As the melody of the dance drew to an end, the masquerade ball came to its close.
Lanqi and Talia stepped out of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Palieu, once again treading upon the festival streets.
The night was deep, yet the festive fervor of Palieu, the City of Flowers, had not diminished in the slightest.
Festive, multicolored lanterns hung along both sides of the avenues, adorning the darkness like a dream.
Right then, a resounding boom tore through the sky.
Lanqi and Talia looked up instinctively. High above, a dazzling burst of fiery blossoms exploded against the pitch-black night.
Immediately after came a second, then a third. In an instant, the firmament was illuminated by vibrant fireworks, unfurling like a garden in full bloom.
"In the future, once you're gone, maybe seeing fireworks will make me think of you," Talia murmured, the flickering light playing across her face.
"What makes you say that?" Lanqi felt that this did not sound like something Talia would say; it seemed far more like a sentimental sigh from someone like Hyperion.
"Maybe you'll be crafting cards up in heaven," Talia said, turning her gaze toward him.
"???" Lanqi wondered if Talia was fulfilling some kind of bizarre quest prompt right now.
The two lingered to watch for a while before resuming their stroll.
Fireworks blossomed in continuous bursts, casting their silhouettes into radiant, shifting hues before dimming again, drifting down into the darkness as scattered embers.
Side by side, Lanqi and Talia made their way leisurely along the festival road, taking in the roadside sights.
Even though it was already ten at night, the streets were still bustling with pedestrians.
Groups of two or three either halted to marvel at the canopy of sparkling light or gathered before market stalls to savor late-night delicacies.
Laughter and gasps mingled with the booming detonations of pyrotechnics, blending into a lively, cheerful din.
Before they knew it, they had arrived outside the scenic estate of the Parkinson Palace Spirit Hotel.
Looking up, the hotel's towering silhouette was faintly visible against the night sky, warm yellow lights peeking through its windows.
"Let's practice for an hour or two later, then get some rest," Lanqi said as they stepped into the hotel lobby.
During their days in Palieu, they had been attempting to craft cards in Lanqi's room.
The formula they adopted allowed them to fail the first two steps multiple times without serious consequences, so their routine practice was relatively stress-free. Only when those first two steps succeeded would they add the most critical material: Caliera's Shadow-Weaving Record.
"Then it seems I'll have to fuse with Ranfu again," Talia mused after a moment of thought.
When collaborating on card creation, communicating via direct thought was indispensable; otherwise, their synergy would suffer greatly. Having her replace the Poet of Great Love provided them with unimaginable convenience.
"Go ahead and fuse," Lanqi said. In some ways, things were far quieter during the periods when the Poet of Great Love wasn't around.
It was just that it left him somewhat exhausted.
"Then I won't hold back, and I'll be draining your mana for a while longer," Talia agreed with a nod.
In truth, she rather missed the extraordinary state of the Demon King of Mad Love—existing each day suspended between a living being and a spirit body, able to fall asleep in a single second and wake up completely refreshed.
Most importantly, she kind of wanted to try enjoying good food through Lanqi's body again. His taste buds were genuinely unique...
Lanqi watched Talia unconsciously swallow her saliva, feeling an inexplicable tremor of apprehension. He could not begin to guess what was running through her mind.
Before long, Lanqi and Talia returned to their suite on the sixth floor of the hotel.
The moment they pushed the door open, the warm lights in the corridor sprang to life, illuminating the entryway.
"Welcome home, meow."
Boss Cat was sitting on the floor, looking as though it had been waiting for them for a long time.
"So you were back here after all, Boss Cat. We were wondering where you'd wandered off to."
"Meow, meow."
Lanqi breathed a sigh of relief, hung his coat on the nearby rack, scooped up the little feline loaf, and walked toward the card-crafting workshop set up in the study at the far end of the suite.
Knowing they would be practicing card creation frequently on this journey, Lanqi had asked Countess Rosalinda upon arriving in the Kingdom of Posen to outfit the hotel room with top-tier blast barriers and card-crafting equipment.
With a soft creak, the study door swung open. Unlike its usual disarray, the workshop was immaculate: the various blueprints once pinned all over the room had been neatly sorted, and the materials piled atop the workbench had been carefully categorized.
Sitting before the workbench, engrossed in research, was none other than the Poet of Great Love.
She seemed to have returned quite early today.
Upon returning, she had immediately thrown herself into studying, and over the past few days, she had helped organize all the notes and references for Lanqi and Talia.
