Outside the window, raindrops continued to drum against the glass, sounding like nature's background music and serving as a reminder to those inside the dim storeroom that time was short and slipping away with every passing second.
"Phoenix, when your sister ends up with severe mental illness and you, the only family she can lean on, are locked away in prison, just imagine what kind of life she'll lead in an asylum. And as the younger sister of a major Resurrection Church convict, what kind of treatment do you think she'll receive?"
Inside the room, the Poet of Great Love continued to press Phoenix in her airy, lilting voice. Bloodshot veins webbed his eyes as tears spilled down his cheeks.
"Stop... Stop talking... Spare... Spare Phyllis..."
His voice came in broken, trembling gasps.
He fought with all his might not to picture what the Poet of Great Love described, yet those horrific images flooded his mind uncontrollably alongside her bewitching voice, driving him to the brink of madness.
At last, Lanqi, seated behind the desk not far away, waved a hand and said, "All right, Poet of Great Love. Come back."
"Tsk. I was just getting into the groove." The Poet of Great Love looked back at Lanqi, clicking her tongue in visible discontent.
"I'll let you out to play more often in the future," Lanqi said.
"No." Having her fun interrupted made her thoroughly unhappy.
"I'll make you a new skin," Lanqi added.
"A new skin?" The Poet of Great Love gave him a puzzled look.
"Right. Aside from being unable to alter your facial features, it can pretty much change your entire outfit and look. You won't need to buy extra clothes—just one magic card will let you swap outfits directly."
The Tier 3 White Common equipment card, Cartoon Mask, which he had crafted during the registered card maker exam, had the effect of equipping onto a summon to soften an otherwise ferocious appearance, turning it cute and changing the summon's external look. If Lanqi combined that with the principles behind Polymorph: Demon, he should be able to create a dedicated appearance-altering card for the Poet of Great Love.
Even though it served little practical purpose beyond looking nice and would take up one of his card slots, it could lower her recognizability. When they went to the Northern Continent, even if he didn't let her openly use her demonic voice abilities, having an extra stand-in who shared a telepathic connection would prove immensely useful.
Moreover, Lanqi wasn't sure whether this new kind of magic card that granted custom skins to summons would have much of a market. Since every single one would have to be custom-tailored, the price would inevitably be exorbitant; unless someone had an extraordinary devotion to their summon, they probably wouldn't buy such cards from him.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Back we go to get to work!" The Poet of Great Love walked straight up to Lanqi, slapped his desk, and obediently dispersed, reverting into a card in Lanqi's grasp.
She was clearly thrilled by the prospect of changing outfits, wishing Lanqi's card slots could all be filled with custom cards made just for her.
"You two..." Hyperion felt a pang of unease beside them.
If Miss Tata ever found out that Lanqi and the Poet of Great Love were playing dress-up using her appearance...
Once the Poet of Great Love had vanished, Phoenix finally gasped for air in terrified palpitations, like a drowning man breaking through the surface of the water.
He stared at Lanqi behind the desk.
Seeing Lanqi command such an unimaginably powerful, preternatural summon made Phoenix even less capable of discerning just how strong this man was, or how many secrets he harbored.
By now, he even suspected that back in that Demon Academy, Lanqi might truly have been the terrifying, wicked entity that he and his sister had witnessed.
Lanqi first went to turn on all the lights in the storeroom, then unlocked Phoenix's shackles, handed him a steaming cup of black tea, and sat back down behind the desk.
"My apologies, Student Phoenix. My summon can be a bit too radical at times," Lanqi said with a touch of regret.
Hyperion silently took notes on Phoenix's testimony. She knew that Lanqi was indeed a conservative—he always considered the radicals too conservative.
"..." Phoenix hung his head and listened in silence, not daring to interrupt.
Even though the simple shift in surroundings made the atmosphere feel less like an interrogation chamber and more like a meeting area in the student council room, Phoenix's heart remained ice-cold. The Poet of Great Love's words still seemed to ring in his ears.
"First, I promise you that none of the scenarios the Poet of Great Love described will happen."
Lanqi watched Phoenix with a gentle expression. In stark contrast to his summon, his words and conduct were remarkably upright and dignified.
"!"
Phoenix couldn't tell whether Lanqi was being genuine or speaking in veiled threats.
To his ears, the sentence carried an unspoken undertone: *If you don't cooperate, everything the Poet of Great Love said will come to pass.*
"I trust you are ready to repent. So, do you have any interest in turning over a new leaf?" Lanqi finally concluded his opening remarks with an inquiry.
In truth, Lanqi and Hyperion had already gathered a fair understanding of the situation by now.
For instance, the teammates they encountered in their first Shadow World, Purgatory Corridor Academy, had not been brought together purely by coincidence—there was a strand of inevitability involved.
And if Phoenix's sister wasn't a Resurrection Church cultist, yet he had brought her along into Purgatory Corridor Academy and on this trip to the Hutton Kingdom as well, she was clearly precious to him. He could never bring himself to leave his sister all alone in the Aloran Kingdom.
One look at Phoenix's current expression made that plain enough.
"...Do I even have a choice?" Phoenix asked in a hoarse rasp, his head bowed.
He assumed these demons would act just like the Bishop of Destruction, using his sister's safety as leverage to force him to serve the church wholeheartedly.
Back when he had faced the Bishop of Destruction—who had incinerated their town like an almighty deity—the young Phoenix had wagered his very soul in a bargain, which amused the bishop enough to spare both him and his unconscious, critically injured sister.
He had already prepared himself to sell his soul to a demon once more. Even if it meant his own utter damnation, he would protect his sister until his final breath.
"Of course you do. I'm not one of those Resurrection Church cardinals who have cast aside their humanity and committed every evil under the sun," Lanqi replied with a smile like a warm spring breeze. "I am plainly an upstanding youth of Ikerite—law-abiding, full of compassion, and fundamentally distinct from those villains in the Resurrection Church. You can open your heart to me without reservation."
A chill ran through Phoenix from head to toe.
Phoenix didn't dare reveal the deep suspicion he felt toward Lanqi's claim.
Because Lanqi looked completely serious.
If he contradicted Lanqi's words, he might infuriate him into claiming that the prisoner's "ideological awareness is still lacking" and subjecting him to another round of treatment.
"Regardless of whether you ultimately repent, as long as it's confirmed that your sister is innocent, our Ikerite Academy will ensure she is no longer harassed by the Resurrection Church. She is her, and you are you; neither of you will be held accountable for the other. It's as simple as that," Lanqi added in a steady voice.
"I am willing to help anyone in need. Even if you feel beyond redemption, so long as you sincerely repent, I will give you a chance to reform and return to the righteous path.
"You must be very important to your sister as well. You are the only person she trusts, the only one she can lean on. For Phyllis's happiness, please think it over."
With that, Lanqi cupped his teacup and fell silent, giving Phoenix time to consider.
"..."
Phoenix knew Lanqi was unfathomable, perilous, and enigmatic.
Yet at this very moment...
Phoenix felt an inexplicable sensation that this demon—glowing with a radiant aura and possessing emerald-green eyes that seemed to pierce straight through his thoughts—was the only being who could grant him salvation.
Just as both he and his sister had been protected by Lanqi in the Headmaster's Office back at Purgatory Corridor Academy.
Terrifying though Lanqi was, Phoenix found himself secretly hoping that if he stood on the same side as him, he would receive his protection.
And that would bring him greater peace of mind than anything else in the world.
Chapter 196