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Chapter 792: Lanchi's Resolve in the Face of Adversity (Part 1)
Chapter 792: Lanchi's Resolve in the Face of Adversity (Part 1)
Within the spacious and luxurious executive suite atop the Inferno Corridor Academy, the room was always bathed in soft light, untouched by the howling winds and snow outside.
Occasionally, a faint glow would emanate from a magic communication device on the desk.
Lanchi's gaze shifted toward the light.
Unlike the previous two simulations, this one was delayed by six or seven hours, starting in the evening.
As the principal, it seemed he had spent the entire day dreaming in his office, ignoring even the unanswered calls.
Given Lanchi's understanding of the principal's office, his secretary had likely tried to reach him during the day, but he hadn't responded.
And if it weren't for something important, the secretary wouldn't have disturbed him, leaving the messages unattended.
"I wonder if the others will worry about us, disappearing for a whole day in the Inferno Corridor Academy."
Talia missed Hyberrian and Sigil.
"I informed Lysandra about my plans for today, and she should have passed on the message to them," Lanchi replied.
He briefly glanced at the communication device, scrolling through the messages.
Without dwelling too much on the matters outside the Tebiri mirror, he focused on the task at hand.
At present, it seemed that if he didn't make a choice, every minute he spent in the principal's office would pass in the real world as well.
And during this phase, his actions within the office were extremely limited.
He was almost cut off from the outside world and unable to utilize the high-level magic of Ranklos.
It felt akin to being in a town's safe mode.
If he wanted to harness Ranklos' power for rapid travel or engage in combat using Ranklos' ninth-tier body, he would have to select the "personal intervention" option.
As Lanchi contemplated this, the information in the Tebiri mirror before him also came to a halt, presenting the first set of choices.
[Your next course of action:]
[A. Eternal Punishment of Undeath]
[B. Go to the Demon King's Castle]
[C. Return to the Theocracy]
[D. Personal Intervention]
[Life remaining: 5 days, 04 hours, 30 minutes]
Standing before the desk, Lanchi shut off the communication device and considered the options presented to him.
This simulation was based on the premise that Ranklos had already experienced the previous two simulations, and the information he possessed had changed accordingly.
However, the initial options remained unchanged from the second simulation.
The only difference from the first simulation was that the original first option, 'continue to stay,' had been excluded.
After learning about the unrest in the Southern Honing Empire, Ranklos knew he couldn't afford to remain idle.
"I don't need to think about it."
Lanchi didn't hesitate when it came to the choices in the Tebiri mirror, as he was already familiar with them.
After a quick glance, his hand had already selected the option for Eternal Punishment of Undeath on the light screen.
"You truly have no post-traumatic stress at all."
Talia marveled at his resolve in her mind.
Having witnessed the consequences of the Eternal Punishment of Undeath, she held a deep fear of that spell.
If it weren't for Tamisha's intervention to cut off their power, the true punishment of that spell might have been "infinite."
The last time had truly scared her.
There seemed to be no end in sight.
Even now, she still felt like she was recovering from that harrowing experience.
But when she thought about how Ranklos, in history, had to use that spell again outside the Tebiri mirror, Talia's heart ached.
In reality, no one would be there to save him.
It was at the blood moon apocalypse that Ranklos truly needed to steel his resolve.
As Talia's thoughts wandered, Lanchi's chosen path of the Eternal Punishment of Undeath also began.
In an instant, the office was filled with a surging black mist of magic.
The normally stable barrier magic on the office walls began to fluctuate, guided by mysterious rules, causing the light to dim further.
An immense amount of magic gathered in the air before the principal's desk, emanating an ultimate demonic power that pulsed with the same frequency as the black sun.
The black mist of magic wove and twisted, causing the air to tremble until it eventually enveloped Lanchi, forming a black serpentine coil around him before the mist contracted and surged into his face.
As the black mist inscribed a curse upon Lanchi's left cheek, the surrounding magical fluctuations gradually subsided, the light faded, and everything returned to normal.
[Even knowing the consequences of using the Eternal Punishment of Undeath.]
[You still resolutely chose it, regardless of the eternal punishment you would suffer.]
[You know that this is the only way to maintain your state...]
[...and fulfill your final mission.]
