Adam stood perfectly still, a frozen statue of disbelief amidst the chaos. The scene unfolding before him was utterly surreal.

The boy reacted on instinct, and he moved quickly, placing himself directly in front of Chloe, covering her small form with his own body to shield her from any further possible attacks. Behind his back, he felt the reassuring presence of the girl, who was still visibly lost and quite frightened by the lightning-fast sequence of events.

Teo, meanwhile, remained fixed in a posture of explosive fury, his eyes blazing at Charles, who stood resolute, his katana still alight with protective fire.

"What in the hell do you have in your head to interrupt?!"

Teo roared, the question shaking the air around them. Charles did not answer the charge. He simply turned his head, his gaze sweeping momentarily past Adam to meet Chloe's wide, confused eyes.

"Do not worry."

The blond assured him, his voice calm, the tone radiating absolute certainty.

"Nothing is going to happen to you or your girlfriend."

Adam's teeth clenched at the statement, a low, grinding sound of internal frustration. He did not understand Charles's actions, but he was desperately searching for a single, logical explanation to tie together the knots of the situation.

Chloe, on the other hand, instantly went crimson, a blush so deep it almost covered her exposed neck and cheeks. She stammered out a furious denial.

"I'm not his… It is nothing like that at all!"

Those words, rather than diffusing the tension, only served to ignite Teo's already simmering rage. His face began to distort, contorting with pure, unadulterated fury.

"What kind of utter nonsense are you speaking, Charles?!"

The man shrieked, his voice cracking with disbelief. He punctuated his fury with a damning accusation.

"You were the one! You suggested this plan from the very beginning!"

Adam was truly shocked by this revelation. He snapped his gaze back to Charles, the accusation hanging heavy and tangible in the air between them.

Charles sighed, a profound sound that seemed entirely out of place for a man who had just risked his life for an enemy.

"There was no need for you to say that… Although at this point, it makes no difference. It is already done."

He admitted, his posture relaxing slightly, as if the secret no longer mattered.

"Done? What in the hell do you mean by that?"

Teo demanded, his weapons remaining steady but his hand trembling slightly with contained emotion. Charles laughed, a short, sharp sound devoid of humor. He leveled an expression of extreme disdain at his former leader.

"That is not something an idiot like you needs to know."

Teo finally exploded. With a desperate surge of power augmented by the ghost Empress floating behind him, he unleashed a fierce, continuous barrage of consecrated rounds directed straight at the blond guy.

Instantly, to the astonishment of everyone present, Charles met the volley head-on. He began to block every single shot with his flaming sword, executing the impossible feat as if he were merely brushing dust from his shoulder. Behind the unexpected defender, Adam pulled Chloe further back; his clothing transformed, a dense black coat of hardened, necrotic fiber erupted, forming a protective shroud around the girl.

However, none of the projectiles blocked by Charles reached them; only minor sparks from the impact between the bullets and the fiery sword flew their way.

Seeing that his inexhaustible spray of gunfire was ineffective, Teo roared the command.

"Now!"

He yelled, signaling for the Empress to enter the fray.

The ghost immediately opened her mouth, preparing to unleash a devastating [Banshee's Torment] on Charles, Adam, and Chloe. Yet, before the ghostly shriek could be uttered, Charles lifted his free hand. While his other arm continued to block every bullet with impossible speed, he made a strange, precise mark with his fingers and spoke a single, clipped command.

"Not now."

Instantly, several incandescent red threads materialized out of thin air, shooting toward the Empress. They sutured her lips together, sealing her mouth shut before she could emit a single sonic wave. The ghost clapped her hands to her mouth, struggling in vain to pull the threads apart, while Teo could only stammer one word.

"What?!"

Adam's [Cursed Vision] had recognized the skill Charles used, and the information made the entire situation even stranger:

[Devil's Suture Lv9] [Additional Information] [Low-level skill used by the Devil race. Allows the user to cast the altered status [Silence] towards a target for 5 minutes.] [Cursed Vision Knowledge] [Notice: The altered status [Silence] prevents the affected individual from speaking or using skills that require the use of the voice for channeling.]

Adam was further surprised by the fact that the skill, though basic, was explicitly described as being exclusive to the Devil race. Yet, Charles was using it without apparent difficulty... While not strictly impossible within the System, the implications were massive.

After the silencing skill took effect, the blonde spoke calmly.

"Are you calm now?"

He inquired, the question sounding utterly genuine. However, Teo, driven mad by the sight of his Empress bound and silenced, only screamed a furious, choked response.

