As soon as Chishiya said that—

The adventurers, who had been on edge just moments ago, were stunned.

"What? He was helping?"

"So it was prearranged? I seriously thought that guy was here to stir up trouble and the boss was just getting revenge."

"But the boss did say resurrection doesn't reduce pain… That guy's ruthless if he volunteered for that."

"Learned something new today. I've never seen this kind of marketing tactic."

"I knew it was all staged. No way someone would go that hard unless they were in on it."

…

Everyone began chatting, all firmly convinced that Shogo had arranged this with Chishiya beforehand.

After all, Chishiya hit him so hard it was brutal—he must have been a willing participant.

And honestly, if they weren't acquainted, no one would've dared go that far.

Otherwise the whole demonstration would've been meaningless.

Meanwhile—

Kyoya and Kirara were fuming, their faces flushed with anger.

Bullshit!

Who agreed to any of this?!

That bastard clearly did it on purpose!

They were about to speak up when—

Their throats suddenly tightened.

An invisible thread wrapped around their necks like a noose.

In a flash, they couldn't breathe. Their voices caught in their throats.

"Don't move. And don't get any ideas," came a chilling whisper behind them.

"I can kill you without causing the slightest scene."

Souei's voice was like death itself.

The two of them froze in place.

Their pupils dilated. Cold sweat trickled down their faces.

When?

When did this guy get behind us?

Why didn't we sense anything?!

Souei continued, voice quiet and deadly.

"You should be grateful that Chishiya-sama wants to see you."

"If it were up to me, you'd both already be dead."

Unlike the overly-kind Rimuru, Chishiya had issued no order to spare lives.

He just said to treat customers politely.

But if someone wasn't a customer—or came just to stir up trouble—

Then it was simple: beat them down until they begged.

Kyoya and Kirara swallowed hard.

This was bad.

Really bad.

There were monsters this strong in the city?

And they actually served that human?

What kind of person was Chishiya?

The memory of Shogo's torso being blasted to pieces suddenly resurfaced in their minds, making their legs feel weak.

They didn't dare move an inch now.

Damn it…

We really messed with the wrong guy this time…

Inside the Labyrinth—

Chishiya dragged what remained of Shogo's legs toward the treatment room.

Those Falmuth clowns must be tired of living.

Today was the Labyrinth's opening ceremony.

And they thought it was a good day to cause trouble?

Did they want to mess with his revenue stream?

Unforgivable.

If he hadn't handled it smoothly, it could've ruined the atmosphere and cost him sales. Who was going to cover that?

Your mom!

If he didn't kill them all today, he might as well stop calling himself Chishiya.

Though his mind was on fire, Chishiya still wore his ever-professional smile.

Inside the treatment room.

Chishiya turned toward the camera.

"Dear guests, allow me to introduce our Labyrinth's resurrection item."

He pointed at the capsule-like device beside him, which looked a bit like a high-end cryogenic pod.

"Just lie inside, and regardless of how fatal your injury is, you'll be revived."

As he spoke—

He casually tossed half of Shogo's body into the pod.

"If this guy can come back from the dead, I think it's safe to say you've got nothing to worry about."

Outside, at the plaza—

The crowd stared wide-eyed.

"Wait, wait, he's definitely dead, right? There's no way he lives through that."

On stage—

Frieren had already put her book aside.

She said nothing, just stared at the screen.

Fern and Stark, next to her, were the same.

They were all seasoned mages. They knew the rules.

There was no such thing as resurrection magic. It simply didn't exist.

In their world, death was final. It was the only absolute.

No spell. No relic. No god had ever proven otherwise.

And yet—

As they stared at the screen…

Chishiya loaded Shogo's mangled remains into the treatment chamber.

With a hiss of steam, the device activated.

Less than thirty seconds later—

There was movement.

The pod opened.

And in front of everyone—

Shogo sat up with a gasp.

His chest heaved. He was drenched in sweat, his face pale and terrified.

His hands instinctively reached for his torso.

Alive… he was alive.

But the sensation of dying still lingered in his bones.

It had been too vivid to be fake.

Had he really… been resurrected?

He turned his head, trembling, and looked at Chishiya.

That man still wore the same businesslike smile.

But this time—

To Shogo, that smile was more terrifying than any demon.

He's a monster…

That man is a literal monster!!!

Chishiya patted him on the shoulder.

"Glad you're awake."

"Thanks for the help."

"As thanks for your wonderful cooperation, the city will grant you two bonus resurrection credits."

"You're always welcome to stop by again."

"Benimaru, please escort our guest to the lounge."

From offscreen, a red-haired Oni walked in, katana at his waist.

He said nothing, but his aura was oppressively lethal.

Shogo flinched.

"W-What are you going to do to me?!"

"I'm a Hero of Falmuth! You can't just do whatever you want!"

But faced with such an overwhelming difference in power, his voice cracked.

Even his hands trembled.

Chishiya smiled again.

"My dear guest, whatever do you mean?"

"You helped advertise our product. We're incredibly grateful."

"Benimaru, please guide him gently. He's our VIP guest. Don't scare him."

Despite the kind tone, Chishiya's voice carried an unmistakable chill.

Shogo's throat tightened.

He knew that if he resisted now, he'd die again.

"D-Don't touch me! I'm not going anywhere!"

"I'm from Falmuth! If you touch me, your whole city's dead!"

Chishiya chuckled.

"Haha. Our guest is still a bit disoriented from being resurrected."

"Let's cut the feed for now."

Beep—

The screen went black.

Back in the plaza—

The adventurers finally exploded into chaos.

"NO WAY! He actually got up! HE'S ALIVE!!!"

"Holy crap, was that real?! Half his body was gone! HALF!"

"Ten silver coins suddenly sounds like the best deal in the world."

As the crowd buzzed—

On stage—

Frieren's eyes were wide.

"Is this… really happening?"

The elf, known for her emotional restraint, looked completely stunned.

Had that actually been resurrection?

Yes, there were limitations. But that didn't matter.

This was resurrection magic.

The unbreakable rule of death… had just been shattered.

"Amazing…"

Fern and Stark said it in unison, stunned into awe.

They had no better word for it.

It was simply… awesome.

"Hehehe~"

And then, from behind them—

A smug laugh rang out.

"Obviously, this is all thanks to me~!"

"After all, I'm the Chief High Priest of the company. The chief~!"

Aqua struck a proud pose, lifting her chin high.

"With a literal goddess like me around, reviving the dead is no biggie!"

"Ahahaha!!!"

(To be continued.)

***

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