Lan Qi and Huperion stood in front of the master bedroom that once belonged to the castle’s owner, and Lan Qi lightly knocked on the door twice.
“Lan Qi?”
“It’s me.”
Lan Qi then turned the lock and pushed open the master bedroom door.
Through the crack, a flickering glare of light pierced the dim corridor.
Lan Qi entered the room with Huperion.
This room, vast as if it were the very heart of the castle, had its walls covered with countless carvings and ornate decorations. It looked like an open history book, its rich colors and delicate lines inviting one to explore the stories behind them.
In the marble fireplace, a fierce fire burned bright. Heavy brown curtains covered the tall windows, shutting out the night, giving the whole chamber a secretive atmosphere, as though some forbidden ritual was being carried out inside.
And at the center, beside the four-poster bed, were three all-too-familiar figures.
The three priests, who had by now become “multitalented,” were wearing masks and meticulously modifying a corpse.“If the prey’s soft tissues are completely dried out, including the organs, we’ll need to use more force for dissection. Yes, just press harder, don’t be afraid of breaking it.”
Standing nearby, Frey was still instructing the three priests.
“Stop… Stop it…!”
The shriveled corpse in the center, with pale skin like old parchment, struggled in agony despite being dried out, an utterly horrifying sight.
The tools in the priests’ hands worked again and again on the body.
Sometimes gentle, sometimes forceful.
Each motion drew out Baron Parokas’ faint and piercing cries.
It was a high-pitched noise, mixed with the sharp scraping sound of scalpels cutting through dried skin.
“Hmm, not much of a bloody smell.”
Lan Qi remarked in surprise.
“…Have you thought about why that is?”
Huperion could no longer stay silent, lifting her gaze to Lan Qi.
First, they found Frey, who was still using his hunter’s skills to guide the priests.
According to Lan Qi’s “training curriculum,” once this course ended and these three priests returned to the real world, they’d be able to dissect humans and beasts alike — true hands-on mastery of the craft.
After watching a little while, and once the busy group finally looked up from their work, Lan Qi asked:
“Everyone, is the werewolf among you?”
If not, he would simply head up to the fourth-floor iron room to ask the young master of the chamber of commerce and the guard siblings.
“It’s me.”
Frey quickly nodded, then looked at Lan Qi.
He knew Lan Qi had something for him.
“Frey, you don’t actually have werewolf powers, do you?”
Lan Qi curiously looked him over and asked.
On the way here, Huperion had told him that even in her version of the Shadow World info panel, there was no tag marking her identity as [Witch].
But according to the sealing magic book found in the castle, as a half-demon she was indeed the Witch of this Shadow World.
She had perfectly concealed her demonic traits using the [Shapeshift: Human] ability from last time. Only her teammates and the two Resurrectionist traitors who had advance intel knew she was half-demon.
Since her [Witch] role wasn’t extra from the Shadow World, but innate, the same could very well be true for [Werewolf].
“Yes. I flipped through some ancient tomes in the library and saw records about werewolves. I finally understood why I feel slightly stronger at night.”
Frey had finally solved a long-standing mystery from the real world.
He wasn’t a true wolf-kin, but his bloodline had likely shown signs of reversion. Even in reality, moonlight strengthened him, boosting all attributes and granting greater regeneration.
“When I was little, my hair was black. Later, as my rank advanced, it turned gray-white, and that’s when I awakened more wolf-like traits.”
Frey explained to Lan Qi and Huperion.
In a sense, he was now half-werewolf.
But even before awakening those traits, he already possessed strong regenerative ability.
At night, he was confident he could go toe-to-toe with any same-rank vampire.
After a brief exchange, Lan Qi asked:
“Frey, sorry to trouble you, but could you come with me for a bit?”
“No problem.”
…
Frey gave the three priests some final pointers for dissection, then followed Lan Qi and Huperion out of the room.
Their footsteps echoed through the third-floor corridor, breaking the silence as they moved down the cold stone hall.
“Do you need my help with something?”
“I got new intel. Beneath the wine cellar in this castle, a vampire viscount is sealed. We’ll need both witch and werewolf blood to break the seal. We need to rescue him.”
Lan Qi looked every bit the urgent savior.
Frey nodded.
That was enough — Lan Qi’s eyes could speak, and Frey could read them.
“Frey, before entering the Shadow World we mentioned how the academic delegation from Yaloran would burden our president with a lot of work. They should arrive at Ikerite Academy these two days for a two-week visit. Once we’re back, we should help the president out.”
The three of them descended the stairs slowly, chatting as they went, each step as heavy as a drumbeat.
The dark stairway was like a gate to the unknown, and each candle flame was like a warm hand extending to drive away the shadows.
It was just like their routine missions for the Student Council in Ikerite Academy’s old humanities building.
“Of course.”
“And this time, there’ll be a hidden elite Resurrectionist among the Yaloran team. His goal is to kill Huperion and sabotage the trust between the two nations. A serious incident no one else has realized yet. To protect our informant, we can’t report it to the kingdom. We’ll need to stage an ‘accident’ to catch the culprit.”
Lan Qi spoke with righteous conviction, carrying the weight of a true headmaster.
Hearing this, Huperion froze.
Why did that sound so familiar…?
She remembered Priestess Stisela’s intel — that a very dangerous man wanted to “stage an accident” to kill her on campus.
Now it seemed that person and Lan Qi were running toward each other.
Lan Qi thought the same.
So now… it was basically a contest of whose “accident” would be more accidental?!