NOVPUBHe slowly changed back into the appearance of Landry with black hair and blue eyes.
When he heard the word "Landry" Miss Abigail’s pupils trembled slightly and the rhythm of her breathing subtly began to change.
"Professor Landry...?"
Miss Abigail smiled hesitantly and asked him.
"I am very sorry for concealing my identity, but we were indeed introduced by Mr. Barton."
Lanci believed that even if he did not explain himself, Abigail could probably guess his purpose—
He needed her support inside the Imperial Army.
"It’s okay, why apologize."
Miss Abigail maintained a hundred percent smile and waved her hand.
"...I must still apologize."
Lanci felt that Abigail did not seem to be angry and continued,
"There might have been some miscommunication when we first met, and we wanted to help you as much as we could, so it turned out like that."
He was somewhat unable to read Abigail’s attitude.
Abigail seemed to understand yet did not fully trust him; a nearly perfectly hidden sneer and chill appeared, or it could be said that in that moment they had completely distanced themselves from each other on many levels.
Talia watched Abigail, unable to decipher what she was thinking now.
"Professor Landry, so you hope that I can help you advance your influence in the Magical Engineering Circle of the Empire and make you more esteemed by the Imperial Army, correct?"
Abigail asked bluntly.
"That’s right, exactly."
Lanci admitted as well.
"May I ask you a question first?"
Abigail did not respond with a yes or no, but instead placed her hand on her chest, leaned slightly forward, and enthusiastically inquired.
"Please, ask."
Lanci nodded.
"How did you manage in recent times to suddenly come up with a series of principles such as Magical Energy Fission like you had an epiphany? I’d like to see some insights from you first..."
Abigail spoke unhurriedly.
"..."
Just then,
Talia, as if sharply sensing some subtle changes in the air, her golden eyes flickered with vigilance.
Miss Abigail’s smile still hung on her lips, but deep in her eyes, a cold and sharp look emerged.
Her fingers gently caressed the onyx necklace, and a dangerous air permeated the surroundings.
The antique clock’s hands had just slid past eleven; time seemed to freeze at this instant, and both Lanci and Talia felt an invisible oppression, making their hearts suddenly beat faster.
In an instant, lights in the banquet hall flickered and all the candle flames swayed.
"What are you doing!"
Talia quickly guarded in front of Lanci, protecting him, and turned to grasp at Abigail, knowing that Abigail was no longer the friendly conversational partner but a complete enemy!
Suddenly, a low and lingering resonance, like the morning bell in an ancient ritual, trembled throughout the area.
The sound waves rippled visibly through the air, stirring layers upon layers of waves, tearing countless tiny fissures into the stillness of time and space.
On the bookshelf, the treasured opera manuscripts fluttered without wind, and the gilded frames of the portraits seemed to come alive, watching intently the abrupt oddity with scrutinizing eyes.
Talia almost instinctively reacted, attempting to shield Lanci from this Eighth-order Spatial Magic Power.
This magic was not strong—the spells triggered by high-order Magic Devices might only lightly injure her, but Lanci surely couldn’t withstand it.
However, the gears in this space mercilessly turned.
Just when Talia was about to use her Spiritual Magic to restrain Abigail and intercept the spell triggered by the onyx necklace, space suddenly twisted and contorted, and a mirror about two meters tall silently appeared out of thin air.
Talia felt a hollow loss of balance—her feet that could once dance elegantly upon stage, now couldn’t find any points to exert force.
"Land...!"
Before her voice could carry, she passed through Lanci’s increasingly transparent silhouette, akin to clutching at a dissipating morning mist, and when her vision cleared, there was only emptiness.
The room was still the same room.
But neither Lanci nor Abigail was in front of the sofa anymore.
"Lanci, can you hear me?"
Talia looked around anxiously.
She suspected that she had been isolated to another frequency of this space and couldn’t return to where Lanci and Abigail were until it was lifted.
"You aren’t hurt, are you? She won’t be able to hold me for long!"
She called out anxiously, no matter how she tried to break the barriers, this world seemed to have her alone, able only to slightly influence it, unable to find the core coordinates to tear through the spatial nodes.
Yet, her suspicions were confirmed—she was so close to Lanci, yet she couldn’t get a response from him.
...
Back in the original room.
The fluctuations of Spatial Magic Power gradually subsided, and the vortex disappeared without a trace.
Brielda Opera House’s second floor sank back into silence as if all that had happened was merely an illusion.
Lanci sat alone in the center of this magnificent mansion.
The air seemed to still carry Talia’s customary floral scent, lingering with a slight residue of magic energy, reminding Lanci that what had just occurred was not an illusion.
"Miss Abigail? What are you doing?"
Lanci asked Abigail who had suddenly turned hostile across from him.
It seemed she had no immediate intent to further attack him.
Or perhaps, having eliminated Talia, he had also correspondingly lost most of his threat.
"You really do have a good mindset..."
