"Don't worry, Hyperion. With a detective and a lawyer by your side, there's no way any criminal can harm you."
Frey nodded. Whenever a companion needed help, he was always ready to lend a hand.
He just hadn't expected the topic to take such an enormous leap moments earlier.
He had assumed this was merely an ordinary reception assignment where the three of them only needed to maintain their usual solid performance to see the guests off without a hitch.
Instead, lurking beneath the surface was a conspiracy that touched on the diplomatic relations between the Hutton Kingdom and the Aloran Kingdom.
If the three of them—shining role models of the student council—could manage to root out an elite Resurrection Church cultist right in the middle of hosting the Aloran Kingdom's academic delegation, His Majesty the King would undoubtedly commend them for such meritorious service.
And the bounty wouldn't be small, either!
"Indeed. With you two around, I feel like the ones who are always in danger are our enemies."
Hyperion had finally come to understand her role.
So it turned out she was the ultimate bait.
For their team to keep this virtuous cycle going, getting rich and acquiring everything they could possibly want, she was truly indispensable.
"We are the vanguard representing the fresh power of Ikerite Academy! We must bring honor to our school this time!"
"That's right. When the time comes, Dean Loren will surely thank the three of us properly."
"...If an accident really happens, just make sure you two don't leave me behind when you run away..."
Chatting along the way, the trio reached the ground floor, where the familiar sanctuary came into view.
Both the vaulted ceiling and the ornate stained-glass windows exuded a serene beauty, accompanied only by the echo of their footsteps.
Walking past the sanctuary toward the area behind the stairs, they found a stone door tucked into a corner, adorned with an aged iron ring. This was the entrance leading down to the wine cellar.
"Is it here?" Frey asked.
"Yes," Lanqi answered.
Frey then pushed open the heavy stone door. A bone-chilling cold rushed out from the gap, and the three proceeded down the stone steps. Soon, the aroma of oak barrels met their noses—a unique scent born of wine mingling with time.
When they entered the cellar and lit the lamps, they saw row upon row of massive oak barrels, neatly aligned. The light in the cellar was dim and hazy, and the air was saturated with the mellow fragrance of aged wine, mingled with the earthy scent of damp stone walls and aged timber.
In this Shadow World, both high-end food and various drinks were in abundant supply.
"According to Sticela, simply dripping blood onto the cellar floor will trigger the underground magic barrier's reaction."
As Lanqi spoke, he drew a small vial from his pocket, which contained a bit of the blood collected from the Saintess of Destruction during her earlier battle.
That blood couldn't be allowed to go to waste.
Lanqi uncorked the vial and let the crimson blood drip onto the open floor at the center of the cellar.
The next second.
Like a water droplet disturbing a placid lake.
Ripples of translucent red radiated outward from the center.
The stone tiles hummed faintly, hinting at some hidden mechanism.
Lanqi squatted down and pressed his fingers against the floor, sensing the origin of the magical spell. Before long, his gaze shifted toward one side of the cellar.
He walked over and poured out the rest of the blood. Instantly, faint crimson magic surged violently across the floor, and the stone slabs gave off a deep rumble before slowly sinking down!
Revealing the secret hidden beneath the cellar—
Set into the subterranean hollow was an ultra-ancient magical device resembling a metal coffin. Intricate magical arrays and barriers were inscribed across its surface, the symbols pulsing and flickering as if alive.
Lanqi did not rush to take the next step. Instead, he brought Frey and Hyperion before the subterranean coffin to observe the spellwork upon it.
"Just as I thought. This spell is identical to the one in that sealing magic book from the library. However, it's a Tier 5 spell. Even if I can understand it or even learn it, I wouldn't be able to cast it."
Lanqi's emerald eyes remained fixed on the spell circuits composed of ancient human magic script as he spoke.
Once sealed inside, one's state would be locked, making any recovery impossible.
Its name was [Immortal Eternal Punishment].
"Once you reach Tier 5, will you be able to learn this spell to seal the Blood Clan?" Hyperion asked from the side.
"In theory, yes. Although the price isn't lethal—it merely drains the caster's mana extensively and causes some backlash—the practical prerequisite for this sealing art is that the target vampire must be incapacitated, and it requires both a werewolf and a witch to serve as mediums to cast it,"
Lanqi turned back to explain to her.
He had only scratched the surface of this extraordinarily complex ancient magic; the specific details would have to wait until they returned to the mortal realm for proper study.
Yet Lanqi felt an inexplicable confidence: perhaps this spell called [Immortal Eternal Punishment] would be the very first magic that he—someone who couldn't even cast a Fireball—could use without relying on magic cards!
