As midnight drew near, the night sky had long since drawn its dark curtain.
Lichtenstein Castle and the surrounding mountains were cloaked in thick fog and shadowy moonlight.
Inside the hall on the base level.
The chill of late autumn tried to seep through the castle's thick stone walls, only to be turned away by the warmth radiating from the fireplace. Everyone in the banquet hall was enveloped in a cozy, lively atmosphere.
Farther down the long table, near the main entrance to the chapel, stood Count Palocas. His figure was solitary and stern, radiating an extraordinary oppressive aura that weighed heavily upon the surrounding air.
"..."
They clearly knew he was coming, yet they still acted as if he were beneath their notice.
A surge of confusion, a hollow sense of thwarted expectations, and the foolish frustration of shadowboxing against thin air caused Count Palocas to chuckle self-mockingly.
He had never seen lower life-forms this arrogant.
Yet it was undeniably amusing.
Clearly, not everyone at the table possessed the elegance and composure of the black-haired, green-eyed youth in the seat of honor.
The only ones putting on a convincing act were a cool young man with grayish-white hair half-wearing sunglasses, and a female demon in a red dress with ash-gray hair and an alluring smile. Neither of them seemed the least bit afraid.
As for the others, subtle twitches and gestures betrayed varying degrees of nervousness. Their patchy acting laid bare this group of humans' empty bravado.
"Why do you look so stern?"
Lanqi raised his glass, smiling as he addressed this uninvited guest, Count Palocas.
He showed no intention of reproaching Count Palocas for barging in uninvited and interrupting their dinner.
"A cherished thrall of mine died here. Are you aware of this?"
Count Palocas was in no hurry to claim Lanqi's head, questioning him like a monarch interrogating a subject.
This bug was the most amusing of the bunch, and he had plenty of time tonight to discipline and prepare him.
"She had a brief lapse in judgment and chose to take her own life. I am deeply sorry for her passing."
Lanqi's brows dipped slightly, as though reminiscing over the late Saintess of Destruction.
He had failed to save a student who had lost her way.
Lanqi knew his personality might lead people to call him excessively bleeding-hearted.
Yet he did not mind. Benevolence was a path of thorns; malice, and even kindness, could bring harm.
"..."
Hyperion stole a glance at Lanqi, not daring to utter a peep!
She felt this bastard had to be thinking up something outrageously inhumane. He truly had zero fear of divine retribution.
Count Palocas smiled, asking Lanqi in a teasing tone, "Is that so? Then would you all kindly take your own lives as well?"
Silently, Palocas kept a tally in his mind. For every remark Lanqi made in this vein, he would ensure the human pleaded for mercy a pitch higher tonight.
Lanqi fell silent for a moment, as though confronted with a grave issue.
After a brief pause, he spoke once more:
"Inciting, coercing, or luring another person into suicide is a criminal offense, constituting intentional homicide or intentional injury, Count Palocas."
Lanqi remained seated just as before, looking indolent, yet completely different from moments ago.
"Do you not understand that in the Horning Empire today, the Blood Clan is the law itself? The human laws you speak of are merely rules of a game meant for worms like you to abide by."
Count Palocas found this human's speech quite entertaining—arrogant in just the right way.
It was as puerile and laughable as a child clamoring to report someone to the grown-ups.
"Is that right..."
Lanqi lowered his eyes and murmured, his emerald-green pupils clear and bright, like gemstones shimmering with a faint glow. "For you to say such a thing, it seems every one of you in the Blood Clan is an outlaw."
Hyperion's breath hitched.
Though Lanqi's voice and expression remained entirely unchanged as he drew this conclusion, Hyperion, sitting beside the long table, knew instantly—
Count Palocas was in colossal trouble!!
From this point forward, whenever Lanqi faced any member of the Blood Clan, he would automatically hold the ultimate moral and legal high ground!
Having said his piece, Lanqi seemed to grow bored of bantering with Count Palocas, losing interest in him entirely.
"Come. This headmaster grants you an opportunity to challenge me."
Lanqi looked down upon Count Palocas as though seated upon a throne.
"...Challenge you?"
Though Count Palocas kept his smile intact, a vein throbbed on his forehead.
He had not even ordered these humans to begin struggling, yet this fellow was already issuing commands from a position of superiority.
Earlier, this human had even dared to call him 'Little Pa'—a slight he had by no means forgotten.
Palocas finally understood. Lanqi's arrogance was no act; this human truly had not taken him seriously from the very beginning!
"Little Blood Clan, it's not too late to run, you know?"
The Poet of Great Love tilted her head back from her seat with a blooming smile. Her incendiary demeanor looked precisely like she was ridiculing Palocas for being a useless male, showing not the slightest concern about being captured by him.
Count Palocas froze instantly. He stared blankly at the little succubus, feeling his blood pressure spike through the roof, followed by a surge of dreadful pressure that seemed poised to shatter the very floor!
The surrounding air froze in a heartbeat, turning heavy, hard, and bitingly frigid. It hung like an icy shackle, making it difficult for the challengers to breathe.
His body began to tremble—not out of fear or cold, but because the flames of fury raging within him were forging a ravenous beast on the verge of erupting.
