The searing pain of death coursed through Lanqi's body, stretching his consciousness to the verge of snapping.
Even though it had merely been a simulation within a mental construct, it felt as though he had just survived a grueling battle. He had not only viscerally experienced a demise where not even his bones remained, but had also felt every harrowing emotion etched into that soul.
The moment he stepped out from the Mirror of Tiberius, he staggered slightly, struggling to keep his footing.
A burst of white light flared as Talia manifested just in time, supporting Lanqi before him and keeping him from tumbling over.
They were deep beneath Purgatory Corridors Academy, inside the central energy room.
"Lanqi, are you alright?"
Talia bitterly regretted not stopping Lanqi from entering the Mirror of Tiberius in the first place.
No legendary artifact ever seemed to bring anything good.
She had witnessed the entire process of the Holy Polant Pope's defeat with her own eyes—his Imperishable Glazed Body shattered, the desperate siege, being cleaved in half at the waist, and having his dismembered remains put on public display.
Now, they had returned to the Shadow World.
Talia immediately checked the Shadow World's notifications.
[Mission Objective 1: Read the letter from old friend Caliera; travel to Purgatory City Pasqual in the Demon Realm and protect the little spark left behind by Caliera; comprehend the Mirror of Tiberius. (Completed)]
[Mission Objective 2: Understand the state of mind of Lanclos of the Black Sun: 19.53%. (Completed)]
[Mission Objective 3: All challengers must survive until the end of the 21-day time limit. Remaining time: 5 days, 11 hours, 09 minutes.]
Seeing Lanqi's comprehension of the Lord of the Black Sun skyrocket, Talia felt a lingering tremor in her heart.
A single experience inside the Mirror of Tiberius had drawn Lanqi so much closer to the Black Sun, and yet even now it stood at under twenty percent?
Talia turned her gaze toward the cubic magic mirror behind Lanqi, genuine fear welling within her.
"I'm fine."
Lanqi's eyes were still hazy, like someone who had just woken from a deep slumber.
Rather than forcing himself to act tough, he leaned on Talia's support and sat down upon the steps before the Mirror of Tiberius.
"Lanqi, are you really going to keep looking into the Mirror of Tiberius?" Talia asked, unable to keep the concern from her voice, even though she suspected she could never talk him out of it.
That had not been a mere illusion; it had forced Lanqi to practically live through a projected future firsthand.
She sat down beside Lanqi as well.
"Have the two of us ever had the option to stop?" Lanqi turned his head and asked Talia.
"True..."
Talia understood. Whenever she hesitated, Lanqi grew resolute; whenever Lanqi hesitated, she stepped forward firmly.
Ever since they first participated in the game at the Golden Bee Amusement Park, it was as if they were locked in an unspoken contest never to yield, determined to see things through together no matter what crossed their path.
"Then let's finish what we started. But if you're ever in a bad mood, don't give me the silent treatment, okay?"
Talia laid her hand over the back of Lanqi's hand, hoping to impart a bit of warmth to his chilled fingers.
Back at the end of the vision inside the Mirror of Tiberius, seeing Lanqi in that state had left her terribly worried.
"Master, does that sound like something you would say?" Lanqi stared at Talia in astonishment.
Why was Master acting like a bashful young girl all of a sudden?
Talia seemed to realize how inappropriate it was to touch Lanqi like that, pulling her hand back as if jolted by an electric shock.
A moment passed.
"Heh. The more you want me to scold you, the less I will. I'll let you see just how gentle I can be."
Talia met Lanqi's gaze without flinching and offered him a cheerful smile.
She showed no sign of embarrassment.
Iphatia had once said that only a sharp contrast could truly make a man unable to forget you.
"..."
Lanqi felt he would definitely need to have a serious talk with Miss Iphatia once they returned to the mortal world.
What kind of strange ideas had she been feeding her older sister?
Lanqi hadn't even dared tell Hyperion that they had found Miss Iphatia yet, terrified that if Iphatia greeted him with a cheerful "Big Brother" upon meeting, it would ruin any chance of mother and daughter getting along in the future.
"Don't you think this urge to lecture Iphatia sounds exactly like an older brother dealing with a younger sister?" Talia asked dryly from the side.
She could hear Lanqi's thoughts with complete clarity.
"?"
Lanqi's face became a portrait of confusion at Talia's rare jab.