When that time came, he would definitely show off to the practical combat instructors at the School of Sages that he, too, could use magic.
"According to my understanding, it is currently night, completely shielded from the sun. The two of you only need to drip your blood onto the coffin as keys, and this seal will reverse its operation and undo itself."
Lanqi stood up, took a step back, and said to his companions,
"By the way, at such a wonderful moment, we should turn the [Shadow World Recording Program] back on. After all, there's nothing left to hide in what comes next, and it will serve as a nice teaser for the major livestream event after dawn."
If the Aloran Kingdom's academic delegation arrived at noon, they would surely be able to view their livestream broadcast as well.
"Understood." Frey nodded.
"Are the three of us going to subdue him together in a moment?" Hyperion asked again.
"No need. Neither of you has to lift a finger; I can handle him with a single sentence," Lanqi said with supreme confidence, smiling.
"..."
Hyperion nodded dubiously.
She still prepared herself to jump in front of Lanqi at any moment to protect him.
She simply couldn't fathom how a Tier 6 vampire could be subdued with just a single sentence!
Frey and Hyperion quickly pricked their fingertips and each allowed a drop of blood to fall upon the coffin sealing Viscount Augustine.
The next instant.
The entire wine cellar fell dead silent, all sound seemingly confiscated by some mysterious power. Immediately after, a low, deafening roar arose from the center of the floor where the coffin lay embedded, the tremors shaking the cellar to its core.
A brilliant red aura shot straight up from the parting stone slabs, illuminating the entire cellar and even threatening to overflow up into the sanctuary above!
The magical ripples within that blood-red radiance grew increasingly immense and surging—a dreadful phenomenon like an omen of impending calamity!
The coffin lid slid open slowly, and frigid air drifted out, like an abyss from a ten-thousand-year glacier.
The chill seemed ready to freeze every living thing in the cellar. Then, out of the cold, a hand eroded by time to an ashen gray gradually appeared before their eyes.
The hand was gaunt, the skin clinging tightly to bone, almost completely devoid of nourishing blood, while the tips of its black fingernails gleamed with the cold glint of death.
Gripping the rim of the coffin, he slowly rose from the permafrost abyss of time. His crimson eyes blazed with light, gleaming sharp, deep, and utterly freezing in the darkness.
Viscount Augustine gazed at the three who had liberated and awakened him. His face was as pale as paper, devoid of color, bearing only an undisguised thirst for blood as he prepared to feed.
"It is you... who awakened me."
Viscount Augustine spoke slowly, his voice low and chilling. Every syllable cast a terrifying pressure over the wine cellar, as if the Reaper's scythe were already suspended over the trio's heads.
Right now, he was starving. Even though these three had freed him, he still had to feed.
These three frail creatures were entirely at his mercy.
And yet.
Lanqi remained as graceful as the castle's head butler, smiling at Viscount Augustine as he said:
"Viscount Augustine, we have prepared three humans for you, and Count Palocas is already waiting for you on the third floor."
He then opened his palm, displaying a ring that belonged to Count Palocas.
The malice in Viscount Augustine's eyes instantly vanished, replaced by solemn contemplation.
This precious ring carried the potent aura of a high-ranking Blood Clan noble. Even Viscount Augustine felt an instinctive shudder of dread.
Unless it was a dependent whom the count trusted deeply, the count would never hand over such a personal accessory.
"Count Palocas, is it..." Viscount Augustine murmured.
Since Count Palocas had arranged his rescue, he absolutely could not act rashly against the count's dependents.
Naturally, the count would also understand his famished state upon being unsealed, and had therefore prepared sustenance for him.
"It seems the count has prepared quite a generous gift for me—three rather fine humans, no doubt."
Viscount Augustine chuckled with satisfaction. Even down in the cellar, he could sense that it was nighttime, leaving no reason to doubt the sincerity of these three in breaking his seal.
"Take me to Count Palocas."
"This way, please."
Lanqi extended his hand composedly, gesturing for Viscount Augustine to head up out of the cellar.
In the gloom of the cellar, Viscount Augustine's silhouette swept past Lanqi like a dark tempest. His strides were firm and vigorous, like a beast eager to break from its cage, striding forward impatiently toward his blood feast.
As the viscount passed by, Lanqi stole a glance at Hyperion and Frey, giving them a playful wink.
The unspoken message: *See? He went willingly.*
Frey silently gave Lanqi a thumbs-up, looking very much like an accomplice in a human-trafficking ring whose scheme had just succeeded.
"...!"
Hyperion didn't dare make eye contact with them and simply kept her head down, walking forward.
Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that one day she would be participating in trafficking a vampire to harvest his organs!
The Goddess was watching her!
Chapter 163