Chapter 145: When Lance Says to Eat, You Eat

Amid the dense forest atop the mountain outside the castle, a column of black smoke rose into the sky, coiling like a massive dragon that was roaring out its presence. Sparks spread across the treetops, threatening to dye the entire forest a crimson red that outshone the sunset.

Behind the sanctuary's floor-to-ceiling windows, the chatter died away instantly. Everyone stared in utter astonishment at the inexplicable upheaval in the woods, struggling to make sense of it all.

The setting sun cast light through the stained glass, painting their faces with irregular patterns of light and shadow that made their expressions appear even more bewildered and indistinct. Though their eyes darted between the black smoke and the forest and their minds filled with questions and anxiety, no one spoke. Instead, they all turned to look at Lance.

Could it be...? Was all of this within the Lawyer's calculations?

"I really have to hand it to the two of you..." Hyperion finally realized what was happening. That sly fox Frey hadn't left at all. He had been lying in wait in the dense forest, setting traps all day long!

In a one-on-one confrontation within the forest terrain, the heavily wounded Saintess of Destruction was exposed in the open, while a fully prepared Frey lurked in the shadows. Adelise was in for a world of hurt.

As the group grasped the situation, a renewed hope for victory ignited within them! In the corner beneath the rose window, the expression of the priestess of the Church of Resurrection froze. While the sudden turn of events baffled her, her heart began to pound wildly.

How... how is this possible? She hurriedly counted the people in the sanctuary to confirm the numbers were correct. Intense confusion and unease sent her mind racing. Then, as if recalling something, her eyes widened sharply.

There was indeed one person missing. It was the bastard who had disrupted their plans right from the start, the one who had vanished from the map! If this was all just a ruse, then what did that mean for the turmoil she had endured all day and the humiliation she had suffered?

Before she could even process this, she saw a new message appear in the Shadow Realm. Her mouth fell open in terror, and an expression of utter despair washed over her face. "Ah..."

[The Traitor Adelise is dead. Count Palokas, a vampire lord, will arrive at the border of the Honing Empire, specifically at Lichten's Castle, in approximately six hours.]

Instantly, the priestess shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Do you have any idea what you've done?!! She was the Saintess of Destruction! Now we're all going to die together!!!"

She had previously felt secure. According to the mechanics of the Shadow Realm, the death of a Traitor would trigger the arrival of a vampire count, and she had been certain she would at least survive to return to the real world. Now, however, the vampire's arrival would unleash an indiscriminate slaughter!

After all, the mission objectives and backstories of these two vampire thralls cast them as ambitious schemers who harbored designs to usurp their vampire lords!

Meanwhile, not far from the priestess, the last glimmer of light faded from the eyes of the bound noble mage girl, leaving behind only despair tinged with a hint of resignation.

"Vampires... are they a nightmare one simply cannot escape?" Her lips trembled. She seemed to be accepting an inescapable fate, even while loathing it with every fiber of her being.

***

The hearts of everyone else in the sanctuary turned cold in an instant. Even the executioner, the fiercest of them, slumped powerlessly to the ground.

They had been on an emotional rollercoaster within this short period of time. They had just realized why Lance had been so composed. He had anticipated all along that the Detective was lying in wait within the jungle. Yet, before they could even savor the joy of that realization, they were struck by a devastating blow!

The good news: the Saintess of Destruction had been dealt with. The bad news: they were all going to die tonight.

Those two were truly ruthless. They had toyed with the Saintess as if she was a trained monkey. Even if the maddened Adelise couldn't defeat the Detective lying in ambush, she would choose to end her own life, dragging everyone else down to the grave with her.

Losing now came as no surprise. It was only because there had been so much hope earlier that the current sense of loss felt so profound. As their last shred of hope vanished, a heavy gloom settled over the group.

"So be it."

"We gave it our all."

"Win or lose, we have no regrets."

"After all, none of us ever feared death when facing the Church of Resurrection."

Silence fell upon the sanctuary. Their weapons, too, seemed weary. The mournful sunset looked as if it was mirroring their own lives, burning fiercely in their eyes before plunging violently into the dark.

Their words of mutual encouragement felt like final farewells. They had done justice to the day's efforts, and a sense of calm resignation settled in as they prepared to face death. With a Rank 7 Count arriving tonight and a full five nights of peril ahead, they simply could not conceive of any way to win.

This was truly the end of the line.

...Wait, what is that look on Lance's face? Perhaps out of habit, the challengers in the Sanctuary couldn't help but glance at him. He was still calmly sipping from his glass, looking completely unperturbed!

"Why are you all looking at me? Let's eat first." Lance looked at the group in puzzlement and simply pointed toward the long banquet table, as if he had been waiting ages for everyone to sit down and dine.

The title of this Shadow Realm dimension was, after all, "Banquet of the Sanctuary Villains." It was clearly a Shadow Realm challenge themed around travel and dining. What was the point of just standing around if they weren't going to eat?

Could there still be a way...

Everyone's gaze shifted in unison toward the same spot. The setting sun slanted through the towering floor-to-ceiling windows, casting its light upon Lance. He was lounging leisurely on the sofa and looked even more dazzling than the sun itself.

Lance grinned, flashing a confident smile. "We've still got six hours. Hunting down a vampire count should be a piece of cake, right?"

It was the same air of absolute certainty he had once exuded while commanding the power of lightning back at Purgatory Corridor Academy!

***

Back at Ikerite University, the expressions on the students' faces in the plaza mirrored those of the challengers shown in the projection. It was a scene that defied belief, something they simply could not bring themselves to accept.

A Rank 7 vampire count, and a full five nights to endure. Even if they all combined their strength, they might manage to contend with a top-tier Rank 6 Saintess of Destruction, but a Rank 7 Count was a terrifying entity that mere humans stood no chance of holding back. The higher the Rank, the more immense the gap in power became.

Someone commented, "I heard that the epic masterpiece Lance created during his card maker exam was a miniature sun..."

Another sighed. "That was just a fake sun. It didn't actually possess the power of a real one!"

The Glorious Virtue card's ability to seal an opponent's line of sight was versatile and practical, but considering its high mana cost and the fact that it affected friend and foe alike, it was rather underwhelming for an Epic grade card.

Someone wailed, "I can't bear to watch anymore."

The atmosphere in the plaza had shifted from its earlier bustle to a deathly silence. Unable to stomach the sight of such suffocating despair, many students began to leave the plaza. It felt like a tragedy was destined to unfold in six hours' time.

The mood in the faculty meeting room was surely just as heavy. Tonight, Ikerite University was on the verge of losing three of its most outstanding freshmen.