"Are you Number Six?"
Toriardo asked Nikolai point-blank.
He pulled the photograph of Princess Alexia and Nikolai from his coat pocket and held it out for Nikolai to see.
"...Who are you?"
Nikolai did not rush to admit it, but seeing the photo, a tremor ran through his eyes.
It was as though he had no choice but to ask how Toriardo had obtained this picture of Alexia, and whether she was still safe and well.
"Number One, of course. Who else besides our Dimension Branch could possibly make something like this?" Toriardo said with a touch of pride.
"Meow."
From atop Lanqi's shoulder, Boss Cat watched Toriardo's nose turn upward.
*All you did was find a Saintess big daddy.*
"I am Number Six."
Kestrel Nikolai let out a long sigh of relief, his breath condensing into mist in the frigid air. From his open palm emerged the pink sacred magic card that Princess Alexia had bestowed upon him.
[Ultra-Long-Range Communication Program-6]
[Category: Spell Card]
[Quality: Pink Sacred]
[Attribute: Link]
[Tier: 6]
[Effect: Possesses greater communication range and interference resistance compared to ordinary ultra-long-range communication magic.]
[Note: Loyalty of the Empire. Offer unwavering fidelity to the Empire.]
Nikolai gripped the magic card representing the Silver Moon Restoration Society, his gaze fixed upon it.
"I do not pledge allegiance to this organization; my loyalty belongs solely to the Creti Empire, forever,"
Kestrel Nikolai declared,
"However, I will help you for now."
He looked up at Lanqi and Toriardo.
Even though cooperating with cardinals of the Resurrection Church was a scenario he had never imagined at first, by now, for the sake of the Empire, he knew clearly what the right thing to do was, and who was friend and who was foe.
"Good. Let's head back to the mafia headquarters, the Port Hassel Building, first."
Lanqi gestured for them to head into the base before continuing their talk. Having secured confirmation from Nikolai, today was already a major success.
"Leave the battlefield to Mr. Barton. Once he finishes wrapping things up, he'll return to the Port Hassel Building as well."
He walked toward the main entrance on the ground floor of the building.
Pure white snowflakes drifted slowly down from the overcast sky on this cold winter morning, settling upon the thin layer of ice coating the tranquil river of Port Hassel, barely raising the slightest ripple.
This was a moat port situated on the southeastern side of the imperial capital, Brillda. The silhouettes of buildings along both banks loomed indistinctly through the falling snow. Not far from Port Hassel stood the stronghold of the Brillda Mafia. On the surface, it was a licensed corporate building, with a prominent company logo mounted upon its gray exterior wall.
"Landry, so you really are a member of the Silver Moon Restoration Society."
Kestrel Nikolai followed behind, speaking with little surprise.
Looking at this figure dressed as a mafia grunt yet speaking in an intimately familiar voice, he already knew who it was.
As expected, that day when Princess Alexia had ordered him to provide cover at the First Station where the Brillda Express arrived for a newly arrived member in the capital, that member had been Landry.
What truly astonished him was that Landry was actually a cardinal of the Resurrection Church, just like the Cardinal of Dimensions.
Today, two cardinals had personally come to rescue him. Not to mention the Holy Son of Decay, even he had never anticipated such a thing.
"Strictly speaking, I'm not Landry. It's a complicated story—we can take our time to talk about it when there's an opportunity. For now, let's focus on the main priorities," Lanqi turned back and said with a smile.
Nikolai had been so good at blending in that Lanqi truly hadn't realized at first that Kestrel Nikolai belonged to the Silver Moon Restoration Society as well. Precisely because of that, nobody else would ever suspect Nikolai of being a member either.
"Then that makes sense."
Kestrel Nikolai nodded.
Based on his investigation into Professor Landry, he had continually suspected that Professor Landry had been replaced, yet everything had matched up remarkably well—Professor Landry had simply become a far more formidable individual.
Unable to find proof, Nikolai had been forced to continually probe Landry to determine whether he was real or fake.
The bad news was that, just as his sense of dissonance had suggested, Landry was indeed a fake. The good news, however, was that this fake Landry was still an ally.
"Let's head somewhere more discreet first and stash the Holy Son of Decay."
Toriardo led the way; being here felt like being in his own home.