"It seems we'll be spending an unknown amount of time in the void again," Talia sighed.
Although Tamisha would cut off their power supply according to Lanchi's instructions within the two-hour time limit, they couldn't be sure how much deviation there would be.
If it exceeded by just a few minutes, it could mean days or even months for them inside the Tebiri mirror, where time flowed faster.
"I'm sorry for dragging you into this suffering," Lanchi said, briefly lifting his mask to reveal a face that now resembled a demon's, his eyes filled with guilt.
He had promised to let Talia live a life of comfort.
Yet here he was, bringing her along on this arduous journey.
"What are you talking about? Every day since I've been with you has been wonderful. It's only right that we face difficulties together," Talia replied with a sense of camaraderie.
"As long as I'm with you, you'll never be alone."
Having learned about the void that followed the Eternal Punishment of Undeath, she couldn't bear the thought of letting Lanchi face it alone.
The feeling of being trapped in the void was vastly different when there were two people instead of one, at least in terms of loneliness.
"Thank you, Master. I now realize that my previous assessment of you was wrong," Lanchi said as he replaced his mask, concealing the black cursive script that resembled a scorpion, etched upon his cheek. He could sense the unwithering forbidden power within himself.
This way, he wouldn't have to see any signs of his power waning.
"What assessment?" Talia asked, curious.
"You're the type of woman who would be well-liked," Lanchi replied sincerely.
"..."
For a moment, Talia couldn't quite decipher whether Lanchi was complimenting or insulting her.
That was so like him.
She thought to herself.
The demonic text of the Tebiri mirror continued to appear—
[Your next destination:]
[A. Necallis]
[B. Saint Trick]
【C. Hersham】
【D. Personal Intervention】
【Life Remaining: 5 days, 04 hours, 29 minutes】
New choices emerged.
"No, is this Tebiri hanging upside down, or does Hersham have OCD? Even the length of his name has been evenly spaced out?"
Talia paused for a moment when she saw the third option, then realized it referred to the capital of the Saint Soul Land Theocracy, Hersham.
"Indeed, when pronounced quickly, Hersham does sound like Hersham. Nothing wrong with that," Lanchi agreed.
In different languages, there are various ways to transliterate Hersham, so calling it Hersham wasn't incorrect.
As for Necallis and Saint Trick, they were respectively the capitals of the Demon World and the Honing Empire.
For now, neither needed to be considered.
"So, are you going back to the capital of the Saint Soul Land Theocracy first?"
Talia understood Lanchi's likely choice, but seeing that he hadn't confirmed it yet, she asked him.
"There's something I need to do before we depart."
Lanchi pressed the communication device button on the principal's desk.
Even though he couldn't use Ranklos' true power or have much freedom of movement, and time would continue to be consumed without making a choice, he was still able to use some of the items already present in the office without any issues.
These slight actions were feasible within the illusion, and he had verified this in the previous two simulations. During many of the decision-making scenes, he could lightly participate according to his own will.
In fact, he could use the personal intervention option right now if he wanted to.
However, he wanted to save that option for when he fought at Blood Moon City.
He needed to study Blood Moon City's layout further.
"What can you do now?"
Talia was perplexed.
She felt that Lanchi didn't have much room to maneuver within the confines of the principal's office.
Of course, she could understand Lanchi's need to experience Blood Moon City firsthand.
Firstly, Blood Moon Calamity and the present world were separated by several millennia.
Despite confirming this at least several dozen times since their first encounter with Blood Moon Calamity, some people still couldn't grasp it and insisted on arguing about the timeline on the Ikelite Student Forum.
Additionally, any country in the Blood Moon Calamity era, including the Demon World, would be vastly different from their present-world counterparts, having undergone earth-shaking changes.
Only Blood Moon City, sealed beneath the southern continent, would remain relatively unchanged over the course of several millennia.
Ranklos' extreme seal on the vampire tribe's eternal punishment had a limit of about several millennia, so by the time of the present world, the vampire ancestors would begin to unseal one after another.
To Lanchi, any person similar to those in the Blood Moon Calamity era was just a similar flower, but to Talia, they were reincarnated souls.
From her understanding of Lanchi, he had once, while drunk, intruded into the Church of the Goddess of Fate and obtained a set of "memories from another world." There, he was an art director and had some knowledge of future timelines in the present world.
