There are some people at a gambling table who believe they have a winning hand and go all in.

When they see that their opponent has a better hand, they freeze, unable to say a word.

There could be many reasons for this: regret over their actions, the empty feeling of having lost everything in a single moment, and so on.

Right now, the foreign shard standing before me was in that very same position.

Just moments ago, she had been acting so high and mighty, grabbing my cheeks. But now, her expression was frozen in despair, and she had backed up three steps.

Of course, it wasn’t like her brain had shut down completely to the point of losing control of her muscles.

The despair on her face had started to turn into fear.

It made sense.

After all, she had said it herself: even “sensual things” were fine.

And she didn’t mention a limit on how many times.

If I were to say, "You’ll be mine forever," she would probably have to accept it. That’s how these kinds of things work—words can mean different things depending on how you say them.

I didn’t need to be bound by these chains any longer. Since they were created in the dream world, they were likely connected strongly to my mental state.

As I expected, when I applied a little strength to my arms, the chains shattered into pieces, disappearing like dust.

“H-Hieek!”

The moment the sound of the chains breaking reached her ears, reality seemed to sink back in. Her pupils shrunk, and her entire body trembled as she looked at me.

“Y-you could’ve broken them this whole time….”

“Well, that wouldn’t have been fun, would it?”

I smiled at the succubus shard.

“After all, it was just a 'game.'”

Her mistake was underestimating me.

Super Coward Mode not only protects me from external interference, but she had walked directly into my domain.

In short, the succubus shard was powerless when it came to me—just a woman with slightly enhanced physical abilities.

The fact that my connection with the other major shards had been severed was probably due to Super Coward Mode not applying to the party flute. Even now, no matter how much I tried to call out to them, there was no response.

Well, that was something I could deal with later by playing the flute again.

I turned to the succubus shard and grinned.

“So, it’s time for you to pay the price, isn’t it?”

“T-this is a scam! I won’t accept it!”

The succubus shard tried to fly away, but I grabbed her by the ankle. That caused her to fall straight to the ground with a loud thud.

“Ugh!”

For her, the fall must have been pretty damaging, though she still tried to crawl away, her fingers digging into the ground in desperation.

“No! No!”

“Stay still! You don’t even know what I’m going to—!”

“I don’t want this ending!”

She thrashed around, trying to escape, and managed to slip out of my grasp, flying up high into the air.

“Damn it!”

The succubus shard disappeared into the distance, and the world around me turned white.

…When I came to, I found myself sitting up in bed, breathing heavily.

What a contemptible shard.

She broke the contract and ran away?

Well, I had my own methods.

No matter how powerful she was in the realm of dreams, the range of activity for a non-planetary foreign shard was more limited than she might have thought.

Which meant escaping to another territory or region outside of Rondan was unlikely.

The reason I hadn’t noticed this shard before was because she could freely move as long as there were people sleeping in Rondan.

But what if there were no sleeping people left?

What if the dream world was only my subconscious?

It didn’t take long to figure out the answer, and without even bothering to change clothes, I rushed to the headquarters of the knights.

Passing through the first floor of the still-burning furnace, I hurried down to the underground and banged on the deputy commander’s door.

“Come in.”

The deputy commander’s calm voice reached me, and I quickly opened the door, saluting as I entered. I was out of breath from running, but I tried my best to maintain a proper posture.

Noticing something unusual in my demeanor, the deputy commander’s eyes widened.

“Tanton.”

I called out to the deputy commander, my voice rising.

“I need you to make sure that every single resident of Rondan stays awake for exactly one hour! Please!”

The deputy commander’s eyes widened further.

My request had been abrupt and without explanation. Though the deputy commander had asked for my help, it was understandable if he demanded an explanation before mobilizing the troops, since such operations required caution.

But perhaps sensing the urgency in my voice, the deputy commander nodded with a determined expression and stood up.

He walked over to the place where we usually communicated with the princess, a fire burning in the hearth. Before I could even figure out what he was about to do, the deputy commander took a deep breath.

“Gather everyone!!!”

His booming voice was so overwhelming that it practically made my ears ring. The flames seemed to respond to the energy of his voice, shooting up toward the sky.

“Gather everyone!!!”

The sound echoed across Rondan, amplified threefold.

Even though we normally used the hearth for communication, I had no idea it could work as a loudspeaker too.

Before I could fully take it in, within less than a minute…

Clang, clang!

