Lanqi Truly Didn't Treat Her as a Person

The Phantom Poet of Great Love noticed the magic card in her opponent's hand. Its distinct texture made it appear both illusory and ethereal. The lines flowing across the card seemed to pulse with a living heartbeat, hovering on the precipice between the corporeal and the incorporeal. She was also gradually beginning to understand why she had no usable magic cards on her own person. Even at Tier 8, her soul space remained in an anomalous state, unable to bind any magic cards. The one held by her opponent had clearly been handed over by someone else. "You think you can defeat me with someone else's magic card?" The Phantom Poet of Great Love was certain this was a summon card, and not of a particularly high tier. As long as her opponent dared to summon it, an ownerless summon could be made to run amok in an instant under her control. Besides, no matter how weak she was in physical combat, she could still pummel a low-tier summon to death fist by fist. "..." A look of reluctance and pity surfaced in Lanqi's eyes. Without answering her, he released his grip, and the magic card instantly burst into radiant light. It was vastly different from ordinary magic cards, resembling intertwined spirals. As its power was unleashed, the spirals peeled apart one by one, coalescing into an enormous vortex. The runic glow along the surrounding maze corridor was warped, drawn in, and even torn apart by the vortex. Once the vortex stabilized, a rift tore open at its center, revealing its true form—a colossal wolf. Crimson runes resembling spacetime faults drifted and circled across its deep, pitch-black body. The red patterns upon it carried a force akin to the creation of heaven and earth, each line flickering and breathing like fissures connecting to another dimension. At the appearance of this summoned beast, the Phantom Poet of Great Love merely sneered with disdain. Although she couldn't immediately identify the wolf's specific attributes, she was an exalted Tier 8 great demon! How could a mere Tier 4 summon ever hope to stand in her way? Yet the very next second, as the giant wolf's paw swung violently toward the Phantom Poet of Great Love, the phantom—who had intended to shatter it in a single strike—suddenly let out a shrill, piercing shriek. The instant she touched the giant wolf, terror flooded her eyes. She felt as though her arm were being ignited and melted away. "It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts—!!" Clutching her arm, the Phantom Poet of Great Love instantly tried to flee backward. However, the giant wolf's body was far too massive. In that split second, its paw slammed down savagely, pinning the Phantom Poet of Great Love flat against the ground. "No! It burns! It hurts so much—!!" She struggled desperately to break free, but beneath the Nuclear Fusion Wolf's massive paw, her back was constantly scorched and melting away, wrenching agonized wails from her lips. "Sigh... You probably don't even know it yourself, but besides being a living entity, you also possess the attributes of a summon," Lanqi said mournfully as he walked over and looked down at her on the floor. He had never imagined that one day he would have to fight a life-and-death battle against the Poet of Great Love. "What... what are you going to do?" The gray-haired Poet of Great Love's voice trembled, tears squeezing out from her tightly shut eyelids, her sobbing on the verge of fracturing into incoherent fragments. "With tears in my eyes, I can only banish you from this trial," Lanqi said, wiping the corner of his eye and averting his gaze. He knew that no matter how pitiful this cunning demon pretended to be, they were nothing more than crocodile tears. If he trusted her or softened his heart, it would be a fatal mistake. The gray-haired Poet of Great Love struggled desperately to lift her head. The figure before her felt unimaginably terrifying. Even though his demonic voice's amplification of emotion was far weaker than hers, and he hadn't even taken off the mask, the sight alone struck absolute terror into her heart. "I... I was wrong! Don't! Please!" Every ragged breath she drew seemed to devour whatever fragile courage she had left. Her voice faded until it was barely audible, turning into broken sobs. "Please, spare me... I was really wrong!" Yet Lanqi wasted no words. The Nuclear Fusion Wolf opened its maw wide, and the Phantom Poet of Great Love was forcibly twisted and sealed, ultimately turning into a magic card etched with pitch-black petals. Within moments, this card—which had no right to exist in the world—faded away, dissolving back into the barrier mana of the fifth basement floor. With the Phantom Poet of Great Love sealed and completely eradicated, a thunderous echo reverberated throughout the corridor. Black clouds and deep blue lightning continuously gathered, descending over the black-haired, green-eyed figure. At the center of the maze corridor, the barrier mana that had once been rock-solid began to ripple, as if triggered by some mysterious rule. The incantations etched into the surrounding walls flickered with increasing speed, veiled beneath a layer of illusory mist. A tremendous volume of mana coalesced in the air. Not only did this mana pulse with fluctuations similar to the [Hopeless Battle of Annihilation], but it was also deeper, more terrifying, akin to the primal source power of the supreme Demon Realm. A deep blue halo formed around the black-haired, green-eyed Poet of Great Love. Mana gathered and wove itself in midair as the deep blue lightning and swirling black mist surged violently into the space between his brows. As the mana swelled and solidified, everyone else across the maze corridor level felt a suffocating pressure. None knew what sort of upheaval had occurred on B5. Throughout the entire process, the Poet of Great Love was protected by an invisible force, the surrounding space forming an isolated domain. Several breaths later, the light, shadows, and mana contracted rapidly, ultimately condensing between the Poet of Great Love's brows into a deep blue imprint— [Mark of Hopelessness] [Category: Soul Imprint] [Quality: Orange Epic] [Tier: 1] [Passive Effect: Grants a minor boost to all summons and familiars.] [Note: Recognition from Satia of Hopelessness.] The Poet of Great Love's closed eyes slowly opened, his gaze as composed as ever. In a mere instant, several overlapping, translucent silhouettes flashed across the depths of his pupils. Those were the three imprints he had acquired, now linking together into an entirely distinct mana circuit. The demonic aura upon him had undergone a genuine metamorphosis, blazing with particular intensity the moment he opened his eyes. As long as it was occupied by his soul, even the Poet of Great Love's body would exhibit the traits of a great demon. Soon enough, however, the great demon aura was once again veiled beneath disguise magic. "Without a trial in the ancestral land, and without the contemporary Demon King's recognition, one ends up as a 'nameless great demon'?" Lanqi murmured to himself, feeling the transformation. To the demon race, a "nameless great demon" was inherently a taboo existence, for a great demon whom even their own race refused to acknowledge was often far more dangerous than an official one. Having no title simply meant he couldn't bestow title marks upon other demons; otherwise, there was no difference. Still, becoming a nameless great demon was primarily a matter of the era, not a flaw of his own. After all, he had always preferred to be on the formal establishment.