"Are you Number Six?"

Tolyado asked Nikola directly.

He took out the photo of Princess Alexia and Nikola from his coat pocket and showed it to Nikola.

"...Who are you?"

Nikola didn't rush to admit it, but his eyes wavered when he saw the photo.

He felt compelled to ask Tolyado why he had the photo of Alexia and whether Alexia was safe.

"Number One, how could anything like this be made outside of our dimensional branch?"

Tolyado said with some pride.

"Meow."

The cat boss watched from Lanqi's shoulder as Tolyado almost turned his nose up.

In reality, he just found a great saintess to rely on.

"I am Number Six."

Red Falcon Nikola sighed in relief, exhaling a cloud of mist in the cold air. In his open palm appeared the pink sacred magic card given to him by Princess Alexia.

[Ultra-Long-Range Communication Program - 6]

[Category: Spell Card]

[Rarity: Pink Sacred]

[Attribute: Link]

[Rank: 6]

[Effect: Compared to ordinary ultra-long-range communication magic, the communication distance and anti-interference capabilities are stronger.]

[Note: Loyalty to the Empire; dedicate unwavering loyalty to the Empire.]

Nikola held the magic card representing the Silver Moon Restoration Society in his hand, staring at it.

"I do not serve this organization. I only serve the Kruitian Empire."

Red Falcon Nikola declared,

"But I will help you now."

He looked up at Lanqi and Tolyado.

Although cooperating with a cardinal of the Rebirth Church was not something he had initially imagined, he now clearly understood what was right for the sake of the Empire, and who was friend and foe.

"Okay, let's go back to the Mafia headquarters, Hassel Port Tower, first."

Lanqi waved for them to enter the base and continue talking. Having received confirmation from Nikola, today's gains were already significant.

"Leave the matters on the battlefield to Mr. Barton. He will return to Hassel Port Tower after he is done."

He walked towards the main entrance of the tower's base level.

Pure white snowflakes fell slowly from the gray sky on the cold winter morning, landing on the thin layer of ice that had formed on the calm river surface of Hassel Port, hardly creating a ripple.

This was the moat harbor located southeast of the capital, Brilda. The outlines of the buildings on both banks were faintly visible in the snow. Not far from Hassel Port was the stronghold of the Brilda Mafia, ostensibly a company building with a registered license, with a striking company logo on its gray exterior wall.

"Landry, you are indeed a member of the Silver Moon Restoration Society."

Red Falcon Nikola followed behind, saying without surprise.

Looking at the person disguised as a mafia member but with an extremely familiar voice, he already knew who the other party was.

Sure enough, Princess Alexia had asked him that day to cover the members newly arriving in the capital at the first station that the Brilda arrived at, and that member was Landry.

What really surprised him was that Landry was also a cardinal of the Rebirth Church, just like the Dimensional Bishop.

Two cardinals had come personally to rescue him today, something neither the Decayed Holy Son nor he himself had foreseen.

"Strictly speaking, I am not Landry. This is complicated, and we can talk about it slowly when we have the chance. Let's talk about the main points later."

Lanqi turned his head and smiled at Nikola.

Nikola was too well-camouflaged. Lanqi truly didn't realize at first that Red Falcon Nikola was also a member of the Silver Moon Restoration Society. Precisely because of this, no one else would suspect that Nikola was a member of the Silver Moon Restoration Society.

"That makes sense then."

Red Falcon Nikola nodded.

Based on his investigation into Professor Landry, he always suspected that Professor Landry had been replaced, but everything fit together strangely well. Professor Landry had simply become a more capable person.

Nikola couldn't find any evidence, so he could only constantly test Landry to determine whether Landry was real or fake.

The bad news was that Landry was fake, as the sense of incongruity suggested. However, the good news was that the fake Landry was still an ally.

"Let's go to a hidden place first and put the Decayed Holy Son down."

Tolyado led the way, acting like he was back in his own home.

Upon entering the building, there were hardly any mafia members to be seen. It was a holiday, and the mafia didn't work overtime. Only their footsteps echoed in the empty corridor.

The interior decoration of the Hassel Tower mostly used brown-black stone bricks for the walls and floors, giving it the style of a high-end hotel with a long history.

Soon, led by Tolyado, they arrived at Barton's office upstairs, stopping in front of a seemingly ordinary bookshelf.

Tolyado adjusted the order of the books in the opposite direction from when they came out. With continuous clicking sounds, the bookshelf that had been motionless slowly opened, revealing a secret passage hidden behind it, leading to an unknown depth.

An aura even colder than the snowy day outside rushed towards them.

"Are you familiar with this place?"

Red Falcon Nikola looked into the cold air. He had never been to the inner sanctum of the Brilda Mafia before. Now it seemed that this gray area was actually also territory of the Silver Moon Restoration Society.

"Been here a few times, probably as familiar as I am with the Empire's Special Operations Division."

Tolyado replied.

The last time he was taken away by Captain Maguire, Red Falcon Nikola had brought Lanqi to bail him out. Therefore, Tolyado had a good impression of Nikola.