Whenever she was completely absorbed in researching magic cards, not even Talia calling out could easily snap her out of it.
Yet what surprised both Lanqi and Talia was that the Poet of Great Love had changed her appearance.
Her long hair, which usually cascaded freely, was tied up, with soft strands framing her cheeks and resting against the nape of her neck. She wore a crisp white collared shirt paired with a tailored black suit skirt, exuding an air of crisp, capable efficiency from head to toe.
"This outfit..." Talia muttered to herself, staring at the Poet of Great Love's figure.
If one disregarded her eye color, the Poet of Great Love looked virtually indistinguishable from Talia herself.
Talia wasn't surprised that the Poet of Great Love was wearing her clothes—she had already told Ranfu that they hadn't packed spare outfits for her on this trip, so she was welcome to wear any of Talia's. What truly astonished her was that Ranfu could even emulate her demeanor.
It was as though every time the Poet of Great Love was in the workshop, she had been specifically instructed to dress and act like this, until it had simply become second nature to her.
"Ah, Lanqi and Tata are back." The Poet of Great Love finally looked up, leaned back against her chair, rubbed her eyes, and stretched languidly.
"Ranfu, are you usually told to dress like this?" Talia asked, puzzled.
"Yeah! Whenever Lanqi and I craft important magic cards, I always dress up as you and sit right beside him."
The moment she relaxed, the Poet of Great Love slipped right back into her usual coquettish tone.
Talia turned her gaze back to Lanqi, causing a chill to ripple through the air.
She was finding Lanqi more and more perverse by the day.
"No, wait!" Lanqi nearly broke into a cold sweat upon hearing that, opening his mouth to explain.
"For him, card crafting just doesn't feel right without you, so he always wants you by his side," the Poet of Great Love continued, leaning back in her chair, her eyes curving like crescents as she beamed.
Talia lapsed into silence once more.
However, her look toward Lanqi was noticeably less disgusted than before.
"Ranfu, could you lend me your body again for a while?" Talia asked, turning to the Poet of Great Love.
"Sure, take it! Thanks for taking care of me these past couple of days." The Poet of Great Love waved her hand breezily.
She held out her palm to Talia, asking for the earrings.
To the Poet of Great Love, Talia possessed an innate magnetism; as long as Talia needed her, she was more than happy to serve as premium fusion material.
"I'll cook for you again next time," Talia said, taking out a pair of black metallic earrings and handing them over.
The earrings were coated in a faint, shimmering layer of demonic runes, looking as though they had just been refined from the ancient purgatorial depths of the Demon Realm. They absorbed and reflected the faintest wavelengths of light, shifting between deep red and unstable dark purple under the illumination.
Talia brushed aside her hair and put on one shaped like a curved, sharp tooth—resembling a demonic horn.
The other was slender and gracefully curved, like a demon's tail.
The Poet of Great Love took the earring Talia handed her and clipped it onto her left ear.
The rock-solid magical barrier within the workshop began to ripple, stirred by an overriding power. The Poet of Great Love's form gradually blurred, the contours of her body dissolving away into billowing black mist and deep-blue tides that wrapped around Talia.
In that instant, Talia was shielded by an invisible force, the ambient magic forming an isolated sanctuary.
Mana gathered and wove itself together in the air until it formed a cocoon, which then molted and dispersed. A few breaths later, she slowly opened her eyes.
Outwardly, nothing had changed, except that her eyes were now heterochromatic—one gold, one blue.
"Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong." Lanqi mimicked the sound of an alarm timer as he hastily swapped cards with Boss Cat, re-equipping his magic cards focused on mana regeneration and maximum mana capacity.
"I'll have to disguise my eye color again," Talia murmured to herself.
Ever since arriving in the City of Flowers, she had been wearing golden contacts to disguise her pupils back to their normal appearance.
Just as she was about to get to work—
"Wait, wait, wait! Leave gathering the materials to me!" Lanqi hastily pressed on her shoulders, guiding her into a chair.
Not only did he go fetch the materials, but he also took a moment to pour a glass of juice and bring a plate of pastries, setting them down right in front of Talia.
Talia realized that they were back in that state.
Any physical action on her part would consume more of Lanqi's mana.
For Lanqi, having her lie down or sit still was the ideal standby mode.
While being pampered by Lanqi felt quite pleasant, she couldn't shake an odd sense of awkwardness.
Inside the workshop, Lanqi walked over to the safe, unlocked it, and retrieved the treasured materials kept within.