Entering the building, hardly any mafia members were to be seen. Today was a holiday, and even the mob did not work overtime. Only their own footsteps echoed through the empty corridors.
The interior decor of the Hassel Building featured dark brown stone bricks for its walls and floors, carrying the venerable style of a century-old luxury hotel.
Soon, guided by Toriardo, they arrived upstairs at Barton's office and stopped before a seemingly ordinary bookshelf.
Toriardo rearranged the books in reverse order from how they had left. Accompanied by a series of clicks, the previously motionless bookshelf slowly swung open, revealing a hidden passage behind it that led into unknowable depths.
A draft even colder than the snowy exterior rushed out to greet them.
"You're very familiar with this place?"
Facing the chill, Kestrel Nikolai peered inside. Having never set foot in the heart of the Brillda Mafia before, it now appeared that this gray zone was practically the Silver Moon Restoration Society's turf.
"Been here a few times. Probably as familiar with it as I am with the Imperial Special Operations Division," Toriardo replied.
Last time, when Captain Maguire had cuffed and hauled him away, Kestrel Nikolai had dragged Lanqi along to bail him out, so Toriardo had quite a good impression of Nikolai.
He stepped into the tunnel behind the bookshelf on his own, with Lanqi and Nikolai close behind. The bookshelf of anti-magic steel behind them quietly sealed shut as if it had never been opened, shutting out all the noise of the outside world.
The passage was dimly lit. Every few meters, a flickering lamp cast a faint, eerie glow, stretching their shadows long.
Dozens of seconds later, they stopped before a silver-white elevator.
"Did Barton give you a cipher key?" Toriardo asked Nikolai.
"Yes."
Nikolai handed Toriardo the crystal card Barton had thrown to him earlier when driving back Maguire and the Holy Son of Decay.
Toriardo worked the central control panel with a few deft inputs. After the magitech sensors scanned and verified his identity, the elevator doors groaned slowly open, admitting them inside.
"Viscount Carmel, who was picked up along the way when we were looking for Elsa last time, is probably still down here," Lanqi recalled as he stepped into the elevator cab.
"Then he's probably already suffered at Iphatia's hands," Toriardo sighed, shaking his head.
"Iphatia wouldn't be that cruel, would she...?"
Deep down, Lanqi still believed Iphatia was pure and gentle.
He could hardly imagine her doing anything ruthless.
"Who is Iphatia?" Nikolai asked from the back of the cab.
"His mommy-sister," Toriardo pointed at Lanqi and answered Nikolai.
"?"
Nikolai felt as though he could no longer understand the language.
Lanqi's expression also turned utterly bizarre. He wanted to refute Toriardo, but the words caught in his throat, as if fearing that explaining would only make things messier.
As the elevator cab descended continuously, every few meters a dazzling flash of white light glinted across the surrounding shaft walls, the entire chamber plunging deeper toward the heart of the earth.
The elevator came to a halt. Before their eyes stood a colossal set of double doors cast from pure white anti-magic steel, radiating a bone-chilling frost.
Toriardo inserted the cipher key into a concealed groove beside the doors.
With the low rumble of mechanical transmission, the heavy anti-magic steel doors slowly parted, and a blinding white light instantly flooded the space, inducing a wave of vertigo.
"We've arrived. Consider this one of our bases," Toriardo introduced to Nikolai.
"...You people really built something unbelievable."
As Nikolai's vision adjusted to the sudden brilliance, a grand underground palace unfolded before him.
Looking out, the pure white walls and floors reflected a dazzling luster under the ice-blue illumination, making them feel as if they stood in an otherworldly dimension severed from the mortal realm.
Upon the soaring dome, a river of silver flowed, starlight twinkling across tens of thousands of meters of space-time to mirror the genuine night sky.
No matter what upheaval erupted in Brillda, it would likely never threaten an underground base such as this; moreover, enemies would have no way of detecting its spatial interface.
"The enemy has hidden sanctuaries beneath Creti; naturally, we must have one too. Let's head to the storage vault first."
With that, Toriardo walked straight toward the refrigeration-vault-style holding cells in the silver palace's side wing.
"I didn't notice any prison facilities here last time," Lanqi murmured to himself, gazing deeper into the silver palace.
Iphatia had only entertained him and Talia in the main hall.