He stepped into the tunnel inside the bookshelf on his own. Lanqi and Nikola followed closely behind. The magic-resistant steel bookshelf quietly closed behind them, as if it had never been opened, isolating all the noise from the outside world.

The interior of the tunnel was dimly lit, with a flickering light every few meters, emitting a weak and eerie glow, stretching their shadows long.

After dozens of seconds, they stopped in front of a silver-white elevator.

"Did Barton give you a key?"

Tolyado asked Nikola.

"Yes."

Nikola handed Tolyado the crystal card that Barton had thrown to him when he repelled Maguire and the Decayed Holy Son.

Tolyado simply operated the control panel. After the magical sensor scanned and confirmed their identity, the elevator door creaked open slowly, allowing them to enter.

"Viscount Carmel, whom we conveniently captured when we were looking for Elsa last time, should still be down there."

Lanqi recalled as he stepped into the elevator car.

"He's probably already met Ifathia's end."

Tolyado shook his head and sighed.

"Ifathia wouldn't be too cruel, would she..."

Lanqi still felt that Ifathia was pure-hearted.

He couldn't imagine her doing anything cruel.

"Who is Ifathia?"

Nikola asked from the back of the elevator car.

"His mama's sister."

Tolyado pointed at Lanqi and answered Nikola.

"?"

Nikola felt like he couldn't understand the language anymore.

Lanqi's expression also became very strange. He wanted to refute Tolyado but couldn't say anything, as if he was afraid that the more he explained, the more confusing it would become.

As the elevator car continued to descend, a dazzling white light flashed across the walls of the elevator car every few meters. The entire space continued to sink deep into the earth's core.

The elevator car stopped, and a giant gate made of pure white magic-resistant steel appeared before them, emitting a chilling frost.

Tolyado inserted the key into a hidden slot on the side of the door.

With the low rumbling of mechanical transmission, the heavy magic-resistant steel door slowly opened, and a dazzling white light instantly filled the entire space, causing a dizzying sensation.

"We're here. This is one of our bases."

Tolyado introduced to Nikola.

"...You guys have really built some incredible things."

When Nikola's vision adjusted to the sudden bright light, a grand underground palace appeared before him.

Looking around, the pure white walls and floor reflected a dazzling light under the illumination of the ice-blue lights, placing them in an alternate dimension disconnected from the mortal world.

The Milky Way flowed on the towering dome, and twinkling starlight passed through tens of thousands of meters of space, reflecting the real starry sky.

No matter what turmoil occurred in Brilda, it probably wouldn't threaten such an underground base, and the enemy would have no way of detecting its spatial interface.

"The enemy has hidden places in the underground of Kruitia. Of course, we have to have them too. Let's go to the warehouse first."

Tolyado said, heading straight for the frozen warehouse-style detention room in the side hall of the Silver Palace.

"I didn't see any prison function last time."

Lanqi muttered to himself, looking at the depths of the Silver Palace.

Ifathia had only entertained him and Talia in the main hall of the palace.

"Actually, this space is huge. Abigail spent a long time digging it out."

Tolyado chuckled. He didn't expect Abigail to be a natural construction sister.

"I always feel like you're thinking about things that are easy to get beaten for, meow."

The cat boss floated beside them. It understood that expression too well.

"This contracted beast is so powerful."

Nikola stared intently at the Rank 6 black cat.

Although he had seen Landry bring it out before, he could only sense its strength when he was truly next to it.

"...Do you think I'm Rank 6, meow?"

The cat boss turned around and questioned Nikola.

"Could it be that you're Rank 9?"

Nikola joked with it.

If it wasn't Rank 6, then it could only be Rank 9, because only if it was that strong could it pretend to be whatever rank it wanted and make others feel that rank.

"..."

Although the cat boss heard someone guess it was Rank 9 for the first time, the other party's logic and questions were written all over their face.

Humanity is not worth it, meow.

They arrived at the ice warehouse with doors more than ten meters high.

As soon as the door was opened, it was all mosaic, even more bloody than a slaughterhouse and butcher shop.

The cold air raged, and deathly silence enveloped the entire space, even the air was frozen.

Lanqi immediately covered the cat boss's eyes.

"What's wrong, meow, Lanqi?"

The cat boss's vision went completely dark before it could see anything. Presumably, Lanqi was protecting it, not letting it see the tragic state of the vampire viscount Carmel who had been captured last time.

"He was broken down into hero fragments."

Lanqi replied in a deep voice with great regret.

"..."

The cat boss was silent.

What kind of slang are you talking about?

"Where, where is this?!"

In a pitch-black field of vision, the cat boss also heard the terrified voice of the Decayed Holy Son being thrown to the ground.

Next came a few screams and the sound of freezing. The Decayed Holy Son was also locked on a tombstone-like cross and frozen.

"Okay, let's go back to the hall for a detailed discussion."

Tolyado clapped his hands, signaling them to exit the ice warehouse.

The three people and one cat came to the palace main hall where Ifathia always stayed, sat on either side of the long table, and reviewed the events since the establishment of the Silver Moon Restoration Society.

