"I just want monster cores and other materials to sell to replenish my coins!"
Angelica pouted her lips in clear dissatisfaction, the edges of her mouth twisting into a bitter scowl. I could feel the resentment radiating off her; it was a strange sight to see a woman of her power forced to beg for the return of her own fortune.
However, in this world, there was no such thing as "personal property" once a contract was signed. There was only the mission and the resources required to see it through.
"If you truly consumed all your coins and have absolutely none left, then I'll give you some back," I said, shrugging with an indifference that I knew grated on her nerves.
"But know this: the moment you call for a refill, I will order you to hand over every single coin in your possession for an audit. And if I find that you still have even a penny hidden away, then don't blame me for the consequences."
Her expression shifted instantly. The defiant spark in her eyes dimmed, replaced by a flicker of panicked calculation.
I knew my guess was right. This girl was trying to mitigate her losses by any means possible, playing a shell game with her inventory to see what she could sneak past the contract. I honestly couldn't tell at this point who was the stingier one—her for trying to hide it, or me for demanding it all.
"Let's start," I urged, my voice dropping into a cold, pragmatic tone. "I don't have all night, and the sun isn't going to wait for your temper tantrum."
"Humph." She was still visibly unsettled, her chest heaving with suppressed indignation, but she had to follow my orders. The soul-binding consequences for defying a direct command were far more unimaginable than the loss of a few thousand coins.
She stepped toward the first line. Sara was the first to be tested. Angelica held the compass steady, a drop of Sara's blood hitting the surface. It glowed a soft, steady green.
Angelica confirmed her as an ally and moved to the next person. But as she moved down the line of my core team, the bad news I had been dreading started to kick in with a vengeance.
"How could this be?!!" Angelica gasped, her eyes widening as she looked down at the device.
She turned to me just as a youth from my own group—one of the few I had personally pulled from the wreckage of the first hours—triggered a violent red flash on the compass face. The young man's face went pale. He looked at the red light, then up at me, seeing the way I narrowed my eyes and released a tidal wave of killing intent.
"Wait… Boss, something must be wrong! The machine is broken! I've been with you since—Ahhh!"
Before he could finish his desperate plea, I moved. My blade was a blur of silver in the dim light. I slashed his throat with surgical precision, his life spilling out onto the grass before he could even raise a hand to defend himself.
"A traitor well hidden in my own team? How lovely," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I stood over the cooling corpse, my breathing steady even as the faces of everyone around me—including the remaining members of my team—twisted in profound shock.
I had never imagined the angels would be capable of infiltrating my core circle so early. This team had bled with me; they had survived the desperate, chaotic hours of the first quest's opening.
How could the enemy plan so far ahead? How could they manage to fool my instincts? It was a chilling realisation. I was fighting an opponent that wasn't just powerful, but one that played the long game with terrifying patience.
"Hye, what just happened?" Sara finally found the courage to speak, her voice trembling. "And what is wrong with that compass? Why did you kill him?"
I looked around. I had asked everyone to provide a drop of blood for the test, but I hadn't yet elaborated on the mechanics of the device. It was time for an explanation, but as I spoke, I didn't lower my guard for even a second. My eyes roamed the line, looking for the next flicker of guilt.
"This is a specialised piece of gear designed to detect traitors by reading the resonance of their contract with the angels," I said slowly, pointing the tip of my bloodied sword at the man I had just executed. "And as it turns out, he happened to be one."
"This… this is insane," Sara whispered.
Isabella, whom I had ordered to stand guard over the prisoners, came marching toward me. Her face was flushed with anger, her eyes flashing with a mix of betrayal and disbelief.
"Hye! This can't be right! They are our people! They've fought beside us! If they were traitors, why didn't they help Arnold when he was being overwhelmed back then? Why wait until now?"
Her words struck a chord with the others. A faint wave of whispers erupted among the survivors; people were nodding, murmuring to one another. None had the courage to confront me directly, but the two girls were standing their ground, challenging the absolute authority I was exerting.
"Yeah, Isabella is right," Sara added, regaining some of her fire. "You can't expect me to believe some useless scrap of metal over the shared experience of surviving this nightmare together."
I looked at both of them, saying nothing. The silence was deafening. I leaned over the dead body of the traitor and placed my hand on his chest, invoking the system's loot claim.
[You killed an enemy: Amir the Traitor. You can claim 50% of his inventory.]
A long list of items and coins appeared in my vision, proving beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was registered as a hostile by the system. I stood up calmly and pointed my sword directly at Isabella's heart.
"He was a traitor. There is no debate," I said. "Now, give me a drop of your blood. Right now."
"You…" Isabella looked like I had slapped her. She never expected me to doubt her loyalty, especially after everything we had been through. But in this world, sentiment was a weakness that led to a knife in the ribs.
Even though I knew her legend from my previous life, I had to be certain. Enemies in this game were masters of the long-con; they could wear the mask of a best friend until the very moment they chose to end you.
