Chapter 142: Mephisto Discovers Netorare

Honest Talulah was still racking her brain for ways to save the infected, completely oblivious to the fact that Crownslayer, having been thoroughly corrupted by Warfarin’s insidious influence, had already let her imagination wander toward how the organization punished traitors.

Oh, wait, that was not quite right. It was pun-ish-ing-trai-tors~

Those special symbols were the absolute core of the experience. The Doctor, Warfarin, and Closure, the unholy trinity of Rhodes Island, had once collaborated on a massive research initiative to boost employee morale and workplace focus. Among conventional options like current events, island infrastructure projects, and one-on-one HR interviews, the bizarre and lewd category had utterly dominated the charts, achieving results that defied all logic.

That was exactly why the Rhodes Island Weekly had cultivated such a degenerate atmosphere.

Nearby stood the pure-hatred warrior Mephisto and his emotional baggage, the hostage Faust.

There was simply no helping it. Given the sheer volume of casualties that needed immediate triage, Mephisto’s map-wide regeneration Arts boasted an HPS that completely eclipsed even the Healing Sheep, Eyjafjalla. Headquarters had specifically yanked him off the Londinium battlefield just to act as a glorified heal-bot.

“Inno, don’t be angry. The Reunion Movement is actually an organization dedicated to healing and saving people too…” Mephisto was so suffocated by the irony he looked ready to burst a blood vessel. Meanwhile, Faust, acting exactly like a robotic boyfriend enduring a lover’s quarrel, could only rhythmically pat his back.

“Don’t be angry anymore, Inno.” He patted his back.

“Don’t be sad anymore, Inno.” He patted his back.

“Don’t…”

“Sasha, are you out of your damn mind?! How can you be so patient? Are you a [Ursus profanity]?!” Mephisto, already pushed to the brink of a mental breakdown by the sheer humiliation of being threatened into playing medic, finally snapped.

‘If you’re infected, just do us all a favor and die! Why force me to come and save people and disgust me in the process?!’Mephisto felt as though someone had shoved a plate of garbage down his throat, and the person holding the spoon kept gently explaining that eating garbage was excellent for his physical and mental well-being.’Faust, why are you backstabbing me too?!’

Faust, however, remained completely impervious to the verbal assault. If he were the type to be stung by Mephisto’s violent mood swings, he would have filed for a squad transfer back in their Reunion days.

Faust’s internal logic was simple but conflicted. Emotionally, even if Mephisto dragged them both to hell, he would gladly follow. Rationally, he fully supported Mephisto going to hell. Now that Mephisto was temporarily barred from the underworld, this minor turbulence was entirely painless to Faust.

“Mephisto, the Doctor will be angry if you act like this.”

“I’ll piss that old [Kazimierz profanity] off to death! You’re actually worrying about him instead of caring about me?!” Mephisto’s fury spiked into the red zone, glaring at Faust with the wide, betrayed eyes of a scorned lover.

Faust opened his mouth, wanting to explain the reality of their situation. ‘Because our lives are currently resting in his palms. As long as we breathe, we have an infinite future. I am even grateful for his terrifying tolerance. No matter what atrocities you commit, I can at least stay by your side. This is already the most beautiful future I could ever ask for.’

But seeing the frantic, unhinged look in Mephisto’s eyes, he decided to keep it brief.

“Mephisto, actually, being alive isn’t so bad. We have to thank the Doctor.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

Mephisto’s fragile psyche shattered into a million pieces. He spent every waking hour enduring absolute disgust on the front lines, risking his neck, swallowing his pride to work for Rhodes Island, only to come back and find out the Doctor had NTR’d his Sasha?!

‘You [Ursus profanity] Doctor, are you even human?!’

He didn’t expect the Doctor to shed a single tear if he died in a ditch, but while he was still breathing, how dare that bastard… how could he…

Seeing Mephisto’s emotional state spiraling toward a suicidal confrontation with the Doctor, Faust remained silent.

“If you’re so damn grateful to him, go find him then!” Mephisto shrieked. “Why do you keep sticking to me every single day?! Go be his little Sniper Operator! Go on, get out of here!”

