"What gives you the right to question me?"
The silver-armored priest knitted his brows tightly. He had no idea why this young man—who clearly didn't look like a combatant—spoke down to him with such condescension.
Yet followers of the Bishop of Domination were convinced by nothing illusory; only absolute strength commanded their respect.
Lanqi's gaze remained placid. In the palm of his hand appeared a strangely shaped holy seal. Though its silhouette differed from the one hanging on the silver-armored priest's chest, they clearly shared the same style.
More importantly, this holy seal was bathed in a purple halo!
"A direct subordinate of a Bishop?" the silver-armored priest gasped in surprise.
He recognized it at a glance: a Purple Rare-grade [Proof of Resurrection - Destruction], and a specially encrypted variant at that. Those who bore such seals were almost invariably a Bishop's trusted confidants, entrusted with missions of utmost importance.
Whenever a Cardinal took office, their [Proof of Bishop] transformed into a title and totem befitting them, granting them the authority to generate a [Proof of Resurrection] through the [Proof of Bishop]. Consequently, there were currently ten distinct designs of holy seals.
Yet whether from north or south, familiarizing oneself with the totems of the ten Cardinals was practically mandatory knowledge for every Resurrection Church cultist today.
"Pardon my disrespect. I am a priest under Archpriest Kane of the Bishop of Domination's branch, stationed in the Empire's Southwestern Province, currently carrying out my duties."
The silver-armored priest offered the slightest bow of courtesy toward Lanqi.
"However, what is a direct subordinate of Lord Bishop of Destruction doing here?"
He turned, shut the bedroom door, and questioned Lanqi.
"I have an important mission to visit a Cardinal on the Northern Continent. Viscount Francis provides me with invaluable disguise and convenience. I hope you will not give the viscount a hard time," Lanqi said gently.
Had Hyperion been here, she could have kicked this silver-armored priest around like a ball without any trouble.
Lanqi, however, had never been the quick-tempered sort to resort to violence over a disagreement.
He preferred to win people over through virtue, to enlighten them with the radiance of humanity so everyone could calm down and discuss ways to resolve their conflicts and disputes.
"..."
After listening to Lanqi, the silver-armored priest fell silent for a moment.
Yet he had no intention of agreeing.
"Your Excellency seems to have misunderstood something... While we wouldn't needlessly give a Cardinal's direct subordinate a hard time, we are under no obligation to take orders from priests of another branch. We revere only the strong, not those of high status."
With that, the silver-armored priest rolled his wrist, an undisguised sneer touching the corner of his mouth that practically said, *I was showing you courtesy just now; don't push your luck.*
He had figured out the situation and had no intention of wasting more time.
A mere desk jockey had no right to order them around. It wasn't as though they had never killed priests from other branches before.
He saw no need to entertain such a weak subordinate.
After all, even if the Bishop of Destruction showed up in person, the Bishop of Domination wouldn't give him face either.
"Is that so? In your eyes, I'm weak?" Lanqi asked with a smile upon seeing the silver-armored priest's stance.
Sometimes there were indeed rowdy students who dared to challenge school regulations.
He, however, had always been an enlightened headmaster. Faced with a stray lamb, he would educate them with love, actively engaging in heartfelt communication rather than using heavy-handed methods to pass judgment prematurely.
Without curiosity and a pure thirst for knowledge as driving forces, students could never produce the inventions and creations of immense value to humanity and society.
"If you were strong, why would you bother reasoning with us instead of simply wiping us out? Are you saying you're just that merciful?"
The scent of gunpowder thickened.
Mocking what he saw as Lanqi's parlor tricks, the silver-armored priest approached him with oppressive strides.
Bluffing was nothing more than blowing bubbles.
Once inflated enough, a single light poke was all it took to burst it.
"..."
Lanqi closed his eyes. Perhaps he had given up resisting.
Or perhaps the opponent was too insignificant in his eyes to even look at.
