Talia's Retrospective After a Century

The floor trembled faintly, and the magical runes carved into the walls began to glow with a dim light. Talia's abrupt entrance was like a massive boulder hurled into a tranquil lake, stirring up a thousand ripples and utterly shattering the equilibrium Lanqi and Abigail had just managed to strike. Confronted with Talia's hostility, Abigail maintained a veneer of composure. Yet she was thoroughly startled by Toliado. "Why are you yelling so loud?!" Her hand trembled slightly, on the verge of activating the emergency defensive enchantments built into the spatial barrier. "But she's a princess," Toliado replied, as if stating the most obvious fact in the world. "Princess my foot! Just because she acted in Ash Maiden, she's suddenly a princess?" Abigail felt as if Toliado had been drinking bad liquor today, constantly jumping at shadows. "..." Listening to Abigail's words, Talia was overcome by mixed feelings. Since when had she gradually stopped living like a princess...? Everyone else blossomed from Cinderella into a princess, yet she seemed to have done the reverse. At least she could sense that the tension had eased, so she relaxed a fraction. The fact that Lanqi hadn't panicked all this time proved there was no real danger. Besides, that terrifyingly powerful mystery man—he could actually call her by name? "No, she really is a princess," Toliado gestured earnestly to Abigail. Then he turned back around, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Talia. "Talia, is it really you? How did you end up with McCarthy?" Toliado asked Talia in astonishment. The two of them acting in Holy War Romance—he couldn't even fathom it. It seemed he really had to watch the rerun on the Brierda Cinema Channel later. "Are you Yabo?" Talia was equally flabbergasted. The other party didn't display the slightest hostility toward her, and that familiar tone of voice was the exact spitting image of what she had heard a century ago back in the old Demon Realm. "That's me! We haven't seen each other in over a hundred years!" Toliado dismissed his disguise, momentarily reverting to his demon form. With long, slender fingers, he gently brushed across his face as though peeling away an invisible mask. His human features gradually receded, his eyes shifting into a bewitching magenta with menacing, slit-like pupils. His skin remained a faintly haggard pale, and his ears grew slightly pointed without being exaggerated. A nearly imperceptible aura of dark purple magic swirled around Toliado's body, dissipating like thin mist in the blink of an eye. Without a doubt, he was one of the few surviving super-high-tier demons left in this world. "It really is you... How can you be here?" Talia was now certain that the man before her was the old Demon Realm's final general, but she couldn't comprehend how she had suddenly run into him! "The surrenderist general?" At this point, Lanqi understood the gist of it as well. General Yabo of the old Demon Realm's surrenderist faction, Associate Professor Sido of the history department in the Northern Continent, and Cardinal of Dimensions Toliado of the Resurrection Church in the Southern Continent—they were all the same person. No wonder every time Pranay had spoken about that general who excelled at fleeing, Lanqi had felt a sense of déjà vu. "I'm a cardinal of the Resurrection Church now, so it's only natural for me to be in the Creti Empire," Toliado replied. "What about you? How are things going for you these days?" he asked Talia. "!" "J-Just so-so. Have you ever heard of a Platinum-rank card maker? I casually picked up the title a while ago." Talia twirled a strand of hair to mask her nervousness, feigning nonchalance. "Pfft..." Lanqi tried his absolute best to stifle his laughter, but a faint sound slipped out nonetheless, instantly caught by Talia. She immediately shot him a death glare. "McCarthy, what's with that expression?" Before Toliado could even comment on Talia's claim, his attention was drawn by Lanqi's overly complex expression. "All I can say is, thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—never look down on the elderly just because they're down on their luck...!" Before he could finish, Talia's chilly little hand clamped down onto the back of his neck. As fear set in, Lanqi grew vastly better behaved. "By the way, who is McCarthy?" Talia forcefully changed the subject. She noticed that Toliado seemed remarkably familiar with Lanqi, almost as though they had known each other for a long time. "If you go into the streets of the Protos Empire and yell 'Long live McCarthy,' crowds of imperials will instantly join in," Toliado explained. "...?" Talia turned to Lanqi beside her, projecting a massive question mark with her eyes. She could tell that the "McCarthy" in Toliado's mouth referred to Lanqi. But why did that sound so bizarre? "It really defies all logic. McCarthy, how on earth did you run into Talia over here on the Southern Continent? Goddess of Fate, you truly know how to pull a prank." Toliado still found the whole situation marvelous. He had run into two incredible old friends back-to-back tonight. Even if he were to suddenly bump into even more antique friends he had lost contact with for a century over the coming days, he wouldn't be as shocked as he was right now. "He was already my student before he ever went to the Northern Continent. He met me first, and