Chapter 334: The Race of Gods

The dinner had taken a strange turn. Luke had come prepared for an uncomfortable conversation, but not for this. On one hand, he was still curious about how a family of half puppet assassins actually worked. On the other, this felt like a scene out of some bizarre movie he had half watched at three in the morning.

His eyes flicked to the maid. Right. Not exactly a puppet, more like a living android.

She looked at him briefly, then lowered her gaze again.

Erza spoke quietly, almost as if the thought had been sitting on her tongue for years. “It’s a sad thing to be a human doll. Puppets feel no attraction to anything whose soul isn’t also a puppet. So even though Anne looks like one of them, the puppets don’t want her. And my dear sister doesn’t want them either, her soul’s human. That’s why she wants to kill me. She’s trapped in a cursed body she doesn’t even find beautiful, her human emotions smothered, never finding anyone to love and never able to love for real. It’s tragic, isn’t it?”

Her eyes flicked down to her hands. “She’s my eternal servant, forced to watch me eat, sleep, scratch my back, yawn, drink water, take a hot bath, take a cold one. All these banal little things she’ll never do. She’ll cook a meal that tastes incredible but never know its flavor.”

Luke froze mid bite, fork hovering just short of his mouth. Slowly, he set it down.

“That’s a little family secret of mine,” Erza went on, her tone brightening as though she had just told a mildly amusing anecdote. “Our double receives a mirrored system. We’re soul twins. It’s not under their control, it’s a reflection. When I level up, the double levels up. As I age, her body ages. But…”

She fixed him with her eyes. “I have a bloodline skill. Not one I was born with, but one the god passed down to me, or rather, to her. He gave her a system of her own.”

Her elbows rested on the table, chin propped on her hands, her smile almost playful. “The doll is free. Free to level up, take professions, classes, awaken a second one someday. Because her mission is to kill me.”

Luke sat back, weighing the words. This was powerful, dangerous information, and Erza Grimhart was handing it to him like she was talking about the weather.

“Do you know why I told you that?” she asked.

“I’m guessing it’s not just because we’ve become friends,” he replied evenly. A part of him already sensed where this was headed.

Erza’s smile sharpened. “That knight woman traveling with you. She’s a bit like my sister, isn’t she? Special enough, maybe, to have her own system.”

Luke went still for a heartbeat but forced his expression neutral. “Charlie? No. She’s not special like your sister.”

“Lying… is bad,” murmured the maid.

Great. And here I was starting to feel sorry for you.

Erza took her wineglass, gave it a slow turn, and drank. “That’s all I needed to know,” she said at last. “Now you and I both have special secrets, see? This is the analytical power of a priestess raised by the Order of Assassins.”

Luke glanced at the maid. A living lie detector. Perfect.

Erza’s gaze flicked from the maid back to him. “You understand now there’s no deceiving the two of us. Don’t worry about your secret. I have no intention of using it against you. That’s why I shared mine. In truth, I’m interested in you. Now we can discuss the real matter, your invitation to the Order of Assassins.”

Luke couldn’t lie, but he didn’t need to tell her everything either. Erza didn’t truly understand how his bloodline worked. She only knew that Charlie had a system, and that wasn’t exactly rare. Everyone in this world had one. To her, Charlie was just another player with access to the same framework of power.

The real secret was far deeper. Charlie wasn’t human. She was a monster, a skeleton, and Luke’s bloodline allowed him to convert monsters into loyal servants. Erza might have her maids like any other noble, but his ability went beyond that. He could command monsters, bend their will, grant them a kind of pseudo immortality, and even unlock more of them as his lineage evolved. That card would stay hidden. Erza knowing that Charlie had a system wasn’t a real threat.

“I want to ask you something,” Luke said.

“More questions?” Her tone carried a hint of mockery.

He pushed his plate away, making it clear the dinner no longer interested him. “I want to know if you’re actually planning to help me get everyone out of this tutorial.”

She tilted her head, brow arching slightly. “I thought that was already clear in our agreement. I said I’d help finish the tutorial.”

“I know,” Luke replied. He leaned forward, resting both elbows on the table. “But if, during the final battle, there’s an option to escape through the portal, leave everyone else behind to fight the army, the Midnight Lord, the Witch, and the Midnight King, would you still help?”

That thought had been gnawing at him. The final mission came with a timer. What if the real goal was just to reach the castle’s portal before time ran out? Maybe fighting the bosses wasn’t mandatory at all, just like how the Orc Lord or the Beast Lord could be avoided if you were clever enough to sneak past.

“If it comes to that,” Luke continued, “people like you and me could make it to the castle. But the other two thousand? They won’t.”

He’d always found ways around impossible fights. Sneaking, exploiting weaknesses, taking risks no sane person would. But this time, it wasn’t just about him.

“So let me ask again,” he said quietly. “If it happens that way, will you help me save them? Or will you just move forward?”

Erza set her fork down, her gaze steady. “If one of those two thousand were in our place, and we were the ones trapped back there, would they save us?”

The question cut clean through the air. Luke didn’t even need to think.

“No,” he said.

“Then you already know my answer,” she replied.

He didn’t judge her. It wasn’t cruelty, it was pure pragmatism. Cold logic from someone who saw the world as it was, not as it should be. Still, Luke remembered someone who’d made the opposite choice. Someone who’d chosen to die so others could live. And he still carried that person’s body inside his storage item, Angelica.

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“I’m not doing it for them,” he said finally. “I’m doing it for me.”

He stood up. “Which means I can’t afford to relax anymore.”

“And where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

“To figure out how to save two thousand people and take down three bosses on my own.”

Erza sighed, weary but faintly amused. “Sit down. We’re not finished.”

The maid stepped closer, her presence soft but commanding.

“For me, we are,” Luke said. “If you’re not my ally, there’s no reason for me to stay here. I’ll head to the capital and handle things my own way.”

Erza rose slightly, her voice calm but firm. “Sit. Please.” She gestured toward the chair. “Just because I wouldn’t throw my life away for two thousand weak people doesn’t mean I’m not willing to turn two thousand weak people into ones strong enough to save themselves.”

Luke glanced at the maid, who also pointed insistently to the chair. With a reluctant sigh, he sat back down.

“Thank you,” Erza said, resuming her seat with a faint, knowing smile.

“So, does that mean I have your full cooperation?” Luke asked.