Boss Cat shook its head from the side.
It couldn't identify the specific names of these materials, which clearly exceeded its realm of knowledge.
Whenever Lanqi and Talia crafted cards, it would retreat outside the barrier. After all, every explosion was essentially an immense pile of money blowing up.
"Alright, Boss Cat, I'm activating the barrier now."
As he spoke, Lanqi strolled over to the workbench. The tabletop was covered with dense notes detailing material ratios and procedures, but he and Talia had already committed every step to memory.
A moment later, he raised the workshop's magical barrier. Boss Cat leaped back, safely sealed outside.
Still, it was quite accustomed to watching Lanqi craft cards, always crouching outside the workshop and staring intently within.
Back then, it had thought Lanqi was just an incompetent novice who could do nothing but blow up cards.
Who would have guessed he was actually a Platinum-rank card maker registered with the Southern Continent Card Makers Association? Truly astonishing for a cat.
Yet on second thought, Card Maker Lanqi's card-exploding abilities were indeed unrivaled.
As a Platinum-rank card maker, Lanqi had once detonated dozens of cards in succession right under its nose without producing a single finished product, making the cat suspect he was deliberately researching how to maximize the destructive power of explosions.
Every blast had been terrifyingly loud.
Later, it realized that this was genuinely Lanqi's unique talent.
By pushing card explosions to their absolute peak, he had birthed his magnum opus: the Nuclear Fusion Wolf.
"Tata, ready to begin?"
Noticing Boss Cat's watchful gaze, Lanqi kept his focus locked on the task at hand.
"Ready," Talia nodded.
The entire set of equipment they were using was of the highest standard, supplied by the Palieu Branch of the Southern Continent Card Makers Association. A single Platinum-rank card maker possessed immense association privileges, and now there were two of them—even if Talia's official certification would still take some time.
Lanqi first placed a deep-purple cube loaded with an information-recording protocol onto a shelf in the corner of the workshop.
This device recorded the entire creation process and error parameters for subsequent review. Naturally, when applying for patents or title promotions, it could also serve as authoritative verification for high-tier cards crafted outside official supervision.
Just like in his own past, Lanqi considered that biased higher-ups at headquarters might try to make things difficult during Talia's future evaluation. As a seasoned senior, he knew precisely what preparations to make to provide powerful leverage when it mattered most.
Although the device allowed core steps and final card attributes to be obscured, the final quality and tier rating verified under its recording left zero room for fabrication.
With everything prepared, Lanqi and Talia sat down before the workbench.
Talia cleared a large working area, retrieving three divided trays filled with a wide assortment of materials from a nearby shelf.
She carefully inspected the pre-measured ingredients of various colors before arranging them across the surface.
With Lanqi assisting her, Talia began refining and processing the materials, her expression tranquil and her movements deft.
"When will I ever reach your level of skill?" Lanqi remarked. No matter how many times he watched, Talia's handling always appeared effortlessly natural.
"Not very realistic, but in the future, you can just cling to my coattails and let me carry you," Talia replied.
"That actually makes a lot of sense..." Lanqi reflected. If Talia could truly replace the Poet of Great Love permanently, he wouldn't even need to put much more effort into magic engineering.
The two chatted as they worked in harmony.
To craft a magic card centered around Caliera's Shadow-Weaving Record, Lanqi had spent virtually all of his savings and earnings from the City of Flowers. Even with his hefty Card Makers Association discounts, and with Countess Rosalinda sourcing supplementary ingredients at prime rates from branches across the region, the astronomical cost remained dizzying.
Most card makers would struggle to keep their hands steady even during the final micro-adjustments of raw material processing.
Lanqi was simply gifted with an unshakeable mindset, remaining calm even while walking a tightrope. For Talia, it was pure second nature through endless practice; she didn't even need to consciously steady her mood to perform flawlessly.
Amidst the quiet room, only the rhythmic ticking of the clock broke the silence.
Ten minutes flew by in the blink of an eye, and the baseline preparation of raw materials was complete.
It was enough for a few trial runs.
"Focus," Talia said softly, shifting her gaze to Lanqi, who was mixing the mana ink.
Her own technique was merely consistent; if they wanted to break through the upper ceiling, they relied heavily on Lanqi, as her assistant, delivering a peak performance.
At moments like this, she had to keep him grounded and apply some pressure, lest he get carried away.
"Could you be a bit colder? You seem a bit too gentle today; it doesn't have the right flavor," Lanqi said, leaning in to inspect Talia's face.
