A few minutes later, the nun pulled up the footage.
The surveillance camera had recorded everything without missing a single detail:
How Esther had taken advantage of the chaos to grab the paper knife, how she had backed toward Soren, how she had slashed her own arm, and finally how she had tossed the knife at his feet to frame him perfectly.
The entire sequence was smooth, practiced, and made everyone's scalp tingle.
The office fell into dead silence.
John clutched his stomach, staring at the venomous expression on the little girl's face in the video, completely stunned.
The nun covered her mouth in horror.
None of them could believe a child could be so ruthless to herself—or that her mind could be so vicious.
Esther saw their expressions and knew she was completely exposed.
Gritting her teeth, she quietly retreated to the door. While no one was paying attention, she slipped out through the gap.
Soren watched the scene and the corner of his mouth curved upward.
Once she escaped the office, Esther sprinted down the corridor, her eyes filled with the joy of successful escape and deep-seated hatred.
When she got out, she would definitely find a way to make that man pay.
As she ran, Esther suddenly felt the air around her turn ice-cold.
Was the corridor always this long?
She stopped and looked around.
The familiar hallway had vanished.
In its place was a foggy little town overgrown with towering trees.
Ash fell continuously from the sky.
What the hell is this place?!
Just as fear began to grip her, Esther spotted a little girl in a dress standing quietly not far ahead.
The girl had her back turned and looked extremely frail.
Esther's heart leaped with joy. If she could control this seemingly easier target, she might find a way out.
She lightened her steps and crept closer.
The moment Esther was about to reach the girl, the figure in the dress dissolved into thin air.
Esther froze.
An unprecedented terror wrapped around her.
"Haa… haa… haa…"
From the thick fog came a series of eerie, rasping breaths.
Several deformed monsters with upper bodies bound in wax-yellow skin twisted their way out of the mist and surrounded her.
She staggered backward and bumped into something slick.
Esther turned her head. Her eyes widened in horror.
A despairing scream echoed through the town.
...
In reality.
The police arrived at the orphanage after the call.
When they asked Sister Abigail where Esther had gone, everyone realized the little girl had already vanished without a trace.
"She… she was just in the room a moment ago."
The nun looked bewildered and even glanced at Soren.
He remained completely calm, quietly chatting with Patty as if Esther's disappearance had nothing to do with him.
She had her suspicions.
But the surveillance footage had already made everything clear—that little girl was an extremely dangerous threat.
To offend a long-time major donor over one missing girl with a suspicious background would be a terrible business decision.
The nun wisely chose to keep quiet and cooperated with the police investigation.
The farce ended just like that.
...
The next day, Patty left the office.
Soren held his phone, planning his trip to Haddonfield.
He scrolled through a young adventurers' forum looking for carpool posts heading to the town.
Even though Haddonfield had seen a string of murders, that didn't stop thrill-seeking young people from going there for excitement.
He quickly found a post titled "Haddonfield True-Crime Vlog Shoot—Looking for Teammates, Gas & Rental Split AA" and contacted the poster.
"This way, if anything unexpected happens on the road, at least the rental cost can be shared."
Soren muttered to himself.
After confirming the itinerary, he was about to put his phone down when a bank notification popped up.
[Account ending in xxxx has received a transfer: $10,000,000.00]
Soren opened it and checked the sender.
Looked like Alex had finally recovered and successfully taken over the Le Domas family inheritance.
At least the kid still had some sense and didn't try anything stupid like stiffing him.
His mind stirred. He opened the system panel in his head.
[Side Quest: Debt-Ridden Sparda]
[Current Progress: $12,500,000 / $100,000,000]
"Hm? No new debt?"
Soren frowned.
A few days ago he had used [Faust's Hat] to drop a meteor that destroyed several buildings and street sections.
He had assumed that incident would cause the system debt to skyrocket, which was why he hadn't dared check the quest.
But the progress bar showed no deduction.
Why?
He rubbed his chin, recalling the news reports.
Had the authorities classified the whole thing as a natural disaster and human error?
Still, it was strange—he hadn't received any official fine or notice in the past few days.
With the government's capabilities, they should have traced it back to him.
Did someone pay it for him?
Or… did they simply not dare come knocking?
Soren had a feeling it was the latter.
The authorities didn't know his full capabilities. They couldn't tell whether dropping a meteor was his normal combat strength or an all-in trump card.
They didn't dare gamble.
If they really pushed him too far and he dropped another meteor in the city center or some vital district…
No one could afford the price.
"So the system's logic for recording debt is based on whether someone actually files a claim?"
Only debts that are actively claimed get added to the ledger.
If no one dares open their mouth, the debt simply doesn't count?!
"Does that mean from now on, as long as the damage I cause is big enough that no one dares claim compensation, I don't have to worry about debt?!"
A glint flashed in Soren's eyes.
Then, as if remembering something, he reopened his banking app and stared at the big fat "0" balance. His expression stiffened slightly.
The $10 million Alex had transferred was recognized by the system as legitimate income.
The moment it hit the account, it was automatically deducted. Not a single cent was left for him.
After all that running around, his pocket was still squeaky clean.
At that moment, another system prompt appeared in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Detected one-time debt repayment of $10,000,000. Phased reward triggered.]
[Host may choose one of the following rewards]
[Option 1: Ten random Devil Arms (one-time use)]
[Option 2: Obtain bloodline breakthrough material]
Soren pondered for a moment.
Ten random temporary Devil Arms sounded flashy, but they were basically useless to him now.
He already had close-range Alastor, long-range Nico's deer-bow, and Valak's shadow cloak + snake grab for support.
Combined with his own Trickster and Royal Guard, he covered almost every combat scenario. No need to gamble on unknown consumables.
On the other hand, bloodline breakthrough material that could evolve his strength was exactly what he needed most right now.
From previous quests, breakthrough materials weren't guaranteed every time.
He already had two.
Soren's mind moved. He retrieved both items from the Silent Hill domain.
The first was the [Ancient Demon Essence (Regeneration)] dropped by the ancient man-eater—a dark-green heart covered in writhing tentacles, still faintly pulsing.
The second was the [Hell Demon Essence (Mental)] from killing Valak—a blurry, shifting shadow.
"I choose Option 2."
[Reward granted: Hell Demon Essence (Demonic Power) ×1]
A high-density energy orb appeared in Soren's hand.
The orb was formed from extremely condensed demonic power. The energy inside spun at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
It looked exactly like…
A Rasengan.
Heart, shadow, power orb—three items radiating different auras floated before him.
Their energies complemented one another, forming a perfect balance.
[Ding!]
[Three core essences collected.]
[New stage objective unlocked: Raise demon bloodline awakening to 20%.]
[Once the threshold is reached, consume the three essences to perform bloodline ascension breakthrough.]
[After breakthrough: Unlock Sparda bloodline form—Demonization, and gain exclusive talent.]
Staring at those last few words on the system panel, even Soren's usual calm breathing grew heavier.
Demonization.
This was the true trump card of the Sparda bloodline.
It fully released the demonic power inside the body, causing every function and destructive capability to increase geometrically.
Even the most basic Demonization state would give him the capital to go head-to-head with—or even kill—lord-class demon gods.
Once his bloodline percentage rose, not only would his normal strength skyrocket, he would also unlock Alastor's flight mode.
As a Devil Arm housing a lightning demon, Alastor would only manifest its full power when the user entered Demonization.
The lightning would condense behind the user into a pair of crackling demonic wings, allowing free flight through the skies.
Soren stored the essences back into the Silent Hill domain. A blazing heat flashed in his eyes.