne meet that reaper monster? What exactly were you hoping for?”

Nature turned his head back to Suji and closed his eyes tightly.

“It’s such a waste for someone who can be chosen not to be chosen. I just wanted to give you an opportunity.”

“What kind of opportunity?”

“The opportunity for immortality.”

The repeated word ‘immortality’ suddenly grated on her ears.

Suji rubbed her closed eyes with her hand and suddenly recalled the scene she had seen through the Rift.

Clearly, next to the reaper-shaped monster, there was a table, and a feather-shaped necklace was placed on it.

Normally, items are not displayed in that way in the 〈Tower of the Sage〉. It was usually only when receiving rewards.

And she had seen Ilaine’s figure reflected next to it.

‘…Beyond the Rift. What if that’s the final floor?’

Then a lot of things would be explained.

And if the name of that necklace is 〈Deviation〉?

Then it would make sense for the item to be displayed in advance.

Of course, it can’t be, it really can’t be, but…

Could the immortality they’re talking about possibly be 〈Deviation〉?

The power to turn back time once again?

If so… things get a little complicated.

Because there aren’t enough 〈Deviations〉 left for that many members of 〈Messiah〉 to use.

No, it’s too far-fetched.

That couldn’t be it.

What’s the point in knowing what a cult is thinking?

Suji, who had been lost in thought by herself, narrowed her eyes.

Suddenly, she felt like she had reached a strange possibility.

Among the many 〈Deviations〉, the only one remaining was said to be in the 〈Tower of the Sage〉 in South Korea.

And the Rift, after swallowing Suji’s mother Peneios, hadn’t opened for a very long time until recently when it began to appear actively again.

A curious conclusion is drawn from there.

Suji muttered as if talking to herself.

“I know it really can’t be. One in a hundred, one in a thousand, but is there a possibility that my mother… saw 〈Deviation〉?”

At her words, Nature made a face as if he didn’t understand what she meant.

He seemed to be unaware of the name of the item called 〈Deviation〉.

Suji turned her head towards Ilaine.