"Are you actually sitting there enjoying this...?" Talia genuinely wondered if Lanqi had some kind of mental affliction. Her blood pressure shot up.
"Eight-hundred-year aged vintage—it truly is the ultimate indulgence." Before Lanqi could even finish his sentence, Talia pinched his waist, her face faintly flushed.
"Is this right?" Talia glared at Lanqi, her expression gradually turning frosty.
Yet Lanqi's expression still held a hint of doubt.
"Right now, you're probably less like Tata than the Poet of Great Love's impression of Tata," Lanqi critiqued.
Talia had no idea what was different about her compared to before.
"Still not quite right, meow. Feels like there's too much bashfulness," Boss Cat chimed in from outside the barrier, agreeing that Tata was indeed falling short of the Poet of Great Love's portrayal.
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Talia asked Lanqi, a flicker of distraction lingering in her golden eyes.
"Extremely cold and stern, like I owe you a mountain of debt, giving me the sensation that a strict master is glaring at me like a hawk. Right now, compared to before, you look more like a big gray cat that anyone could cuddle..."
The moment the words left his mouth, Lanqi felt the room temperature plummet. He didn't dare say another word, feeling a chilled hand gently resting against the nape of his neck.
"Then I think I understand. Is this the feeling?"
Talia's gaze seemed to warn him: if he brought up meowing like a cat or lap-feeding ever again, she couldn't guarantee what would happen next.
"...Yes, exactly," Lanqi nodded obediently.
"Let's begin."
The moment she spoke, Talia handed the prepared mana ink to Lanqi.
Blended meticulously from phantasm crystal powder and mental-attribute monster core fluid, the ink thrummed with immense arcane energy.
The instant Lanqi's fingertips brushed the vial, the mana circulating through his body resonated with it, drawn in by the ink's natural affinity.
Even without testing it, Lanqi's intuition told him Talia had balanced the proportions to perfection.
He carefully channeled the ink into his magical engraving stylus, feeling the arcane flow within.
Simultaneously, Talia dispelled the containment seals on the foundational materials.
Among them were Moonstone Dust, commonly used in mental-attribute magical tools and gathered from moonstones during a full moon to amplify the psychological impact of gemstone bases; Telekinetic Divine Feathers, often employed to facilitate mental or telekinetic control; and Sage Vines, creeping flora that grew only on sentient, tree-type monsters in the Demon Realm, known to enhance memory and comprehension when refined.
In addition, following Professor Polao's advice, they had incorporated a precise proportion of illusion-type reagents: Phantom Sand, rare grains collected from the Illusion Forest of the Creti Empire to heighten the realism of phantasms; Mirrorbloom Crystal, capable of reflecting the user's deepest psyche to solidify illusions; and finally, Night Petals as a catalyst, bearing natural hallucinogenic properties.
As the crystalline outer crusts of the materials cracked and flaked away, they reached the most crucial phase of the process: applying enchantments to the materials, using them as bedrock to trace magical circuits and extend spell formations, thereby constructing an intricate, massive energy matrix.
The entire process demanded absolute focus and flawless coordination to succeed.
Lanqi wielded the stylus, each stroke executed with pinpoint precision, while Talia inscribed and anchored every rune along the circuit pathways.
Human script and demonic glyphs intertwined into bizarre patterns, dense as spiderwebs, writhing and expanding across the medium.
Arcane ripples saturated the air, leaving Boss Cat dizzy even from outside the barrier.
Yet this time, their synergy was extraordinary. Utterly absorbed, they remained blind to everything around them, as if time itself had ground to a halt.
They didn't consciously adjust to each other or worry about whether the other could keep up, as they usually did.
Each simply performed their designated task, seamlessly covering for the other whenever needed, or taking the lead to guide the next motion.
Just like the unspoken understanding they had forged during the decisive battle in the Posen Demon Realm that night.
As the card crafting progressed, the trajectory of mana coursing through the card grew distinct. Magic circles formed one after another. Though the overall structure appeared exquisite and magnificent, lethality lurked within; the moment it exceeded its structural tolerance, it could collapse into a catastrophic detonation at any second.
"It looks like... we can push straight through to the end this time?" Lanqi kept his eyes fixed on his hands, but his voice in Talia's mind was laced with surprise.
Tonight's practice was going shockingly well, as if they had each unlocked the other's user manual.
