Lanqi, who had still been in the second-floor corridor preparing to return to the sanctuary to find Hyperion and Frey, stopped in his tracks as he watched the scenery of the castle gradually dissolve.
"Well, looks like I don't need to walk after all."
As the castle walls faded away, the light of dawn reached its peak for an instant before being abruptly supplanted by profound darkness.
In the mere blink of an eye, Lanqi found himself standing inside a transparent chamber that seemed enveloped by an eternal starry expanse.
Only a scattering of stars flickered faintly, glittering as though recounting tales tens of millions of years old and providing enough light for them to clearly see what lay before them; Frey and Hyperion were here as well.
This was a marvelous space—a threshold where the mortal realm and the Shadow World intertwined to form a liminal boundary.
Not far away on the transparent barrier, a spreading fissure quietly appeared, letting several tranquil streams of purple luminescence spill through. Soon, once they passed through this miniature Void Gate, they would be able to return to the mortal realm and resume their familiar campus life in Ikerite.
Yet the Shadow World's settlement screen had not yet appeared.
Drawing on their past experience, Lanqi and Hyperion were convinced that whenever too many mechanics were bypassed or derailed during a real Shadow World challenge, the settlement process took slightly longer.
There was no telling how much slower this one would be.
Lanqi smiled at Hyperion and Frey, ready to chat with them.
"Our rewards this time shouldn't be bad either," Lanqi promised them with utmost confidence.
"Well, after all, we farmed our score by sacrificing merit..."
Hyperion covered her cheek with one hand. To ensure her rewards would be good too, Lanqi had made her personally activate the Solar-Powered Boundless Merit Machine multiple times.
Although she was deeply grateful to Lanqi, the longer she stayed around him, the more impossible it became to remain a decent human being, no matter how hard she tried.
"I'm actually looking forward to it."
All the magic cards Frey possessed had been given to him by his teacher, Dean Sphintos of the School of Knights. For now, however, Sphintos had only given him cards up to the Purple Rare grade.
At the thought that he might earn his very first Pink Sacred or even Orange Epic magic card, Frey was struck by a happy dilemma—
Should he use it himself, or sell it for money to take a gamble on other resources?
"Frey, if you get a top-tier magic card that suits you and go sell it, I don't think Dean Sphintos will let you off easy..."
Hyperion was naturally well aware of that old gentleman who headed the School of Knights.
He had once been the teacher of Duke Micah Aransal as well.
For Frey to catch Old Man Sphintos's eye meant that Frey possessed talent that rivaled even that of Micah, who was renowned as an all-around genius.
Just as the three of them were idly chatting as they usually did in the student council room, lines of information finally began to flash into view in this quiet, wondrous space. Pure white script scrolled line by line across the dark void.
[Shadow World: Banquet of Sanctuary Villains cleared.]
[Verification complete. Generating evaluation.]
[Challengers Lanqi, Hyperion, and Frey entered as a team. Applying team settlement mode.]
[Total duration in this deductive-type Shadow World: 120 hours. The challenger side identified the traitors in 11 hours and 30 minutes, and completely unveiled all hidden information in 17 hours and 58 minutes.]
[The team achieved the following achievements.]
[Noble Educator (SS) — Under your influence, most living beings required only a single day to undergo evolution. As for those incapable of evolving, you helped them evolve through an alternative method.]
[Villains' Feast (A) — Successfully accomplished the traitors' objective in this deductive-type Shadow World: rescued and subdued Viscount Augustine.]
[External Warfare Expert (S) — The traitors fell into your trap and were tormented within an inch of their lives.]
[Musical Enlightenment (E) — At your request, the Poet of Great Love earnestly performed on the pipe organ instead of choosing to remodel it into earth-shattering kitchenware according to her personal preferences.]
[Vampire Catch and Release (SSS) — In total, you released and resealed Viscount Augustine over ten thousand times.]
[Conscience (D) — You are a kind-hearted witch; you were the only one acting like a decent human being.]
"These should be for me and Hyperion," Lanqi said cheerfully to the other two as he watched the glowing screen update.
"...What on earth is that 'Musical Enlightenment' one about?"
Although there was plenty to criticize, what Hyperion found most incomprehensible was that achievement regarding the Poet of Great Love.
"Could it be that the Poet of Great Love was eyeing that pipe organ the entire time?" she asked in bewilderment.
"No wonder she was always loitering around and staring at the organ in the sanctuary. I thought she just wanted to play it a bit longer." Frey nodded, finally understanding the Poet of Great Love's quirks.
It turned out that what burned in her eyes was not the soul of a musician at all, but the soul of a craftsman.
"I'll have to keep a closer eye on my summon from now on. She's far too eccentric—I definitely can't let her near any valuable instruments," Lanqi muttered with lingering fear.
The Poet of Great Love possessed full self-awareness, and not even Lanqi could guess what went on inside her head. He had not anticipated that she really seemed a bit unhinged.
If she accidentally ruined some priceless instrument cherished as a national treasure, any damage caused by a summoned entity would be charged entirely to the summoner, and Lanqi might end up financially ruined.
While they spoke, the Shadow World's evaluation continued to update.
[Great Detective (SS) — You are a detective possessing both intellect and martial might, leaving enemies unable to tell whether you solve cases through sheer strength or sheer intellect.]
[Castle Protector (C) — Thanks to rapid investigation, no bedroom doors were destroyed by the traitors on the first night. You kept Lichtenstein Castle in pristine condition.]
[Gospel of the Vampires (S) — Through your efforts, vampires acquired an unprecedented evolutionary path: mummies.]
[Achievement review concluded. Evaluation generation complete.]
[A slaughter game underwent a complete change in nature due to your presence. Compared to you, even the two traitors designated as the sanctuary villains seemed like actual human beings.]
[Overall Evaluation: SSS]
[Tier Increase: Lanqi: Tier 3 → Tier 4; Hyperion: Tier 4 → Tier 5; Frey: Tier 4 → Tier 5.]
The moment the rewards reached settlement, all three underwent a breakthrough in tier.
Lanqi even realized that, having just stepped into Tier 4, he was already not that far away from Tier 5.
Challenging a Tier 5 Shadow World while at Tier 3 yielded excessive rewards to begin with, to say nothing of having achieved an SSS evaluation.
Beside him, Frey, feeling this divine bestowal like an epiphany for the first time, clenched both fists in astonishment.
"Frey, how does it feel?" Lanqi asked.
Compared to himself and Hyperion, the change brought by the tier increase should be most pronounced for Frey.
"...I'm already Tier 5? If I fought a duel at night against the Saintess of Destruction in forest terrain, I could trap and kill her too."
Frey was certain that alongside his rise in tier, another portion of his wolf-kin traits had awakened.
Lanqi nodded.
Even when Frey had been Tier 4, his strength had rivaled that of a Tier 5.
Now that he had reached Tier 5, although a watershed divided Tier 5 and Tier 6, Frey enjoyed his racial enhancement at night, making him a force that could not be underestimated even among Tier 6 combatants.
He could be considered the strongest fighting force on their team for now.
[Settlement Rewards: Tear of Imperishable Glaze (Tier 4 Epic Equipment Card), Wolf King's Proud Heart (Epic-grade Material), Witch's Warm Companionship (Tier 5 Sacred Equipment Card).]
Promptly following the appearance of this message, three hazy, swirling clusters of light floated toward them.
Chapter 172