https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-701-The-Conclusion-of-Ranchi-and-Talia-s-Journey-in-the-City-of-Flowers/12585115/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-702-Lanchi-Finishes-Off-Kaliera-Part-2-/12585129/
Chapter 702: Lanchi Finishes Off Kaliera (Part 1)
Chapter 702: Lanchi Finishes Off Kaliera (Part 1)
As the final notes of a dance melody echoed through the ballroom, the evening's festivities drew to a close. Cardinal Lanchi and Thalia exited the Cathedral of Our Lady of Pariah, once again stepping onto the festive streets.
The night was deep, but the lively atmosphere of the Flower City of Pariah remained undiminished. Lining the streets, colorful lanterns continued to glow, transforming the night into a dreamlike spectacle.
Just then, a loud boom tore through the sky.
"..."
Cardinal Lanchi and Thalia instinctively looked up, witnessing a dazzling burst of fireworks erupting against the dark canvas of the night.
This was quickly followed by a second and a third, until the sky was illuminated with a dazzling array of colors, resembling a blooming garden.
"Perhaps when you're gone, I'll think of you whenever I see fireworks."
Thalia murmured, her face illuminated by the dancing lights.
"Why would you say that?"
Lanchi found the sentiment uncharacteristic of Thalia; it was more akin to something the sentimental Hyberrian might utter.
"Maybe you'll be making cards up in heaven."
Thalia replied, her gaze fixed on him.
"????"
Lanchi wondered if Thalia was joking.
The pair paused to admire the display for a while before resuming their walk.
The fireworks continued to bloom, intermittently enveloping them in a kaleidoscope of colors before fading into embers that drifted down into the night.
Thus, Lanchi and Thalia strolled along the festive route, taking in the sights along the way.
Even though it was already ten o'clock in the evening, there were still quite a few people on the streets.
Groups of three or two either paused to admire the pyrotechnic display or gathered around food stalls to sample the delicacies.
Laughter and exclamations of delight mingled with the booms of the fireworks, creating a cheerful cacophony.
Before they knew it, they had arrived at the Platinum Forest Spirit Hotel's scenic manor.
Looking up, the towering silhouette of the hotel could be discerned in the darkness, its windows emitting a warm yellow glow.
"Let's practice for an hour or two, and then we can rest."
Lanchi said to Thalia as they stepped into the hotel lobby.
During their stay in Pariah, they had been attempting to create cards in Lanchi's room.
Their formula was forgiving enough that minor explosions in the first two steps wouldn't cause too much trouble, so they felt confident practicing. It was only when those initial steps were successful that they would introduce the crucial ingredient—Kaliera's Shadow Weave.
"Then I guess I'll have to melt Lanfer again."
Thalia said after a moment's thought.
When they collaborated on card creation, their ability to communicate telepathically was indispensable. Otherwise, their coordination would suffer, or so they believed. Having Lanfer stand in for Thalia offered them unimaginable convenience.
"Melt away."
Lanchi felt that without the Great Lover around, things were quieter to a certain extent.
However, it did tire him out a bit.
"Then I won't hold back and will happily drain some more of your magical power."
Thalia nodded.
In truth, she rather missed the state of being a supernatural life form as the Crazy Love Demon King. Every day, she existed in a state between life and spirit, able to fall asleep in an instant and wake up feeling refreshed.
Most importantly, she wanted to try using Lanchi's body to indulge in culinary delights once more. His taste buds truly were unique...
"..."
Lanchi watched as Thalia swallowed, a nervous flutter in his heart, unsure of what she was thinking at that moment.
Before long, Lanchi and Thalia returned to their sixth-floor hotel room.
As he pushed open the door, a warm glow from the lamp in the entryway illuminated the space.
"Welcome home, meow."
Cat Boss was sitting on the floor, as if he had been waiting for them for quite some time.
"Cat Boss, we were wondering where you'd gone off to."
"Meow meow."
Lanchi breathed a sigh of relief and casually hung his coat on a nearby hat rack before picking up Black Bread and heading toward the card-making workshop, located in the depths of the room beyond the study.
