Bounder

He sat quietly for a second before breaking the silence.

"I'll be honest with you, Iris," he said, taking a deep breath as he laid it all out. "I obtained a technique in the maze after killing a rabbit. The group I was with told me to keep it a secret because if I told someone, they would try to kill me."

Iris looked at him but said nothing.

The silence returned, this time deafening.

After a minute or two, Iris finally spoke.

"I don't care that you may have lied to us. The only thing that matters is surviving."

This left Atlas appalled. He never would have thought the healer of the group could arrive at such a logical conclusion.

The real truth was that this moment was commonly referred to as "Game Theory."

Each party may have its own interests and will to play the game, but it's still in one's best interest to cooperate rather than defect.

Had he known he wouldn't need to rely on Iris's healing factor, he might have simply tried to kill her while she was tired or asleep. That was the logical conclusion—eliminate anyone who knew his technique while he was still so weak.

But instead, it was better to keep her around for the time being, either to rely on or use as a pawn.

The surprising part was, she thought the very same thing.

Iris turned to the side and fell asleep.

So much for a hard conversation… This lady has much more to her than meets the eye.

Atlas intended to talk to her more, but after the day he'd just had, he too fell asleep.

When he woke, Iris was standing above him with a sword drawn.

"I lied to you. Tell me everything about who you are and how you got here, or I will kill you."

Atlas didn't make a fuss and instead sat up straight, acting as if nothing was happening.

He half-expected something like this would happen because if she really did utilize game theory in her thinking, a core element is the act of "Redemption," or as most would refer to it, "an eye for an eye."

Upon waking, his core was not only full, but his fatigue was gone. If she swung the sword, he could simply blink away and fight her.

He replied cautiously, "My real name is Edmund, but it's not Worthington—that's a false name. It's really Edmund Black."

Continuing, he said, "I was chosen for this Door trial and was scared, so I hired a group. Although I'm not the richest, I took out a loan and was able to meet the previous team you saw. My whole group got separated and was eventually attacked by that man."

He conveniently left out the two females he killed.

He didn't want to give away his real identity, even now. Faced with a sword, it was still better to lie and act as if it were the truth.

Iris slowly lowered her sword and took a step back.

"You're lying. I saw you push off with Aether, imbuing your legs. Something like that must be taught and takes months, if not years, of practice."

Atlas was genuinely caught off guard by that statement.

"I promise you, I am who I say I am. When Sebastian and Near were fighting, I mimicked what they were doing."

Iris's facial expression didn't change.

"Let's say I believe you, even though you've already been proven a liar. That still doesn't explain two things. One, how you were able to take down the rabbit that gave you that technique, and two, how you were able to actually use it."

Iris stepped closer and pushed the sword inches away from Atlas's face.

"The rabbit you supposedly killed had to be at least of Sentinel rank since it granted you that technique, but it's impossible for a mundane human to kill one. On top of that, being able to use it as efficiently as you did doesn't make sense in this timeline. It would have taken months, not to mention getting into your Aether core's room. Speaking of which, traversing the maze in your core should have taken weeks."

"Do you really expect me to believe you were able to do all of this in a little over a week, rather than months or years?"

Atlas's eyes widened yet again.

Weeks to traverse the maze in his core? It had only taken him minutes, not even a full hour. He didn't find it very hard after he got used to the mental connection.

"Yes, I do because it's the truth," he said.

Iris didn't say anything else, instead moving the sword as close as possible to his neck.

"What did you do to the squid to kill it? I saw you put something in the arm. What was it?"

Atlas didn't want to lie here because there was no use.

"The thing I put into the arm was a flower, and that same flower had a single leaf torn off of it by the rabbit I eventually killed. After eating it, the rabbit fell over paralyzed and was left in a weakened state. So, with no other ideas coming to mind, I fed it to the squid."

Iris kept making eye contact throughout the entire exchange, never blinking once.

"My final question to you is: how much do you know about the ranks and the Bounder?"

"…The what and the ranks?" he replied.

"Don't play dumb. The ranks of people and monsters, as well as the voice you hear once you kill something."

Atlas once again decided it was best to tell the truth.

"I only know that when I killed Near, it told me he was of the Veiled rank. When I killed the rabbit, it was Sentinel. Just a second ago, when I killed the squid, which was actually named Multisquid, it told me it was of the Paragon rank."

Iris maintained a straight face until the end, when her mouth opened, and she looked completely shocked.

"A Paragon rank… You actually killed one? Even if it was just dumb luck and you used the flower, it's still insane… Edmund, you may not know this, but that squid was something no one should be able to kill."

She backed the sword away and sat down.

"The ranks of humans and beasts are as follows:

Veiled,

Sentinel,

Warlord,

Paragon,

Exalted,

Ascendant,

Apex,

Eternals,

Celestials.

Each one of these ranks has a vast power difference between them.

I'm surprised you were actually unaware of this, although it makes sense because, according to you, you've never conquered a Door before. At the end of your first Door trial, you're given a wealth of information by the Bounder, which in your case, you don't know about. The Bounder is the voice you hear in your ear."

It was now Atlas's turn to be shocked, considering all the new information he was just met with. Some unknown entity, almost godlike, known as the Bounder, existed.

And it was the same voice he heard every time he killed something. On top of that, it was the same thing that marked his feat in the history books.

Atlas was now left with many more questions than answers.