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The appearance of this classic sofa was undoubtedly the same as the one Lanci and Hyperion had sat on before Qieke Manor disappeared; they were all too familiar with it.
[Qieke Manor Sofa]
[Category: Magic tools]
[Grade: White Ordinary]
[Level: 1]
[Effect: As the rural official residence of Palante Empire, Qieke Manor can be chosen for high-level negotiations and rest when more privacy and security is required, and its furniture is of exceptional quality.]
[Remark: Gift from the Shadow World’s Dark Solar Eclipse Demon Realm]
"Why would it send us a sofa?"
Lanci pointed at the sofa, puzzled.
He had been to the Shadow World three times, but this was the first time he had seen a gift.
Hyperion shook her head, just as clueless.
"Does your home need a sofa?"
Lanci asked Hyperion.
His dormitory living room already had a sofa, and putting it on the balcony might get it spoiled by birds again.
He still preferred a more spacious balcony, where a rattan chair was enough for him to relax and read in leisure.
"I feel like there’s no room for it in the Duke’s Mansion."
Hyperion contemplated for a moment, if she brought this sofa back, she would have to get rid of an existing one, but she was reluctant to part with old furniture.
"This sofa shouldn’t be cheap, meow, can we move it back to Boss Cat Restaurant?"
Boss Cat, hearing that neither of them wanted it, immediately jumped up with joy, feeling the Qieke Manor Sofa would fit perfectly with the style of its restaurant!
"No problem."
Later on, the three of them would move the sofa to Boss Cat Restaurant.
After receiving the spoils of war, the thought of returning to Ichrite Academy—and with the second year already starting—brought back drowsy memories of the Sage Academy classroom like a surging wave flooding Lanci’s mind.
If possible, he hoped to do community service around the school daily, and never have to attend lectures at the Sage Academy again.
Fortunately, having cleared this Seventh-order Shadow World would solve many of Professor Bolao’s troubles, and now he would have time to teach students. In the new semester, Lanci would hardly need to go to Sage Academy anymore, with his daily school curriculum solely the responsibility of his dedicated tutor, Teacher Bolao.
It was now August, and Lanci had a few matters to consult with Professor Bolao of the Magic Engineering College, including how to create a finished card product from "Calila’s Shadow Weave Record." Lanci also hadn’t forgotten about Loren, and would help him resolve the remaining issues, so that Lanci could then leave from his hometown at the Nanwantina Border to head for Cerryti Empire at the southernmost tip of the South Continent.
"Hyperion, after some time, we’ll go looking for Duke Migaya’s whereabouts. This trip could be more dangerous than any journey we’ve ever taken. Are you ready?"
Lanci looked at Hyperion and asked.
Compared to when they first agreed on their journey, they had both grown much stronger and were no longer the novices who struggled against a Fifth-order examiner.
After ascending to Sixth-order, Lanci’s already high spirit had grown significantly, and attributes such as mana cap, mana recovery speed, and spell resistance had also improved markedly, not to mention the Mark of Great Demon Clan on his body that enhanced his magic defense and reduced spell effects. Spells below the Sixth-order pretty much had no effect on him.
But the grand Cerryti Empire, far larger than Protoss Empire and Aestheland Kingdom combined, was the true behemoth of the South Continent.
"No problem, I feel like I’m close to the Seventh-order. I should be able to become a Seventh-order Priest soon."
Hyperion said with confidence, clenching her fist.
During her time in the Northern Continent, she had been training hard with the Bingxue Witch. After completing this Seventh-order Shadow World challenge, she had not only reached the Sixth-order but was also a mere step away from the Seventh-order.
"All right, let’s move the things back to Boss Cat Restaurant. Tata must have missed you a lot after a month without seeing you."
Lanci said, arms akimbo, as he looked at the sofa,
"Thanks to our smooth clearing of this Seventh-order Shadow World, there might be a crowd of first-year juniors outside the Void Gate Plaza waiting to see the excitement, and there are probably quite a few stakeout reporters like Senior Sister Lavisseir. It’s going to be difficult to leave the school."
He would need to plan their route carefully.
"Juniors..."
Hyperion mused, as if in a trance.
Although clearing the Seventh-order Shadow World might seem sensational to the juniors,
there was something important she remembered from this Shadow World—
Something she instinctively wanted to forget—
It was that, in this Shadow World,
she had kissed Lanci in front of everyone.
Suddenly Hyperion’s cheeks began to turn red.
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Just imagining herself walking out of the Shadow World surrounded by Ichrite students who were there to gawk made her feel like she wanted to bury herself underground!