Moreover, Talia was far more accommodating of him now; whenever he encountered difficulty, she would take control of his hands directly while having him manage hers to complete simpler tasks.
They had never achieved this level of synchronization before.
If they pressed on, this would no longer be just a trial run—they would be committing Caliera's Shadow-Weaving Record for real.
"Are you sure?" Talia did not pause, replying only within his mind.
In just a few more steps, they would have to introduce Caliera's Shadow-Weaving Record. Once that happened, failure was no longer an option.
"Strike while the iron is hot. If our momentum is this good, we shouldn't stop," Lanqi said.
"Alright." Talia didn't hesitate, following his lead.
Any ordinary card maker facing signs of instability in a magic card would likely pull back, collect more data, and double-check previous steps for areas of improvement.
Lanqi, however, approached it like a coach: when the players were in top form, he trusted them completely.
Once missed, a miracle might never be replicated. He was dead set on seeing this card through to the end, even if ruin lay ahead.
Normally, every time his cards exploded, similar warning signs would appear—ominous sparks flickering before the card took shape, the entire framework wobbling on the brink of collapse.
With Talia present, the card's instability was actually far milder than anything Lanqi had experienced when crafting with the Poet of Great Love.
In Lanqi's eyes, their chances of success were extraordinarily high.
No one understood better than him when a card would explode and when it wouldn't.
Trusting Lanqi, Talia calmly proceeded with the next phase of tuning.
Once ready, it was time to incorporate Caliera's Shadow-Weaving Record.
The cool, multifaceted orb had already appeared in Lanqi's hand. Every facet looked as though Caliera had carved it with painstaking care, its pale-blue hue subtly shifting, softening into an elegant glow from center to rim like light rippling across ocean depths.
Though neither spoke, they both understood that the true trial had begun.
This material was exceedingly unique: the burst of mana released during its consumption would trigger powerful illusions.
If either of them fell under its sway, the other would have to seize control of their shared physical actions to complete the steps.
Otherwise, even a fraction of a second of dazed hesitation could ruin everything.
Without a word, Talia clamped down shackles upon the magical circuitry, sealing off every escape route, even knowing the card could disintegrate into dust in their hands at any moment.
If necessary, they were even prepared to relinquish control of their own bodies, allowing either party to take the reins at will.
Outside, Boss Cat was utterly dumbfounded. It had never seen card-crafting synergy like this.
Lanqi and Talia didn't seem to look at each other at all, nor did they monitor each other's progress. They simply declared through their actions:
"If you aren't an amateur, our next steps will inevitably converge at the exact right place."
If Lanqi's cooperation with the Poet of Great Love resembled one soul operating two bodies, then his synergy with Tata was more like two souls operating a single entity.
Either of them could utilize the other's body, provided the action was correct.
It was as though they had transcended the physical plane entirely, leaving two souls in pure collaboration.
As the minute hand ticked through full rotations, the immense power brewing within the workshop grew increasingly volatile.
"Meow, meow, meow!" Boss Cat's fur stood on end in sheer terror.
Lanqi and Talia had blown up countless cards lately. While those looked like repeated failures, each had been preparation for this very moment. They understood each other's blind spots so thoroughly that they could even anticipate where they might clash in the unfinished steps.
If this burst of arcane energy went off, the explosion would be on an entirely different level from before.
It had to remain ready to unleash its invincible wind magic at a moment's notice.
In the past, before traveling to the Northern Continent when it was still weak, it wouldn't have dared stay for a single second while Lanqi crafted cards, terrified of being swept away by an earth-shattering disaster.
Now, however, it was different—it was Cat Loren, possessor of five lives!
Inside the workshop, Lanqi gazed intently at the magic Talia was weaving.
In his eyes, completing this card was far more important than his own life.
"Lanqi, is your mana holding up?" Talia asked, seemingly in passing.
By her estimation, Lanqi not only had to expend vast amounts of mana during the crafting itself, but he also had to supply her with mana. If his reserves ran dry at the end, all their efforts would come to naught.
"Use as much as you need; don't hold back," Lanqi murmured, continuing to inscribe runes. His expression was calm and assured, as if everything was well within his grasp.
He would never let Talia suffer.
Talia fell silent at his words.
Reflecting carefully, Lanqi truly had always been exceptionally generous with her. Even when he was strapped for cash, he made sure she lived comfortably, letting her eat whatever she fancied.
Banishing further distractions, she focused on the final steps. The two moved in seamless harmony, paying no heed to the violent surges of energy continually rippling from the card.