"Honestly, having her as a younger sister wouldn't be bad at all. You might as well just accept it," Talia muttered flatly, without a trace of mockery.
"No. Next time we meet, I absolutely must straighten out the generational seniority with Miss Iphatia," Lanqi said earnestly.
"'Iphatia, do you think this cup of water is going to walk over to your big brother's hand on its own?'" Talia mimicked Lanqi's tone, providing an impromptu dub for him.
She figured that when Lanqi tried to lay down the law regarding family standing, this was exactly what he would sound like.
"Who on earth would talk to a classmate's mother like that?" Lanqi covered his face, caught between tears and laughter.
He wanted to raise Iphatia's seniority, not demote her!
After their brief banter, the color had largely returned to Lanqi's face.
While several days had passed in rapid simulation inside the Mirror of Tiberius, only about two hours had elapsed outside.
From across the central energy room of Purgatory Corridors Academy, a tiny figure noticed the change in the cubic mirror. She walked half a circle around the chamber and spotted Lanqi and the disguised Caliera sitting on the steps.
"You're back,"
Tamisha greeted Lanqi from a short distance away.
Though it was meant as a welcome, her flat tone made it sound like a simple statement of fact.
She hadn't originally intended to speak, but seeing this Phantasm demon emerge from the six-faced cubic magic mirror looking so dreadful—as if he had just died once—made her a little concerned.
She didn't want the Phantasm demon she had gone through so much trouble to revive to drop dead.
Lanqi signaled Talia with a glance, letting her know he needed to speak with Tamisha. Understanding immediately, Talia vanished into pure white light on the spot.
He stood up from the steps and walked over to Tamisha.
"Tamisha, sorry to have kept you waiting so long," Lanqi said, crouching down to meet her eye to eye.
"Do you want something to eat? I saved plenty for you."
Tamisha pointed toward the four-tiered lunchbox resting beside them.
She had only eaten one tier herself, leaving the other two as lunch for the Phantasm demon.
"No need. You fed me plenty back in the corridor. Thanks to your care, I came back to life, see?" Lanqi smiled at Tamisha.
"..."
Tamisha blinked blankly. She rarely received words of gratitude like this and had no idea how to respond.
"Then I'll feed you again when you're hungry. You have to eat properly, or you'll collapse again," she could only manage to say.
"Then promise me this in return: I still need to stay here for a while, so make sure you eat properly for lunch too. Otherwise, your advice won't carry much weight, and I won't feel like eating properly either," Lanqi answered.
He pointed at the lunchbox, hinting that Tamisha probably needed to eat another tier to fill her belly for lunch.
"Mm."
Tamisha nodded.
With that settled, Lanqi turned back and walked toward the abyss-like, deep-purple mirrored magic artifact behind him.
*You've really built a good rapport with her, Lanqi. She's even willing to face you in her true form,* Talia's voice echoed in Lanqi's mind.
Lanqi's mental resilience truly was remarkable. After enduring such a realistic death, he could emerge and immediately speak so gently to a child.
He was entirely unlike those adults who lashed out at children the moment their own moods soured.
It seemed he really was a good teacher, and would likely make a good father in the future.
"Tamisha was always a good child. She possesses both her father's resilience and her mother's gentleness," Lanqi lamented softly.
Whenever he looked at Tamisha, he couldn't help but think of the Mist Lord—who appeared cold and dashing on the outside but was endearing and clumsy at heart—as well as the True Night Lord, that brilliant demonkin prodigy who constantly concealed herself while striving relentlessly.
*I think Tamisha is quite cute too,* Talia agreed.
Tamisha was practically a mini-Talia.
"Pfft."
Lanqi nearly burst out laughing.
Unless Talia could turn into a little gray cat too, he might consider acknowledging that claim.
*Keep dreaming! Even if I die, even if I starve to death outside Boss Cat's Restaurant, there is no way in hell I'll ever turn into a little gray cat!* Talia declared to Lanqi in warning.
Lanqi had entertained that fantasy more than once, but she would never turn into a little gray cat just for him to pet!
A moment later, Lanqi stepped back before the Mirror of Tiberius atop the steps.
The air around the mirror's edges rippled with faint ripples of void energy, and mana began to dance lightly across the calm surface.
Lanqi raised his hand and pressed it against the mirror. Stepping slightly forward, his figure glided into the reflective glass, dissolving into the void enveloped in deep purple radiance.
