Drake’s words silenced everyone.
Leonard was the first to object: "He didn’t kill anyone, humanity was still saved by Nerio. We can’t keep focusing only on his flaws. At the very least, if it weren’t for him, we might not be sitting here right now."
Leonard’s words left no room for argument.
It was true—Nerio might be mischievous and strange, but as Leonard said, he truly saved everyone.
"Has everyone finished watching the dungeon summary video?" Layla spoke up, cutting off the argument on the verge of exploding. At that moment, right in front of the humans who had just escaped the dungeon, a large computer screen displayed a summary of the dungeon. The rest stared in shock except for Cocona, Benjamin, and Leonard, their mouths practically hanging open in disbelief.
Ultimately, the truth was the last thing they could have imagined—Eryon was actually Nerio, and Nerio had been playing the role of Lucian the whole time. Not just them, but even the humans outside had been fooled until Nerio himself chose to reveal everything.
Bella swallowed hard and couldn’t help but say, "At the very least, I feel lucky that Nerio chose humanity. I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if he found the monsters more interesting."
She was right—Bella’s sense of relief wasn’t misplaced. Not only had the humans inside the dungeon been deceived, but so had those outside. If Nerio had wanted to, he could have turned into a monster, wiped out the first wave of humans, and then cheerfully "rescued" the second wave. Or worse, he could have helped humanity gain hope—only to betray them when they least expected it suddenly.
"We can’t place too much trust in Nerio." Layla gave her conclusion for this dungeon while the others were still reeling.
In response, Leonard practically leaped to his feet: "He saved all of humanity!"
There was no sign of hesitation in his hands or eyes in moments . He stood firm and resolute, like a guard dog ready to bite anyone who dared stain his master.
"Ha." Drake scoffed without the slightest courtesy, the mockery in his tone unmistakable.
Layla looked at Leonard, nodded, and calmly said, "I have never, and will never, deny Nerio’s help. I’m simply providing an objective evaluation—not just for everyone here, but so that humans across the continent can look at the situation more clearly."
As she spoke, her gaze shifted toward the large camera set up on the elevated platform. That’s right—this meeting was a public one, broadcast live to all of humanity around the world.
Leonard pressed his lips together, saying nothing.
What he didn’t know was that countless humans watching the live broadcast were thinking the exact same thing as he was:
[We will forever follow Nerio under Lord Leonard’s guidance. Leonard is right—without Nerio, humanity might be weeping and living in constant fear right now!]
[Agreed. This is not the time for those who were saved by Nerio to throw stones at him!]
[Don’t talk as if Nerio saved the whole world. The Prophet helped humanity survive two major dungeons before this, and the Prophet never acted like that!]
[Humans are different from one another, and so are gods. Nerio has a bit more personality—it’s no reason for humanity to treat him this way!]
[A bunch of fools. Let’s see what happens if Nerio doesn’t show up next time. Those same humans will probably be praying, begging him to appear and save them—no matter how much he messes with us.]
[I’ll pray to the Prophet, okay.]
[An unofficial source says the Prophet is currently undergoing evolution and might not appear for a long time. The fools who put their faith in him can start crying now.]
[Only those who believe in Nerio will end up crying.]
[They want to experience what it’s like to have their bones shattered like Leonard’s—guess they think they can survive it too. Ha ha ha!]
[Keep putting your trust in Nerio, and he’ll have you killed before the monsters even get the chance. Ha ha ha!]
Online battles were always this intense. After all, hiding behind a screen always gave people the courage to say things they’d never dare utter in real life.
Silvanus concluded this after reading the comment section of the live broadcast from the Esper headquarters. He couldn’t help but recall the shameless comments made by the viewers during the dungeon incident. Truly, it was the same no matter where you went.
With that thought, Silvanus entered the Esper headquarters. That’s right—this time, he hadn’t returned to the dimensional space immediately but had come to the continent first.
