All had been bathed in harmony and luxury aboard the *Floating Castle*, but that serenity was shattered in an instant by the sudden frenzy of a demon, plunging the entire space into chaos and panic.
Lisanci's berserk state was like a spark of unrest, spreading swiftly among the passengers.
The initial brief confusion on people's faces gave way to terror as they scattered in all directions, scrambling for shelter.
The harp's music came to an abrupt halt, replaced by a tumult of screams, scrambling footsteps, and cries of panic.
Inside the hall, the execution squad immediately formed an ad-hoc defensive line to protect the civilians near them, while others, overcome by panic, fled heedlessly.
The weeping of children and calls for help were particularly piercing amid the turmoil. Courageous passengers and crew members tried to soothe the crowd, yet none of this seemed to concern the executioner. Resolve had already hardened in his eyes as his hand gripped the hilt of his blade.
Fortunately for the present situation, the black-haired, green-eyed young man sharing a table with the rampaging demon did not appear weak.
Just as Lisanci was about to sink her fangs into Lanqi, her body was seized by telekinetic magic, pinned as though by an invisible wall of air, leaving her able only to struggle sluggishly.
"A demon grows this much stronger after being driven berserk by the curse...?"
Lanqi frowned.
At Tier 4, Lisanci had nearly reached the strength of Tier 5 in her berserk frenzy.
While it would be impossible for higher-tier demons to leap an entire tier, the boost would likely still be considerable.
If an eighth-tier demon truly went berserk, it would be an absolute catastrophe.
"What are you thinking, meow?!"
The moment Lanqi spoke, Boss Cat sensed trouble.
To some extent, this curse bore an uncanny resemblance to Lanqi's intensive sprint-training crash courses.
"Sister Tata, do you want to be a berserker?" Lanqi asked in his mind.
"..."
Talia offered no verbal reply, merely stroking his throat once more with invisible fingertips.
"My mistake, my mistake, I was wrong!"
Lanqi instantly folded.
"Lanqi, help me find out who cast this curse. May I commission you for a task like that?"
Talia's voice was cold, carrying an unmistakable edge of anger—though not directed at Lanqi.
She had seen Lanqi grant power to others before, but that had always been on the fair premise of fulfilling their wishes; at the very least, Lanqi had never made his clients lose their sense of self.
Yet this horrifying curse forcibly stripped demons of their self-awareness, mutating and corrupting them, which filled Talia with an instinctual revulsion.
Just imagining that Hyperion might one day fall victim to it was something Talia could not stomach in the slightest.
"Of course."
Lanqi was more than happy to accept civil commissions.
Besides, this was the first time Tata had ever made a request of him so earnestly.
"While we are in the Kingdom of Posen, my power is yours to use as you see fit," Talia promised.
Their mental exchange lasted only an instant before a chilly sensation snapped Lanqi's focus back to the grand hall of the magic-powered airship.
As the vessel gently swayed, the lead executioner of the enforcement squad and his subordinates had already cleared the bystanders, fanning out in a semicircular formation, finally ready to strike.
As the strongest combatant aboard the airship, the executioner could not unleash large-scale destructive martial techniques that might cause the airship to crash. The best approach was to cleanly and decisively sever the berserk demon's head.
"Please wait a moment!"
Lanqi quickly stepped in front of Lisanci, raising a hand in a timeout gesture.
Right now, he was playing the "wait a minute" hero.
He never broke the law, let alone sought conflict with an executioner.
Whatever happened, he intended to save a life without causing trouble.
That was precisely why Professor Borao felt so at ease with him.
Otherwise, at the first sign of trouble, Loren back in Ikerite would probably have broken into a cold sweat.
"She is beyond saving. If you continue obstructing official duties, I will not only refuse to protect you, but eliminate you as well."
The executioner, who had been poised to draw his blade, rested his hand firmly on the hilt once more, veins twitching faintly on the back of his hand.
"You're a demon too. Why kill her?" Lanqi called out to the executioner across the floor.
His opponent was formidable. According to Talia's assessment, he possessed the strength of a full Seventh Tier—an elite master anywhere in the world.
And those pupils of his clearly belonged to a demon, just like Lisanci's.
Though he looked like a teenager, his true age was likely far from young.
In Lanqi's mind, Talia was urging him to stall for time.
She was analyzing the state of Lisanci's curse.
"Do not interfere! Do you have any idea what it feels like to kill my own kind?"
The blade-wielding youth's expression was carved from ice, his voice rasping.
None of the subordinates around him dared make a sound, holding their breath as they stared toward Lisanci and Lanqi.
Sergeant Major Nigel was an executioner serving Duke Tiffany of the Kingdom of Posen's Senate.
Demon though he was, he had slain his own childhood-friend-turned-sister without hesitation.
The cause had been this very curse-mark frenzy.
Ever since then, he had never returned to the Posen Demon Realm, nor had he ever gone back to see the companion closest to his heart.
The black-haired, green-eyed youth in the cardigan had just tap-danced straight into a minefield with that question.
"Please, hear me out. I currently have her under control, and I am willing to cooperate and assist with your work. Could you spare her for now?"
Lanqi continued pressing his case.
At those words, not only Sergeant Major Nigel but even many of the evacuated onlookers looked at him as if he were an alien.
