Night fell, heavy rain pouring down.
Raindrops battered against the glass windows like hurried drumbeats, sounding exceptionally noisy in the quiet night.
Within the curtain of rain, a villa inside Saint Creti Monastery had extinguished almost all of its lights.
Inside the residence, dark corridors and silent bedrooms remained peaceful and serene.
"Giggle, giggle."
Only in a first-floor guest room did warm yellow lamplight outline the silhouette of a woman. Iphatia lay on her stomach at the foot of the bed, watching a broadcast on the screen with keen interest.
The soft light reflected on her face, illuminating her delighted smile.
"You're so cute I want to eat you up instead of breakfast."
"C-Can I at least finish my breakfast first?"
*Rumble—!!*
The comedy program broadcast cheerful laughter, intertwining with the flashes of lightning and rolling thunder outside into a dissonant duet.
Outside, torrential rain continued to pour, droplets meandering down the windowpanes.
The downpour grew heavier, gradually drowning out the howling wind and the calls of owls, swallowing up every minute disturbance.
The deluge cascaded, rain striking the earth like pearls and arrows.
The forest surrounding the villa was cut off from the world by the curtain of rain, and the sprawling darkness on all sides threatened to swallow it whole.
Lightning tore across the sky, thunder rumbling, illuminating the residence's spires and towering chimneys.
Beyond the courtyard.
Night raven eyes pierced the dense curtain of rain, steadily approaching this brightly lit mansion.
Through the rain-washed glass windows, the lavish interior decor and flickering light by the window were faintly visible.
A few hazy, dark silhouettes lurked in the shrubbery, seemingly watching and waiting.
The howling gale drove splashes of water against the windows, adding to the obscurity.
Right at that moment, the villa's front door silently opened, and four slender figures slipped inside like phantoms.
Their postures were graceful, their expressions grim and aloof.
Raindrops violently battered the roof, but not a single drop clung to them.
The silhouettes did not rush into action.
Instead, they exchanged glances.
Today, their objective here was to assassinate Professor Landry, military engineering specialist of the Creti Empire.
With two lockpicking experts present—Antanas and Sinora—the lock to Professor Landry's front door had yielded in an instant.
Meanwhile, Pranay remained outside to keep watch.
With Pranay on guard, they would receive the optimal extraction route the moment the mission was completed, while also guarding against reconnaissance from Sixth War God Violet of the Aquamarine.
"..."
The Ice Witch signaled them to halt.
The other three paused in their tracks at her gesture.
"There's a presence with immense mana on the first floor. I'll seal them off. You three breach the second floor directly and kill Landry."
The Ice Witch frowned, sending the message to the others.
She had considered from the start that there might be skilled experts in Landry's home, but she had not expected it to be so troublesome.
Even she found it somewhat difficult to fathom the opponent's true strength.
Fortunately, this mysterious, massive pool of mana on the ground floor seemed completely unguarded.
Therefore, the optimal strategy was for Almis to stay on the first floor and keep this opponent in check, while Hyperion led Antanas and Sinora—two killers capable of flawlessly breaking any barrier or spell—up to the second floor to claim Professor Landry's head.
"..."
Hyperion, Antanas, and Sinora exchanged glances and gave grave nods, not daring to let down their guard.
An enemy capable of making the Ice Witch this wary was certainly no simple figure. They had to strike cleanly and swiftly in a moment to ensure a flawless escape.
Through silent eye contact, the plan was set.
Blending almost entirely into the shadows of the mansion, devoid of any aura, they approached the stairs.
The master of the villa had no idea—
The Grim Reaper was about to arrive.
...
At the end of the second-floor hallway, inside a bedroom, two young women were fast asleep.
The room was pitch-dark. Heavy curtains blocked the moonlight outside, barely outlining the contours of the wardrobe, vanity, and other furniture.
Talia and Sigrid lay beneath a soft down quilt, gently rising and falling in the darkness. One had cascading gray hair, the other long, honey-like pale blonde-green hair, resembling two lazy ragdoll cats.
Raindrops gently tapped against the glass windows, and muffled thunder rolled in from the distance, intertwining with their long, even breathing.
Suddenly.
Talia opened her eyes from sleep.
Her golden eyes shone clear and radiant even in the darkness.
Talia propped herself up, her gaze sweeping through the gloom, seemingly sensing something.
Just then, Talia's eyes caught sight of a pair of purple eyes open in the shadows.
She found that Side was awake as well.
"..."