"Well, this space is massive. Abigail spent ages hammering it out," Toriardo chuckled. At first, he hadn't expected Abigail to be a born civil engineering sister.
"I feel like you're thinking about things that'll get you beaten up, meow," Boss Cat floated beside them, knowing that expression all too well.
"This contracted beast is extraordinary."
Nikolai focused his gaze on the Tier 6 black cat.
Although he had previously seen Landry bring it out, only by standing right next to it could he truly sense its power.
"...Do you think I'm Tier 6, meow?" Boss Cat turned around to question Nikolai.
"Don't tell me you're Tier 9?" Nikolai joked.
If it wasn't Tier 6, it could only be Tier 9, because only an entity of that caliber could disguise itself as whatever tier it wanted others to perceive.
"..."
Although this was the first time Boss Cat had ever heard someone guess it was Tier 9, the man's logic and doubt were written plain across his face.
*Humanity isn't worth it, meow.*
They arrived before the cold storage vault with its ten-meter-tall doors.
The moment the doors opened, it was all pixelated censorship—gorier than a slaughterhouse or butcher shop.
A biting chill rampaged through the chamber. A deathly silence blanketed the entire space, freezing even the air itself.
Lanqi immediately covered Boss Cat's eyes.
"What's wrong, Lanqi, meow?"
Before Boss Cat could catch a glimpse of anything, its vision went pitch-black. Lanqi was evidently shielding it from witnessing the gruesome fate of Viscount Carmel, the vampire captured last time.
"He was dismantled into hero shards," Lanqi answered in a solemn, deeply mournful voice.
"..."
Boss Cat fell silent.
*What kind of gamer jargon is that?*
"Wh-Where is this?!"
In the pitch-black darkness, Boss Cat also heard the terrified cry of the Holy Son of Decay as he was dumped onto the floor.
Following several agonized shrieks and the sound of rapid freezing, the Holy Son of Decay was likewise shackled to a tombstone-like cross and frozen solid.
"All right, let's head back to the main hall to talk in detail."
Toriardo clapped his hands, motioning for them to leave the cold storage vault.
The three people and one cat returned to the main hall where Iphatia usually stayed, sitting on opposite sides of a long table to review everything that had transpired since the founding of the Silver Moon Restoration Society.
...
"So, Her Highness Alexia is under vampire surveillance within the imperial palace, and our only chance to strike Blood Moon City and liberate Her Highness is when all the War Gods are immobilized on the National Day celebration at the end of the month?"
Kestrel Nikolai spoke in a heavy voice.
After nearly an hour of review, he had essentially pieced together the entire sequence of events.
Not only was the overall situation of the Creti Empire dire, but even Princess Alexia was under enemy control.
All the signs he had unearthed in his investigations corroborated the truth of Cardinal of Dimensions Toriardo's words.
They also aligned perfectly with the suspicious points he had previously encountered.
"Exactly. The Decay Branch is likely to participate in the battle this time as well. On the day of the operation, we must be prepared to face Decay Cardinal Farmer."
A rare flicker of pressure appeared in Toriardo's eyes.
Although Decay Cardinal Farmer was not an exceptionally tricky cardinal—as long as a tank had enough durability to withstand his continuous corrosion damage, putting him somewhere in the middle ranks—he was still cardinal-tier and could easily take on three ordinary Tier 8 combatants without issue.
In a siege battle against Blood Moon City, a pinnacle Tier 8 combat unit at the cardinal level was enough to thoroughly overturn the balance of power between both sides.
Furthermore, if Decay Cardinal Farmer were matched against allies lacking recovery capabilities, he could easily wipe them out.
"If Blood Moon City's only outside reinforcement is Decay Cardinal Farmer, our combat strength is manageable for now."
From their current intelligence, Lanqi noted that only traces of the Decay Branch had surfaced in Brillda. Meanwhile, Blood Moon City had no idea how many Tier 8 combatants their side had assembled, so they still held a slight advantage.
The problem was that during their descent into Blood Moon City, the authority to select opponents lay with Marquis Heriteer, the Seventh Progenitor.
Old Sang had taught Lanqi with his life just how lethal matchup counter-relationships were in a life-or-death Tier 8 battle.
A matchup that seemed evenly matched or advantageous across all lanes could be scrambled into a total loss across the board if lane swaps occurred, and once targeted by a powerful foe inside Blood Moon City, swapping lanes back would be no easy feat.
