NOVPUBOver the dense forest outside Lichtenstein Castle, the rising black smoke was like a colossal black dragon coiling and roaring its existence in the sky.
Embers spread over the tree crowns, threatening to paint the entire forest redder than the evening glow.
Behind the stained-glass windows of the cathedral, all conversation ceased as everyone wore astonished expressions on their faces, fixated on the inexplicable situation occurring in the direction of the forest, trying to make sense of it all.
The sunset cast through the colored glass windows cast irregular patterns of light and shadow on their faces, making their expressions even more bewildered and indistinct.
Although their gazes flickered between the black smoke and the forest, filled with questions and worries, no one uttered a word, eventually all turning to Lanci.
Could it be...
Was all of this within the lawyer’s expectation?
"I can’t believe you two..."
Hyperion had already figured it out.
Frey, the old six, didn’t leave at all. He had been setting up traps and lying in wait in the dense forest for an entire day!
In the terrain of the forest with the heavily-injured Goddess of Destruction in the light and the well prepared Frey in the dark, the Goddess of Destruction was doomed.
The crowd, gradually understanding the situation, suddenly regained hope of victory!!
Under the rose window at the corner of the wall.
A moment later, the Goddess Officer of the Rebirth Church’s expression froze.
While she couldn’t make sense of the sudden change of events, her heart raced wildly.
"How... How is this possible..."
She quickly counted the number of people in the cathedral to confirm there was no mistake.
A strong sense of confusion and unease forced her brain to work at breakneck speed.
Suddenly, as if she remembered something, the Goddess Officer’s eyes widened in shock.
Indeed, one person was missing.
The bastard who had messed with their minds from the beginning and then disappeared from the map! 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
If this was all a ruse, then what was all the humiliation and disturbance she had suffered today?
Before she could process her almost crumbling emotions,
the Goddess Officer of the Rebirth Church let out a terrified gasp, her face a picture of desperation.
"Oh no..."
She saw an updated message in the Shadow World —
[The Traitor Adelis has been slain. Count Paluocas of the Blood Clan will arrive at the border of the Huo Ning Empire in approximately six hours, coordinates: Lichtenstein Castle.]
All of a sudden.
"Do you know what you’ve done?!! 🄪She was the Goddess of Destruction!!"
The Goddess Officer screamed hoarsely,
"Great, we can all die together!!!"
Originally, she still had something to rely on. According to the mechanisms of the Shadow World, once the traitor was killed, it would draw the Count of the Blood Clan. At the very least, she believed she could survive and return to the real world.
But now, after the Count of the Blood Clan arrives, a massacre without distinction would commence!
Because the mission targets and background stories of the two Blood Clan members were ambitious rebels with covetous eyes on the Blood Clan’s throne!
Meanwhile, not far away from the Goddess Officer.
The last glimmer of light in the nobly-born Mage Girl’s eyes seemed to fade, succumbing to despair, but with a hint of resignation.
"Blood Clan... So, it’s an inescapable nightmare after all..."
Her lips trembled slightly, as if accepting an invincible fate, yet concurrently harboring a profound hatred for it.
...
The mood in the cathedral took a steep downturn, even the formerly hardy executioner couldn’t help but collapse weakly to the ground.
In an instant, their moods had taken a rollercoaster ride.
They had just figured out why Lanci was so composed earlier—it turned out he had anticipated the investigator staking out in the forest.
But before they could even rejoice, they were struck like a bolt from the blue!
The good news was that the Goddess of Destruction had been dealt with.
The bad news is they’re all going to die tonight.
These two people are too cruel, treating the Goddess of Destruction as a plaything. In the end, the frenzied Goddess of Destruction, regardless of her ability to defeat the detective lurking in the shadows, would choose to commit suicide, taking everyone down with her.
It’s not a surprise they lost.
It’s just that there were many hopes before, that’s why the loss feels disappointing now.
As the last flicker of hope is extinguished, a low spirit permeates the team.
"Oh well."
"We’ve given it our all."
"No matter win or lose, we have no regrets."
"After all, facing the Resurrection Believers, none of us has ever been afraid of death."
The cathedral suddenly fell silent, the weapons finally growing weary.
The tragic sunset seemed to foretell their lives, burning in their pupils before crashing relentlessly.
Their mutual encouragement felt like a final farewell, a generous embrace of death that seemed fitting for the day’s effort.
Faced with the arrival of the seventh-order Earl tonight and the hefty five nights of time, they really couldn’t think of any way to win.
This really seemed to be the end.
...
...
Wait, what’s this expression on Lanci’s face?
Perhaps it’s a habit, the challengers in the cathedral couldn’t help but to look at Lanci.
He’s still calmly sipping from his goblet!
"Why are you all looking at me? Let’s eat first."
Lanci looks at everyone confusedly, pointing towards the banquet table, as if waiting for a long time for everyone to eat together.
The title of this Shadow World was the Cathedral Feast.
It was evidently a tourist dining themed Shadow World, so what’s everyone doing if not eating?
"Could there be a way..."
Everyone is surprisingly gazing at the same direction.
The sunset shone slantingly from the meters tall windows onto Lanci, his laid-back figure seated on the sofa, seemed even more dazzling than the sun itself.
"There’s still six hours left, isn’t it quite easy to hunt an Earl?"
Lanci tilts up the corner of his mouth, revealing a confident smile again.
He held the same air of certainty that he held when he controlled the lightning in the Purgatory Corridor Academy!
...
At this time, at Ichrite Academy, Jera Memorial Square, all the students’ expressions were just like the challengers in the screen.
They couldn’t believe it, but couldn’t help believing it either.
A seventh-order Blood Clan Earl.
And a full five nights.
Even if all of them combined could possibly fight the top sixth-order Goddess of Destruction, a seventh-order Earl was not a terrible creature that their mere human bodies could resist!
The higher the order, the wider the gap in strength between each order.
"It’s said that Lanci’s epic masterpiece in the Registered Card-making Master exam... was a small sun..."
"That’s just a fake sun, it doesn’t have the power of the sun!"
The seal view feature of [Shining Virtue] is a more versatile and practical card. But considering it doesn’t differentiate between friend or foe and consumes a lot of Mana, it’s still subpar for an Orange Epic.
"I can’t bear to watch."
The atmosphere in the square has gone from bustling to deathly silent.
Many students, as if unable to bear the oppressive despair, started leaving the Jera Memorial Square.
This seemed to foreshadow a tragedy that would inevitably transpire six hours later.
The current atmosphere in the teacher’s conference room must be extremely heavy.
Because tonight, Ichrite Academy will lose three of its most outstanding freshmen.
