Late at night in the mansion's parlor, the expressions of the two women on the sofa should have appeared exceptionally solemn and calm.
Yet with the awkward reality laid bare, the final words echoed and faded across the room. Their gazes crossed, darted away, and hastily avoided direct contact, plunging the parlor into an abrupt silence.
"..."
Standing beside the magic projection screen at the side of the room, Lanqi had intended to continue explaining the details of the transaction, but seeing the state Sigrid and Hyperion were in, he had no choice but to pause for now.
For a while, neither woman was willing to break the deadlock, nor was either willing to speak first.
They likely needed a little time to compose themselves. Even the antique pendulum clock by the wall seemed to slow its pace, its ticks ringing out with jarring prominence against the quiet.
In the heat of the moment earlier, both had spoken with far too much absolute finality.
Now forced to become partners, both felt thoroughly humiliated.
"Ahem."
Lanqi cleared his throat, attempting to introduce a new topic to gloss over the unbearable awkwardness.
"So the goal of the Church of the Goddess of Fate is to rescue the great demon, and then have them ally with the Kingdom of Asethelan?" Lanqi looked at Hyperion to confirm.
"...Yes."
Hyperion would never have allowed the Resurrection Church to learn of her mission under normal circumstances, yet she had not anticipated that the Domination branch's aim to counter the Extinction Branch would miraculously align with that of the Church of the Goddess of Fate.
If everyone wanted to break the great demon out, the situation became simple once more.
"Then it seems our motives are largely the same. We likewise do not wish for war to break out between the Protos Empire and the nations to the northwest. Only the Extinction Branch and the puppeteers behind them desire the flames of war to spread. Beyond rescuing the great demon from Herrom Prison, the Church of the Goddess of Fate will likely need to continue collaborating with the Domination branch to quell this unrest," Lanqi explained unhurriedly.
Sigrid said nothing. If she could become the voice of authority for the Resurrection Church in the Protos Empire, she naturally preferred that the empire not suffer losses from war.
If cooperating with the Church of the Goddess of Fate yielded greater benefits, she would choose it without hesitation.
"I will serve as the bridge between you and the Church of the Goddess of Fate," Hyperion managed with some difficulty.
She did not know whether the Resurrection Church and the Church of the Goddess of Fate cooperating was a sign that the world had gone completely mad. The only thing she was certain of was that doing this was the right choice and did not betray her teacher's trust.
Hyperion had never dreamed in her wildest imagination—
That what was meant to be a solo hell-difficulty mission to the imperial capital of Herrom would transform into a massive raid involving a full squad.
She was actually going to receive the assistance of an entire branch of the Resurrection Church.
Every single step had diverged from what her teacher, the Ice Snow Witch, had predicted.
The Ice Snow Witch had told her that this empire trial was her clerical assessment. Normally, the church would never assign such a perilous task to a novice priest, but the difficulty of Hyperion's mission was indeed on par with what was used to select high-ranking clerics.
As long as Hyperion completed it, under the sacred prayer ritual, her contributions would guarantee her promotion to high clergy. Not only would her church token be upgraded, but her own faith attribute would also receive a massive boost from the higher-grade token of office. Later, when she broke through to the Seventh Tier and sought to inscribe a priest class, the Church of the Goddess of Fate's token would serve as an exceptional material.
Hyperion's greatest dream was to become a noble priest acknowledged by all. With the opportunity right before her, and well aware that the difficulty and rewards were commensurate, she had long prepared herself mentally.
And yet...
From how things looked now, she had merely been sent to the Protos Empire, spent seven leisurely days in the Milford Territory, had the Extinction Branch mysteriously dispersed along the road, arrived at a Protos Royal Magic Academy already under their control—without needing to compete against the empire's top young prodigies at all—and now, the final prison-break plan would be carried out with the Domination branch helping her every step of the way!
Hyperion was beginning to feel a pang of guilt.
If she became a high priest of the Church of the Goddess of Fate so effortlessly and was praised by the people, she would die of embarrassment...
"Side, we'll support her with all our strength. No objections, right?" Lanqi asked Sigrid, who had remained silent for quite a while.
"You decide," Sigrid replied with extreme brevity.
Hyperion glanced at the woman.
Judging from her conversation with Lanqi and the way she addressed him, she was very likely the Saintess of Domination, and her strength was roughly consistent with that identity.
Just as Bishop of Destruction Ivanos on the Southern Continent had taken in a Son of Destruction and a Saintess of Destruction, there was a sense that they were being raised as a pair.
Hyperion refused to accept that, however. Once everything was settled, she would definitely drag Lanqi back to the Southern Continent and never let him mingle with the Domination branch again.
As for that terrifying Bishop of Domination, if the bishop tried to stop them, Hyperion would stake her life to help Lanqi escape.
"In the Domination branch's plan to win over the great demon, the greatest headache was finding the right candidate. Now that you're here, that problem is solved," Lanqi said, looking at Hyperion earnestly.
"Not a problem," Hyperion nodded.
She had intended to enter the prison herself anyway.
"Gloria, do you have the architectural blueprints for Herrom Prison here?" Lanqi turned to the direct retainer standing behind the sofa.
Gloria nodded and retrieved a blueprint from a hidden compartment in the coffee table. After the Holy Son had mentioned his objective that afternoon, the bishop had instructed her to gather materials that might be useful. Sure enough, whatever the Holy Son wanted, the bishop had already anticipated.
Lanqi took the blueprint, spread it out across the coffee table, pulled a pen from his collar, and began marking key locations.
"In three days, I have an appointment with Warden Bakas of Herrom Prison to come to the Protos Royal Magic Academy to discuss important official business. I'll do my best to stall him, ensuring that Herrom Prison is left without its warden for at least half a day. During that time, I will arrange for a trusted direct retainer from the Domination branch to disguise themselves as one of our academy's students and accompany you inside. Once the great demon is found, the retainer will swap identities with them, remaining down in the depths disguised as the demon while you escort the real great demon out in broad daylight as one of our students."
Lanqi continued sharing the Domination branch's preparations and intelligence with Hyperion, his expression thoroughly earnest.
As he explained, he glanced at Hyperion from time to time, highlighting each critical detail.
"...?"
Watching Lanqi's seasoned, practiced manner, Hyperion's head filled with question marks.
The moment Lanqi opened his mouth, everything sounded organized and premeditated, giving her the distinct impression of a seasoned professional executing tradecraft with years of industry experience.
Were you too deep in character, playing yourself, or had you just blended in seamlessly over the past two months?
Chapter 385