The magic-powered airship *Floating Castle* had passed along the banks of the Selena River and was drawing close to its final stop at North Palieu.
"Miss Lisanci, is something wrong?"
Lanqi looked across the long table at Lisanci, sensing that she seemed somewhat unwell.
"I might just be a bit airsick, and I haven't been sleeping well lately."
Lisanci tried to take a deep breath, offering Lanqi a faint smile.
The main hall had been designed to balance functionality with aesthetics. Hanging from the ten-meter-high ceiling were finely crafted brass chandeliers casting warm, gentle glows, which only made her feel dizzier.
For some time now, she had been experiencing a tightness in her chest, and whenever she grew nervous, her vision would flicker between light and dark.
An instinct told her that she could not afford to pass out; she had to keep her wits about her.
"I see. Are you under some kind of psychological stress? Perhaps I can keep you company and chat for a bit," Lanqi offered warmly.
He had no desire to pry into Lisanci's affairs; he merely wanted to help.
"I..."
Lisanci looked away, hesitantly pressing a hand against her lightly heaving chest.
Right at that moment, the magic-powered airship shuddered.
It seemed like turbulence from unstable airflow, yet it also sounded like a large creature had made a forced landing on the deck garden outside, accompanied by the thud of an impact and lingering tremors.
Lanqi and Lisanci, who had been about to continue their conversation, both turned to look toward the outdoor deck.
A few magic-powered mechanical beasts from the Kingdom of Posen had touched down aboard the *Floating Castle* mid-flight.
Before long, a squad of officers marched into the passenger cabin's magnificent hall.
The squad leader at their head wore a military cap adorned with a gleaming quince-blossom pattern and a form-fitting black uniform.
He appeared quite young, yet the formidable martial presence he radiated naturally struck fear into every ordinary passenger.
What was more, on the squad leader's shoulder rested a distinctive crest—the insignia of Duke Tiffany.
"As of five o'clock this afternoon, the Palieu City Hall has issued an ordinance requiring all arriving airships to undergo routine inspections by Palieu authorities. All members of the demon race present, come forward and present your identification!"
The blade-bearing youth in the black uniform held up his credentials and announced in a ringing voice, "Any demons who have had contact with unidentified individuals, have a history of hallucinations, or have experienced intermittent loss of consciousness in recent days must report to me immediately. Anyone caught deliberately withholding information will be executed on the spot!"
A small portion of the demon race did not reside in the Posen Demon Realm; instead, they assumed human forms and lived within human communities, having dwelled alongside humans for many years.
"Is that one of Duke Tiffany's executioners?"
"How terrifying."
"What in the world is happening in the City of Flowers?"
"Whenever the Senate's executioners get involved, it's never good news."
Murmurs immediately rippled through the passengers surrounding Lanqi and Lisanci.
Evidently, because this new regulation had been implemented on such short notice, tonight's flights were all being intercepted and inspected by the Senate's execution corps just before arriving at their terminals.
Even the demons present who had assumed human forms and integrated into society looked thoroughly frightened.
Yet the squad leader leading the execution corps showed not the slightest hesitation, producing a dark golden gem from his pocket.
He crushed the jewel between his fingers, and instantly, a burst of intense light flooded the passenger hall.
The mahogany wall paneling and the magitech-framed mirrors inset with Palieu-style gemstones—pieces that captured both the deep history and the modern artistic sensibility of the City of Flowers—all became reflective surfaces bouncing trails of light, leaving no corner shrouded in shadow.
When the light finally died away, many people blinked their blurred eyes open.
The gemstone had not triggered harmful magic, nor was its flash particularly blinding.
However, it carried a unique magic-disrupting formula.
Humans remained entirely unaffected by it.
Yet the pupils of the two or three demons scattered across the hall underwent a sudden transformation.
Even the executioner himself saw his eyes shift into demonic pupils.
Though he served the human nobility of the Senate, he was in fact a demon.
The executioner raised a hand, and the non-commissioned officers under his command promptly strode toward the demons.
The revealed demons raised their hands high, signaling that they would not resist.
The squad leader swept his gaze over the area and locked onto the table where Lanqi and Lisanci were seated.
The strongest demon aboard this airship was sitting right beside that table.
Lisanci's pupils had already morphed into demonic eyes, and she looked away from the executioner's gaze in sheer terror.
She was a pureblood demon who had grown up in the Kingdom of Posen.
The culture she had absorbed was virtually indistinguishable from that of humans.
"Miss Lisanci, there is no need to worry. Even the Senate's executioners cannot harm citizens without cause," Lanqi said from across the table, resting a hand gently on his law book as he reassured her.
His condition was entirely unaffected.
Although his soul had undergone a degree of demonization due to obtaining the great demon mark back in the Protos Empire, his bloodline and physical organs were still fully human.
"No..."
Lisanci glanced at Lanqi in shock, only to shudder once more.
She had never expected this foreigner to show neither disgust nor fear upon discovering she was a demon.
Locals of Posen rarely harbored hostility toward demons nowadays, but many travelers from other kingdoms who had never encountered demons held deep disgust and wariness toward them.
At this moment, she was trembling relentlessly, her condition clearly deteriorating.
"Demon over there, submit to inspection!"
The uniformed demon executioner immediately rested his hand on his hilt, quickening his pace as he headed toward them.
He then glanced at Lanqi, who was still trying to speak with Lisanci across the table.
"Human, get away from her. Her condition is unstable," the executioner warned in a low, stern voice.
Even though he was an executioner, he was strictly forbidden from harming humans.
Without knowing the true state of this female demon, acting rashly could easily cause collateral damage.
"Control your breathing, Lisanci. No matter what happened, just try to keep calm, all right?"
Lanqi had no intention of pulling away from Lisanci; he gazed at her with genuine concern.
Yet no matter how he called out to her, Lisanci seemed unable to hear his words.
The mental strain bearing down on her was mounting uncontrollably.
"No, I don't want to die..."
In the end, she clutched her head with both hands, curling into a tight ball on her seat.
The red glow on her chest flared with increasing intensity until she began screaming in agony.
Invisible waves of sound rippled through the expansive cabin hall, sending sharp, piercing pains through the passengers' eardrums.
By the time the crowd recovered their senses, they saw cracks spreading across the skin of Lisanci, huddled behind her seat, as if a flower were being torn to shreds. An ominous deep purple radiance seeped from those fissures, her fingertips gradually sharpening into deadly claws while her ears elongated.
As the cursed aura rolled outward, Lisanci's long hair turned into a wild, disheveled tangle resembling a beast's mane. Her once-beautiful face contorted and deformed, her eyes left with nothing but a crimson glare brimmed with hatred for all existence.
"The curse of Great Wizard Palroni!"
"Get away! Quick!"
"A demon has gone berserk!"
The hall was instantly overwhelmed by the panicked cries of the passengers, buzzing like a swarm of bees in Lisanci's ears, and in that very moment, her consciousness sank into an abyss.
When she raised her head once more, a roar issuing from the depths of the underworld echoed across the hall, striking terror into the hearts of all living beings nearby.
Yet none of the passengers saw how Lisanci had stretched out her hand—as if pleading for someone to save her.
Chapter 661