Chapter 79

"Ha ha." After listening to Tang Cheng's slightly sarcastic words, the man didn't get angry; he just smiled and said, "I indeed don't have a name, as I long ago abandoned it. However, you can call me Curtain Behind the Scenes, which is my title."

"Curtain Behind the Scenes, that sounds so high-class and prestigious." Tang Cheng retorted, "But, is it really okay for you to tell me your title so straightforwardly? With your intelligence, can you really stay behind the scenes?"

Tang Cheng wasn't unaware of titles. He had heard about them from Xiao Apple in the cycle space. Titles are an enhancement system in the cycle world that allows the holder to possess certain special abilities. For example, if you have the title of Pirate King, you can more easily obtain treasures from the sea. If you have the title of Great Stud, you will definitely have an advantage in seducing women. Even if you have a title like Dragon Overlord, you can get a skill that lowers the intelligence of your enemies or makes them lose their minds.

There are three ways to obtain a title. The first is to complete a certain achievement in a副本 world, which gives you a certain chance to obtain a title. However, the abilities of such titles are relatively low, and sometimes you might get some random titles, so they are generally considered to be of lower quality. The second way is to have your strength or a particular ability recognized by the cycle space, which will grant you a title. These challengers, whether in terms of their own strength or the ability value of their titles, are quite impressive, but they are few in number.

The third and most common way is to trigger a title quest in a副本 world and obtain the title by completing the quest. The ability values of such titles are generally not too bad, and the strongest titles can only be obtained through this method. For example, the two strongest challengers in Dongting, their titles "Princess" and "Queen," were obtained this way.

Well, let's put that aside for now. In short, any challenger with a title generally isn't too weak. Since most titles can be inferred from their names in terms of which abilities they enhance, they are usually kept hidden to avoid being targeted. That's why Tang Cheng said what he did.

However, Curtain Behind the Scenes didn't seem to care and said, "My title doesn't enhance my combat power, so it doesn't matter if I tell you. But... when did you start to know about my existence?"

"Do you think I'll tell you?" Tang Cheng looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"Uh!" Curtain Behind the Scenes was taken aback, but before he could speak, Tang Cheng laughed and said, "Ha ha, since you want to know, I'll let you feel the difference in intelligence between us!"

"This is an eight-person副本 world, but only seven people appeared before. And this副本 world doesn't involve a choice of allegiance, so we can basically rule out the possibility that the eighth person is on the side of the giants..."

"But what if I'm already dead, like those two?" Curtain Behind the Scenes interjected.

"Indeed, that's a possibility, but when Kitz Werman accused me of colluding with Eren Yeager and tried to kill me, that possibility no longer existed."

"Why?" A hint of confusion flashed in Curtain Behind the Scenes' eyes.

"Of course, because I'm a hero." Tang Cheng shrugged, his tone tinged with disdain. "The nobles in the capital, though they are all fat and useless, are not completely brainless. I just made a great contribution in the war against the giants, and if they were to kill me on a trumped-up charge, their reputation would be damaged... Well, in my view, they don't have much reputation, but these noble lords always try to maintain a good image. Even if they want to kill me, they wouldn't choose such a time to tarnish their reputation."

"Then, the only ones who could prioritize getting rid of me without fearing the negative consequences are the challengers... Of course, as for why you want to get rid of me, I haven't figured that out yet. Maybe you just envy my good looks."

Even Historia felt a bit queasy at Tang Cheng's narcissistic statement.

"I see." Curtain Behind the Scenes naturally ignored the last part of Tang Cheng's statement and shook his head, smiling. "I guess I was too hasty. If I had known you had such analytical skills, I should have acted later."

"It's all the same." Tang Cheng shrugged and then looked around. "By the way, there's no one else's presence in this hall besides us three. Normally, the royal family should be here discussing matters. Where did they go?"

"I killed them all."

"What!?" Hearing Curtain Behind the Scenes' calm voice, Historia was shocked. Although she didn't know who this man was, his presence here clearly indicated a close relationship with the royal family. She never expected him to have killed all the royal members.

"Why... why did you do that?" Historia asked instinctively.

"Because they knew too much." Curtain Behind the Scenes smiled. "The royal family holds the secrets of the giants, and my mission is to keep these secrets hidden. I can't control everyone's mouth, so I had to kill them... Oh, by the way, you are Rod's daughter, the only true royal heir, right? I'm sorry, but your father is also dead. He kept apologizing to you before he died."

"Th... this..." Historia's eyes widened, and she couldn't speak. Although her true personality was hollow and pale, it didn't mean she had no feelings. She had always hated her father and thought she would never forgive him, but now, hearing of his death, she felt a strange sadness.

Whether it was her mother or her father, the total number of words she had ever spoken to them didn't exceed ten.

But at the same time, Historia felt a bit relieved. With the royal family dead, Tang Cheng wouldn't have to kill anyone, and he wouldn't be the one to kill her father.

"But, the mother and daughter's skills were quite good. It's a pity to kill them like this." Curtain Behind the Scenes sighed regretfully.

Tang Cheng narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Oh, it seems you're enjoying it here."

Curtain Behind the Scenes smiled confidently. "This random match is a great draw for me. A mere two-star副本 is nothing to me. It's a rare opportunity, so I naturally want to enjoy it. As a man, I'm sure you can understand, right?"

"Sure, I understand. If I were in your position, I would try to enjoy it too... Blonde princess, silver-haired lolita, immoral noblewoman, cheating wife, mother and daughter, sisters together... thinking about it makes me a bit excited." Tang Cheng immediately showed a look of longing, making Historia blush.

The girl didn't quite understand the situation. She could sense the tension between the two men. Based on her understanding of Tang Cheng, he wouldn't usually waste words and would just strike, but now he was chatting with the other man... As for Curtain Behind the Scenes, from his words, it seemed he also wanted to kill Tang Cheng, but he hadn't made a move yet. It seemed like they were testing each other.

"Since you understand, that's good. Because of your foolish actions, I had to complete my mission early. I could have enjoyed this for another half month, but because of you, it had to end. I'm a bit angry, but..." As he spoke, Curtain Behind the Scenes looked at Historia and smiled. "If you hand this girl over to me, I might spare your life."

For some reason, Historia felt that this man's gaze had a penetrating power. Under his gaze, she felt completely exposed, instinctively covering herself and quickly hiding behind Tang Cheng.

Tang Cheng looked at Curtain Behind the Scenes as if he were a dead man. "You really know how to bring about your own death. If I were the protagonist, and you dared to force the protagonist to sell his daughter to save himself, according to the script, that's an even more terrifying death flag than molesting the protagonist's wife or daughter."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Curtain Behind the Scenes burst into laughter, completely unconcerned. "I already said, this two-star副本 is nothing to me. Even if you are a five-star challenger, you're just a newbie to me, no different from an ant. I learned a month ago that you were planning a coup, but do you know why I didn't stop you? Why I'm sitting here waiting for you? Why I'm talking to you so much?"

"Because your actions mean nothing to me. I can crush you like an ant at any time, just like Pixis and Darius. I wanted them dead, so they had to die... You probably still don't know how they died, ha ha ha ha..."

"Um, I know, the power of belief."

"Right, that's... uh!?"

In an instant, Curtain Behind the Scenes' smile froze.