For this trip, knowing that they would be practicing card creation frequently, Lanchi had asked Countess Rosalinda to set up the best-quality explosion-proof barrier and card-making equipment in their hotel room when he first arrived in the Kingdom of Paulson.
With a creak, the study door opened, and unlike the usual mess, the workshop was now neatly organized. Various diagrams were pinned to the walls, and the materials on the workbench had been sorted and categorized.
Seated at the workbench, deeply engrossed in research, was the Great Lover.
She seemed to have returned early today.
Upon returning, she had immersed herself in studying and, over the past few days, had helped Lanchi and Thalia organize their materials.
Whenever she focused on researching magic cards, not even Thalia's calls could snap her out of her concentration.
However, what surprised Lanchi and Thalia was the change in the Great Lover's appearance upon their return.
Her usually loose, flowing hair was now tied up, with the remaining strands softly framing her cheeks and the back of her neck. She wore a pure white shirt and a form-fitting black skirt suit, exuding a capable and sleek aura from head to toe.
"This outfit..."
Thalia murmured, her eyes fixed on the Great Lover's figure.
If one didn't look at her eye color, the Great Lover was, at first glance, indistinguishable from the real Thalia.
But what surprised her wasn't that the Great Lover was wearing her clothes—after all, she had told Lanfer that she hadn't brought any of her own clothes on this trip, so Lanfer was free to wear whatever she wanted—it was the fact that Lanfer had even managed to mimic her demeanor.
It was as if the Great Lover had been asked to dress like this every time she entered the card-making room, and over time, she had grown accustomed to it.
"Oh, it's Lanchi and Thalia."
The Great Lover finally looked up, leaning back in her chair to rub her eyes before stretching languidly.
"Lanfer, do you usually dress up like this when I'm not around?"
Thalia asked, perplexed.
"Yes, whenever Lanchi and I create important magic cards, I dress up like you and sit next to him."
As soon as she relaxed, the Great Lover reverted to her usual coy tone.
"..."
Thalia turned to look at Lanchi once more, a chill settling over the room.
She was becoming increasingly convinced that Lanchi was a pervert.
"No, no!"
Lanchi, upon hearing this, was so startled that he nearly broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly tried to explain.
"For him, having you by his side during card creation is essential, so he wants you there."
The Great Lover leaned back in her chair, her eyes curved like crescent moons as she continued with a smile.
"..."
Thalia fell silent once more, but the disdain in her gaze towards Lanchi softened.
"Lanfer, can I borrow your body for a little while longer?" Thalia asked, looking at the Great Lover.
"No problem. Take it, and thank you for taking care of me these past few days." The Great Lover casually waved her hand.
She held out her palm to Thalia, asking for the earring.
To the Great Lover, Thalia seemed to have an innate attraction. As long as Thalia needed her, the Great Lover was willing to be her high-level fusion material.
"I'll cook for you again next time."
Thalia took out a pair of black metal earrings and handed them to the Great Lover.
The surface of the metal earrings was covered with a thin layer of shimmering demon tribe incantations. They seemed to have been refined from the ancient abyss of the Inferno in the Demon World, absorbing and reflecting the faintest bands of light, displaying an unstable hue ranging from deep red to dark purple under the lamplight.
Thalia tucked her hair behind her ear to reveal the earrings—one shaped like a sharp metal thorn, resembling a demon's horn, and the other, a slender, curvaceous tail-like design, evocative of a demon's tail.
The Great Lover accepted the earrings from Thalia and hung them on her left ear.
The originally stable magical barrier in the workshop began to ripple, disturbed by the supreme power. The Great Lover's figure gradually faded, becoming blurred and indistinct, her physical boundaries beginning to disappear as she transformed into black mist and deep blue ocean waves that enveloped Thalia.
In that moment, Thalia was protected by an invisible force, as if the surrounding magic had formed an isolated domain.
Magic gathered and weaved in the air until it cocooned and shed, and moments later, she slowly opened her eyes again.
There seemed to be no change from before, except that her eyes now held a heterochromatic gleam—one gold and one blue.
"Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong."
Lanchi mimicked the sound of the timer alarm as he frantically swapped cards with Cat Boss, once again changing back to the cards that restored his magical power and increased his magical limit.
"Time to disguise my eye color again," Thalia muttered to herself.