Finally, accompanied by a wave of invisible force, the space within the workshop abruptly warped.
Ripples of visible arcane energy radiated outward in rapid succession, twisting the equipment throughout the workshop one piece after another.
"Oh no, this is Caliera-chan's primal power, meow!" Boss Cat curled into a tight ball, clutching its head.
It was quite familiar with this aura.
This wasn't Lanqi's or Talia's mana—it was the terrifying power of the great demon Caliera.
Lanqi realized that if this was truly Tier 9 mana, even Talia might not be able to withstand it.
He would undoubtedly succumb and fall unconscious.
At this moment, all he could do was place his trust in Talia.
Throughout the hotel's other floors, guests seemed to hear a sudden ringing in their ears before slumping into an unconscious slumber.
Lanqi and Talia collapsed one after the other, slumping over the table.
Even with her cheek pressed against the desktop, Talia struggled desperately, trying to force herself through the final steps.
Yet drowsiness swept over them like a tidal wave, entirely irresistible.
Suspended in a half-dream, it was impossible to tell whether it was sheer willpower or their physical bodies carrying out the work.
At this most critical juncture, neither could resist the phantasmal mana bursting forth from Caliera's Shadow-Weaving Record. Both fell prey to the illusion. Amidst lingering reluctance and overwhelming fatigue, their eyelids slid shut, and darkness consumed their vision.
***
Consciousness flickered in fragments.
Flickering candlelight seemed to dance amidst shadows cast by starlight, the vast night sky still as stagnant water.
Starlight intertwined with the crimson glow unique to Purgatory, their radiance mingling to cast an ethereal veil over the dark surroundings.
This place looked strikingly like somewhere she had seen before—
Purgatory City Pasqual, the Purgatory Corridor Academy.
In the deepest office on the top floor, an antique chandelier hung beneath a soaring ceiling steeped in history, casting a gentle glow over dark-brown wooden floorboards.
Across from a marble fireplace sat a comfortable office chair and an expansive brown wooden desk, upon which lay a weathered grimoire with warped edges.
Outside the large wooden-framed windows, the starlight of the Demon Realm spilled indoors, overlapping with the lamplight into a lattice of luminescence.
Beside a square tea table near the window stood a plush woven armchair, giving off a relaxed, leisurely air suited for retirement.
Though this warded room did not harm or bar students, opening or physically pushing through its lock was nearly impossible.
And yet...
Accompanied by a rustling outside, the mail slot on the door clicked open.
Having transformed into a little gray cat, she slipped effortlessly through the mail slot and into the Headmaster's Office.
Upon landing, she transformed back into a demon girl.
Infiltrating the Headmaster's Office could be considered the crowning achievement for students of this academy, an endeavor few ever dared attempt.
According to school rules, trespassing into the Headmaster's Office was a severe violation.
If caught by the dean, summary execution was guaranteed.
Conversely, if a student's life was threatened, fleeing into the Headmaster's Office granted safety—teachers could not pursue them inside, as the staff dared not trespass either.
Thus, when driven into a corner with an opening to flee, students would bolt straight for the Headmaster's Office.
If the headmaster was absent, it served as a temporary sanctuary; if the headmaster was present, the trespasser would face the ultimate dread of personal execution.
Accurately discerning whether the Headmaster's Office was a safe haven or a death trap was an agonizing test of luck, wit, and courage.
Yet students who sneaked in purely out of curiosity, like her, were exceedingly rare.
"Told you the headmaster wouldn't be here," she murmured tonelessly, as if mocking those overly cautious demons.
Still, the Headmaster's Office wasn't as interesting as she had imagined. There was only a swimming pool.
Who knew what kind of lunatic had decided to build one here?
Suddenly, her gaze paused at the edge of the office.
Then she casually looked away.
Standing there was an unidentified undead wrapped in dark mist, only his eyes glowing with an eerie green light. She had nearly failed to notice his presence.
By all accounts, any undead infiltrating the Purgatory Corridor Academy should have been purged immediately.
Yet this spirit was exceedingly strange; not a shred of presence or mana emanated from him.
He looked as though he had lingered in this office for ages, showing not the slightest panic at an intruder's arrival. Standing motionless like a withered tree, there was no telling what he was waiting for.
There was only one plausible explanation: this undead was unique, perhaps invisible even to the other demons in the school.
Typically, only beings whose souls were exceptionally powerful in life, or those warped by overwhelming obsessions, would linger as undead.