The Poet of Great Love's provocative, soul-snatching tone was the final spark that unleashed the wrath Count Palocas had been suppressing ever since stepping into the chapel!
In the next instant, Count Palocas's figure streaked through the air, trailing a long afterimage as he charged toward the banquet table with violent fury. His speed was terrifying, like the reaper's claws ripping through the dark of night!
The crimson in Palocas's savage eyes deepened, becoming dark enough to swallow all light.
He was well aware that his opponents might hold some trump cards!
Yet under his active [Blood Frenzy] authority, any human trickery would prove utterly feeble!
...
A heavy mantle of night enveloped the whole of Ikerite Academy. At this late hour, Jera Memorial Square was the only illuminated area on the campus.
In the center of the square, the open-air transparent curtain continued to project the live broadcast in a soft white glow. The second hand on the clock tower ticked toward the top of the hour, slicing through the quiet night sky with its rhythm to announce the start of a new day.
Yet the atmosphere in the square seemed pressed to a breaking point. The students' faces were devoid of laughter, replaced by deep solemnity, tinged even with sorrow and despair.
They knew that what was about to appear on the giant screen would be a horrific scene—a catastrophic tragedy for Ikerite Academy.
"How foolish, Lanqi! Even if he really had some plan, it's completely useless now."
"There's no guessing a Blood Clan authority. All we can say is their luck was terrible—they just had to run into one that hard-counters all fancy tricks!"
Many students began averting their eyes or lowering their heads. Some closed their eyes, some bit their lips, and others whispered prayers.
Though opinions varied regarding the student council's infamous tyrant trio, the three were ultimately the pride and face of the academy's freshmen.
The Blood Clan Count was bearing down with murderous intent, while those around the banquet table remained motionless, like marionettes pulled by fate, powerless to resist the coming tragedy.
At this bloody juncture...
A solitary figure stood apart from the crowd on a road in the distance. Unlike the students bowing their heads and averting their eyes, he stared at the giant outdoor screen with mounting satisfaction.
Seeing that the challengers were still utterly helpless even after thoroughly enraging the Blood Clan Count, Modan could no longer suppress his smile. It was no ordinary grin, but one of triumph and pity, brimming with relish for the agony others were about to suffer.
Just as everyone believed this Shadow World was about to meet its end...
The hands on the clock tower aligned at midnight.
Lichtenstein Castle, at the far end of the chapel banquet table.
Lanqi rested his chin on one hand, his other hand laid casually against the tabletop. His expression was calm, as though he had always held the thunder and lightning in his grasp.
His knuckles lightly tapped the surface. Resting on the napkin was none other than that epic magic card crackling with an orange cocoon of lightning!
In an instant...
Dazzling light akin to the sun flooded the entire chapel!
In a flash, the space transformed into a world of pure white light, swelling as if it would burst through the stained-glass and rose windows, cloaking Lichtenstein Castle atop the cliff in a rainbow-tinted aura!
A sphere of light like a brilliant sun rose within the chapel, and beneath the blessing of its radiance, even the ground grew warm.
*Clang, clang!*
Like ripples descending from a pure white heaven, the midnight chimes rang out in harmony with ceremonial music.
Amidst the twelve resonant tolls of the chapel's sacred bells, Count Palocas felt as if his skull were being shattered by the striking bell, thrust into the scorching glare of high noon where day and night had been completely overturned!
Mid-dive, Count Palocas clutched his eyes in agony, feeling as though thousands of needles had been driven into them, and crashed to the floor, completely off balance.
"No, that's impossible! Aaarghhh!"
At that moment, though Count Palocas would rather believe the light searing his eyes was merely an illusion, the reality was that his strength had withered to a mere tenth of its peak!
Worse still, this solar power seemed to constantly refract and amplify within the chapel, subjecting him to a terrifying torment far exceeding being scorched beneath the midday sun!
"Aaargh! My power! Why—why can you make the sun rise in the middle of the night?! What on earth are you?!"
Amidst Count Palocas's heart-wrenching shrieks, the Executioner, the male guard, and the others had already put on sunglasses.
"Praise the Goddess!"
"Hehehehe!"
With eyes still carrying a trace of chaotic haze, the clergy picked up their weapons and strode toward the count like remorseless butchers.
Far down at the end of the long banquet table, Lanqi remained seated in the place of honor, his eyes gently closed with a faint smile.
"The early bird catches the worm. Young people ought to sleep early and rise early to keep a proper schedule. Turning day into night, sleeping away the daytime at home and wandering around making trouble in the dark... it's all too easy for your heart to turn gloomy."
Listening to Count Palocas's agonized wails beneath the illumination of Radiant Virtue, Lanqi let out a soft sigh.
He had always felt that the Blood Clan had a glaring flaw.
Their daily routine was simply dreadful.
Not only was it detrimental to both body and mind, but it also set a terrible example for impressionable youths.
In truth, Lanqi was quite fond of the Blood Clan. As a headmaster, he had always believed in educating without discrimination.
Thus, his immediate objective was to first help every member of the Blood Clan correct their daily routine.
Chapter 151