"Fighting away from home means we can't choose our matchups. Marquis Heriteer, the Seventh Progenitor, will definitely pair us with the worst possible opponents. The only thing I can guarantee is forcibly sending you to Duke Rasheal, the Third Progenitor, ensuring you get the right opponent."
Toriardo could not predict what powerful enemies would be underground in Blood Moon City that day, nor whom he himself would face.
However, only Lanqi could solo Duke Rasheal, the Third Progenitor.
As for the other core objective—rescuing Duke Migaya—if Toriardo still had strength to spare, he would use his expertise in infiltration and escape to rescue Duke Migaya. But if he was pinned down as well, that mission could only fall to Hyperion, who possessed similar capabilities.
As they talked, the doors to the silver palace opened once more, and the mafia boss clad in a heavy cloak walked in.
Fresh from battle, Barton appeared largely unharmed; not even his clothes were torn.
"Mr. Barton, how did things go on your end?" Lanqi asked with concern.
"I executed Maguire on the spot. As for the great prelates of the Decay Branch, I directed the agents to capture or kill them all."
Barton took a seat across the long table from Lanqi and Toriardo and replied to the two.
Lanqi and Toriardo both nodded, understanding the situation.
Barton had originally served in the imperial military, so commanding Nikolai's subordinates was second nature to him. Moreover, with a powerhouse like him taking the lead, not a single one of those great prelates had stood a chance of escaping.
Leaving Maguire alive, with his excessive vitality and recovery speed, would have posed inherent risks. Furthermore, once night fell, Maguire might have found a way to escape again. Compounding that, convicting Maguire and securing a death sentence would have been an overly convoluted legal process, giving the vampires a high probability of maneuvering behind the scenes to pull him out.
Executing the criminal on the spot during apprehension had been the single most efficient way to eliminate the threat Maguire posed.
"What about casualties among my subordinates?" Kestrel Nikolai asked self-reproachfully.
"Apart from those killed during the initial ambush, there were only a few serious injuries afterward, while the rest suffered mostly minor wounds. I saw them safely off from the port, and by now they should be receiving medical treatment."
Barton understood Nikolai's feelings completely.
Both were imperial soldiers who had never betrayed the Empire.
Maguire's corpse and the captured great prelates of the Decay Branch had also been handed over to Nikolai's subordinates to report back to the Imperial Special Operations Division.
"Nikolai, on the day of the National Day celebration, we'll have to rely on you for the surface situation. During the opening phase of the assault, keep your agents from approaching Brillda City Hall as much as possible so we can enter underground Blood Moon City smoothly. In the closing phase of the assault, if any vampires escape, intercept and apprehend them immediately."
Lanqi made his request to Nikolai.
It wasn't just the strike force storming Blood Moon City that mattered; a reliable rear guard was equally essential.
With the city defense barrier's suppression, fighting on home turf in the imperial capital alongside the imperial army, and with advance preparations in place, the elites of the Imperial Special Operations Division could handle even Tier 7 vampire earls.
A top-tier Tier 7 imperial soldier like Barton could effortlessly handle two vampire earls, or even hold his own against three. If paired with the Tier 7 spatial magitech artisan Abigail, they could tie down several vampire earls, while Nikolai commanded the surface perimeter.
In all likelihood, a basic balance could be achieved.
The decisive factor would be which side boasted stronger Tier 8 combatants that day.
"In the turmoil instigated by the vampires, whether among the allied forces or the Empire, countless young warriors have perished. Some had only just come of age, some had just married, some had only just become fathers... As an officer of the Imperial Special Operations Division, I should have been able to keep tabs on these vampire enemies, yet I could only watch helplessly as my compatriots fell and our nation gradually slipped into their grasp. For this sin, dying ten thousand times over wouldn't be enough. But no matter what, I will drag the vampires down to hell."
Kestrel Nikolai clenched his fists, the fury burning in his eyes plain to see.
"Maguire's escape was originally due to negligence on the part of the capital prison and the gendarmerie brigade, but having captured him once again, my merits are more than sufficient. I can be promoted to colonel, successfully take over as division chief, and subsequently advance to major general. I will also do everything in my power to help you secure the top position on the Imperial New Energy Committee. You can fight without worry."
