Don't confiscate my identity as a human race-Chapter 1320 - 828 Professor Lanci’s Busy Day_2

The corridor was shrouded in dim light, with flickering lamps every few meters casting faint and eerie glows, stretching their shadows long across the floor.

After a few dozen seconds, they halted in front of a silver-white lift.

"Did Barton give you a secret key?"

Tolyado asked Nikola.

"He did."

Nikola handed over the crystal card Barton had tossed to him earlier, after repelling Maquiel and the Saint of Decay.

Tolyado operated the control panel simply, the magical sensor scanned and confirmed his identity, and the lift door creaked open slowly, inviting them inside.

"That Viscount Carmel we captured last time while looking for Elsa should still be down here."

Lanci stepped into the lift and recalled.

"He's probably already fallen victim to Isatia's poison."

Tolyado shook his head and sighed.

"Isatia couldn't be that cruel..."

Lanci still stubbornly saw Isatia as pure and virtuous.

He couldn't imagine her committing acts of cruelty.

"Who is Isatia?"

Nikola, standing at the back of the lift, asked.

"His mama's little sister."

Tolyado pointed at Lanci and replied to Nikola.

"?"

Nikola felt as though he wasn't understanding language anymore.

Lanci's expression turned exceedingly strange, as if he wanted to refute Tolyado but couldn't speak, fearing he'd dig the hole deeper if he tried to explain.

As the lift continued to descend, every few meters a piercing white light would flash across the walls outside the lift, the entire space sinking endlessly toward the center of the earth.

The lift stopped. Before them appeared a colossal gate forged from pure white Anti-Magic Steel, radiating a chilling frost.

Tolyado inserted the Secret Key into a hidden slot beside the gate.

A low mechanical rumble ensued, and the heavy Anti-Magic Steel gate slowly pried open, instantly filling the space with blinding white light that evoked a wave of dizziness.

"Here we are, this counts as one of our bases."

Tolyado introduced the site to Nikola.

"...You all really went ahead and built something incredible."

Nikola adjusted his vision to the sudden brightness, revealing a grandiose underground palace before his eyes.

Stretching across his view, pure white walls and floors reflected dazzling glimmers under the icy blue lights, immersing them in a space entirely cut off from the world above.

Majestic ceilings towering to the heavens adorned with flowing galaxies, twinkling starlight filtering through tens of thousands of meters of dimensions, shimmering in sync with the true night sky.

No matter what upheaval might be happening in Brilda, perhaps nothing could threaten this underground stronghold, nor could enemies detect its spatial gateway.

"The enemies have concealed locations underground in South Crayney, so naturally we need something of our own. Let's start with the storage room."

Tolyado spoke as he walked directly toward the frozen chamber-style detainment room in the Silver Palace's side hall.

"I didn't see anything resembling a prison function last time."

Lanci murmured to himself while looking deeper into the Silver Palace.

Last time, Isatia had only escorted him and Talia around the palace's main hall.

"In truth, this space is much larger. Abigail worked tirelessly to dig it out."

Tolyado chuckled, having originally underestimated Abigail's innate skill as a master builder.

"I keep feeling like you're thinking things that make you likely to get smacked, meow."

The Cat Boss floated beside them, adept at reading such expressions.

"This contract beast is quite impressive."

Nikola focused intently on the Sixth-order black cat.

Though he had seen Landry bring it out before, being close to it now heightened his awareness of its power.

"...Are you assuming I'm just Sixth-order, meow?"

The Cat Boss turned around to confront Nikola.

"Could it be you're Ninth-order?"

Nikola bantered back.

If it wasn't Sixth-order, then surely it must be Ninth-order—only beings that powerful could disguise their rank to appear as anything they wanted.

"..."

The Cat Boss had never heard anyone guess he was Ninth-order, yet the logic and doubt were plain across Nikola's face.

The world isn't worth caring about, meow.

They arrived at the frozen warehouse door, standing over ten meters high.

As the door opened, what lay inside was mosaics—a scene more blood-soaked than slaughterhouses or butcher shops.

The sting of cold air surged, and deathly silence pervaded the space, even freezing the air itself.

Lanci immediately covered the Cat Boss's eyes.

"What's wrong, meow, Lanci?"

The Cat Boss couldn't see anything but darkness, knowing that Lanci was shielding him from witnessing the grim fate of Viscount Carmel, captured earlier by them.

"He's been reduced to Hero Fragments."

Lanci answered somberly, deeply regretting the outcome.

"..."

The Cat Boss fell silent.

What sort of cryptic language are you even speaking?

"Where... is this?!"

From the void of darkness, the Cat Boss also overheard the panicked voice of the Saint of Decay being tossed onto the ground.

Soon, screams followed along with the sound of ice forming. The Saint of Decay was restrained onto a tombstone-like cross and frozen solid as well.

"Alright, let's return to the main hall for a proper discussion."

Tolyado clapped his hands, signaling them to exit the frozen chamber.

The trio and the cat reentered the palace's main hall, where Isatia had previously lingered, and sat around the banquet table on either side, reflecting on everything that had transpired since the Silvermoon Reform Association was established.

...

"So, Princess Alexia is being monitored by the Blood Clan in the Imperial Palace, and we can only wait until National Day at the end of the month, when the War Gods will all be unable to act, to defeat Blood Moon City and free Princess Alexia?"

Red Nikola spoke gravely.

After nearly an hour of review, he had a clear understanding of all the events that had taken place.

Not only was the situation across the entire Cerryti Empire bleak, but even Princess Alexia had fallen under control.

All the clues he had uncovered corroborated the truth of Dimension Bishop Tolyado's claims.