"The last student I failed to save was the Saintess of Destruction. I don't want a tragedy like that to repeat itself."
When Lanqi gently opened his eyes again, that gaze—brimming with sorrowful compassion yet utterly placid—sent a chill down the back of the silver-armored priest's neck, bringing his feet to a subconscious halt.
Yet it was not entirely because of that look.
Rather, something felt wrong with his senses.
A jarring discordance spread through his heart.
In an instant, he realized what was amiss—reverberations had appeared in the space.
Every sound inside the room was now completely sealed off by an expanded barrier.
At that exact moment, the air within the cabin abruptly grew suffocating, bordering on congealed. Within this acoustically sealed space echoed shrill, agonizing wails akin to weeping tears of blood.
As if crossing over from another dimension, countless specters manifested, their overlapping forms indistinguishable from one another. Like a dark choir, their echoing shrieks were so heavy they nearly stopped the silver-armored priest's heart.
As though struck by lightning, the priest clamped both hands over his ears in agony, trembling from head to toe under a psychic shock that exceeded his limits.
"Is this the force you desired? Does it bring you joy?"
Lanqi's voice fell, blending with the agonizing wails to crash violently inside the silver-armored priest's skull.
"Aaaagh—!"
The priest's screams tore through the boundary between reality and nightmare. The mounting shrieks in the cabin were like razor-sharp daggers stabbing through his eardrums again and again, slicing at his nerves until he felt torn apart in both body and soul.
The cabin felt transformed into a secret chamber aboard a ghost ship drifting on a sea of black mist—no longer a physical vessel, but a spectral ship laden with dread, despair, and death.
Yet in that most terrifying moment, the brown-haired young man remained seated at the edge of the bed. To him, all of this was nothing more than trivial noise passing like wind past his ears.
He did not move a muscle, his eyes still brimming with an indescribable majesty.
"Mercy, my lord! I was wrong—!"
The silver-armored priest fell to his knees in agony not far from Lanqi, on the verge of collapse.
Compared to the mental torment racking his mind, what truly threatened to drown him was the tsunami of sheer terror flooding his soul.
He didn't dare imagine who this person really was. Although he did not recognize the Epic-tier mental spell being cast, he knew one thing with certainty: the sound-insulating barrier sealing off the room was a Tier 7 spell!
Educating... the Saintess of Destruction... Tier 7 or above... plus an encrypted direct subordinate's holy seal that could only be crafted personally by a Cardinal...
Who in the world was this person? He dared not guess any further!
In silence, Lanqi dispelled the echoing, ever-intensifying Voice of Purgatory.
As if heeding his command, the vengeful demonic phantoms gradually subdued their wails, ultimately prostrating at his feet before dissipating into the invisible dark.
At the same time, another magic card that had just been cast returned to Lanqi's hand.
It was a Blue Precious-grade spell card.
[Sound-Sealing Barrier]
[Category: Spell Card]
[Quality: Blue Precious]
[Tier: 7]
[Effect: Continuously consumes mana to seal within a barrier all sound in the area, isolating it completely from the outside world.]
[Note: Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know.]
Though finished Tier 7 magic cards were expensive regardless of type, Tier 7 utility cards of blue quality were not exorbitantly priced. Using his connections at the Hutton Kingdom branch of the Card Makers Association, Lanqi had purchased one at a discount for Boss Cat.
Powerful practitioners of melody magic often used this utility card to amplify acoustic effects, and it doubled as a convenient spell for everyday life.
However, because of its high mana consumption, Boss Cat couldn't expand the barrier too widely; otherwise, its meager mana pool would be drained in an instant.
Once the sound-sealing barrier in the room was lifted, the murmur of the sea breeze and waves returned to the guest cabin.
Everything seemed calm and tranquil once more, as if nothing had happened at all.
The ringing in the silver-armored priest's ears gradually subsided, but the trembling dread in his eyes refused to stop.
Chapter 242