Faust couldn’t fathom what had triggered this specific flavor of rage. Not long after joining Reunion, Mephisto had mutated into this beyond understanding version of himself. But regardless of the madness, Inno was still Inno.

‘I am not leaving. No matter how incredible others might be, I promised to protect you forever, to be the final crossbowman covering your retreat.’

“I am not leaving,” Faust said softly. “I promised to watch over you properly.”

Mephisto froze.

‘Are you staying for me, or is this just a mission to you?! What am I then? Some kind of twisted kink for your sick little games?!’

For a fleeting, glorious second, Mephisto genuinely considered turning everyone in the vicinity into The Herd and blowing himself up to take the Doctor down with him.

But Gavial was standing right over there, casually flexing her terrifying muscles, and Sasha’s Originium Arts suppression bracelet was still firmly locked around his wrist. If Mephisto tried anything funny, the very first person that super-powered deadpan crocodile would obliterate was Sasha.

Mephisto suddenly felt the agonizing humiliation of a guy being forced to cover for his cheating girlfriend and the blonde bastard she was sleeping with, right under the teacher’s nose.

‘Doctor, I [Ursus profanity] your [Kazimierz profanity]!”Phantom, I [Previous Civilization profanity] your mother!’

You had just taken a brutal punch to the gut from Kal’tsit. A cheeky grin and an apology would have smoothed the whole thing over, but the shadow that had remained perfectly silent for the entire journey suddenly erupted into a violent riot. Phantom practically burst from the floorboards, let out a feral shout, and scooped you up, carrying you away while Kal’tsit was left standing there in absolute stunned silence.

He ran away.

He literally dragged you into the shadows and bolted. Kal’tsit was completely dumbfounded.

Which meant that punch you just took was entirely for nothing.

Phantom sprinted in one continuous, breathless dash all the way down to the empty boiler room on the lowest deck before reluctantly depositing you out of the shadows.

“Doctor… she hit you.”

“I can’t beat her.”

Wait, did Phantom mean that if he could beat her, he would have thrown hands with Kal’tsit right then and there?

You couldn’t wrap your head around it, no matter how hard you tried. It would be one thing if Phantom had just panicked and fled on his own, but why the hell did he have to kidnap you in the process?

“Then why did you grab me and run?” Seeing Phantom preparing to dive back into the comforting embrace of the shadows after a few seconds of awkward silence, you hurriedly reached out and grabbed his sleeve. “Is it just because I was the one who brought you out of the castle?”

That didn’t make any sense, though. Mu Luo, Rosmontis, and Yato had also been part of that expedition, so why did Phantom specifically latch onto you like a lost duckling?

Phantom looked visibly disappointed, his ears drooping slightly. “You don’t recognize me… But I suppose that makes sense. I really didn’t have any value worth remembering back then.”

You blinked. “…Ah?”

The heart that had been hanging in suspense finally flatlined.

You just knew it.

Phantom’s eyes clouded over with a heavy, suffocating nostalgia. “The Troupe Leader never allowed us to have unauthorized contact with you. But I was the most talented child in the troupe back then, and he wanted to train me to be his successor.”

Bacchus had been under your command at the time, kept so incredibly busy that he barely had a moment to return to the castle. Occasionally, when he did manage to visit, it was solely to tell the children what kind of person the Doctor was.

This was the only genuine warmth the troupe ever experienced. Everyone knew that on the first night the Troupe Leader returned to hold a storytelling session, he would act like a true, benevolent mentor, gently and normally teaching them actual performance techniques without the usual bloodshed.

Even the child who performed the absolute worst would be spared a tragic, fatal debut on that specific day.

In Phantom’s fractured memories, he and the few companions who hadn’t yet succumbed to madness referred to this blessed occasion as Doctor Day.

“Doctor… would you like to hear me sing? I’ve learned many new songs…”

Only now did you notice the glaring, jagged wound still marring Phantom’s neck. But this time, the jagged black crystals of Originium were sprouting directly from his wrist.

‘Holy crap, Bacchus, you really did a number on him!!’

[Rhodes’s Note:

Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?

(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent! 🙇‍♂️):

Massive thanks for reading and supporting the operation!]