Logically, no undead should have been able to slip into the Headmaster's Office unless the academy's barriers didn't reject him. Could he have been a formidable demon in life?
Just as she was pondering this—
*"Can you see me, little cat who sneaked inside?"*
A strange, weathered voice drifted into her ears.
She was mildly surprised.
Evidently, this undead had gone undiscovered by demons for a very long time.
Enveloped in dark mist, his facial features remained obscured, leaving only those deep-green eyes clearly visible.
The gray-haired demon girl ignored him, pretending she neither saw him nor heard his words.
This wandering soul was feeble. Battered by the passage of time, he was on the verge of fading away; binding him as a familiar wouldn't be difficult.
However, he would only amount to a low-tier familiar, and might even carry negative debuffs.
Regardless, she had no desire to tangle with something of unknown origin. It was best left alone.
*"How fares the Blood Clan these days?"*
The shadowy undead spoke again, seemingly convinced the demon girl could see him.
*Absurd,* she thought.
The Blood Clan was ancient history from centuries ago. In this era of peace and prosperity, what kind of demon still dwelled on them? In life, he had probably been nothing more than an old relic terrified out of his wits by the Blood Clan.
Without lingering, she turned, shifted back into a little gray cat, and coldly slipped out of the Headmaster's Office.
The shadowy undead did not pester her. He simply watched her leave with a faint smile, remaining in the office to await the next fated demon.
*"Here marks the beginning of it all."*
*"The meeting between a memoryless me and her younger self, our fates entwined across an unforgettable journey of gains and losses, until..."*
*"At the end of the road, I slew her with my own hands."*
***
Outside the window in Palieu, the City of Flowers, the sky remained overcast.
The long night had passed.
A light drizzle had begun to fall again, cloaking the approaching dawn in a dreary, deep gray.
Boss Cat poked its head out from its curled ball. Seeing that the workshop hadn't blown up, it let out a massive sigh of relief.
It was just that the final surge of energy had swept both of them up in Caliera's power.
"Meow, meow, you two!"
It worried for Lanqi and Tata, who were slumped over the desk, sleeping even more soundly than the cat itself.
Gradually, however, signs of life returned to the pair. With a twitch of their fingers, they slowly propped themselves up from the workbench, vigorously shaking their groggy heads.
The interference from Caliera's mana seemed to have dissipated just moments earlier.
"Tata... I think I dreamed of you..." Lanqi clutched his head, feeling as though he had just seen a youthful version of Talia.
"I think I did too..." Talia couldn't remember clearly, but she vaguely recalled seeing a dark phantom with emerald-green eyes—eyes that, in retrospect, were practically identical to Lanqi's.
The instant they snapped awake, both thought they had failed.
Without time for chatter, they frantically rummaged through the desktop.
If they hadn't completed the final step, the card would have been lost.
"I'm sorry, Lanqi. I couldn't resist Caliera's power..."
"It's not your fault. I made all the calls; if something went wrong, it's entirely on me."
"Ugh..."
Just as their hearts were pounding furiously—
Beneath a scattered sheet of paper, they discovered a magic card so translucent it was nearly invisible, shimmering with a faint orange-red radiance.
The two exchanged stunned, ecstatic glances.
"Tata, did it work?"
"I think it did!" Talia sighed in immense relief.
Even so, Lanqi's attitude just now reaffirmed her conviction that partnering with him was the right choice.
"Appraise it?" Lanqi asked.
Talia nodded nervously. Reaching out, she effortlessly picked up the card, which in Boss Cat's eyes radiated terrifying power.
The card face pulsed before them, casting an intoxicating, kaleidoscopic glow, as if bearing the supreme glory of an ancient deity.
[Overflowing Land of Gentle Slumber]
[Category: Spell Card]
[Quality: Orange Epic]
[Tier: 8]
[Effect: Forces all targets within range, excluding the caster, into a sleep state. While asleep, targets become immersed in either an unattainable dream or their most cherished memory. The caster may intervene in the dream. Cooldown: 120 seconds.]
[Remark: Love is such a wondrous thing; the tighter you clutch it, the further it causes you to fall, yet the better you learn to let it go, the more it steadily overflows.]
"Hiss—"
Talia hadn't expected them to truly replicate great demon Caliera's innate magic to this extent.
"Lanqi, why don't you wait until you reach Tier 8 to bind this card? This spell suits you much better."
She handed the card to Lanqi.
Rumor had it that Lanqi wielded the Fallen Land of Gentle Slumber even better than Caliera herself.