only then did he go there. Besides, his name is Lanqi," Talia emphasized. "Lanqi..." Toliado murmured the name, finding it strangely familiar. "Lanqi Wilford? Good grief, so that bastard Loren's student who drove Ivanos out of his mind was you! I knew you were something special back then, but unfortunately Ikerite's defenses were too tight for me to sneak in and play around." Realization struck him, and he pointed at Lanqi. Suddenly, everything began to make sense. "Why did you call Loren a bastard..." Lanqi asked Toliado. "Is it possible he meant 'that bastard student of Loren'? Do you truly never think you might be the problem?" Talia corrected him. "..." Watching Lanqi and Talia banter, a rare glint of amusement slowly welled up in Toliado's eyes. "So that's how it is..." Toliado murmured. "What is it?" Talia asked him. "Nothing. I just roughly understand your current identities and relationship now," Toliado said with a nod. "I'm genuinely glad to see you both again, Talia, Lanqi." A smile he hadn't worn in ages appeared on his face. "Yabo, let me tell you, we could have fought that battle of annihilation back in the old Demon Realm! If you had been there, maybe we could have broken through together instead of scattering like birds and beasts only to be picked off one by one." Seeing Toliado instantly reminded Talia of this crucial grievance. She couldn't keep it to herself any longer. Back then, he was the only general they had left, yet he abandoned them and fled first. "Whoa, you have no idea what it was like on my end back then! Three Tier 8 generals were chasing and pummeling me! I'd never seen such an overwhelming display in my life!" Toliado complained with a horrified expression. He had walked the line between life and death dozens of times in his life, but he had zero fond memories of being surrounded and hunted down. "I misjudged you..." Talia answered apologetically. It seemed that if Yabo hadn't drawn all the aggro, neither she nor Iphatia would have escaped either. Fortunately, Toliado possessed a unique spatial attribute; any other general would not necessarily have managed to get away. "The whole reason I knocked around in the Protos Empire was hoping that one day, with some luck, I could bust the three old folks out. Unfortunately, none of those three Great Demon Trials suited me well. If I went in, I might end up biting the dust first." Toliado explained his plans over the years to Talia. He was actually well-suited for a prison break. Once successful, he could spend a massive amount of mana to teleport the great demons away in a targeted jump. However, such a huge surge of mana would also be detected by Great Sage Isis of the Empire. Thus, there was only one shot, and before finishing matters here on the Southern Continent, it wasn't wise for him to attempt it just yet. "You never struck me as someone afraid of dying. At least the sixth basement floor, [Inverted Path of Rebirth], shouldn't pose much threat to you. Could you not get past the fifth basement floor's [Hopeless War of Annihilation]?" Talia asked him. She had heard Antanas and the others describe the structure of Herrom Prison. In her impression, a heartless fellow like Yabo probably wouldn't fear the [Fallen Land of Gentle Slumber] either. "Yeah, exactly," Toliado nodded. Abigail glanced at Toliado without saying a word. "Still, mulling it over, the only way you could have defeated Askesan that day, Lanqi, was if you rescued Antanas and the other two, right? Otherwise, I honestly can't think of any way to overcome Askesan and Morotian," Toliado asked. "Of course. They are in Ikerite right now, handling a very important job..." Lanqi gave Toliado a rundown of the crucial background he had previously explained to Iphatia in the underground palace. This included the reason the Blood Clan was assassinating Hyperion, as well as how he and Talia had encountered Landry on the way here. In Talia's eyes, Toliado was trustworthy. Lanqi was also willing to trust this exceptionally reliable Northern Continent teammate. "Ah, Landry..." In an instant, Toliado seemed to piece together many things, muttering dejectedly to himself. "And I was wondering why I suddenly couldn't find Mikhail back then... As expected, the Blood Clan targeted him." "You know Duke Mikhail?" Lanqi hadn't expected such an unexpected bonus. His last remaining civil commission was to find Duke Mikhail, and after so long, he had actually stumbled upon a clue again. Logically speaking, Toliado and Mikhail shouldn't have been connected in the slightest. "Of course I do. I was counting on him to pull strings and help me surrender to the Church of the Goddess of Fate." Toliado started to say something more but stopped himself, telling Lanqi and Talia, "At any rate, rest assured, I'll definitely help you rescue Mikhail. Leave that Marquis Somerset to me." Beyond the Dimensions branch, he had founded the Silver Moon Restoration Society precisely to rally the strength needed to purge the Creti Empire. Landry's death was undeniably due to the Blood Clan divining certain information. It had nothing to do with whether he was a member of the Silver Moon Restoration Society; simply because he was Elsa's older brother, the Blood Clan had plotted against him, leaking intelligence to the Allied side to use the Allies' blade to kill Landry. The only thing the Blood Clan could not divine was that on that very carriage, there