In this demon-infested exam room that had turned into a slaughterhouse, time seemed to stretch endlessly, each second becoming excruciatingly long and painful.
The candlelight on the wall lamps flickered faintly, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, as if silently counting down to the exam’s grim conclusion, one that edged ever closer to death.
Sitting in the back row, Huberian gave up on trying to understand.
She had no idea what Lance was planning.
But from their prior interactions and teamwork, she knew one thing for sure—when she couldn’t keep up with Lance’s thought process, that just meant she was still normal.
All she needed to do was keep an eye on Lance.
Her role was more like a babysitter responsible for cleaning up after him.
So, under Huberian’s quiet observation, Lance stopped reporting examinees for a while and instead lowered his head, writing something on the parchment exam paper.
It seemed like he was waiting for something.
Seconds passed.Then, after nearly a full minute, Lance set down his pen and casually leaned back in his chair, arms folded.
Once again, he transformed into the third proctor.
Before long, he spotted another student who had successfully cheated and immediately raised his hand to report them.
Huberian lowered her head in silence.
She didn’t know what Lance was waiting for, but she had a gut feeling that something very wrong was about to happen.
—
Once again, the dragon demon was the closer proctor to the reported student.
Grinning with savage delight, he strode over to carry out the brutal execution.
Lance watched the scene unfold at a leisurely pace, but his sharp gaze never left the two demon proctors.
Now.
There would be a brief window of time—
The dragon demon, following his instincts, would be too absorbed in the thrill of the kill to pay attention to any other examinee. Meanwhile, the owl demon, limited by his singular perspective, would also fall into a blind spot.
This was the longest dual-proctor blind spot that Lance could artificially create.
And it was just enough time for what he needed to do.
As he silently counted the seconds in his head, a magic card appeared in the palm of his hand, hidden within his crossed arms.
Finally reaching his intended moment, Lance activated the card—[Basic Etiquette]—and targeted a demon examinee seated diagonally in front of him.
The command: Kneel.
"Thud!"
The demon examinee's body twisted involuntarily, dropping to his knees before Lance.
Lance raised his hand again and shouted, "Teacher! He turned around to copy answers!"
The owl demon patrolling the room and the dragon demon basking in the aftermath of his kill both snapped their heads toward the kneeling examinee.
The unfortunate demon student, whose neck bore green scales, widened his tear-filled eyes in horror. His lips trembled, but he couldn’t get a single word out.
He had no idea what had come over him.
One moment, he had been sitting normally—then suddenly, as if possessed, he had turned his head to look behind him and immediately got reported.
And with such an exaggerated movement, there was no room for any excuse.
Thus, in the middle of his mental breakdown—
Both proctors rushed toward him at the same time.
Unlike any previous incident.
Before, either the dragon demon or the owl demon would respond, determining who could reach the cheating student first while the other continued patrolling.
But this time—
As if by coincidence, both proctors believed they were the closest and both moved in for the execution.
—
Seated in the back row, Lance lowered his head slightly, tapping his index finger against his elbow.
He was still calculating.
Everything was proceeding exactly as he had planned.
He had been keeping track of the proctors’ movement patterns, recording their speed and timing for a while now.
Using this data, he had determined a specific window—
If he reported an examinee in a fixed position at these key moments, both proctors would reach the reported student at the exact same time.
And given their unrestrained bloodlust, neither of them would willingly give up the kill.
Now, that exact scenario had been successfully created.
—
Two rows ahead, at the aisle seat—
The dragon demon, just about to execute the cheating examinee, found his wrist suddenly grabbed by the owl demon.
"I got here first."
"Don’t be greedy."
"Let go."
"You should be the one backing off."
The owl demon’s voice was cold, filled with long-standing resentment toward the dragon demon.
The killing intent between the two high-ranking demons flared, their hostility clearly beginning to shift toward each other.
—
Huberian hadn’t even turned her head to look, but her heart was pounding.
She thought she finally understood what Lance was trying to do.
And it was insane.
But even if Lance summoned his trump card—[The Poet of Great Love]—she wasn’t sure if it would be enough to completely ignite the proctors’ fury and push them over the edge.
No matter how strong their bloodlust was, they had still managed to maintain some rationality and follow exam regulations thus far.
However.
Huberian suddenly felt like she could hear Lance laughing.
No one in the exam hall noticed—
A tiny, nearly invisible insect had crawled up from the dragon demon’s shoe and onto his suit.
[Friendship Forever Bug]
Category: Summoning Card
Grade: Blue (Rare)
Attributes: Link / Telekinesis
Tier: 1
Effect: Can mimic and repeat words heard by the target, speaking them aloud as per the summoner’s intent.
Note: Can’t speak? I’ll speak for you!
Aside from [Basic Etiquette] and [Friendly Exchange], this was one of the very few completed cards that Lance had successfully crafted.
The two demon proctors continued to glare at each other, their cold, menacing stares filling the exam hall with suffocating tension.
Just as the atmosphere was about to hit absolute zero—
"You slow-witted feather-brained idiot, you deserve to eat sht. If you don't get the f out of my way right now, I'll rip every last feather off your head and shove them up your a**. Just like your worthless cult of a family, you're only fit to pick up leftovers like a scavenger!"
A deep, growling voice erupted from the dragon demon—directed straight at the owl demon.
"ROAR—!"
The dragon demon opened his mouth, intending to speak, but before he could utter a word, a sharp pain tore through his throat, leaving him only able to let out a hoarse, enraged snarl.
He had no idea where the voice had come from.
All he knew was that the owl demon’s grip on his wrist was tightening with growing fury.
And from the owl demon’s perspective, the dragon demon’s stunned, wide-eyed expression looked exactly like a brazen, arrogant challenge.
—
[Friendship Forever Bug] was a magic card Lance had designed to pair with [Friendly Exchange].
In direct combat, the bug was practically useless—it could buzz, taunt enemies, and mess with their mindset, but it was fragile enough to be instantly wiped out by even a small-area spell.
Back in the third-round entrance exam, when facing a single proctor, Lance had prioritized bringing rage-inducing faulty healing spells, optimizing for one-on-one mage duels.
But this time, stepping into the real Shadow Realm, he had prepared for a wide range of unpredictable situations—bringing along several of his self-made, "Lance Originals" blue-tier rare cards.
"When colleagues have conflicts, they shouldn’t just bottle up their emotions. Only by letting out their long-held resentment can they truly find a path to reconciliation."
Lounging comfortably in the back row, chin resting on his hand, Lance watched the dragon and owl demons on the verge of an all-out brawl and calmly gave his verdict.
He knew—
It was time for them to have a heart-to-heart.