Chapter 192
Chapter 192
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 192 – Isn’t Talia the Great Love Poet?
The rain in Ikerite fell harder and harder.
Even the Cat Boss restaurant hadn’t seen new customers push open its door for some time.
Inside the wooden building, everything felt unusually peaceful. The hanging chandelier emitted a soft light, its warm yellow glow reflecting on the vintage wooden staircase, shielding the raging storm outside completely.
Most of the patrons leisurely enjoyed their meals, occasionally glancing at the heavy rainfall outside.
“…”
Phoenix, sipping his coffee, glanced at the clock.
If the target didn’t appear within another hour, he would re-enter self-hypnosis, temporarily abandoning the mission to wait for another opportunity.
Last night, after Lan Qi escorted the duchess here, he had returned twice more before parting ways.
Lan Qi was now locked in a Shadow World duel with Adams at Ikerite Academy, unable to break away anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Frey and the student council president were hosting the academic delegation visiting the Knight Academy.
The two biggest variables were absent, and the duchess remained entirely unaware that danger lurked nearby.
It was a perfect opportunity to eliminate her without risk.
Though the three of them together were formidable, in the real world, their Ikerite routines were too casual, too careless.
The only one with even a trace of caution was Lan Qi, who had entrusted his ace summon, Great Love Poet, to stay with Huperion.
According to intelligence, this summon possessed extremely high self-awareness and intelligence, and could communicate telepathically with Lan Qi. Should the summon face danger, Lan Qi would immediately sense it.
Previously, in the Purgatory Corridor Academy, Lillet, an agent under the Rotten Bishop, had failed because she accidentally killed the Great Love Poet, allowing Lan Qi in the principal’s office to detect the situation and rescue Huperion.
But this time, such luck would not occur again.
No one could save Huperion.
Suddenly, cheerful laughter echoed from the loft on the second floor.
Sitting on the first floor, Phoenix slightly lifted his gaze, eyes following the ornate structure of the restaurant until landing on the stairs.
A tall, elegant girl in a fitted Ikerite Academy uniform chatted with someone beside her.
Silver hair, amber eyes—Huperion, the duchess.
Next to her, a gray-haired woman with a cold expression, though her disguise and acting were perfect, was unmistakably Lan Qi’s ace summon, Great Love Poet.
Her aura was weak, indistinguishable from a tier-one civilian.
As they talked, their descent down the stairs naturally slowed.
“Miss Talia, why didn’t you wake me?”
Huperion sounded slightly guilty. She had never slept so deeply, more than ten hours straight.
“You were sleeping soundly,”
Talia replied calmly, each step’s heel lightly tapping the wooden stair, producing a faint echo.
“Then you didn’t need to lie beside me watching all the time…”
At the landing, Huperion glanced at the rain outside, mumbling, embarrassed.
Though she felt reassured seeing Talia’s beautiful face and golden eyes first thing upon waking, it also made her feel awkward, as if being cared for like a child.
“I was afraid you’d be scared alone.”
Talia’s expression remained unchanged.
“I see…”
Huperion realized that because Talia had stayed beside her, she had never slept so peacefully.
She didn’t mention it again, instead asking what they would eat later.
If Huperion said nothing, Talia might continue staying by her side tonight.
Though asking excessive care from Talia, her temporary contract guardian, was a bit sly, it was a rare little thought from Huperion.
The two descended the spiral staircase, chatting as they went, until they reached the first floor and merged into the restaurant aisle.
“Once the rain eases, let’s go to Ikerite Academy. Lan Qi might be in a duel with Yaloran’s ace now.”
Huperion looked at the clock above the counter, suggesting the outing to Talia.
“What’s there to watch?”
Talia responded instinctively.
After a moment, she felt curious about what Lan Qi was doing.
“If you want to see, then we’ll go together.”
Talia said, switching tone.
“Haha, let’s go catch Lan Qi in an improper moment.”
Huperion laughed lightly, naturally. Beside her, Talia simply looked ahead as they approached the counter to order.
Neither noticed—
Phoenix’s figure sitting at the table in the aisle.
“…”
He slowly lifted his coffee cup, slightly cold now.
Finally.
At the precise moment Huperion and Talia passed by, Phoenix sat quietly, a faint, barely noticeable cold smile curling at the corner of his lips.
Under the table, another hand revealed a magic card glowing with pink light.
Lightning split the gloomy sky outside, illuminating everyone inside as if it were daylight.
Boom!!
Even the soft background music in the restaurant was briefly drowned out by the rolling thunder.
At the same time, unnoticed, the music subtly changed its tone.
Patrons in the aisle and at tables suddenly froze, their expressions blank, eyes empty.
They stood in unison, turned, and stomped heavily, all gazing at Huperion!
It wasn’t just the thunder—Phoenix had acted.
In his right hand, a dagger gleamed coldly. Before Huperion could react, he hurled it with the full force of his body, enough to split a fourth-tier Huperion in half!
As Huperion’s expression registered shock, the distant floor beneath her split with a precise cleft.
The crack vanished as it passed beside her, blocked by a stronger force.
Huperion seemed unharmed because she had a life-saving card.
This strike also targeted the Great Love Poet; the tier-one summon would dissipate instantly.
Duchess, you can’t escape today!
Phoenix’s cold expression no longer hid his murderous intent. He rose, advancing toward Huperion.
The civilians in the restaurant moved like mechanical puppets, brandishing knives and forks as if attacking her to kill.
Even now…
If Lan Qi realized Huperion’s danger, he wouldn’t reach in time!
The fight was about to conclude.
Huperion would soon face Phoenix, controlling the restaurant’s civilians, in a desperate, inescapable battle.
He would stop at nothing to kill her as quickly as possible—or take her down with him.
However…
A strange sensation crept through Phoenix, a chill running from his spine to his entire body.
A pair of golden eyes stared at him, freezing him in place.
At that moment, it felt as if he were the true puppet.
Someone was looking down at him.
Eyes so terrifyingly cold that his whole body shivered.
The restaurant seemed to darken completely, with only those godlike golden eyes standing out, making him feel utterly insignificant.