After a brief pause to coordinate in the Level B5 teleportation hall of Herrom Prison, the group set off on their way.
Having confirmed their next destination, they followed Antanas out of the exit teleportation hall and set off along the corridors of Level B5 toward Sinora's special cell.
Guided by the crimson script on their wristbands, the optimal route to the cell of Sinora the Spellbreaker unfolded before their eyes.
They could now clearly see which cell on Level B5 held the great demon Sinora the Spellbreaker.
Sinora's cell was not far from the exit teleportation hall. With Antanas—an intelligence specialist capable of cloaking them in concealment barriers—leading the way, they could safely bypass Antanas's phantoms as well.
"When we see Sinora in a moment, stay right by the door and don't get any closer," Antanas said to the Poet of Great Love as she led the way. "If she shows the slightest hostility toward you, back out immediately. I'll shield you."
She essentially viewed Talia's daughter as her own goddaughter, determined to protect her even without a formal pact between them.
"No problem," Lanqi said with a nod.
For now, he had no easy way to explain the peculiar situation regarding the Poet of Great Love.
It would have to wait until they returned to the academy, where he could finally show Antanas his true form and prove that the Poet of Great Love was merely a summon.
"Sigh, if only you were a boy," Antanas suddenly sighed.
"Why do you say that?" Lanqi gave her a puzzled glance.
He actually was male, but Antanas simply didn't believe it.
"Do you know why Sinora the Spellbreaker likes to keep her eyes closed?" Antanas asked, looking between Lanqi and Hyperion.
"..."
Lanqi and Hyperion exchanged glances for a few seconds before both shaking their heads in bewilderment. The Ice Snow Witch had never mentioned anything about this.
Still, in the portrait Lanqi had drawn earlier, Sinora the Spellbreaker had indeed had her eyes closed.
It turned out she wasn't tired after all; she simply preferred not to open her eyes under normal circumstances.
"Please tell us, Miss Antanas," Hyperion said.
"Guess first," Antanas said in a hushed voice, clearly dying to share the gossip.
"..."
Hyperion realized that Antanas seemed to be an exceptionally gossipy demon, knowing far more than even the Ice Snow Witch did.
No wonder Antanas and Talia got along so well. Antanas surely loved to chatter away while Talia sat quietly listening, which was undoubtedly much more fulfilling for Talia than lounging alone on a reclining chair reading about mundane affairs.
"Generally speaking, characters who keep their eyes squinted are monsters," Hyperion mused, recalling what she had read in countless storybooks. "Or maybe Sinora possesses some ocular technique, and opening her eyes brings her into a whole new stage where she becomes unimaginably powerful?"
Hyperion tried her best to guess.
"No." Antanas shook her head upon hearing that. "The truth is, Sinora is terrible at dealing with men. Whenever she faces a good-looking male enemy, she can't bring herself to strike. So over time, she chose to keep her eyes shut. Even if it lowers her combat prowess, that's still better than being distracted and hesitating in battle."
"..."
Hyperion didn't even know what to say.
The old Demon Realm truly was full of colorful figures.
"You look so much like Talia. If you were a boy, you'd be quite handsome, and with an aura even more refined than Talia's, you'd definitely be able to rattle Sinora's composure," Antanas added, picturing it briefly as she studied the Poet of Great Love's face.
"Is that so?" Lanqi replied calmly, treating it as nothing more than an amusing demon anecdote without intending to dwell on it.
Ever since Antanas had mistaken him for the Poet of Great Love and refused to hear explanations, Lanqi had begun feeling that Talia's face came with certain drawbacks.
Now, he realized that Talia's face was an outright combat handicap.
Perhaps it would have been better to negotiate with these great demons in his true form from the start.
It turned out the Demon Realm lineup still had room for optimization.
"..."
Hyperion stared in confusion at the black-haired, green-eyed Poet of Great Love, recalling what Lanqi originally looked like.
She had never possessed much concept of whether a man was handsome or not, as everyone had told her from a young age that her father was the most handsome man alive, leaving her with the impression that all other men were much the same.
Yet judging by what people around Lanqi always said about him, Lanqi probably wasn't inferior to Duke Mikhail...
"Why are you looking at me?" Lanqi met Hyperion's gaze with a hint of inquiry.
"...Nothing." Hyperion quickly averted her eyes.
"Don't worry. I'll come to terms with Sinora the Spellbreaker. In a moment, you can just wait outside the cell for me and Antanas."
Lanqi had always been confident, regardless of his current appearance.
The prison sector they traversed was a labyrinth of winding corridors. By the time they reached this deep, there was no longer any sign of on-duty guards. The cells were sealed with heavy metal doors, flanked by walls constructed of anti-magic steel and coated on the outside with thick curse-marks. These marks pulsed rhythmically, lighting up and fading in a continuous cycle like breath.
Following the map on their wristbands, Antanas led them through corridor after corridor until they successfully located Sinora's cell.
The doorway of this cell looked no different from the others.
Yet they already knew that the space inside had to be entirely distinct from that of ordinary prisoners, fortified to an absolute degree that brute force could never breach.
After paying the required duty points at the entrance, a twisting metallic groan sounded. The intricate sealing mechanisms beside the door unlatched layer by layer, releasing plumes of vapor from within.
Once the door opened fully, a translucent barrier remained in its place, isolating every sound from inside the cell.
Antanas and the Poet of Great Love prepared to enter.
"Be careful in there. Don't do anything reckless," Hyperion said, releasing the Poet of Great Love's forearm as though seeing him off.
Although the Poet of Great Love was immortal, if Lanqi were killed in this state, he would still genuinely experience death. Nobody knew whether suffering death while controlling her with his consciousness would inflict damage upon his soul.
Unlike Antanas, whose temperament was steady and composed, Sinora was a completely different sort of great demon. She was genuinely capable of ruthless cruelty.
"Don't worry." Lanqi looked at her with a grin, gradually shifting his attention and focus from Protos Royal Academy over to Herrom Prison.
To him, it felt as though barely an instant had passed; the moment he snapped back to reality, he found he had been led right up to the entrance of the target cell.
Hyperion stared at Lanqi's newly focused, bright eyes, momentarily dazed for some reason.
In those familiar eyes, beyond their usual clarity, Hyperion felt as if she had caught a fleeting glimpse of emerald demon pupils just a moment ago.
The Poet of Great Love did possess demon pupils, but hers were supposed to be blue.
Looking closely at Lanqi now, however, she saw unmistakable human pupils. She couldn't understand why she had experienced such an illusion a moment ago.
It was a sensation she hadn't felt even from the lightning-wielding Glow Demon Headmaster back at Purgatory Corridor Academy.
Chapter 427