"Shut your damned mouth!"

Charles sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"Okay, suit yourself."

He made another gesture with his hand, and this time, an enormous, incandescent red circle materialized on the floor beneath the four users. Within this circle, an equally bright pentagram flashed into existence. Adam barely had time to read a snippet of the skill's information before a blinding light enveloped them all.

[Hell's Little Railway Lv9] [Additional Information] [Intermediate-level skill used by the Devil race. Creates a portal that allows...]

The resulting flash of light was overwhelming, much like the sensory shock experienced when the System forcefully teleports users into or out of a scenario. When the light finally cleared, Adam gasped in surprise... There was an ambient illumination around them, not so bright as to damage eyes accustomed to the darkness, but intense enough that he reflexively had to shut them quickly and throw up an arm to shield his face.

The oddity, however, was not the light, but the sound: he could hear numerous other voices, all complaining about the sudden intensity of the illumination, just like him.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

After a prolonged moment, Adam's eyes finally adjusted enough to open fully, and he realized with stunning clarity that they were outside.

The exterior was profoundly surreal. All the users and even the elf NPC stood on a massive, desolate rocky island, a monolith floating in the emptiness of space. Where the sky should have been, there were instead swirling stellar formations moving like meteor showers across an enormous black void. And, most impossibly, two enormous moons hung low above them, casting a pale, cold light upon the rocky landscape.

It took Adam only a few seconds to understand the implication. They had been transported outside the 'Great Palace of Vharzun'. Somehow, they had been forcibly removed from the palace structure itself. He whirled around and saw the others. Every member of 'No Name', Solène, Arion, and all the members of 'Black Phoenix' were present, all of them just as confused as he was by the sudden relocation. However, Adam noticed one crucial absence: Sebastian and Falk were not among them.

Immediately, Charles's voice spoke from close by, a sound of minor annoyance.

"Damn it, I missed one."

He muttered, clicking his lips.

"It seems the old man and that bird were too powerful to be forcibly transported... Could he truly be who I think he is? No, impossible. The ages do not even match."

In a sudden, blinding surge of furious energy, Adam launched himself violently at Charles. The move caught the man entirely by surprise. Adam's weight bore him down, sending him sprawling to the ground. He then instantly placed his knee hard on the blond's chest, the menacing point of his 'Az'Karul's Versebreaker' spear pressed against the man's throat.

"Speak!"

Adam roared, his voice low and dangerous, demanding answers.

"Tell me what in the hell you have done!"

Charles did not appear surprised or worried by the life-threatening situation. He merely chuckled softly, his eyes calm beneath the shadow of the spear.

"There is no need to behave like this, Dav… Ah, fuck it, Adam, it is."

He stated, his voice incredibly relaxed.

"I intended to tell you everything anyway."

However, at that precise moment, Adam felt a surge of explosive energy from behind him. He spun his head just in time to see alter Drake launching himself at him, wielding his holy armor and his legendary sword.

Adam reacted barely in time, bending his body backward just enough to avoid the powerful, consecrated strike from the blond man. However, the evasive maneuver forced him to roll to the side, releasing Charles. Adam quickly recovered his composure, rising back to his feet, his spear now held defensively.

All the other members of 'No Name' and Solène stared in shock, attempting to rush toward Adam to assist. On the other hand, Samantha, Nikolai, and Arion looked at each other, utterly bewildered, the elf more lost than anyone by the sudden turn of events... But they were too slow. Alter Drake relaunched himself at Adam, forcing the boy to assume a desperate defensive position.

However, the attack never landed. The holy sword was stopped cold by another blade: the flaming katana of Charles, who had sprung up with incredible speed and interposed himself between Adam and alter Drake, once again protecting him.

Alter Drake's eyes widened in utter disbelief. He finally exclaimed the same question Teo had screamed moments before.

"What in the hell are you doing, Charles? Why are you protecting him?!"

Charles replied calmly, the two men's weapons locked in a fierce struggle. He addressed alter Drake with surprising familiarity.

"Please calm down, leader… I want to explain everything."

Alter Drake seemed unable to process the words he was hearing. After a moment of stunned silence, he countered with Charles's own previous words.

"You yourself said that you had confirmed David's nature! You said he had an energy very similar to Adam Scholar! Teo corroborated it! We had a plan! Why are you interfering now?!"

Charles sighed again, the weariness returning to his expression.

"Yes, that is true."