Luckily, I had the compass to strip away those masks. This was the nature of the system: balance. If the angels had the power to infiltrate us, there had to be a mechanism to uncover them.
"Here," Isabella snapped, biting her finger and smearing a drop of blood on the compass. She was fuming, her jaw set in a hard line.
"Green," Angelica announced, watching the unfolding drama with a hint of amusement. She seemed to be rejoicing in my internal team strife—the cold-hearted girl.
However, I didn't care about her amusement. I was the one gaining the most here. If these traitors were allowed to flourish under my wing, the moment they chose to strike would be my last. I was weeding my garden before the thorns could choke the life out of me.
"Next," I said, turning to the next man in the line. "Give me a drop of blood, or—"
"F*ck you! The angels will prevail! Death to the heretic!"
The youth didn't even wait for the test. Seeing the writing on the wall, he drew a short sword and shield, lunging at me with a scream of fanatical rage. But I was already coiled like a spring.
The moment he exposed his true colours, I parried his blow and slashed through the hand holding his weapon. Before he could scream, my second blade took his knees, bringing him crashing to the dirt.
"Convinced now?" I said quietly, without even turning to look at Isabella or Sara.
"My compass doesn't lie," Angelica added, her voice losing its mocking edge. She was finally starting to see the gravity of the situation. Two out of four of my core inner circle had been sleepers. The betrayal ran deeper than any of us had imagined.
I finished the traitor, and as I touched his corpse, I felt a grim satisfaction.
[Acquired: 12 Health Potions, 5 Stamina Potions.]
My precious stock was increasing. These bastards had been hoarding potions while pretending to be part of our struggle, likely waiting for the order to assassinate me during a moment of weakness.
"Go back and watch that bastard Allen," I told Isabella, motioning toward the original traitor leader. "Angelica, follow me. We have a lot of work to do."
We moved down the line of the remaining thirteen team members. The results were sickening.
"Traitor!" "Traitor!" "Another traitor!"
By the time we finished, the numbers were staggering. My team had originally been eighteen. Five were lost in the previous fight. Out of the thirteen remaining, only six were clean. I felt a cold, white-hot rage bubbling in my chest. To think I had trusted these people to watch my back while I slept.
The only ones who remained were Sara, Isabella, Gerry—the man who had helped heal my wounds earlier—and two others I had kept my eye on from the start: John and Allen (the loyalist Allen, not the traitor leader).
Even the girl who had joined us during the subquest turmoil, Sherry, turned out to be clean. It was a bizarre irony; the ones I suspected most were loyal, and those I had relied on were vipers.
"I need to get my own compass," I decided then and there. Appearances were worthless, and actions were orchestrated. From now on, the only thing I would trust was the system's own verification.
"Now, let's scan the rest of you," I said, turning toward the larger group of two hundred survivors. My voice was weary but resolute.
"This is ridiculous!" a man shouted from the middle of the line. "How can you be so abusive? We've followed you! We've done everything you asked!" "Let's go, guys! There are too many of us. He can't stop us all from leaving!"
The crowd began to surge. They had watched me execute my own team members without a trial, and the panic was setting in. This was expected. They didn't understand the necessity; they only saw the brutality.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
I didn't waste time with speeches. I moved through the crowd like a reaper, my blades finding the hearts of the three loudest instigators. After killing twenty people who tried to break the line, I stood in the centre of the lawn, covered in fresh blood, and let my voice roar with a domineering authority.
"I don't care if every single one of you is a traitor! I will kill anyone proven to be one. If you leave this line, you are declaring yourself an enemy of this group. Stay put. If you are clean, you have nothing to fear. If you run, you die."
My words didn't settle them. Instead, a large group of about forty people suddenly broke ranks and bolted toward the northern treeline. They didn't bother shouting; they simply turned and ran with everything they had.
"Thinking you can outrun me?" I snorted, already mid-stride.
I wasn't alone. Allen, Angelica, Isabella, and Sherry moved with me, a pack of wolves chasing down the stray sheep. Sara stayed behind, her hands glowing with mana as she conjured a fire tornado to cut off the rear of the escaping group.
"Ahhh!" "He's a monster! A tyrant!" "Don't let him catch you!"
Curses and screams filled the air as we collided with the fleeing group. While I worked through a cluster of twenty, I noticed another group—about forty strong—heading in the opposite direction toward the reservoir.
"Damn! How many traitors did they pack into this crowd?" Isabella cursed, her sword carving through a man who had tried to spear her.
"Keep killing them here!" I shouted to my team. "Angelica, with me!"
I knew she was the only one whose stats could even remotely keep pace with mine. We needed to bridge the gap before that larger group reached the cover of the woods.
"I'll come too!" Allen shouted, his speed surprising me. I had forgotten he had invested heavily in agility during the first hour.
"Good. Come," I said, eyes locked on the escaping traitors. "Sara, obstruct their route! John, get over there and defend her! Magicians are useless if they get flanked!"