Then, Lanqi once more felt himself plummeting rapidly through a sea of starry skies, flashes of light and color interweaving at erratic intervals.
Only when his fall began to decelerate did gravity press heavily upon him, and a brilliant white light burst forth from the exit, rushing toward him in an instant.
Everything condensed into intelligible lines of text that flooded his mind.
[Inverted Future Illusion]
[Successfully Activated]
[Remaining Uses: 1]
[Name: Lanclos Saint Anastasius]
[Current Status: Tier 9]
[Affinity: Seal / Light]
[Spells: Undying Eternal Punishment, Interlocking Edict, Radiant Corona, Ever-Shining Ruin, Imperishable Glazed Body... Final Land of Gentle Slumber.]
[Accessories: Horning Empire Proving Grounds Dog Tag, Broken Blade of the Vanquished, Nameless Ring, Wayfarer's Pocket Watch, Witch's Warm Companionship, Gret Stone Crest... Holy Polant Silver Mask.]
[Character Attributes Recorded]
[Divination Result: Imminent Demise]
[Starting Point: Demon Realm, Purgatory City Pasqual, Outskirts, Purgatory Corridors Academy]
[Remaining Lifespan: 5 days, 11 hours, 06 minutes]
After these words poured into his mind, Lanqi's dizziness proved far less severe than the first time.
With a calm expression, he closed his eyes to sense his surroundings.
When he reopened them, he was already seated inside the headmaster's office of Purgatory Corridors Academy.
Outside the window, the biting chill wind swirling with scattered snowflakes remained unchanged, surging freely across the skies of Pasqual in the Demon Realm. A pale white noon sun laced with gold shone into the headmaster's office.
Purgatory City seemed to have reached midday.
Not far away, the glass of the window still reflected that silver-masked face. The mask looked as though it were welded to his flesh like a brand, his cool emerald-green eyes clearly visible behind it.
Just like before, entering the Mirror of Tiberius brought him right back into the headmaster's office.
A second later, translucent demonic script drifted into his view—
[December 25, Year 614 of the Holy Polant Theocracy.]
[...]
[Sensing that your destiny drew near, you awakened within Purgatory Corridors Academy.]
[With only these final days remaining, your life's play was nearing its curtain call.]
[Through the prophetic dream, you discovered that the current peace was merely an illusion. The Blood Clan had never shown the slightest remorse; they were plotting an even greater conspiracy within the Horning Empire, all simply waiting for the day of your death to launch their counteroffensive. And they seemed to have divined all of this as well, knowing roughly when you would perish and when you would begin to weaken.]
[You finally understood what Caliera was feeling when she died.]
[Long before you, she had already witnessed everything through prophetic dreams.]
[Yet you still do not understand why, having seen it all, she never told you directly, choosing instead to let you decide whether or not to uncover the truth yourself.]
[Could there still be something you haven't seen?]
[Doubt crept into your heart, yet your resolve was already set: in this dream, you would unravel every mystery.]
When Lanqi reached this point, the text paused, followed by four choices appearing before him.
[You will choose next:]
[A. Undying Eternal Punishment]
[B. Go to the Demon King's Castle]
[C. Return to the Theocracy]
[D. Personal Intervention]
Lanqi rested his hands on the desk, interlacing his fingers as he observed the similarities and differences this time around.
This simulation began on the premise that Lanclos already possessed the memories of the first run, and the intelligence he held had changed accordingly.
Compared to the previous simulation, this one started two hours later, setting the initial point at noon.
This indicated that the simulation's starting node in the Mirror of Tiberius was calibrated to the real-world time at the moment of activation.
Since it was noon in reality, the simulation inside the Mirror of Tiberius also began at noon.
And those two lost hours meant Lanclos was no longer in his peak Tier 9 state, having weakened ever so slightly.
"The only change in the choices is that the original first option, 'Continue Waiting,' has been removed. Knowing about the unrest in the southern Horning Empire, Lanclos couldn't possibly sit idly by anymore," Lanqi murmured.
The crux lay in the new choice that replaced 'Continue Waiting'—'Undying Eternal Punishment.'
Among the spells mastered by Lanclos of the Black Sun, the most central was an Epic spell called Undying Eternal Punishment.