Sigrid did not speak to Talia right away. Instead, she brought her index finger to her lips, gesturing for Talia to stay quiet.
The two nodded in tacit understanding.
Someone had entered the house.
One had detected the intruder through the mana on the door lock, while the other had sensed the approach of strong presences through their aura.
And the visitors' target was undoubtedly Lanqi.
Talia and Sigrid looked at each other, their faces filled with solemnity.
"To Lanqi's room," Sigrid decided.
"Let's go together."
With exceptional coordination, they slipped out of bed and darted down the second-floor hallway toward the master bedroom at the end.
...
The master bedroom at the end of the second floor.
The closed door was pushed open a crack. Holding their breath, Sigrid and Talia slipped sideways into the room, hugging the doorframe.
When Talia noticed that Sigrid had to open the door slightly wider than she did to squeeze through, an inexplicable pang of jealousy stirred in her heart.
The decor inside the master bedroom was simple yet tasteful. The young man on the bed was sleeping soundly.
Under normal circumstances, they would never break their agreement and barge into Lanqi's room without permission.
But now, since both of them wanted to protect Lanqi, they might as well sneak in together.
In a corner of the room on the sofa, a little black cat was curled into a ball, sound asleep.
Its pitch-black fur gave off a soft sheen in the dim light, its body like a little coal ball rising and falling with each breath.
The two sisters exchanged glances, eyes brimming with worry, as if debating how best to protect Lanqi.
"Do it?"
"Circumstances force our hand."
"I'm doing it anyway."
"Me too."
They tiptoed toward Lanqi's bedside.
Lanqi seemed to sense the movement. His eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing the two of them rushing into his bedroom in the middle of the night gave him a start—someone really had entered the room.
But as his eyes focused, he calmed down.
From Talia and Sigrid's eyes, he could read the general gist of the situation.
They made silencing gestures, their faces grave.
Lanqi nodded. Though he didn't fully understand what was going on, he cooperated and stayed quiet.
"What are you two..."
Before Lanqi could even mouth the words, Sigrid and Talia both leaned in, slipped right under his blanket, and pulled the covers over themselves.
All three of them huddled together under a single duvet, their heads covered as well. In the pitch darkness, they could clearly hear each other's breathing and heartbeats.
"?!!"
Lanqi thought the two of them had lost their minds.
"Assassins entered the house."
"And they're very strong."
The two whispered to him under the covers in voices barely audible.
Lanqi understood a little.
"If we attack proactively now, we might alert the enemy. It's better to pretend we have no guard up, wait until the killers rush into your bedroom and yank open the covers, and then catch them all in one fell swoop," Sigrid whispered with closed eyes.
Her mere breath caused the thin air under the quilt to warm up considerably.
"Won't this... look bad?"
Lanqi parted his lips, not daring to make much sound. He could feel both of their cheeks exceptionally close to his.
With them around, the sense of security was absurdly excessive.
Lanqi's principle had always been: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Anything that did not conform to propriety in his eyes, he wouldn't look at, listen to, or bring up.
No matter how one looked at it, he was now lying under the same blanket with two girls at the same time.
"If we want to catch the assassins while keeping you safe, this is the best choice."
Talia also pressed closer to Lanqi.
Doing this would actually lower the assassins' guard to the minimum.
When the killers came to pull back the blanket, they would be in for quite a surprise.
"Wait..."
Lanqi felt that the assassins couldn't possibly be that strong, so there was no need to be vigilant to this extent.
Although this was indeed the most efficient approach right now, he could also just activate Immortal Eternal Punishment while Talia and Sigrid ambushed the killers; there was no need to hide under the blanket.
"We're pretending to be husband and wife anyway, so sleeping together is only normal," Sigrid explained to Lanqi.
She had wanted to come to Lanqi's room for ages, only holding back because of her agreement with Tata.
"If any stragglers find out we sleep in separate rooms, it might cause trouble instead."
Talia strongly agreed with Side's decision.
In any case, she was used to sleeping with Side. Two people sleeping together or three people sleeping together was all the same; tossing Lanqi into the blanket made no difference at all.
Besides, she had long grown accustomed to staying in Lanqi's bedroom. Starting months ago back in the City of Flowers, whenever she transformed into the Demon King of Mad Love, she would cling to Lanqi the entire time.
"But—"
"Keep it down, Lanqi!!"
Before he could finish, Sigrid clamped a hand over his mouth.
In this tense, sword-drawn moment...