For now, let's not consider the possibility that before reincarnating as Lanchi, Ranklos had crossed over into a world and lived a life there. Even if Lanchi had lived as an art director in that world, everything he experienced and knew about that world must have been fabricated and arranged by the Goddess of Fate.
In other words, the "art director's skills" were a combination of Ranklos' accumulation and Lanchi's artistic talent, inherently belonging to him.
And the "art director's knowledge of the world" was merely the Goddess of Fate conveying the results of her divination in a way that he could more easily accept.
This included the map of Blood Moon City and the intelligence on the vampire ancestors.
Obviously, the map of Blood Moon City and the information on the ancestors were part of Ranklos' knowledge, and after experiencing three simulations and one actual battle, Ranklos would have an extremely deep understanding of Blood Moon City, so it was not surprising that he could comprehend the map like an art director. The appearances of the vampire ancestors that Lanchi was familiar with were also those of the ancestors that Ranklos had fought in the past.
The Goddess of Fate merely returned Ranklos' knowledge to Lanchi without altering his self.
Talia believed that she had figured it out clearly.
It was so simple that even a three-year-old could understand it.
"Of course, I need to prepare before we depart," Lanchi said as he picked up the communication device's receiver and waited for the connection to be established.
Soon, a buzzing sound was heard, followed by the clear and pleasant voice of a female demon.
"Principal, are you looking for me?"
The voice of the principal's secretary, Lysandra, came through the device.
"I'm looking for Sigil. Is she there?" Lanchi replied into the receiver.
The secretary's voice belonged to Lysandra.
However, compared to the Shadow World, Lysandra from this Ranklos timeline seemed much more reserved around him.
Upon careful consideration, if the Witch Miss hadn't lived to witness the Third Shadow World's Dark Day Eclipse in the Demon World, Ranklos wouldn't have met and befriended Lysandra in the Demon King's City of Necallis, and even if Lysandra was destined to come to the Inferno Corridor Academy and work as the principal's secretary, their relationship would be more like that of superiors and subordinates.
No matter how approachable Ranklos was, in Lysandra's eyes, he would still be an unattainable high-ranking demon.
"Yes, I'll call her for you. Please hold on for a moment."
Lysandra replied respectfully.
"Thank you."
Lanchi didn't prolong the conversation and placed the receiver back in its original position.
He sat in the principal's chair and waited.
Gazing up at the domed ceiling of the office, he lost himself in thought.
"What are you thinking about?"
Talia saw his pensive expression and struck up a conversation to distract him.
Sometimes, she couldn't quite figure out what was going on in Lanchi's mind. He seemed to be thinking about nothing and everything at the same time.
"I'm afraid Sigil might have grown distant from me as well."
Lanchi wasn't sure about the relationship between Ranklos and Sigil in the true historical records.
However, from the fragments of the Shadow Weave recorded by Kaliella, it seemed that during the period when Ranklos was at his most despondent in the Demon King's Palace, he initially wasn't very kind to Sigil. He merely tolerated her presence and brought her along as a burden.
On the other hand, Sigil saw Ranklos as her hope for survival, seeking his protection and hoping to learn the power to take revenge on the vampires from him.
It was only when Ranklos fell into the gentle trap in the Demon King's Palace and saw an illusion of the Witch Miss that he let go of his emotional baggage and began to see Sigil as his own hope for survival and someone he had to protect.
Knock, knock.
The knock on the door interrupted Lanchi's train of thought.
"Come in." Lanchi addressed the door of the principal's office.
"I'm here." The ash-blonde nun pushed the door open and entered.
Her amethyst eyes met the green irises hidden beneath the Pope's mask. Surprise and joy flickered in her eyes, but she couldn't fathom why the Pope had suddenly summoned her.
"Sigil, come over here." Lanchi gestured for her to close the door and join him by the desk; he had something important to discuss with her.
In the timeline of Ranklos, Sigil still wore her nun's habit. Her smooth, long hair fell over her shoulders, and she donned a tight-fitting white nun's robe, adorned with silver lace and a purple silk ribbon around her waist, embossed with the Trinity Seal.
However, the aura she exuded was extraordinarily powerful, almost at the peak of the eighth tier, just a step away from attaining the ninth tier with the accumulation of her faith power.
