On the campus of Ikerite Academy, the quiet wooded path resembled a brilliant emerald. Autumn sunlight filtered through the gaps between leaves, painting picturesque patterns across the bluestone pavement.
Hyperion, who had been walking along this path toward the School of Magic Engineering, suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her amber eyes were wide with disbelief, as if questioning whether Lanqi was in his right mind.
Her fingers gripped the hem of Lanqi's coat tightly, as if terrified he might jump off a cliff at any moment.
"H-How could you possibly go visit a Cardinal of the Resurrection Church?!"
Hyperion glanced around, dragged Lanqi to the edge of the path, and asked in a hushed voice.
In this academy—
No.
In this entire world, there had never been a student deranged enough to go call on a bishop of the Resurrection Church!
And taking ten thousand steps back,
"Visiting Slate Bearers" was never designed by Ikerite Academy as a suicidal, lethal assignment meant for students to throw their lives away!
Hyperion knew that when other people sounded crazy, it was often just talk.
Lanqi, on the other hand, was truly unhinged—he actually followed through on his words.
She dared not go, yet she dared not let Lanqi run wild on his own, either!
"I really think we can go big on this," Lanqi whispered back, laying out his conspiracy. "Information is cut off between the Northern and Southern Continents. When the time comes, we can disguise ourselves, assume new identities, cross the sea to the Northern Continent, and infiltrate the Extinction Branch of the Resurrection Church."
Lanqi continued to explain in low, conspiratorial tones:
"Then, we play to our strengths and slowly climb the ranks within the church. Eventually, we'll get a chance to meet Cardinal Askesan."
He grew more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, looking as if he could hardly wait to embark on this proposed graduation project.
"Besides, think about it, Hyperion—since our alliance of nations has procedures for viewing slates, maybe the Resurrection Church has a way for cultists to view their Cardinal's slate too!"
Hyperion was completely dumbfounded. She stood frozen in place for a long time.
Then, clutching her forehead, she shook her head.
Hyperion didn't know whether spending so much time around Lanqi had corrupted her and warped her judgment, or if Lanqi's plan actually held water—because she somehow felt that compared to that night at the Demon Academy, this scheme didn't even seem that dangerous!
Between the Northern and Southern Continents lay the treacherous waters of the Sea of Netherbound, an enormous natural catastrophe spawned by a failed Tier 9 Shadow World that had persisted for a millennium without degrading.
Across that sea route, chaotic mana storms rendered spells practically useless, making it impossible to establish communication magic between the two continents. Information could only be carried across by periodic merchant ships or powerful figures braving the voyage.
Thus, if the two of them went to the Northern Continent, they would essentially be complete newcomers appearing out of thin air.
If they could go a step further and capture a Resurrection cultist on the Southern Continent to extract their identity and background intel, they could even infiltrate the Northern Continent's Resurrection Church under legitimate cult identities!
"...Lanqi, are you sure you really want to choose this project?"
Hyperion swallowed hard and asked him.
"If you agree, I'd like to pick it."
Lanqi nodded, his eyes clear and resolute.
"..."
Hyperion bit her lower lip, an ominous feeling creeping over her.
She wasn't worried that infiltrating the Resurrection Church would be too dangerous for them—because Lanqi himself was the hazard.
Nor was she worried that the Kingdom Alliance might misunderstand them if it ever came to light—people in the Kingdom Alliance already suspected them anyway.
What truly terrified Hyperion was that, based on past experience, the moment this guy entered a lawless land, he would rapidly adapt, comprehend things no normal person could ever learn, and evolve at a horrifying pace!
Hyperion was desperately worried that during this undercover operation, Lanqi would accidentally build up his power and rise straight into the upper echelons of the Resurrection Church!
By then, the two of them would become villains famous across the Northern Continent, and once they returned to the Southern Continent, they would never be able to clear their names!
Yet as Hyperion looked into Lanqi's eyes now,
she knew that even if she refused to go,
he would inevitably find some opportunity to run off and seek out the Cardinal of Extinction on his own.
And the thought of letting him run wild by himself worried her even more.
"...There really is no helping you. Fine, I'll go with you! So, what's your plan?"
Hyperion gave a helpless sigh and agreed.
She knew Lanqi was bound to have some wild scheme cooked up.
"Hyperion, you get it, right? As long as we can capture a Resurrection cultist here on the Southern Continent, we can assume their identity and infiltrate the Resurrection Church on the Northern Continent far more easily," Lanqi asked.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too, but where are we going to catch a Resurrection cultist?"
Hyperion nodded gravely.
Defeating these bizarre, unpredictable cultists was difficult enough under normal circumstances, let alone capturing one alive to interrogate them.
Even if they did catch one, kingdom laws strictly prohibited citizens from privately interrogating cultists.
There had been past cases where individuals conversed too deeply with cultists and unwittingly fell into corruption themselves.
The kingdom's requirement that any captured cultists be turned over immediately was also instituted for the safety of its citizens.
"Hyperion, the truth is, there must be a Resurrection Church spy right here in our school. That's the only way they could ensure they'd ambush us in the Shadow World."
Lanqi's expression gradually grew serious.
Failing to catch this criminal element had clearly been weighing on his mind all along.
After the last Shadow World, Lanqi knew that running into Resurrection cultists targeting Hyperion hadn't been a coincidence. Someone in the academy had to be watching them from afar, without leaving a trace.
On the day they had headed to the building housing the sealed Void Gate, that spy must have used communication magic to relay the intelligence to numerous cultists. Those cultists then queued up around the same time, giving them a high probability of matching into Hyperion's Shadow World to hunt her down inside.
"Do you want to catch that spy and interrogate them?"
Hearing this, Hyperion felt her tension rise.
She had never detected the slightest trace of surveillance herself, but just as Lanqi said, someone in the academy had to have leaked intelligence to the Resurrection Church.
"There's no point thinking about catching that person for now. Even my teacher couldn't find them."
Lanqi shook his head helplessly.
Last time, when Talia seemed to be in a relatively good mood, Lanqi brought up the issue that assassins from the Resurrection Church might be targeting him and Hyperion at the academy.
Although his words were partly meant to trick Talia into doing some work, he hadn't expected her to agree to investigate so readily.
Yet even with Talia's power, after secretly watching Lanqi and Hyperion's surroundings for some time, she still hadn't noticed anyone monitoring either of them.
That left only one explanation.
The spy had blended seamlessly among the students, using the most primitive yet foolproof method of observation: watching them naturally in daily life, quietly keeping an eye on them.
Consequently, that person left behind no traces whatsoever, making it virtually impossible to bait them into a trap.
Once Lanqi and Hyperion headed for a Shadow World again, the intelligence would leak to the Resurrection Church once more.
After hearing Lanqi's explanation, a surge of indescribable reassurance welled up in Hyperion's heart alongside her nervous tension.
While she had felt panic over an invisible observer she couldn't handle on her own, Lanqi had already made all the preparations and thoroughly thought through how to respond to potential scenarios.
This feeling of having someone she could rely on was something she hadn't experienced since her father was around.
"Next time, I should pay a visit to your teacher and thank her in person..."
Hyperion said with genuine gratitude, though her tone soon turned hesitant.
"Though... if my presence would upset her, maybe it's better if you thank her on my behalf instead..."
Although Hyperion was curious about what kind of extraordinary person could possibly keep a student like Lanqi in line,
she realized upon calm reflection that not everyone was as friendly toward the demon race as Lanqi was.
As a demon despised by humanity, making an uninvited visit would likely do nothing but displease Lanqi's teacher.
Chapter 106