The little black cat on the sofa let out a "Meow," stretched lazily, and went right back to sleep, entirely unbothered by the sudden intrusion.
Heavy rain poured like a torrent, accompanied by flashes of lightning and thunder, seemingly providing a dramatic accompaniment to this thrilling farce.
A few moments later.
The handle of the master bedroom door turned slowly, as gentle and silent as a falling feather.
Alarm bells rang in Talia's mind. She signaled Sigrid with her eyes to get ready. Sensing the disturbance as well, Sigrid blinked back at Talia.
The bedroom door opened soundlessly, and two dark silhouettes slipped inside. Moving as lightly as wisps of smoke, they closed in on the bed.
Talia and Sigrid mimicked natural breathing as if asleep, hiding under the blanket with Lanqi, utterly motionless.
The mana grew clearer and clearer, and the presence heavier and heavier.
Just as the silhouettes reached the bed, Talia and Sigrid seemed to reach an instant consensus.
They whipped back the blanket and shot out like arrows loosed from a bow the moment killing intent struck, lunging straight at the two intruders!
In an instant, four silhouettes clashed in the dim bedroom.
Talia and one female assassin locked hands, restraining each other, while the other female assassin was pinned to the floor by Sigrid.
Since neither side wanted to cause too much commotion, both restrained their force. Moreover, Talia and Sigrid only wanted to capture their opponents, leaving the four exceptionally skilled combatants locked in a stalemate.
Talia's reverse joint lock gripped the female assassin's wrist, while her other hand held the woman's shoulder in an iron grip.
The female assassin pressed her knee against Talia's abdomen, attempting to break free of the restraint.
The two grappled silently on the carpet like a pair of intertwining vipers.
Meanwhile, Sigrid had pinned her opponent directly onto the floor.
The eyes of both female assassins were filled with shock and bewilderment.
They had never imagined Professor Landry's two wives would be this formidable.
This made no sense whatsoever!
Yet instinctively, they didn't feel much danger.
Because in that brief instant of combat, the overly familiar presence and mana made them realize this felt like someone they knew.
Just as everyone was bewildered...
A tall, feminine silhouette appeared at the foot of the bed.
She had previously masked her aura so completely that not even the four Tier 8 combatants in the room had sensed her presence.
Her ink-black hair was tied back, and her features were aloof, elegant, and sinister. She was clad in a tight-fitting black suit. Yet what made hearts race the most was the scorpion-tail dagger in her hand, glowing with poisonous green light, and the deranged bloodlust radiating from her entire body.
At this moment, she emanated a terrifying aura. The veins on her skin were distinctly visible, glowing with an eerie purple sheen.
Kill Landry, and the mission would succeed.
No matter how strong Landry's two wives were, as long as Antanas and Sinora held them down, Hyperion would definitely be able to strike him down.
"Wait, Hyperion!"
Antanas, pinned down by Sigrid, shouted.
"Something's wrong, something's wrong!"
Sinora, still locked in combat with Talia, also realized the gravity of the situation and opened her eyes wide.
"...?"
Though Hyperion's intent to kill was already set, she was brought to a halt by Antanas and Sinora's shouts.
Unless it was an extraordinarily exceptional emergency, the two of them would never call her by name to stop her.
"Hyperion?"
Sigrid looked in shock toward the shadow at the foot of the bed and slowly let go of Antanas.
Talia's eyes widened in sheer shock.
"What in the world is going on?!"
Antanas scrambled up from the floor, practically tumbling over as she rushed to flick on the bedroom lights.
In a flash, the entire bedroom was illuminated.
Leaving behind only completely dumbfounded faces.
Even though every one of them wore disguise magic to alter their appearances, having spent so much time together, they knew these familiar auras like the back of their hands—not to mention having all of them gathered in the same place at once.
Hyperion stared at the bed in a daze, the dagger dropping to the floor.
She looked in sheer disbelief at the pulled-back blanket, Lanqi lying smack in the middle of the bed, and Sigrid and Talia by the bedside.
Equally stunned was Lanqi.
"Holy shit... Hyperion..."
Lanqi was already clutching his mouth, the back of his hand trembling and his voice quivering as he muttered to himself.
Cold sweat broke out wildly across his forehead. He glanced at Talia in her pajamas, and then at Sigrid in hers.
What kind of scene had he not seen before?
*This* scene, he genuinely had never seen.
Lanqi just wanted to collapse back onto the bed and fall back asleep.
Maybe this was just a nightmare?
Chapter 820