While her laughter still echoed in the air, the door was gently pushed open, and a figure with an aura as warm as the sun appeared in the doorway.
Her laughter ceased abruptly, as though severed by a sharp blade.
The figure looked indistinct beneath the dim corridor light, but she knew that those gentle emerald eyes certainly did not belong to the Grim Reaper she had anticipated!
The gaze of the Resurrection Church priestess froze instantly like a stone statue, her expression blank, as if unable to comprehend why the one who had arrived was not the Count.
As Lanqi walked into the room with Hyperion, a chill wind from the hallway swept in, making the priestess shudder from head to toe. Even without knowing what was actually going on, she knew only that this was a nightmare she could not awaken from.
"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."
Lanqi's voice was very considerate, yet distinctly audible in the quiet night.
However...
Those words struck the young priestess's heart like a bolt of lightning, and her body shuddered violently.
The gentler this bizarre fellow spoke, the more terrifying it was.
*The Count? Has the Count really not arrived yet?!*
Every muffled note vibrating from the priestess's gagged mouth hung in the air, as though proclaiming her despair and anxiety.
She understood.
It just wasn't time yet.
If she endured just a little longer, she would see the Count arrive and slaughter this entire bunch!
At once, she broke into demented laughter again—a sound so crazed and desolate that even Hyperion felt a shudder in her heart.
Hyperion carried in a table and chairs, quickly turning the torture chamber into something that resembled a slightly more normal interrogation room.
Taking in the mottled bloodstains around the room, she could hardly imagine what kind of inquisitors the three clergymen had been trained into by the Poet of Great Love, or what state of mind the priestess was currently in.
"..."
Lanqi had no intention of telling the priestess the truth for now. Maintaining a polite demeanor, he calmly sat on the chair opposite her and opened his notebook, ready to take notes.
Before long...
The Poet of Great Love strolled into the room, humming an oddly tuned melody.
She circled the priestess, whose mental state was growing increasingly unhinged, sizing her up before whispering into her ear, "Is Count Palocas the one you want to see?"
"?"
From the moment she heard the Poet of Great Love's voice, the priestess's emotions became volatile and hypersensitive once more.
A single minor question threw her thoughts into utter disarray.
She did not understand what the Poet of Great Love's meaningful smile signified, yet a suffocating premonition of dread had already enveloped her!
"Come, open up for good fortune."
Seeing the priestess's expression, the Poet of Great Love gave a light wave of her arm with a smile.
The next second, the door of Bedroom 202 was pushed open once more.
The three clergymen marched in, holding the desiccated, mummified Count Palocas.
"Blood... Give it back to me..."
Count Palocas's hoarse rasp was as shrill and mournful as an evil spirit from hell.
And when the three clergymen holding him saw the priestess, their lips curled into horrifying grins as if they had spotted a new toy, their knuckles practically twitching with anticipation.
"Heh heh..."
The Executioner even held the [Blood Pressure Resuscitator], seemingly offering a courteous explanation to the priestess as to why Count Palocas had ended up like this—or perhaps itching to try it out on her as well.
"!!!"
The priestess's heart hammered like a sledgehammer. She let out a whimpering cry of horror, bean-sized tears welling in the corners of her eyes as cold sweat broke out over her entire body as if she had plunged into a winter lake.
"Kill me! Kill me! Kill me, aaaaagh—!"
Her slurred, gagged voice repeated that single line over and over, weeping and screaming hysterically in complete mental breakdown.
"Well? Did you get a good look at the Count?"
The Poet of Great Love stood behind the priestess, leaning down as if whispering sweet nothings into her ear. "Would you like the three of them to take care of you for another night? Four days and four nights is also fine, you know."
"No! Please no!!!"
The young priestess struggled with all her might, thrashing against her restraints almost self-destructively.
From the Shadow World's timer panel, she should have realized that the Count had already arrived; her mind was simply too scrambled to discern even the most obvious facts.
Yet the fact that a tier-7 Blood Clan Count had been subdued by this brutal gang of villains and tortured into such a miserable wreck far exceeded her comprehension—it felt more unreal than a dream!!
"So you have only one chance to choose... Do you want to answer Lanqi's questions honestly, or would you like to keep spending time with those three for four days and four nights?"
The Poet of Great Love's voice remained soft, as if trying to lull the priestess to sleep.