Ever since arriving in the Flower City, she had been wearing gold-colored contact lenses to disguise her natural eye color.
Just as she was about to start working, Lanchi stopped her.
"No, no, let me get the materials for you!" He hastily pressed her shoulder, guiding her to sit in the chair.
Not only did he prepare the materials, but he also took the opportunity to bring her a glass of fruit juice and a plate of snacks, placing them in front of Thalia.
"..."
Thalia realized that she had returned to her previous state.
Any movement she made would consume more of Lanchi's magical power.
For Lanchi, her being at rest, either lying down or sitting, was the ideal state.
Although being waited on by Lanchi felt nice, she still felt a bit strange about it.
In the workshop, Lanchi walked over to the safe and opened it, taking out the precious materials stored inside.
Cat Boss shook his head beside them.
He couldn't identify the names of these materials; they were clearly beyond his realm of knowledge.
Whenever Lanchi and Thalia crafted cards, he would retreat outside the barrier, and each explosion undoubtedly meant a significant amount of money going up in smoke.
"Alright, Cat Boss, I'm going to activate the barrier now."
As he spoke, Lanchi casually strolled over to the workbench, where the table was covered with dense notes on material ratios and production processes, but both he and Thalia had already memorized them.
In a moment, he opened the magical barrier of the workshop, and Cat Boss leaped away, isolated outside the barrier.
However, he was accustomed to observing Lanchi's card-making process, always squatting outside the workshop and staring intently inside.
Initially, he had thought that Lanchi was just a clumsy card maker.
Unexpectedly, he turned out to be a platinum-level card maker registered with the Southern Continent Card Makers' Association, which truly surprised Cat Boss.
But then again, Lanchi's card-making ability was unparalleled.
As a platinum-level card maker, Lanchi had, on numerous occasions, destroyed dozens of cards in front of Cat Boss without producing a single successful product, even leading Cat Boss to suspect that he was deliberately researching how to maximize the destructive power of his card explosions.
Each explosion was deafeningly loud.
Later, Cat Boss discovered that this indeed seemed to be Lanchi's unique talent.
By taking card explosions to the extreme, Lanchi had created his ultimate technique—the Nuclear Fusion Wolf.
"Tata, are we ready to begin?" Lanchi asked, sensing Cat Boss's gaze.
"No problem," Thalia nodded.
The set of equipment they used for card crafting was provided by the Southern Continent Card Makers' Association's Pariah branch and was of the highest specifications. Just one platinum-level card maker was entitled to ample association privileges, and now with two of them, even though Thalia's certification process would take some time, they still had access to the best resources.
Lanchi first placed a deep purple cube, which contained an information recording program, on a shelf in one corner of the workshop.
This device could record the entire card-making process and any errors that occurred, facilitating review and analysis. Of course, when applying for patents or promotions, if high-quality magic cards were crafted without official supervision, the device could also serve as authoritative proof.
Like before, considering the possibility of biased higher-ups in the headquarters taking advantage of Thalia's certification process to create difficulties for them, Lanchi, as a senior card maker, knew what preparations to make to have leverage in crucial moments.
While the device allowed for the concealment of core steps and final card attributes, there was no room for deception regarding the final quality and tier assessment under its certification.
With everything in place, Lanchi and Thalia sat down at the workbench.
Thalia cleared a large workspace and took three compartmentalized plates from the nearby rack, filling them with a variety of materials.
She carefully inspected the premixed raw materials, laying them out on the table.
With Lanchi's assistance, Thalia began purifying and processing the materials, her gaze calm and her movements skilled.
"When will I ever reach your level of craftsmanship?" Lanchi marveled as he watched Thalia's natural and fluid process.
"It's not very realistic, but you can cling to my coattails in the future, and I'll help you," Thalia replied.
"That does seem to be the case..." Lanchi mused. If Thalia could truly replace the Great Lover, he wouldn't have to exert himself in magical engineering.
As they chatted, Lanchi and Thalia worked together in harmony.
To create the magic cards with Kaliera's Shadow Weave at their core, Lanchi had spent almost all his savings and earnings from the Flower City, even with the Card Makers' Association's substantial discounts and Countess Rosalinda's procurement of the most reasonably priced auxiliary materials from various branches. Still, the expense was staggering.