Although this [Overflowing Land of Gentle Slumber] was slightly different from the [Fallen Land of Gentle Slumber], Lanqi would undoubtedly use it with mastery.
"By the time I hit Tier 8, the Creti Empire will probably have conquered the entire Southern Continent. It's the same whether you bind it or I do. Besides, too many of my card slots are occupied by Epics; it's not ideal for me to bind more Epic cards down the road."
Lanqi had long considered that even if he encountered another high-quality card that couldn't be unbound, he would at most take one more.
He wanted to see if he could claim the ultimate card related to Lanclos of the Black Sun at the conclusion of the Blood Moon Ruined World.
"If I bind this card, does that mean I can replace Caliera when cooperating with you?" Talia murmured, staring at the card.
Unreasonable, wide-area crowd control spells like this possessed an extraordinarily high skill ceiling.
While Caliera's original Tier 9 version was stronger—as long as Fallen Caliera maintained the spell under heavy load, enemies could not break free of the dream even while taking damage—this one wasn't bad either, functioning as a low-consumption, instantaneous spell.
"You should be able to. Whether it's the innate demon magic, the aloof temperament, or the vintage maturity..." Lanqi nodded in approval, but before he could finish, Talia seized his heart.
Another perk of the Demon King of Mad Love state was that she could deliver direct heartbeat warnings to Lanqi.
"I—what I mean is, even if you disguised yourself as Caliera, Hyperion wouldn't notice!" Lanqi hastily corrected himself.
Talia pondered the thought. The next time Lanqi brought her into a Shadow World, the role she was most likely to be assigned was Caliera.
The Shadow World always allocated challengers historical figures best suited to their talents. Now that she possessed the Land of Gentle Slumber, that probability had spiked dramatically.
It seemed true that even if she took Caliera's place, Hyperion wouldn't realize it, since Caliera's face was naturally shrouded in illusion magic, preventing the vast majority of demons from ever seeing her true appearance.
When the time came, maybe keeping Hyperion in the dark and spending time with her as Caliera wouldn't be so bad?
"Plus, this card is exceptionally practical even as utility magic. If you ever feel Hyperion isn't sleeping well, you can just slap her with one before bed," Lanqi noted. He recalled that Caliera had done the exact same thing. The only difference was that Caliera's original [Fallen Land of Gentle Slumber] couldn't be used frequently without harming the soul, whereas this [Overflowing Land of Gentle Slumber] was completely natural and harmless.
"That's true!" Talia suddenly felt this spell was better than anything else. She gazed affectionately at the translucent card in her hand.
"Lanqi, I'll keep helping you craft magic cards in the future. We've finally found our rhythm."
She smiled at Lanqi.
Hyperion was always prone to waking from nightmares, talking in her sleep, and tossing and turning restlessly.
This spell had no side effects and could ensure sweet dreams every night. If it put Hyperion into a deep sleep, Talia wouldn't even have to worry about her kicking off the blankets in the middle of the night.
It was practically an essential motherly tool for pampering Little Hypie.
***
Meanwhile, outside the hotel.
On this rainy morning in Palieu, heavy dark clouds blanketed the sky, forming a colossal black shroud that swallowed the faint light of dawn.
A damp chill permeated the air as continuous raindrops drummed against the cobblestones with a monotonous patter.
An occasional gust of bitter wind howled past, sweeping up withered, yellow leaves to dance along the deserted streets.
In the distance, the bells of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Palieu tolled, low and lingering.
Before long, a shrill, urgent siren shattered the dead silence, piercing the heavy gloom like a razor-sharp dagger.
The alarms reverberated across the heavens, echoing through the empty avenues and jolting Palieu awake from its slumber.
People poured from their homes, their faces etched with panic and confusion.
Having just weathered the unrest a few days prior, the nerves of Palieu's citizens were fragile and frayed.
Some fled frantically toward the nearest temple for sanctuary, while others clustered on street corners in anxious knots, trading hushed speculations.
Then, magic-powered vehicles rumbled down the streets, where an officer in military uniform stood somberly atop the roof of a military transport, holding a black voice-amplifying magitech device that blared in unison with the citywide broadcast:
"One hour ago, our nation suffered a massive invasion by the armed forces of the Creti Empire! The United Council of Kingdoms and the Posen Government have declared an emergency general mobilization, calling upon all devoted citizens to report immediately to local conscription offices to enlist, defend the homeland, and repel the invaders!"
Chapter 701