The sound of clashing armor filled the air, and in no time at all, a massive number of knights gathered in front of the furnace.

“Deputy commander!”

All the knights saluted in unison, and I noticed Muyeon among them. The deputy commander raised his hand, signaling them to prepare, then took another deep breath.

“Everyone here will now go out and make sure that every resident of Rondan stays awake for approximately one hour! This is the foundation for resolving the worst crisis Rondan has faced! Now, go!”

His command was brief yet contained all the necessary information.

“Yes, sir!”

The knights responded and, as if their routes had already been planned out, dispersed immediately.

Watching how quickly things were unfolding, I felt as if I were in a surreal dream.

Once the knights had dispersed, the deputy commander let out a small sigh and looked at me.

“I saw there was no time to waste, so I acted immediately.”

“Thank you, deputy commander.”

“You encountered that creature, didn’t you?”

I reported everything that had happened to the deputy commander, adjusting the story to fit the "reality" of this world.

“As expected, it was the work of a foreign shard. Tanton, if you hadn’t intervened, this could have turned into a major catastrophe.”

The deputy commander nodded and patted my shoulder.

“We’ll talk more about this once the situation is resolved. For now, I’m counting on you to finish this.”

His trusting gaze met mine, and I nodded in return.

“Yes, sir.”

Just as our conversation ended, the knights who had dispersed quickly returned.

Already? They’ve informed everyone that fast?

Their efficiency surprised me. Usually, they were so lazy, but seeing them work hard for me was strangely touching.

“Use the resting quarters here at the headquarters, Tanton. There’s a mattress ready for you.”

“Understood.”

Running all the way back to the outpost would have been too much. I made my way to the knights’ resting quarters, lay down on the slightly worn mattress, and prepared myself.

Alright, let’s go.

Time to take down that damned succubus.

My consciousness blurred, and the ringing in my ears intensified. Focusing on the sensation, I found myself entering the dream world much more quickly this time.

As soon as I entered, I wasted no time. I scanned the area around me.

I could see her flying around aimlessly, trying to push against invisible walls.

The groaning in her voice was filled with despair. It seemed my plan had worked.

I’ve got you now.

This is my dream.

Floating in the air, I quickly launched myself toward the succubus shard.

When she realized I had gotten behind her, her face turned pale.

Without mercy, I grabbed her with both hands and tackled her to the ground.

Finally, the moment to subdue this cowardly runner.

“No! Noooo! What did you do?! Why can’t I escape anywhere?!”

“Why don’t you use that 'not-so-useless' brain of yours to figure it out?”

The succubus shard’s voice now sounded pitiful, but I had no intention of letting her go.

I leaned down close to her ear and whispered.

“You said you’d do anything I asked, didn’t you?”

“H-hieek.”

Startled by my sudden whisper, the succubus shard trembled violently. Were her ears turning red from fear, or was it something else?

“From now on, you’ll do everything I say for the rest of your life.”

“T-that’s… that’s a slave contract!”

“No, it’s different. A knight can’t have a slave.”

I leaned even closer, so my breath brushed against her ear, and whispered in a near-silent voice.

“You’re like a 'secretary bound by an unfair contract.' Got it?”

“H-Hieek!”

At my words, a pink ring appeared above her head, then shrank into a small orb and entered her body.

“N-nooo! Noooo!”

Her body glowed for a moment, and I let go as she struggled. After the light faded, she collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, clearly in pain.

So that’s what she had planned to do to me, huh?

Looking down at the succubus shard, who was staring up at me with pleading eyes, I gazed back at her in disdain.

How pitiful.

Now it was time to give her the punishment she deserved.

“H-hieek?! P-please, stop! It hurts…! Hyaaaah!”

“What? You want me to stop? After all the people you tormented, even killing some? And now you’re asking for mercy?!”

“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“I can’t forgive you. I’m going to keep going until I’ve let out all my anger. Take this!”

“E-eek?! N-not there!”

“Oh, so this is the spot. I’ll keep focusing on this. One more!”

“Hngghhh?!”

In the dream space.

With all the residents of Rondan now awake, only I and the succubus shard remained in this world. Her moans and my satisfied voice filled the space.

Damn, Raidan Tanton!

What kind of twisted tastes do you have?

Why do I feel this strange satisfaction even while doing something like this?!

Are you sure this isn’t your taste?

No, of course not!

Smack!

“Hyaaaah!”

...I mean, who in the world likes to slap foreigners on the ass with the palm of their hand!