"I don’t want to go back."
Hyperion gently tugged at Lanci’s sleeve, her voice full of discomfort.
Lanci, who had originally planned to leave, turned his head to look at her, but couldn’t see her face as she seemed to be awkwardly looking down.
"..."
Lanci fell silent for a while. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
He changed direction and went to the middle of a wide step on Star Plaza, where he began to move the sofa by himself.
Hyperion watched Lanci’s figure.
It seemed her request was too willful after all; Lanci was speechless and could only move the sofa by himself.
If they didn’t go back in this Fringe Space, they surely couldn’t just stay there forever.
"There’s a sofa right here, let’s watch a movie."
After arranging the sofa, Lanci turned to Hyperion with a smile and said.
"Eh?"
Hyperion voiced her confusion.
"Now is when the most onlookers should be present, because they’ve calculated the time we leave the Shadow World. If we wait another two hours before going out, by lunchtime, there should be fewer people."
Once again, Lanci took out that gemstone from Calila,
"This ’Calila’s Shadow Weave Record’ has the highest attribute of a Recording Crystal. Cat Boss carries a magic device that can project it."
Hyperion listened to Lanci’s words and realized they were under a phantasmagorical glow of stars, with countless stars twinkling faintly, interweaving into the Fringe Space of the Shadow World.
And with the simple setup from Lanci and Cat Boss, Star Plaza had turned into an open-air cinema that belonged just to them.
"What do you think, Hyperion?"
Lanci rested his hand on the sofa, as if waiting for her to come over.
"Thank you, Lanci."
Hyperion gave a silent laugh, walked briskly over to the sofa, and sat down beside Lanci,
"In the future, let’s watch many, many more performances."
Hyperion spoke softly to Lanci, as if not wishing to disturb the serenity before the screening began.
"No problem."
Lanci confirmed calmly.
"Meow meow, isn’t this the time when the male protagonist usually pretends not to have heard clearly? You really answered."
Cat Boss, leaning on the sofa’s armrest, questioned him.
"What exactly do you watch in your free time, some mute romance?"
Lanci looked back at Cat Boss with a retort.
"By the way, the gemstone from Calila probably contains a recording of the actual Blood Moon calamity era, right?"
Before they started watching, Hyperion sought confirmation from Lanci.
"That’s right."
Lanci was actually quite curious about what the footage recorded by Calila contained, since this Shadow World was already an IF line, deviating significantly from real history.
"So if what Calila recorded corresponds to the period of the Seventh-order Shadow World we are experiencing, wouldn’t it be that there would be no Miss Witch corresponding to me, but only the Son of the Sun all alone?"
Hyperion’s expression revealed a touch of sorrow.
From the information linked by the previous two Shadow Worlds, she already knew that the story began with the Son of the Sun’s homeland, the Huo Ning Empire, being eroded by the Blood Clan. As the last of the empire’s special forces youth, he underwent experimental surgeries to become a pseudo-member of the Demon Race, and with his comrades, he journeyed to the Demon World of the Northern Continent to grow stronger.
At the Purgatory Corridor Academy in Purgatory City Pasquale, the Son of the Sun befriended a lonely Half-Demon Witch, who was not well received among the Demon Race. However, her kind heart quickly led to a friendship with the Son of the Sun. After overcoming many hardships together at the academy, she chose to return with the Son of the Sun to the human nations. Inadvertently, the Son of the Sun lost all his companions from the empire’s special forces to the pursuing envoys of the Blood Clan, leaving him the sole survivor.
Four years later, the Son of the Sun and the Witch returned to the Lichtenstein Mountain Range at the Northern Border of the Huo Ning Empire, becoming key members of the anti-Blood Clan Church. They were invited to Lichtenstein Castle for a crucial assembly and faced betrayal from within the Church itself. It was during that despairing seven-day and seven-night massacre that the Son of the Sun lost his dear friend, the Wolf Prince, as well as the Witch, who had stood by his side across the North and South Continent.
Then came sixteen years later, corresponding to the timeline of the third Shadow World in the Dark Solar Eclipse Demon Realm. The Son of the Sun, once again alone, had spent sixteen years climbing to the pinnacle of the Palante Empire, only to face another challenge, unsupported and alone.
"It could be, but it’s unknown which specific day of those forty-five days made a deep impression on Calila."
After contemplating, Lanci replied.
Star Plaza was completely overtaken by darkness, the sole source of light being the Magic Projector that Cat Boss had brought out, quietly operating.
As the images appeared, Lanci and Hyperion both turned to view the outdoor screen on the other side of the plaza and paused their idle chat.
