Inside the restaurant, even though time seemed to stand still under the weight of the confrontation, the tempest outside raged on unabated.
With every flash of lightning, brilliant blue-white light cascaded into the dining room, bathing everyone's faces alternately in violent brilliance and the deep darkness that followed.
Then came the thunder, roaring like an enraged beast, reverberating through the spacious room and rattling the doors and windows with violent vibrations.
The storm engulfed the entire street. Rain slammed against the windowpanes like a legion of cavalry clawing to breach the restaurant. Water streamed down the glass, intermittently blurring the world outside; everything beyond was shut away, leaving behind only those within the dining room.
Hyperion had no time to react, gripped solely by an instinctive, piercing sense of danger.
Phoenix, seated at the table beside the walkway Hyperion had just passed, moved with terrifying swiftness.
The gleam of cold steel aimed straight for the most vulnerable part of Hyperion's neck—the short sword had already come within inches of claiming her life twice.
Yet just as he lunged toward Hyperion, a suffocating pressure locked onto him, freezing him so thoroughly that he could not advance half a step.
It was not a physical restraint, but a marrow-deep chill—a warning echoing from the depths of hell.
Instinctively tracking the source of this mortal peril, his gaze locked with Talia's deep, frigid golden eyes.
In that single instant, he felt as though he were staring into the face of Death itself.
In her eyes, beyond mere apathy, burned an unpredictable, unfathomable wrath.
Talia's movements appeared calm and measured, yet in truth, she was far swifter than Phoenix.
She gently wrapped an arm around Hyperion, drawing her protectively to her side. Then, with bare fingers, Talia caught the tip of the assassin's blade, halting his thrust dead in its tracks.
Phoenix could feel the oppressive aura radiating from Talia. No matter how tightly he gripped the hilt or how desperately he exerted his strength, the blade remained pinned in midair, incapable of trembling in the slightest.
This meant that in terms of raw physical power alone, they were not even in the same league.
*Why... why is Lanqi's Poet of Great Love this strong?!*
Phoenix could not fathom it. How could a summon that looked like a mere Tier 1 creature moments ago suddenly turn into a monstrous entity rivaling a great demon?
His heart pounded violently. Sweat soaked his forehead, and every muscle in his body trembled convulsively, seized by a terror that surpassed anything he had ever experienced in his life.
All at once, multiple layers of curses seemed to travel down the hilt of his blade, filling every meridian in Phoenix's body with excruciating agony while sapping all his strength, reducing him to someone crippled by grave illness.
*There is something completely wrong with this Poet of Great Love!!*
*And Lanqi is even more twisted!*
Tearing his terrified gaze away from Talia, Phoenix swept his eyes across the restaurant, desperate to find an escape route.
Yet taking even a single step proved an impossible ordeal.
Before Talia, his struggles were no different from child's play.
The moment he tried to resist, an overwhelming mental pressure crashed down upon him. Following a brief bout of dizziness, he fell heavily to his knees.
The force was so immense that he could barely breathe, as if a colossal anvil had slammed down onto his shins.
Talia stood before him, casually raising an index finger. Her expression was placid, but her eyes held a chill capable of freezing bone.
To her, stopping this Tier 5 assassin was as effortless as swatting away a fly.
Phoenix had completely lost every shred of his former confidence. His face was deathly pale, his eyes wide with profound dread.
Her power far exceeded his wildest imagination; the gap between them was that of an ant looking up at a giant.
"Did you really think you could hurt her?"
Every word Talia spoke dripped with contempt, as if scolding worthless trash.
"Who... who are you..."
Just as Phoenix tried to force out the words, a razor-sharp pain seized his throat. No matter how hard he strained, he could not produce a sound.
In the next instant, Talia used mental magic to plunge him into total unconsciousness.
With that, the magical effects of Grand Puppet Theater completely dispersed.
The patrons in the dining room looked around in dazed bewilderment, having no idea what had just occurred or why they were all suddenly standing.
"Uh, Miss Tata, what just happened?"
The waitress looked at Talia and Hyperion standing in the aisle, looking as though she had just awakened from a dream.
"The thunder just now was too loud, so it gave everyone a fright," Talia explained calmly.
Meanwhile, the unconscious Phoenix on the floor had already been dragged swiftly up to the second-floor storeroom by Talia's summons.
That room was usually vacant; she would simply borrow it from Boss Cat for the day.
She was not particularly skilled at interrogation, but a certified scoundrel would arrive shortly to handle the aftermath.
"Oh, I see." The waitress glanced at the patrons and decided that must have been the case.
The restaurant quickly resumed its normal operations, as if nothing had ever happened.
Talia reflected on [Basic Etiquette], which she had just tested out, and decided Lanqi's magic was indeed quite useful.
She was hardly as clumsy as Lanqi. Possessing exceptional affinity for mental magic and being thoroughly versed in spellcasting, she had mastered this Tier 1 mental spell the moment Lanqi explained its principles, allowing her to cast it freely even without a magic card.
Then Talia shook her head vigorously.
She had caught sight of Hyperion staring at her with eyes full of sheer adoration.
She could not lead the child astray.
"Sorry, I won't use that spell again in the future."
Talia released Hyperion, her voice still sounding rather devoid of emotion—flat yet serious.
"No, Miss Tata! You looked incredible when you used that spell! You had the majesty of a sovereign commanding subjects to kneel. For a second, I almost wondered if you were a noble empress!"
Hyperion shook her head, praising her with eyes shimmering with awe.
Though she had only just recovered from her brief shock, with Talia protecting her, she had felt no fear at all—a sense of security she had never experienced even when her father was by her side.
"...Is that so?"
Talia distinctly remembered that when Lanqi cast those two spells, he looked like a pure scoundrel.
Could the same spell really produce such a different impression depending on who cast it?
"If you want to learn, I can teach you a few spells," Talia said, looking at Hyperion.
Since she was Efatia's daughter, her magical talent was bound to be formidable, especially in mental magic and curse magic.
It was simply that human magic might not suit her best; the magic of the demon race was far more appropriate.
Talia recalled that Lanqi had introduced her to Hyperion as a scholar with some knowledge of Demon Magic Script, so starting by teaching Hyperion some low-tier demon magic should cause no suspicion.
"I want to learn from you, Miss Tata!" Hyperion nodded earnestly in rapid succession.
Talia gave a slight nod, then patted her stomach with a blank expression.
"Let's eat first."
She had slept alongside Hyperion from morning until now without eating a single bite. She was starving.
Chapter 192