The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

While everyone regarded Mirai reproachfully, Ravian looked upon them all with inward contempt.

Anyone looking at them now would think that they would have agreed to sacrifice themselves had they been in her place, yet their response would have been exactly the same as hers had they faced the same situation.

It was nothing but confusion and an inability to speak the truth aloud: no one in that room would sacrifice themselves for anyone else.

But sometimes, the truth was difficult to admit, even when everyone agreed on it.

"Enough," Sylvan suddenly said, fixing Ravian with a threatening look.

Ravian looked at him for a moment.

"Don’t even think of ordering me around, you bastard. Do you understand?" Ravian said, his crimson eyes blazing with pride.

Sylvan trembled involuntarily as he met Ravian’s blazing crimson gaze, but he did not back down. He couldn’t—not after he had been the one to speak first.

"I’m not ordering you. I’m merely saying that we’ve argued among ourselves long enough, since this will get us nowhere and only benefit the killer," Sylvan replied, involuntarily averting his gaze from Ravian, though even he did not know why.

Ravian stared at him as the crimson glow in his eyes dimmed slightly without disappearing.

"There is a proper way to speak to people. I suggest you work on improving yours," Ravian said, dismissively turning his gaze away from Sylvan once the other man backed down.

Sylvan clenched his fists but did not respond. He couldn’t, and he hated that.

"Bwahahaha!" the massive Garrick suddenly burst into laughter, jolting everyone out of the oppressive tension created by the exchange.

"I like you, boy! Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. That’s what makes a real man," Garrick said enthusiastically, giving Ravian a thumbs-up with his right hand.

A look of contempt nearly appeared on Ravian’s face, but he quickly suppressed it and offered Garrick a polite smile.

"Yes, Mr. Garrick. You are absolutely right," Ravian replied with a nod.

He did not care what supposedly made a real man or about any of the other nonsense Garrick had spouted. He had simply refused to let Sylvan address him in that tone, and his state of Pride had only made matters worse. Ravian had no intention of explaining any of this to anyone present, so he decided to play along.

A long silence descended upon the table once the exchange ended.

Everyone was lost in their own thoughts and suspicions, whether about one another or themselves.

And that was exactly what Ravian had been trying to achieve.

From the beginning, he had wanted to undermine the leader’s position so that there would be no single person around whom everyone could rally. After his exchange with Mirai, he was certain that her position as leader of the survivors was no longer secure, and even if she retained it, she would never again be trusted completely, because in their eyes, she was the "only one" who had refused to sacrifice herself for them.

Ravian concealed his smile behind his right hand as he remained seated, observing everyone around the table.

It might be difficult for a lion to hunt a herd while they remained together in one place, but what if the herd scattered and each group decided to distance itself from the others, hoping the lion would focus on another group while they tried to survive?

The lion would simply devour them one group after another.

And now, the first signs of the herd breaking apart had appeared before him.

Aldric suddenly rose from his seat, drawing everyone’s attention.

He placed the key register on the table and pulled a blank sheet of paper from it.

"First... wouldn’t our fortunate Mage care to reveal themselves? They’re safe, since they can protect themselves anyway, aren’t they?" Aldric asked.

No one spoke.

Ravian looked directly at Mirai and found her staring intently at the task ledger.

The others merely stared at one another, but no one stepped forward.

"It seems our little Mage is somewhat shy, don’t you think?" Garrick said with a laugh as he studied everyone’s faces.

Ravian smiled upon hearing him.

"I believe you are right about that, Mr. Garrick," Ravian said, as Garrick had foolishly handed him yet another opportunity to erode the others’ trust in one another.

Why would he need an ally when his enemy was this stupid?

’Who said the Mage was even safe? I don’t think anyone here would be foolish enough to hide their identity if they were the Mage and could keep themselves protected indefinitely,’ Ravian thought, furrowing his brows slightly.

’There must be restrictions we don’t know about. Otherwise, the game would simply be impossible for the killer.’

Ravian was almost certain that Mirai was the Mage, which was why he had been undermining everyone’s trust in her from the beginning. He had noticed her intense unease the moment they arrived in the Nightmare World, followed by the calm and confidence that had overtaken her as soon as the roles appeared. Any five-year-old could have guessed that she was the Mage. Either that, or she was simply a fool who thought this game would be easy.

Ravian leaned more toward the former, but he wanted confirmation.

Aldric closed his eyes, suppressing his anger, most of which was likely directed at the Mage for hiding their identity.

"We cannot prevent communication. The palace was designed to force it upon us, but we can make everyone’s final communication before nightfall known to all."

Everyone turned toward him, while Ravian frowned slightly.

Aldric drew nine circles on the paper, then linked them into a single sequence.

"Before the first toll of the black bell, we’ll gather in the main hall. Each person will hold a short, direct conversation according to an order we announce in front of everyone. Once the sequence is complete, all private communication will cease, and each of us will go to their room. That way, we will know who last spoke with each participant, and the others will serve as witnesses."

"Wouldn’t that still be a sacrifice?" Elena asked. "This changes nothing."

Aldric shook his head.

"That is why knowing who the Mage is would help us. The Mage would not participate in the communication sequence and would focus on protecting two of the three people we would have communicate with one another, in addition to protecting themselves. That way, we would be able to protect ourselves: if the killer is among those three and the Mage protects the other two, the killer will be unable to kill either of them; but if the Mage protects the killer instead of one of the innocent participants, and the killer murders the unprotected innocent, we will identify the killer easily, because they will be the last person we witnessed communicating with the victim," Aldric concluded, laying out the plan he had formulated in his mind.

"At worst, it would require only a single sacrifice, and we would all catch the killer red-handed. Then we might somehow be able to survive together," Aldric continued before frowning in irritation.

"All we need is to identify the Mage and reach an agreement with them. Otherwise, everything will become more difficult and complicated, and many people may die before we reach a clear conclusion," old Aldric finished, and nearly everyone appeared stunned by his brilliant plan.

Only Ravian remained silent and utterly calm, staring steadily at Aldric for a long moment.

’He managed to dress up the idea of sacrifice in eloquent words. He did nothing new; all he did was reshape Garrick’s proposed pair system into groups of three, add the Mage as support, and then slip in the idea that everyone might survive—something that had seemed impossible before—making the sacrifice more acceptable to them all.’

Ravian easily identified every strength and weakness in the plan.

It was a good plan... for their level of thinking, at least.

And that was precisely why Ravian did not object to it.

If he rejected a system that gave them a sense of security, he would only draw unnecessary suspicion upon himself. Accepting it, however, would allow him to learn what everyone believed to be established fact and later build his actions around it.

"The order should change every day and be chosen openly immediately before it is carried out. If the killer learns it in the morning, they will have more time to arrange a later communication to cover their tracks," Ravian said.

’Since you went to the trouble of creating a plan, shouldn’t I improve it for you as much as I can?’ Ravian tilted his head, smiling as he looked at the paper in Aldric’s hand.

’Then the fall will hit everyone all the harder... won’t it, Aldric?’

Aldric looked at him for two seconds, then added that sentence to the paper.

"Good idea," Aldric said.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!