Most card makers would struggle to maintain a steady hand even when making final adjustments to the raw materials.
Lanchi was naturally calm and composed, able to walk a tightrope without breaking a sweat, while Thalia had long ago mastered the process and could achieve perfection without needing to be in a particular emotional state.
In the quiet workshop, the only sound was the ticking of a clock.
Over ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and the basic processing of the raw materials was complete.
They were now ready to attempt a few cards.
"Be serious," Thalia said softly, turning to Lanchi, who was mixing magical ink beside her.
Her skill was consistent, but to reach the upper limit, she also needed her assistant, Lanchi, to be at his best.
Every time they reached this stage, she had to remind Lanchi and put some pressure on him; otherwise, he would get too complacent.
"Can you be a little more ruthless? You seem gentler today, lacking that edge," Lanchi said, moving closer and studying Thalia's face.
"Are you enjoying yourself too much...?" Thalia felt her blood pressure rising, thinking that Lanchi might be a bit delusional.
"This 800-year-old vintage is indeed an ultimate pleasure," Lanchi continued, but before he could finish, Thalia's face reddened, and she pinched his waist.
"Is this better?" Thalia fixed her gaze on Lanchi, her expression gradually turning cold.
However, Lanchi still looked confused.
"You're not quite there yet, meow. You seem a bit more shy and coy," Cat Boss added from a distance, feeling that Thalia didn't quite resemble the Tatia portrayed by the Great Lover.
"Then what should I do?" Thalia asked, a hint of confusion in her golden eyes as she looked at Lanchi.
"Be very ruthless, as if I owe you money. Make me feel like there's a stern teacher watching my every move. Right now, you look more like a big gray cat that I can hug..." Lanchi trailed off as he felt the air turn chilly, and he dared not utter another word. He felt a chilly hand gently caressing the back of his neck.
"Do you understand now? Is this the feeling?" Thalia's gaze seemed to convey a warning, suggesting that if he dared to bring up the topics of learning to meow or hugging again, she couldn't guarantee what would happen.
"...Yes," Lanchi nodded obediently.
"Let's begin," Thalia said, and with that, she handed the prepared magical ink to Lanchi.
This ink was carefully mixed with Dreamcrystal powder and Spirit attribute Magic Core liquid, containing immense magical power.
As soon as Lanchi's fingertips touched the test tube, his body's magic resonated with the ink, as if it were being actively attracted.
Even without testing, Lanchi could intuitively tell that Thalia had adjusted the proportions perfectly.
He carefully poured the ink into the magic engraving knife, sensing the flow of magic within.
At the same time, Thalia removed the restrictions on the basic materials.
These included Moonstone dust, commonly used in Spirit-type magic tools, collected from Moonstones during the full moon night to enhance the spiritual influence of jewelry-type materials, as well as Mindforce Divine Feathers, often used in conjunction with Spirit or Mindforce-type control abilities. The Sage's Vine, on the other hand, was a vine-like grass that only grew on intelligent, demon-type creatures in the Demon Realm, and when used in medicine, it could enhance memory and comprehension.
In addition, following Professor Bolao's advice, they included a certain proportion of illusion-type tool ingredients, such as Mirage Sand, special gravel collected from the Dreamrealm Forest in the Krayn Empire, which enhanced the realism of illusions, Mirror Blossom Crystal, which reflected the user's deep mental landscape, strengthening the concreteness of illusions, and Nightshade Petals, a natural hallucinogen.
As the surface crystals of the various materials cracked and peeled away, they moved on to the next critical step in the process—enchanting and modifying the materials, using them as a foundation to lay down magical circuits and extend the spell formula, thus supporting an enormous and intricate energy network.
The entire process required the participants to be fully focused and in sync to ensure success.
Lanchi wielded the engraving knife with precise strokes, while Thalia imprinted and embedded each rune into the spell formula, weaving them into a complex pattern.
Human and demon languages intertwined, creating a mysterious and intricate web that seemed to writhe and move.
The air was filled with undulating waves of magic, causing even Cat Boss, separated by the barrier, to feel dizzy.
(End of Chapter)
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