Nikolai gave his word to Lanqi and the others.
"Then almost everything is falling into place."
Lanqi's voice carried a firmer note of resolve.
Even though the princess was under enemy control, leaving them unable to find the final three members of the Silver Moon Restoration Society for the moment, they already had viable odds of breaching Blood Moon City.
...
On the day of the Moon God Festival, the morning slipped away before they knew it.
After safely escorting Kestrel Nikolai back to the Imperial Special Operations Division, Lanqi and Toriardo returned to the opera house, then leisurely drove back toward Saint Creti Monastery.
"I still have some work to finish once I get back," Lanqi said to Toriardo from the passenger seat, gazing at the monastery's approaching flying buttresses.
Their work this morning had gone smoothly; the Holy Son of Decay had saved them a good deal of time.
Toriardo could clock off just as he had hoped.
Lanqi, however, still had the imperial research work he had shelved before heading out to complete.
"Go out and have some fun this afternoon. Staying cooped up at home all day will make you moldy," Toriardo urged.
"It's precisely because I have to attend an event as a professor this afternoon that I need to wrap up my work by noon," Lanqi pinched the bridge of his nose, calculating the time.
He really had no time to play today.
Although he had realized that hanging out with guys was indeed more fun, today he was not a student; he was a teacher.
Fortunately, the prearranged schedule at the monastery this afternoon was a relatively relaxed tea party, which also doubled as a ceremony.
He had to join the other faculty members at the outdoor banquet hall and activity center of the Grand Chancery to offer academic year blessings to the students, as well as attend as Elsa's guardian—fulfilling Landry's responsibilities.
At the same time, he could score a decent dinner?
Since the event had the character of an afternoon tea combined with an evening buffet, the monastery would provide an abundance of gourmet food.
Faculty dependents were apparently allowed in to freeload as well, but with the recent wild rumors swirling around him, he wouldn't bring anyone along this time; going alone was best.
"Then I can only wait until we get back to the Kingdom to hang out with you. I haven't been to Ikerite yet," Toriardo remarked, knowing that a workaholic like Lanqi was impossible to persuade.
"No problem. I'll have accommodations arranged for you."
Lanqi realized that Boss Cat Restaurant just happened to be short a delivery courier.
The seven Great Demons seemed perfectly suited for Boss Cat Restaurant.
Five to do the labor, plus two to eat and wait around to die.
"Meow, meow."
Lying on Lanqi's lap, Boss Cat was caught in a dilemma. Having finished its work for the day, it also really wanted to go out and play.
However, everyone was out, so it wouldn't be able to find anyone else later, and leaving Lanqi alone at home to work overtime didn't feel right either.
"How about I take you out to play?" Toriardo rested one hand on the steering wheel and turned his head to look at the little black cat.
"Er, meow..." Boss Cat had an inkling that this fellow was somewhat unreliable.
"I hear you have the space attribute too. Who knows, maybe I could teach you some spatial magic," Toriardo continued.
"Toriardo, meow, my friend!"
Boss Cat's tail instantly stood straight up as it exclaimed with excitement.
Everyone thought it had merely gotten lucky, chosen from among dwarfs to draw the space attribute talent and become a spatial spirit cat, but in reality, space was its greatest forte—it simply hadn't been able to learn the spells.
It dreamed day and night of learning other spatial magic spells.
Now that a grandmaster of spatial magic was right before its eyes, he might actually impart a trick or two!
"Then I'll leave Boss Cat in your care. Whatever you do, don't lose him," Lanqi said with gratification. Deep down, he too wished Boss Cat could enjoy the Moon God Festival.
The school would probably be packed with people this afternoon.
To the people of the Creti Empire, Saint Creti Monastery was the most symbolic holy site for prayer on the Moon God Festival.
If the students hadn't known it was Professor Landry's cat, anyone seeing the little black soot sprite would probably have wanted to pet it twice.
Furthermore, Lanqi had learned from Secretary Naila that a War God on close terms with Principal Violet might visit the school today.
Boss Cat better not get captured.
"Relax, bro," Toriardo drove with one hand and patted Lanqi on the shoulder.
"Meow, meow, meow! I am an esteemed divine beast—how could I possibly get lost in the Great Monastery, meow!"
Boss Cat felt Lanqi was underestimating it far too much.
Chapter 828