Lanchi thought to himself that it made sense. After all, if Ranklos could easily subdue the Profane Duke Merogais, there would be no need for Sigil to step in, so it was understandable that she maintained her attire as a Saint Lant Heretic.
"Okay." Sigil nodded, closing the door and taking her place by the desk, facing Lanchi.
"She didn't even rush over to hug you," Talia remarked in surprise through Lanchi's mind.
The Sigil before them was clearly more reserved around the Pope and understood the distinction between them as a mature woman.
The only similarity was that Sigil's eyes held no hint of affection or closeness.
"Even though the Ranklos line simulated by the Tebiri mirror is not the same world line as the Shadow World, Sigil remains Sigil, and her behavioral patterns shouldn't change much, like the way she expresses her affection..." Talia analyzed.
Talia was perplexed. What had gone wrong with her precious daughter, Sigil, in the Shadow World, that made her want to stick so close to Lanchi?
"That's more like it. The Sigil outside the mirror acts like a twelve-year-old whose mental age hasn't grown. She still thinks of herself as a young girl, wanting to hug me and even kiss me. I'm afraid I won't be able to resist her." Lanchi responded helplessly through his thoughts.
"Rest assured, I'll keep a close eye on her, and something like that will never happen." Talia assured him with extra confidence.
She understood Lanchi's inability to resist all too well.
But she would protect him.
"Sigil." Lanchi gazed at the figure across the desk, his tone indicating that he wanted to discuss something serious.
"What's wrong?" Sigil's eyes fixed on the irises beneath the mask, as if she could discern something from them. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she asked with concern.
"I have something to ask of you. It's something only you can help me with." Lanchi spoke solemnly.
...
【After finishing his conversation with Sigil.】
【You and she parted ways and returned separately to the capital of the Saint Lant Heretic, Hersham...】
The sky over the capital was gloomy and overcast, with impending rain.
The towering spire of the Pope's Palace in Hersham was shrouded in darkness.
In the square, Sigil and her companions stood ready, their eyes fixed on the tightly closed doors of the palace.
Behind them were groups of Temple Knights and Inquisitors, flanking them on both sides.
The sudden commotion near the Pope's Palace had caught the citizens off guard, and they dared not venture out, choosing instead to stay indoors, awaiting the possible change in leadership that loomed over the Saint Lant Heretic.
"Decades of lies will end today." Elmu, the Grand Inquisitor of the Holy Court, drew out his sanctified staff, his tone icy and his eyes blazing.
As a confidant of Pope Ranklos, he resolutely chose to betray the Pope at this moment.
His silver-white plate armor shone brightly in the gloom, and his stance exuded righteousness.
Beside him, the Inquisitor General of the Inquisition, clad in armor that emanated a faint red glow, had also unsheathed his long spear.
"Kill Ranklos! We are not his tools for vengeance!" The Inquisitor General bellowed, his voice emerging from within his helmet, filled with rage.
And the true leader of this insurrection, standing before the Pope's Palace with her sword in hand—
She gripped the sword's hilt, her amethyst eyes resolute and determined. Her light-colored hair billowed in the wind, like a dazzling banner.
"The Pope has long lost himself due to the 'Mind Shatter' left by the Third Founder, Rashiel. It is our duty to stop his revenge against the Honing Empire, to prevent him from continuing his madness and causing further catastrophe. This is our responsibility and our way of upholding the belief he once instilled in us!" Saint Sigil shouted.
"Charge!" The elite forces of the Saint Lant Heretic Church roared in response.
As her words rang out, the doors of the Pope's Palace were breached.
The Pope's Palace in Hersham, a majestic and solemn structure, loomed over the sea of clouds. It stood as a symbol of power and faith and had been the spiritual pillar of Hersham during the years of war. Yet, it also harbored danger and was the source of hidden truths.
Sigil, leading the Knights, surged through the layers of stairs and finally reached the interior of the Pope's Palace.
A thunderous response erupted from the crowd.
Horns blared, and war banners fluttered.
Under Sigil's command, the Royal Forbidden Army, the Temple Knights, and the Inquisition poured into the Pope's Palace, engaging in a head-on confrontation with the torrent of the Palace's Guardian Knights.
(End of Chapter)
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