was someone capable of taking Landry's place—thereby fooling the Blood Clan and creating the illusion that Landry had not been killed. Lanqi possessed Pranay's divination-type great demon imprint, the [Mark of Truth], which bypassed the future foreseen by the Seventh Progenitor, Marquis Heriteer. "Regarding Landry, I am deeply sorry," Lanqi said to Toliado and Abigail. "I think... Landry would probably thank you," Abigail murmured, her brows cast down in a sorrowful sigh. It all felt like destiny. Landry's prayers to the Goddess of Fate had brought about the punishment he had yearned for, and correspondingly, his death had yielded miraculous value. Perhaps this was a devout bargain with the deity, for McCarthy truly possessed the ability to help Landry save his sister, and he had indeed protected Elsa on Landry's behalf. "Please continue using his identity," Toliado granted permission. Had it been anyone else, he never would have agreed to let them go on usurping Landry's identity. But McCarthy was an exception—he was someone who could truly put this identity to good use and repay Landry. "Then I will gratefully borrow Landry's identity. Once everything has settled, I will give him a proper tomb and burial," Lanqi thanked them both. "Abigail, help him out in the coming period, will you?" Toliado issued his cardinal's order. "Understood. When the Empire comes looking for me anyway, I'll just say I'm willing to join Professor Landry's research team. Lanqi, just focus on maneuvering for power within the Empire. The title of Saint Creti Monastery professor isn't enough to turn heads. You must at least become the director of a major project, see it through to success, and have people crown you the 'Father of the Mana Fission Bomb'—only then will you possess sufficient clout." Abigail nodded in crisp agreement. No matter how much she detested magical engineering, she still worked conscientiously when it was time to get things done. It could only be said that life was like that: one's passion and talent didn't always align. "I can already see that future." With Lanqi's team gaining the staunch backing of another capable magical engineer, his chances of being chosen by the imperial military—overlooking his newcomer status—would increase dramatically. "And you'll also have to worry about being plotted against by politicians. The slightest slip, and it'll be your turn to face the consequences of your own achievement. Then one day, when they feel you've been punished enough, they'll serve you salmon and potato salad, deliver a speech, award you a medal of honor, pat you on the back, and tell you that everything in the past has been forgiven." Abigail sneered, having long seen through how imperial politicians viewed magical engineers. "Don't worry, I won't plot against myself." Lanqi was confident he wouldn't go plotting against those magical engineers. "...You bastard, you never wanted to be a magical engineer in the first place." Abigail realized she had misjudged him completely. Brother, you really are something else. "Me, you, Antanas, Sinora, Pranay... and I heard Almis came to the Southern Continent a while ago too. Doesn't that mean our old Demon Realm crew is only missing Iphatia?" Toliado pointed between himself and Talia, counting on his fingers. He had just thought of this. Iphatia had actually shown up over a decade ago, but then vanished again. "..." Lanqi and Talia exchanged a glance. "You don't know where Iphatia is?" Assuming Toliado knew she was in Brierda as well, they hadn't mentioned that before coming to the opera house today, they had found Iphatia in the mafia's underground base. After learning that Sido and Abigail were the founders of the Silver Moon Restoration Society, Lanqi and Talia strongly suspected that the mafia boss, Barton, was also a member of the society. Yet indeed, Barton was unlikely to expose his boss's secret identity to anyone else in the organization. That was also why Iphatia trusted Barton. However, Barton had never known that the leader of the Silver Moon Restoration Society and Iphatia were actually old Demon Realm compatriots from a century ago. "How could I possibly find where she is? She's always been clever. If she wants to hide, nobody can find her. She can disguise herself perfectly as any imperial." Toliado spread his hands. "She's actually in the mafia's underground palace. That spatial barrier was even built by Abigail for Barton. You take the carriage—Route 737, transfer to Route 901, get off at Jones River Port, walk a few kilometers, and contact Barton to let you through, and you can go see her," Talia informed Toliado. Hearing this, Toliado was flabbergasted, staring at the two with wide eyes. Gathering spatial arts, he closed his eyes to search for the coordinates. Then, right beside the wall of bookshelves, he traced a circle sparking with silver fire, connecting directly to the other spatial barrier Abigail had built. "Ahaha!" On the other side of the makeshift spatial gateway Toliado opened, Iphatia was lounging on the sofa, eating potato chips while watching the rerun of the theatrical release of Holy War Romance, pointing at the screen and laughing heartily from time to time. Suddenly sensing eyes on her, she turned her head in confusion—only to find a massive dimensional hole torn open in midair. The potato chip slipped right out of her hand in shock. "Holy shit, Yabo!" Iphatia shrieked.