Its effect was to sacrifice a portion of the caster's own health and mana to lock the target's life state indefinitely. The spell could not be canceled voluntarily; if the sealed target suffered excessive attacks, the sealing effect would weaken. Using werewolf blood or demon blood as a medium could reduce the cost in health or mana.
*The spell never said it couldn't be used on oneself... So the first option means casting Undying Eternal Punishment on yourself immediately to lock your life state and prevent yourself from weakening any further?* Talia grasped the significance of the choice.
As long as he cast Undying Eternal Punishment on himself, he could avoid falling to Tier 8 by the time he reached Blood Moon City, thereby maintaining near-peak condition. At the very least, until his lifespan ran out, he would remain at Tier 9!
"Then the answer is obvious."
Practice makes perfect. This time, Lanqi barely needed to deliberate over the Mirror of Tiberius's choices; he hovered his hand over the first option on the light screen, ready to confirm.
"Wait, Lanqi!" Talia shouted, stopping him.
"What is it?" Lanqi didn't look like he intended to change his mind, simply asking Talia.
"Have you considered that Lanclos probably knew this method could lock his condition before his death, yet under the premise of not knowing the Blood Clan's conspiracy—which was the scenario in the first simulation—he never even considered using Undying Eternal Punishment this way? Don't you feel that using Undying Eternal Punishment on yourself might carry a terrifying price, one you don't even know yet?"
Talia believed Lanclos couldn't be a fool.
If Undying Eternal Punishment were truly so convenient, Lanclos would have used it before setting out, even without knowing what other crises awaited.
And this was the Mirror of Tiberius, a legendary demonic masterpiece that defied conventional reason.
Even the price might be simulated with terrifying authenticity.
When that happened, they might have to face horrors beside which even death seemed trivial.
"Whatever the price, I believe that having come this far, Lanclos wouldn't hesitate even if he knew what was coming," Lanqi sighed, offering Talia a wry smile.
Not a flicker of fear showed in his eyes.
Yet it wasn't fearless bravado.
It was sheer perseverance.
"Fine. Whatever the price, I'll face it with you," Talia said after a moment's hesitation, steeling her resolve.
Since she was accompanying Lanqi anyway, even if there was a price to pay, they would bear it together.
"Thank you, Master."
Lanqi knew full well that Talia could have stayed outside instead of taking risks with him inside the Mirror of Tiberius, yet she had followed him in once more without a second thought.
He was genuinely grateful to her.
With that, he confirmed Undying Eternal Punishment.
In an instant, an overwhelming black mist of demonic mana surged through the office.
The originally stable barrier mana on the walls began to fluctuate, as though tugged by arcane laws.
The lighting suddenly dimmed.
Lanqi and Talia could only watch as immense mana coalesced in the air, radiating fluctuations similar to the Lord of the Black Sun, yet far more terrifying—resembling the supreme might of the Demon Realm itself.
The dark misty mana gathered and wove together, making even the air tremble, until it finally enveloped Lanqi. A black serpent formed around him, and the coiling black mist snapped inward, slamming straight into his face.
Throughout the entire process, he remained shielded by an invisible power, the surrounding space forming an isolated domain.
When the incantation etched by the black mist settled onto Lanqi's left cheek, the mana fluctuations gradually subsided, the light faded, and everything returned to normal.
[You do not yet know what consequences casting Undying Eternal Punishment upon yourself will bring.]
[Yet you used it without hesitation.]
[Because you know that only by doing so can you maintain your condition and defeat the Progenitors of Blood Moon City.]
The demonic script of the Mirror of Tiberius surfaced once again.
[You will go next to:]
[A. Naicalis]
[B. St. Trick]
[C. Hansebeck]
[D. Personal Intervention]
[Remaining Lifespan: 5 days, 11 hours, 02 minutes]
A new set of choices appeared before him.
"Lanqi, are you alright?" Talia asked hastily.
Unable to examine Lanqi's physical body right now, she couldn't verify his condition.
"I don't feel much different, aside from a stinging sensation on my left cheek, like a brand," Lanqi replied, briefly lifting his mask to look at his reflection—one that looked even more like a demonkin.
Moreover, he no longer saw any prompts indicating that he was weakening.
He lowered the mask back over his face, concealing the ferocious incantation carved into his cheek like a black centipede. In that moment, he sensed the imperishable, forbidden power within him.
The true invincibility mode had begun.
Chapter 786