"Heh. You must be from another country..."
Executioner Nigel's fingers trembled slightly as they curled into a fist.
"Do you have any idea how many arrogant fools before you thought they could cure a cursed demon?! Do you know how many died in the end?!"
He threw his arm wide, roaring in fury.
Any ignorant, reckless interference would only make a terrible situation worse, leaving a mess the Senate could scarcely contain!
"Could you at least let me try? Just until we land. I studied under High Priest Loren and am very skilled at treating patients," Lanqi said, raising both hands to show he harbored no hostility as he fought for a chance to negotiate.
"Even if the High Priest himself were here, he couldn't save her, let alone one of his students," Nigel said categorically.
It wasn't as if the Kingdom of Posen lacked Eighth-Tier specialists.
All their efforts had been futile.
High Priest Loren was renowned throughout the eastern region, but he was also the dean of Ikerite Academy.
Anyone who had attended Ikerite Academy could claim to be High Priest Loren's student and swindle people under his name.
"Step aside before an irreversible disaster occurs," Sergeant Major Nigel ordered, suppressing his fury as he tried his best to maintain patience with this unreasonable foreigner.
Once the airship landed and the press swarmed in, the nature of the situation would change.
A panic impossible to contain might well erupt.
The current geopolitical climate in the south of the Southern Continent was precarious, with the Creti Empire's intentions shrouded in mystery.
The Kingdom of Posen could ill afford any internal unrest right now.
"..."
Lanqi seemed to realize that communication was useless.
The other party's stance offered zero room for compromise.
Yet Lanqi himself had no intention of abandoning Lisanci.
Even though Professor Borao had advised that it was best not to meddle in internal affairs between humans and demons on this trip to the Kingdom of Posen, Lanqi had never been cold enough to stand by and watch a good-hearted being perish.
"Talia, what should we do?" he could only ask inwardly.
If they had to resort to force, it would depend entirely on Talia.
However, her combat duration was severely limited; unless there was no other choice, it was best not to call upon her.
"Give me a little time. I should be able to save her," Talia's voice echoed in his mind.
"..."
Lanqi did not hesitate after hearing that.
Since Tata said she had a way, he would believe her.
"Help! Sir Sergeant, I'm being held hostage! She's demanding that the airship land before she lets me go!"
Lanqi immediately cried out for help with an expression of pure innocence.
"..."
Silence descended over the entire cabin.
For a moment, no one could tell whether this seemingly frail fellow was putting on an act, or if he really had been taken hostage and was merely relaying the perpetrator's demands to the sergeant major.
His acting was so convincing that it looped back around to looking absurdly theatrical.
According to the regulations, the executioner truly could not disregard a hostage's safety to attack both him and the demon.
"..."
Veins throbbed on Sergeant Major Nigel's forehead.
The more convincing Lanqi's performance seemed, the more it felt like he was treating Nigel like an idiot.
Nigel could clearly tell that the enthusiastic negotiation earlier was nothing a real hostage would ever have put forward.
Sergeant Major Nigel drew a deep breath and pulled out his communication magic apparatus.
He used communication magic to contact the master he served in the Senate.
Before long, the connection went through.
"Duke Tiffany, a foreign human here is obstructing my handling of a cursed demon. I request zero-liability enforcement authorization," Nigel reported.
"Do it. In the future, when you encounter conceited fools, just kill them," a cool female voice replied from the other end.
Instantly, the terrifying aura radiating from Sergeant Major Nigel was laid bare, as if all restraints had been released.
Boss Cat's fur stood on end.
Driven by the provocation, Lisanci—who had lost all consciousness of self—became even more berserk. She snarled like a bloodthirsty beast, droplets of blood weeping from beneath her hollow eyes as she fought with all her might against the telekinetic magic.
Once lovely and pleasant, she had now been completely reduced to the monstrous form of a beast.
"Meow meow meow! I can't hold her much longer, meow!" Boss Cat shrieked in alarm.
"..."
Lanqi finally realized things were turning sour.
Boss Cat was punching three tiers above its weight, which was asking a bit much of it.
Normally, it had to punch four tiers above its weight to win easily.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, continuing down this path would not only fail to save Lisanci, but likely spark a fight with the Kingdom of Posen's executioner.
"Talia, help me play defense!"
Lanqi sent the thought.
As long as Talia could block a single strike from the executioner, he would find a way to reopen negotiations with an opponent who recognized the danger and had shifted to high alert.
Even if tonight's maneuvering would be drawn out and fraught with variables, he had confidence in steering the executioner toward granting him a chance to save Lisanci.
Before he could finish the thought, he felt his body seized by Talia's mental magic.
Talia's curse-mark mana erupted, instantly shattering the cabin's protective wards behind him.
Controlling Lanqi's body, she clutched Boss Cat, drove a vicious elbow through the airship's floor-to-ceiling glass window, and leaped backward into the empty air.
"Talia!! I said *play defense*, not *go for broke*!!"
Lanqi screamed in despair high above the city.
He never should have trusted this violent demon whose actions moved faster than her thoughts!
Their teamwork really was the absolute worst!
Amidst the shattering din of glass raining down and a chorus of stunned uproar, carrying Lisanci along, Lanqi and the cat plummeted into a rapid free-fall high in the night sky over the City of Flowers.
Chapter 662