Chapter 163: Lance’s Plan to Gain Immeasurable Merits

In the brightly lit bedroom, the two looked at each other. This is indeed true...

However, Hyperion felt that if Viscount Augustine was controlled by Lance, that would be a really serious problem! She already understood what Lance wanted to do. This guy wanted to "rescue" Viscount Augustine himself, then take control of the vampire. Basically, he wanted to obtain a Rank 6 vampire test subject that could be used for his own purposes!

You are not a Traitor, but you are doing better than an actual Traitor!

Lance instructed the priestess, "Sticella, you will have to stay in this room for the next few days. We cannot expose the fact that we have become companions in our live broadcast. We are still mortal enemies on the surface, but we will bring you three meals a day. If you need anything, you can tell us."

Sticella nodded obediently. Although she knew that the challengers could not trust her completely, Lance's explanation made her feel very comfortable and at ease.

"Hyperion, let's talk as we walk," Lance said.

He had already walked to the bedroom door with his notebook in his arms. He gently held the door handle with his fingers on the door frame and pulled it open. The ancient door hinges squeaked slightly as the thick door quietly opened. A piercing, late-night chill from the castle corridor rushed in.

"Sure," Hyperion replied.

The two walked out of Bedroom 203, and the door slowly closed and locked. The carvings on the back of the door were cast into mottled shadows by the lights in the corridor, seeming to tell the story of the years of this era.

In the corridor on the second floor, the wall lamps' warm yellow light softly hit them, making their shadows long.

While walking along the corridor, Hyperion asked Lance, "What on earth are you going to do...?"

They walked side by side in the endless silence, listening to their own heartbeats.

Lance turned his head and looked into Hyperion's eyes with a smile. "Sealing a vampire viscount is considered a meritorious deed, right?"

Slightly stunned, Hyperion answered, "Yes, that's right."

She knew that generally speaking, completing the key reversal step in this more tortuous process would result in an additional achievement in the final score of the Shadow Realm challenge, which would also increase the overall score accordingly.

For example, they had achieved an outrageous SSS rating during their last Shadow Realm run in Purgatory Corridor Academy. To get that, Lance had accomplished a host of extraordinary feats that would be impossible for ordinary challengers to do.

This time, his team had undoubtedly achieved some bizarre milestones as well, yet even Hyperion wasn't sure if the final evaluation would be SS or SSS. Under normal circumstances, an A or S rating was the ceiling. Anything higher required turning the entire Shadow Realm dungeon upside down in an extremely absurd manner.

Hyperion sensed that Lance might be planning one final push to rack up a massive score and guarantee that SSS rating. However, considering the achievements Lance and Frey had already secured, even if there were a few remaining points to be squeezed out of Mission Objective 2, how much impact could that really have on a score that was already astronomically high?

Lance explained the details carefully to Hyperion. "During the day, vampires hide in a safe location and seal themselves inside a coffin to sleep, ensuring they aren't exposed to a single ray of sunlight or dug up by enemies. You know that too, right, Hyperion?"

Hyperion thought for a moment and nodded. "I do."

This was indeed common knowledge established right at the start of the Shadow Realm dungeon. Vampires possessed innate sealing magic, allowing them to place themselves within a protective seal.

Lance spread his hands triumphantly and explained with a smile, "So, if we could turn the vampire viscount-and-coffin combo into a fully automated sealing loop, making him repeat the 'unseal-seal-unseal' cycle under my command for the next four days, wouldn't that count as me sealing Viscount Augustine tens of thousands of times?"

If sealing a vampire viscount even once counted as a "merit," then over the course of four days, he would surely amass an immeasurable amount of merit!

Hyperion stared into Lance’s emerald eyes, her own widening in shock. Her lips parted slightly, yet for a long moment, she couldn't utter a single sound!

The innocent smile on Lance's face made Hyperion realize with certainty that he had devised a way to farm a massive score by exploiting the "merit" system through repetitive sealing! It turned out that their previous achievements in this Shadow Realm challenge had merely been a prelude. The real bonanza for racking up points was only just beginning.

An eerie silence settled over the corridor. As they passed by bedroom after bedroom, a glance through the windows revealed a moonlit forest outside that was mysterious and tranquil, resembling a slumbering giant beast.

The rows of portraits lining the walls seemed to come alive; the landscapes and figures within were dancing in time with their footsteps. The painted eyes appeared to hold expressions of curiosity, leisure, or even stern solemnity.

Since arriving in this Shadow Realm dungeon, Hyperion had rarely felt fear, thanks to Lance’s presence by her side. Yet now, with Lance right there, she was terrified.

She said hesitantly, "Lance..."

Lance smiled. "Hmm?"

Hyperion ultimately decided to keep quiet. "Oh, nothing."

The two reached the foot of the stairs. Their palms grazed the carved banisters, feeling the rough, cold, and hard traces of time etched into the stone.

After identifying the Traitors earlier, their focus had shifted entirely to confronting the Saintess of Destruction and Count Palokas, so no one had paid further attention to the identities of the Werewolf and the Witch.

Now, aside from Hyperion, whose identity as the Witch was already known, they still needed to locate the Werewolf to break Viscount Augustine’s seal. Hyperion couldn't shake the feeling that Lance had traversed the entire life paths of two historical traitors in the span of just five minutes.

Silence lingered. As they stepped onto the staircase paved with solid stone, each footfall produced a faint echo, sounding like the heartbeat of the castle in the dead of night. Soon, they reached the third floor. A breeze drifted in through an open window, carrying the fresh, chilly night air from higher up.

Hyperion, who had been hesitating to speak her mind, finally voiced her thoughts tactfully. "Lance, I have a feeling that this doesn't exactly count as a virtuous deed..."

She then muttered under her breath, "Are we really going to make Viscount Augustine do sit-ups for four whole days...?"

She was doing her utmost to salvage Lance’s humanity. She remembered that when she first met Lance, he had at least seemed like a normal human being. Even during their first collaboration in the third round of the entrance exam, he had still fallen within the realm of the normal animal kingdom.

However, ever since their trip to Purgatory Corridor Academy, Lance had begun to sprint wildly in an unpredictable direction. His condition had deteriorated even further now.

She dared not imagine what he would become once he infiltrated the Church of Resurrection and completed the remaining two Shadow Realm dungeons in the Blood Moon Apocalypse series...

Lance explained with what he considered sound logic, "Don't worry. The actual work can be left to the Poet of Boundless Love and the clergy when the time comes. We’re only responsible for rescuing Viscount Augustine and handing him over to them. As for the work the clergy does, the Goddess of Fate grants the merit points directly for that. It’s officially certified."

Even though the three clergy might act as middlemen and skim a bit off the top of the total merit points, it was an official channel, a genuine, trustworthy source.

"Once we finish developing the fully automated Viscount Augustine Circulation Device, we can even document it in our report, On Ecological Balance and the Governance of the Vampires." Lance even rubbed his hands together in anticipation. He felt this trip to the Shadow Realm had been incredibly fruitful.

Hyperion was stunned once again by Lance’s plans. She covered her face with her hands as a soft whimper gradually escaped her. She had spent over a decade striving to be recognized as a human by the people of Ikerite, only to have that dream shattered overnight—all because she met Lance.