As time passed, the empty glass was refilled time and time again, only to be drained in a single gulp each time.
Warden Daria's face had flushed bright red, and the motion of her hand clutching the glass had grown sluggish.
Hyperion was still pouring alcohol into the Poet of Great Love's mouth.
Earlier, while the Poet of Great Love drank, Hyperion had intermittently heard Antanas rambling behind them through seven or eight different scenarios for clearing the level today.
Yet not a single one involved Lanfu returning alive.
At last, Warden Daria could take no more and set down her glass.
She tried to stand, but her footing wavered. After stumbling and sliding forward a few paces, she collapsed back onto the desk, her cheek pressed against the surface, unable to lift herself up again.
"Too strong... I've never seen anyone drink like you..."
Even though the limp Warden Daria was utterly immobilized, murmurs of admiration kept escaping her lips.
Though her eyes brimmed with unyielding spirit, her body had already conceded defeat.
She had never imagined this intern guard would prove far fiercer than she looked—a real daredevil who threw caution to the wind.
"Just who... on earth are you..."
True to her word, Warden Daria summoned her last shred of consciousness while sprawled across the desk, expending her final ounce of strength to award the group a top-tier rating as she mumbled under her breath.
"..."
The Poet of Great Love was silent for a long while, her throat seemingly unable to make a sound. Only after catching his breath for a moment did he look toward Warden Daria.
"If you ever want someone to drink with again, you can come to the Redmond Building at Protos Royal Magic Academy... Every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from two to five in the afternoon, consultations are open to all school personnel. Also, you might need to make an appointment in advance..."
The Poet of Great Love's demonic voice droned into her ears, tinting Daria's hazy, half-awake gaze with a final flicker of obsessive persistence—as if even if all memory of this dream were erased, this single, deeply hypnotic sentence would remain indelibly etched in her mind.
Gradually, Warden Daria drifted into unconsciousness, her sleeping face wearing an expression of contented satisfaction and lingering attachment.
"*Burp.*"
The Poet of Great Love merely had flushed cheeks; beneath her lowered eyelids, his gaze remained steadfast.
Hyperion worriedly helped the Poet of Great Love up, but no sooner had she stood than she stumbled and fell again.
Although the controller might be mentally sound, the Poet of Great Love's body simply refused to obey.
"Leave the rest to us. Get some proper rest. With Antanas and Sinora around, this level shouldn't be too difficult."
Hyperion squatted beside the Poet of Great Love, gently patting her back with heartache.
Lanqi himself probably hadn't suffered any real harm; it was just that the Poet of Great Love's body was on the verge of being completely trashed.
"Waaah, My King, please don't die!"
Antanas whimpered from behind, dabbing at tears from time to time as she observed the condition of the black-haired, green-eyed figure.
Even though the weeping was utterly fake,
she seemed to be setting the mood.
Hyperion glanced back at Antanas, at a loss for words.
Yet when she turned back, Hyperion saw that Lanqi's gaze was equally resolute.
It gave Hyperion the bizarre impression that, with the mood already built up to this point, Lanfu simply had to die today whether she wanted to or not.
"I'd better do it. We can't give up halfway,"
the Poet of Great Love said.
Whenever a problem could be solved efficiently, he never dragged his feet.
A speedrun had to be a speedrun all the way to the end.
The time they could stall Warden Bakas was limited. Now they were just one step away from seeing the final great demon, Pranay of Truth, and he didn't want to waste any more time.
To rescue Talia's friends, no matter what hardships it took, he felt it was all worth it.
"..."
Hyperion's eyelid twitched.
*You really don't treat Lanfu's life like a life, do you?*
Fortunately, once Lanfu handed over her body to Lanqi, she fell into a deep sleep. Otherwise, when Lanfu reclaimed control of her body and saw the state Lanqi had reduced her to, she would probably sever all ties on the spot and look for an opportunity to blow up in Lanqi's face.
The Poet of Great Love forced herself up with every ounce of effort and walked forward.
"Wait for me to make an inspection and maintenance patrol to unlock the clearance for this level. Once that's done, you'll be able to see the cell where Pranay of Truth is held. Then I'll trouble the two of you to rush to his cell as fast as possible. I'll arrive shortly..."
the black-haired, green-eyed Poet of Great Love said in a halting voice.
With Antanas's defensive capability and Sinora's magic resistance, charging straight into a target's room in this level's Great Demon Trial, the "Inverted Path of Rebirth," would present very little difficulty if they had a guided map.
Because the two of them were naturally bold, completely unlike Pranay of Truth.
And the Domination priest was a warrior he personally trained who feared no death; upon receiving orders, he too would surely reach the destination without fail.
"Do you plan to enter the Inverted Path of Rebirth alone?"
Sinora asked worriedly.
The Poet of Great Love drooped her eyelids, turned her head slightly, and nodded.
Then he walked toward the prison cells.
His footsteps were like a drunkard's, stumbling with every step and struggling to get back up,
yet inside the illusion barrier, he seemed utterly unaffected and unharmed.
"This..."
Sinora stared dumbfounded at the receding figure of the New King. Not a single ripple of fear seemed to stir in the New King's heart, and the illusion caused him no actual harm whatsoever.
"As expected of our King. What extraordinary mental fortitude,"
Sinora marveled from the bottom of her heart.
"Yeah, his strength is downright sickening."
Antanas had already grown accustomed to it.
Having already witnessed the New King's near-immunity on Level B4, the "Gentle Land of the Fallen," she found nothing surprising in the New King's monstrous performance here on Level B6, which was also a trial of mental resolve in the "Inverted Path of Rebirth."
Antanas wasn't sure how many marks the New King currently possessed, but she was certain that before he met Pranay of Truth, he would gain yet another title mark and become a great demon far surpassing Talia.
...
At this moment, within the battered body of the Poet of Great Love, Lanfu—the Poet of Great Love herself, whose soul was slumbering—was experiencing a dream.
She dreamed that after arriving at a mysterious prison today, she kept falling over repeatedly, unable to control her balance at all.
All the way down to Level B5, it was dark and gloomy, and her body was controlled by a demon that used a terrifying giant wolf to brutally abuse her phantom, as if desperately wishing for her death.
Still shaken, she was finally on the verge of leaving this prison after so much hardship.
Yet then she began to be force-fed an extraordinarily terrifying liquor.
Though it was excruciatingly agonizing and she could barely breathe through her nose, that liquid fire kept being poured down her throat, searing her internal organs. In the end, she felt as if her entire body were falling apart, constantly bumping and tumbling forward, hurting so much she wanted to cry.
She suspected this was a nightmare, yet no matter what she did, she simply couldn't wake up...
Chapter 440