In the dense mountain forest outside Lichtenstein Castle, rising black smoke coiled across the sky like a colossal black dragon, roaring its existence.
Sparks spread and multiplied across the canopy, threatening to dye the entire forest redder than the sunset glow.
Behind the sanctuary's floor-to-ceiling glass windows, everyone's conversation vanished in an instant. Stunned disbelief was written across their faces as they stared fixedly at the inexplicable turn of events out in the mountain forest, struggling to make sense of it all.
The setting sun cast irregular patterns of light and shadow across their faces through the stained glass along the sides, making their expressions seem even more confused and obscure.
Though their eyes darted ceaselessly between the black smoke and the woods, hearts rife with doubt and anxiety, no one spoke. In the end, they could only turn as one to look at Lanqi.
Could it be...
Was all of this within Mr. Lawyer's calculations?
"I really have to hand it to the two of you..."
Hyperion had caught on by now.
That sly dog Frey hadn't left at all—he had been laying traps and squatting in the dense woods all day!
In a one-on-one within the forest terrain, with a heavily injured Saintess of Destruction out in the open and an exhaustively prepared Frey lurking in the dark, the Saintess of Destruction was in for a world of hurt.
As the others gradually realized what was going on, hope for victory flared up once more!
In the corner beneath the rose window.
A moment later, the Resurrection Church priestess's expression froze.
Even as this twist defied her comprehension, her heart began pounding wildly.
"How... how is that possible..."
She hurriedly counted the heads in the sanctuary, confirming that everyone was accounted for.
Intense confusion and dread sent her mind racing.
Then, as if remembering something, the priestess's eyes snapped wide.
There truly was one person missing.
The bastard who had thrown their minds into chaos right from the start, only to vanish from the map!
If this was all a ruse, what had all of today's turmoil and humiliation been for?
Before she could process her near-shattering state of mind, the Resurrection Church priestess opened her mouth in horror, her face blanching with despair.
"Ah... ah..."
She saw that the Shadow World had updated its notice:
[Traitor Adelice is deceased. Blood Master Count Palocas will arrive at the border of the Horning Empire in approximately six hours, coordinates Lichtenstein Castle.]
All at once—
"Do you even know what you've done?!! She was the Saintess of Destruction!!"
The priestess roared at the top of her lungs, "Great! Now we can all die together!!!"
Originally, she had something to rely on: according to the mechanics of the Shadow World, once a traitor was slain, it would summon the Blood Clan Count, and she had at least been certain she would return to the mortal realm alive.
But now, once the Blood Clan Count arrived, he would unleash an indiscriminate slaughter!
Because the quest objectives and background of the two Blood Clan dependents had cast them as schemers harboring treasonous ambitions against their blood master!
Meanwhile.
Not far from the priestess.
The last glimmer of light in the bound noble mage girl's eyes seemed to fade into utter despair, tinged with a faint sense of resignation.
"The Blood Clan... is an inescapable nightmare after all..."
Her lips trembled slightly, as if she had accepted an irresistible fate, yet despised it with all her heart.
...
Inside the sanctuary, the hearts of the others went completely cold. Even the fiercest of them, the Executioner, slumped powerlessly to the floor.
In a split second, their emotions had ridden a complete roller coaster.
They had only just understood why Lanqi had been so calm earlier—he had foreseen all along that the Detective was lurking in the woods.
Yet before they could rejoice, thunderstruck despair struck them like a bolt from the blue!
The good news was that the Saintess of Destruction had been dealt with.
The bad news was that they were all going to die tonight.
Those two were simply too ruthless, playing the Saintess of Destruction like a fool. In the end, driven to madness, even if the Saintess couldn't defeat the Detective who ambushed her, she would choose self-destruction, dragging everyone down with her into the grave.
Losing now was hardly a surprise.
It was only because there had been so much hope before that the disappointment stung so sharply.
As the last sliver of hope crumbled, a pall of gloom hung over the group.
"So be it."
"We did our best."
"Win or lose, no regrets."
"At least when facing Resurrection cultists, none of us ever cowed before death."
The sanctuary fell suddenly silent; weapons finally grew weary.
The sorrowful sunset seemed to portend their lives, burning through their pupils before plunging downward with finality.
Their mutual encouragement felt like final farewells, a worthy conclusion to the day's struggle, each person embracing the relief of going to their death with open eyes.
Faced with a Tier 7 Count arriving tonight and five whole nights to survive, they truly could not conceive of any way to win.
This time, it really was over.
...
...
Wait... what was with Lanqi's expression?
Perhaps out of habit, the challengers in the sanctuary couldn't help glancing at Lanqi.
He was still calmly sipping from his goblet!
"What are you all looking at me for? Let's eat first."
Lanqi looked at them in confusion, casually pointing toward the banquet table as if he had been waiting for everyone to dine together for ages.
The title of this Shadow World clearly said "Sanctuary Banquet."
It was blatantly a tour-and-dining-themed Shadow World, so what was everyone just standing around for instead of eating?
"Could there still be a way...?"
Startled, everyone fixed their gaze in the same direction.
The setting sun sloped through the several-meter-high floor-to-ceiling windows onto Lanqi. As he sat leisurely on the sofa, his silhouette seemed more dazzling than the sun itself.
"There are still six hours left. Hunting a Count will be a breeze, won't it?"
Lanqi curled his lips, once again flashing a confident smile.
It bore the very same certitude he'd exuded back when he wielded thunder and lightning in the Purgatory Corridor Academy!
...
At that moment, back at Ikerite Academy on Jera Memorial Square, every student's expression mirrored those of the challengers on screen.
Stunned disbelief, utterly unable to believe it.
A Tier 7 Blood Clan Count.
And five entire nights.
Even if all of them put together could stand against a top Tier 6 Saintess of Destruction, a Tier 7 Count was a terrifying entity that mere human flesh and blood could never withstand!
The higher the tier, the vaster the gulf between ranks became.
"Word has it that Lanqi's epic masterpiece from the registered card maker exam... is a miniature sun..."
"That's just a fake sun! It doesn't have the power of the sun!"
[Radiant Virtue]'s vision-sealing function made it a reasonably versatile and practical card, but taking into account its indiscriminate nature and massive mana consumption, it was still far too underwhelming for an Orange Epic.
"I can't watch anymore."
The atmosphere across the square had shifted from earlier clamor into dead silence.
Unable to stomach the suffocating despair on screen, many students began drifting away from Jera Memorial Square.
It felt like a tragedy destined to unfold six hours from now.
The atmosphere in the faculty conference room at this moment was surely just as heavy.
Because tonight, Ikerite Academy was about to lose three of its most exceptional freshmen.
Chapter 143