There was something he needed to do here. After the events inside the dungeon, he realized that Nerio’s public image had probably taken a hit in the eyes of most of humanity. They had likely forgotten his overly cute or beautiful appearance and now viewed him more clearly as a mischievous little devil who could kill humans at any time.
However, there were still some things even Nerio couldn’t control—like the fact that so many people continued to support him.
It seemed that others’ admiration was something one could never truly predict. Perhaps Nerio’s boldness only made specific individuals admire him even more. After all, this world was full of all kinds of people.
Silvanus felt that he was adapting to this situation rather quickly as if he had experienced this kind of thing many times before.
[Maybe in a past life, I was a super-famous idol—not only with tons of fans but tons of anti-fans, too.]
Silvanus joked with the acting system.
[You’d be surprised if you knew your actual occupation.]
the system replied emotionlessly.
Silvanus raised an eyebrow:
[You saved the world,]
the system answered again.
Silvanus knew the system would never tell him the truth about the strange, sudden loss of his memories. In fact, it might not even know anything at all. He laughed and played along with the system’s shallow reply:
[If I weren’t famous, the world would collapse. And clearly, I was famous. Seriously, it’s hard to find someone as perfect as me.]
[Hmmm. You need to be more confident. With a face like that, not being famous is a crime. Humanity deserves extinction. There’ll never be a more straightforward mission than that.]
Silvanus, who was "slightly" narcissistic about his appearance, only retained one thing from the system’s reply: his own dazzling good looks.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, feeling a bit pleased, he thought—no matter what happened in his past life, the most important thing now was to live this one well.
As soon as Silvanus stepped into the heart of the Esper headquarters, his expression immediately turned cold and serious—almost emotionless, like a bio-mechanical being devoid of feelings.
Some humans who saw him instantly rushed toward the conference room, eager to report his arrival. This was the first time Priest Silvanus had appeared so soon after a dungeon event and had come straight to their headquarters—he must have something important to announce to everyone!
At that moment, inside the conference room, the atmosphere was tense. Each person harbored different thoughts, their expressions stiff and emotionless.
Even ordinary humans watching the live stream didn’t dare to speak recklessly despite being separated by a screen.
[This really is a meeting of evolved humans. Even though I’m not there, I feel like I can’t breathe.]
[I’m not going to speak too loudly anymore, but seriously, no one better slander Nerio.]
[They’re all so cool... the heroes of the continent.]
Layla spoke first. "First of all, I must acknowledge Nerio’s immense contributions—he truly did save humanity. However, we can’t ignore the danger he poses either."
Leonard frowned, just about to speak when Benjamin’s calm voice suddenly cut in.
"What exactly do you mean by ’danger’? Why don’t you start by discussing the evolution of the monsters in this dungeon instead, Miss Layla?"
His gaze still appeared gentle and pure, yet his words were sharp and unyielding. Some people even saw a glimpse of Leonard in Benjamin’s demeanor.
But that couldn’t be possible—Benjamin was a devout follower of the archangel Raphael. How could he suddenly express such strong faith in Nerio?
On the other hand, Frank couldn’t help but furrow his brow. He’d long had the feeling that the high-ranking followers favored by the angels seemed to know something—but they always acted mysterious and never revealed anything.
Now that he thought about it, Benjamin’s attitude toward Eryon had been somewhat unusual from the very beginning.
He definitely knows something! Frank concluded, feeling that a private meeting with the major believers was necessary. After all, they were all human and shared the duty to protect humanity and save the world—some information ought to be shared.
Layla’s face grew stern, her voice low: "I’m only pointing out Nerio’s potential danger so that people can objectively evaluate their choices in worship. Everyone has the right to choose their deity. As for the abnormalities in the monsters, we can discuss them afterward. I won’t overlook anything, Mr. Benjamin."
Benjamin smiled lightly and was about to say more when the door suddenly burst open. An Esper from the communications division appeared abruptly, without knocking. The loud bang of the collision startled everyone into turning toward the noise.
But before the Esper could speak, Silvanus’s cold voice rang out:
"It is the gods who choose humanity. Humanity has never had the chance to choose. You should understand that."