The priestess widened her trembling, terrified eyes, tears streaming down her face.
At last, between two choices as vastly different as heaven and hell, she broke down and surrendered completely.
"I'll answer your questions! I'll tell you anything..."
"If I catch even the slightest hint that you're lying, I'll call those three back, understand?"
The Poet of Great Love's fingertip lightly brushed along the bloody welts on the priestess's body, sending an itchingly icy chill piercing straight to her core.
The priestess nodded frantically.
She knew that with her emotions magnified, any flaw in her expression or emotional fluctuation would be glaringly obvious.
Afterward, the Poet of Great Love stood behind the priestess and flashed Lanqi a smug smile, signaling that it was taken care of.
"Poet of Great Love, you're great at everything except doing housework," Lanqi remarked with a sigh as he looked up and saw how thoroughly the priestess had been reformed by the Poet of Great Love's 'love.'
His summoned entity possessed marvelous skills that other people's high-tier, self-aware epic summons couldn't even dream of, yet when it came to simple tasks, she flatly refused to lift a finger—often acting as though Lanqi should be the one serving her tea and pouring water.
Fortunately, the Poet of Great Love wasn't a foodie like Talia. She rarely ate, was exceptionally thrifty, and would even help him craft cards to make money.
"Bleh! Unless you're willing to keep me summoned twenty-four hours a day, then maybe I'll consider sharing half the chores."
The Poet of Great Love stuck her tongue out at him.
"I must take the safety of my fellow classmates into consideration."
Lanqi was completely unmoved. He knew full well that the Poet of Great Love could not be released casually inside Ikerite Academy, nor was his mana regeneration rate high enough to sustain her living freely outside around the clock.
Without indulging in further chitchat with the Poet of Great Love, Lanqi gave the priestess a moment to catch her breath.
At last, he spoke in a gentle tone: "It's getting late today, so let's keep things brief. I'll ask you about the specific details later. But as long as you answer truthfully, I promise you won't suffer any more harm, all right?"
The priestess nodded frantically, as though thoroughly domesticated.
In her eyes at this moment, Lanqi looked like her sole angel.
Even though she knew perfectly well that this guy before her was the true source of all terror, she was utterly unable to stop an inexplicable, intense dependency on him from taking root in her heart—if only so he wouldn't hurt her anymore.
She was fully prepared to betray the Resurrection Church to Lanqi.
Even if she were imprisoned in the high-security penitentiary of the Creti Empire upon returning to the real world, and even if she faced unimaginable retaliation and pursuit from the Resurrection Church, she never wanted to be Lanqi's enemy again!
"..."
Seeing how she was trembling with terror, too frightened even to meet his eyes, Lanqi felt a slight pang of concern over whether he had frightened her.
"Please tell me: what does it take to join the Resurrection Church?" Lanqi asked, simple and direct.
"...?"
The priestess was momentarily stunned, wondering if she had misheard.
Before her mind could even process the words—
"Help me join the Resurrection Church, and once I go to the Creti Empire, I'll rescue you as well. You aren't an abandoned pawn of the Resurrection Church. I will protect you."
Lanqi spoke to her as if treating her as his own student.
His calm words and encouraging gaze did everything they could to offer warmth and care to this deeply insecure girl.
"...!!"
The priestess looked up at Lanqi in utter disbelief.
Instantly, as her thoughts spun wildly in reverse, a strange sense of enlightenment seemed to wash over her.
Indeed—this supremely mad, supremely evil, supremely wicked fellow was one of their own kind all along!
Yet she could hardly fathom just how high this lunatic would climb once he actually joined the Resurrection Church!
"I think you are someone of great potential. You are full of talent and promise, and you deserve a bright future—you just lacked proper guidance."
"Even if Imperial Princess Alexia and the Resurrection Church no longer want you, I still need you. You are indispensable. You will have my support, my help, and my strength..."
Under Lanqi's line after line of life-coach guidance, the priestess continued to tremble, yet within her chaotic gaze—a tangle of fear and relief—there now crept a glimmer of fanaticism and morbid devotion.
"..."
Standing to the side, Hyperion's eyes went wide.
Though she had long known about Lanqi's plan to infiltrate the Resurrection Church, watching the way he counseled the priestess made her feel like Lanqi was committing a cardinal sin!
Chapter 157