He conceded, his eyes briefly flicking to Adam.

"But now the plan has changed. I cannot allow a single finger to be laid upon him."

"Why?!"

Alter Drake screamed the question, not letting up on the fierce lock between their weapons.

But before Charles could answer, a loud gunshot ripped through the air. A consecrated bullet tore straight through the blond's head with such force that his body was sent flying violently to the side. The sudden, brutal execution froze everyone in place, horror etched on their faces.

Alter Drake, stunned by the sight of his companion's instantaneous death, turned on Teo.

"Why did you do that?!"

He bellowed, but was shocked at seeing Teo beyond furious. He pointed a finger at the fallen body.

"That is not Charles! He can't be… He interrupted the plan in the treasure room without explanation, and then he showed skills he had never acquired, demonic skills on top of that!"

Alter Drake's eyes widened further, unable to comprehend the scale of the revelation. However, at that precise moment, Charles's voice spoke again.

"They are Devil skills, actually, not Demonic."

The voice corrected, sounding slightly annoyed.

"There is a huge difference."

As he spoke, his body began to rise from the rocky ground, despite the massive hole in his head bleeding profusely. Teo clenched his jaw, roaring the question one last time.

"Who in the hell are you?!"

Charles finally stood up fully. He lightly touched the gaping, bloody hole in his temple before offering a theatrical flourish of his hand.

"Rude, what are you talking about?"

He asked, his voice adopting a playful, theatrical tone.

"I am me, Charles Hong, the same guy you have known for all these months."

Alter Drake spoke next, turning his fury on the returning man.

"That is impossible! Charles does not have that kind of power! You can't be the same person!"

Charles clicked his lips, shaking his head.

"I am Charles… But it doesn't matter, I did not think it would end like this, honestly. The plan I had meticulously laid out took me more than a month to orchestrate, but then I was told to discard everything and protect my target. What a nuisance."

As he spoke, he rubbed his hair as if genuinely annoyed, and the wound in his head began to close rapidly. A System window then appeared before him, visible to everyone present:

[The ruse has been exposed! The effects of UR-Class Plot Device 'Wolf in Sheep's Clothing' will now dissipate.]

Following the notice, Charles's physical appearance began to shatter, as if a finely crafted glass shell had surrounded him. The shards fell away, revealing... the exact same man. There was no physical change, except that he now sported two sharp, pointed red horns protruding from his forehead, and his teeth had become sharply edged.

Charles sighed again, a sound of relief.

"Well, this at least saves me some of the explanation."

As he spoke, his updated status window appeared willingly before everyone:

[Name: Charles Hong] [Team: Abyss] [P.O.I.N.T.S: 70] [Race: High Low-Ring Devil (Variant)] [Potential: A+]

Everyone who read the status was stunned into silence. A member of Team Abyss? The user who had been accompanying 'Black Phoenix' for so long had been a high-level infiltrator from their enemy all this time?

Alter Drake finally understood everything… The attacks on all the allied teams in their own lobbies, and the specific, tailored strategies used to defeat them. They had all been infiltrated by members like Charles, feigning to be newbies, gaining their trust and information over the course of months. He gritted his teeth, clenching the hilt of his sword so hard that his hand began to bleed.

He launched himself toward Charles with a primal scream of rage, but the blond devil instantly vanished in a puff of red smoke, deftly dodging the attack. He reappeared instantly in front of Adam, who was still paralyzed by the shocking revelation.

"I would have loved to talk more."

Charles stated, his voice still infuriatingly calm.

"But we are out of time. So, I will let my actual leader speak and explain things."

Adam's eyes widened further.

"Your… Leader?"

Charles nodded, a wry smile spreading across his newly revealed Devil face.

"It does not matter what happens now. The moment that Chloe girl did not die, and the original plan changed, the fate of this entire scenario was sealed."

He finally smiled wickedly, looking Adam directly in the eye, the red horns shining in the eerie, double moonlight.

"Do you have any idea what happens when you modify someone's fate?"

But before Adam could process the implications of the question, a massive, screen-spanning System Notification appeared before everyone.

[Notice: L-class Plot Device: "Worst Possible Outcome" has been used.] [Two allies of the summoned entity inside the scenario are providing energy for it to break the laws of causality.] [Warning: The Scenario is being affected by the skill [4th Wall No More - Rank ?] and its fate is changing.] [The Narrative is being compromised.] [...] [Team Abyss's "Adam Scholar" has invaded the scenario!]

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