In the brightly lit bedroom, the two exchanged a glance.
"?"
That was true enough...
Yet Hyperion felt that if Viscount Augustine fell under Lanqi's control, that would be the truly catastrophic problem!
She had already deciphered Lanqi's jargon.
This guy wanted to personally rescue Viscount Augustine.
Then take control of Viscount Augustine.
Securing a Tier 6 Blood Clan test subject completely at his mercy!
*You might not be a traitor, but what you're doing is far worse than any traitor!*
"Sticela, I'm afraid we'll have to trouble you to stay in this room for the next few days. Our broadcast can't reveal that you've become our ally. On the surface, we must remain mortal enemies, but we'll bring you three meals a day, and if you need anything, just let us know."
Lanqi spoke gently to Priestess Sticela.
Sticela nodded obediently.
Although she knew the challengers couldn't place unconditional trust in her right away, Lanqi's words made her feel remarkably comfortable and at ease.
"Hyperion, let's talk as we walk."
Lanqi was already standing by the bedroom door, notebook cradled in his arm. Gripping the handle beside the frame, he gave a gentle pull. The ancient hinges issued a faint creak as the heavy door swung open, and the biting late-night chill of the castle hallway washed over them.
"Mm."
The two stepped out of Bedroom 203. The door slowly swung shut behind them and locked. Lamplight from the corridor cast dappled shadows across the relief carvings on its back, as if silently recounting the passage of time.
Along the second-floor corridor, wall sconces cast a warm amber glow over them, stretching their shadows long against the floor.
"What on earth are you planning...?"
Hyperion asked Lanqi as they walked down the second-floor hallway.
They walked side by side. Beneath the dark wooden floorboards lay endless silence, so deep that she could hear her own heartbeat.
"Think about it: sealing a Blood Clan viscount once counts as an act of merit, right?"
Lanqi turned his head, smiling into Hyperion's eyes.
"...?"
Hyperion's gaze froze for a second.
"Well... yes, that's true."
She knew that typically, pulling off key turning points in a more convoluted scenario would unlock an extra achievement during the Shadow World's final evaluation, increasing the overall rating accordingly.
Taking their previous run through Purgatory Corridor Academy as an example, where they had achieved that utterly absurd SSS rating, Lanqi had racked up a whole pile of bizarre achievements that no ordinary challenger could ever pull off.
In this run, their team had undoubtedly unlocked some extremely strange achievements as well, but even Hyperion wasn't certain whether their final score would be an SS or an SSS.
In a normal run, Grade A or Grade S was the ceiling; anything higher only appeared when someone broke the Shadow World in completely ridiculous ways.
Hyperion figured Lanqi might be looking for one last push to score big and guarantee an SSS.
Yet compared to the achievements Lanqi and Frey had already racked up, even if Objective 2 still had a few points left to mine, how much difference could it really make to an already astronomical score?
"Hyperion, you know how it works, right? During the day, the Blood Clan hide away in a safe spot, sealing themselves inside coffins to sleep, ensuring they won't catch a single ray of sunlight or get dug up by enemies."
Lanqi patiently explained.
"I know that."
Hyperion thought for a moment and nodded.
That was indeed common knowledge established right at the start of this Shadow World.
Members of the Blood Clan possessed their own sealing arts, capable of sealing themselves away for protection.
"Then, if we train the viscount and coffin into a fully automated sealing loop machine—making him repeat the unseal-seal-unseal cycle under my command for four full days—wouldn't that count as me sealing the viscount tens of thousands of times?"
Lanqi spread his hands proudly, explaining with a bright smile.
If sealing a Blood Clan viscount once counted as one deed of merit, then after four continuous days of this, his merit would surely be boundless!
"...?"
Hyperion stared wide-eyed into Lanqi's emerald eyes.
Her lips parted slightly, but her throat couldn't produce a single sound!
Seeing the pure, innocent smile on Lanqi's face, Hyperion was certain: Lanqi had just concocted a scheme to sacrifice every shred of merit to shamelessly farm the rating!
So all their previous achievements in this Shadow World had merely been the preamble; the real points-farming bonanza was only beginning now.
A terrifying silence hung over the corridor.
They passed bedroom after bedroom. Glancing out the windows, they could see the woods beneath the moonlight, resembling sleeping behemoths—mysterious and tranquil.
Along the walls hung rows of portraits; the depicted landscapes and figures seemed to dance with their footsteps, watching them with curious, leisurely, or stern gazes.
Ever since entering this Shadow World, having Lanqi by her side meant Hyperion had rarely felt frightened.
Now, precisely because Lanqi was by her side, she felt terrified.
"Lanqi..."
"Yeah?"
"Never mind..."
The two reached the stairs, running their hands along the carved banister. The weathered stone beneath their palms felt rough, cold, and unyielding.
After unmasking the traitors, everyone's focus had shifted toward facing the Saintess of Destruction and Count Palocas, leaving no one concerned with the identities of the werewolf and the witch.
Now, aside from Hyperion—who was already known to be the witch—unsealing Viscount Augustine would also require finding the werewolf.
Hyperion felt more and more that within a mere five minutes, Lanqi had traversed the entire life trajectory of both historical traitors.
Silence persisted.
Stepping onto the solid stone steps, every footfall produced a faint echo, pulsing like the late-night heartbeat of the castle.
Before long, they arrived on the third floor. A gentle breeze drifted in through an open corridor window, carrying the crisp, cold air of the higher nocturnal reaches.
"Lanqi, I somehow get the feeling this isn't really 'merit'..."
Hyperion, having hesitated for so long, finally voiced her thoughts as gently as she could.
"Are we seriously going to make Viscount Augustine do sit-ups for four whole days...?"
Hyperion mumbled under her breath.
She was doing everything in her power to salvage Lanqi's humanity.
She remembered that when she first met Lanqi, he had at least resembled a human being.
Even during their first collaboration in the third round of the entrance exams, Lanqi had still fallen within the category of an animal.
Ever since that trip to Purgatory Corridor Academy, however, Lanqi had begun sprinting headlong in an unrecognizable direction.
And now, his condition seemed to have worsened yet again.
She could hardly bear to imagine what he would turn into once he infiltrated the Resurrection Church and went through the remaining two Shadow Worlds of the Blood Moon Cataclysm series...
"Don't worry. When the time comes, we can just leave the actual work to the Poet of Great Love and the clergymen. We're only responsible for rescuing Viscount Augustine and handing him over to them. Work done by clergy gets its merit credited directly by the Goddess of Fate—officially certified!"
Lanqi explained with complete reason and conviction.
Even if the three clergymen took a cut as middlemen, it was an official channel—genuine and trustworthy.
"Once we finish developing the fully automated Viscount Augustine loop device, we can even document it in the *On Ecological Balance and Blood Clan Governance* report."
Lanqi rubbed his hands in eager anticipation, feeling as though this trip to the Shadow World was proving to be bountiful beyond measure.
"?"
Hearing that, Hyperion froze once more.
She buried her face in her hands, softly whimpering.
For over a decade, she had fought tooth and nail just to be recognized as human by the people of Ikerite. Yet after meeting Lanqi, that lifelong dream was shattered in an instant.
Chapter 161