...

"So, Her Highness Alexia is being monitored by vampires in the palace. We can only liberate Her Highness Alexia after we defeat Bloodmoon City during the National Day holiday at the end of the month, when the War Gods cannot move?"

Red Falcon Nikola said somberly.

After nearly an hour of review, he had a rough understanding of everything that had happened.

Not only was the situation in the entire Kruitian Empire quite bad, but even Princess Alexia had been controlled.

All the signs he had investigated confirmed the words of Dimensional Bishop Tolyado to be true.

It also completely matched the doubts he had investigated.

"That's right. The Decayed Branch is probably going to participate in the war this time as well. We must be prepared to face Decayed Bishop Farmer on the day of the operation."

A rare trace of pressure appeared in Tolyado's eyes.

Although Decayed Bishop Farmer wasn't a particularly difficult bishop to deal with, as long as your defense was strong enough, you could withstand his continuous corrosion damage. He should rank in the middle tier, but he was still a bishop-level opponent, no problem dealing with three ordinary Rank 8s.

In the context of the Bloodmoon City siege, a cardinal-level top-tier Rank 8 combat unit was enough to completely upset the balance of power between the two sides.

Moreover, if Decayed Bishop Farmer faced an ally without recovery abilities, he could easily be killed by the Decayed Bishop.

"If the Bloodmoon City's reinforcements only include Decayed Bishop Farmer, our combat power is still barely enough."

Based on their current intelligence, only traces of the Decayed Branch had appeared in Brilda, and Bloodmoon City had no idea how many Rank 8s they had gathered. They should still have a slight advantage on their side.

The problem was that during their descent into Bloodmoon City, the choice of opponent was in the hands of Seventh Progenitor Herlitier Marquis.

Lao Sang taught Lanqi with his life how deadly the relationship between counteracting forces was in a Rank 8 life-and-death battle.

A situation that might be balanced or advantageous across the board could turn into a complete disadvantage if the lines were disrupted. Moreover, if he was targeted by a strong enemy in Bloodmoon City, it wouldn't be easy to successfully switch the lines back.

"Fighting on the enemy's turf means we can't choose our opponents. Seventh Progenitor Herlitier Marquis will definitely match us with the worst possible opponents. The only thing I can ensure is that I will force you to Third Progenitor Raxiel, so that your opponent is correct."

Tolyado also couldn't predict what strong enemies there would be in the underground depths of Bloodmoon City, or who he would face.

But only Lanqi could solo Third Progenitor Raxiel.

As for the other core condition, rescuing Duke Miahe, if there was still energy to spare, Tolyado would use his skills in stealth and escape to save Duke Miahe. But if he himself was also held back, this task could only be handed over to Hyperion, who possessed similar abilities.

As they were talking, the gate of the Silver Palace was opened again, and the mafia boss, draped in a heavy cloak, walked in.

Having just experienced a battle, Barton didn't seem to be injured at all. Not even his clothes were damaged.

"Mr. Barton, how did things go on your end?"

Lanqi asked with concern.

"Maguire was executed on the spot by me. I also ordered the agents to capture or kill all the high priests of the Decayed Branch."

Barton sat down on the opposite side of the long table from Lanqi and Tolyado, answering the two.

Lanqi and Tolyado both nodded, understanding the situation.

Barton was originally from the Imperial Army, so it wasn't strange that he would command Nikola's men. In addition, with a strong leader like him, it was enough to ensure that none of those high priests escaped.

Keeping Maguire, who had excessive life force and recovery speed, would first be a risk. Second, Maguire might be able to escape again at night. Furthermore, the process of convicting Maguire and sentencing him to death was too complicated. There was a high probability that the vampires would secretly manipulate things to bail Maguire out.

Killing the criminal during the arrest process was the only most efficient way to eliminate the hidden danger of Maguire.

"How were the casualties among my men?"

Red Falcon Nikola asked self-reproachfully.

"Apart from the deaths during the initial attack, only a few were seriously injured later. The rest were almost all minor injuries. I have already sent them away from the port safely. They are probably starting to receive medical treatment now."

Barton understood Nikola's feelings very well.

They were all imperial soldiers who had never betrayed the Empire.

He also had Nikola's men take Maguire's corpse and the high priests of the Decayed Branch back to the Imperial Special Operations Division to report.

"Nikola, on the day of the National Day Festival, we'll have to rely on you for the situation on the ground. During the initial stages of the siege, try not to let your agents get close to the Brilda City Hall, so that we can enter the underground Bloodmoon City conveniently. During the final stages of the siege, if any vampires escape, help us intercept and capture them at the first moment."

Lanqi asked Nikola.

Not only did they need these main forces to raid Bloodmoon City, but they also needed a reliable rear.

With the city defense barrier suppressing them and fighting on the Imperial Army's home turf in the Imperial capital, coupled with advance preparations, even a Rank 7 vampire earl could be dealt with by the elite of the Imperial Special Operations Division.

Barton, the strongest Rank 7 Imperial soldier, should be able to deal with two vampire earls with ease. He should be able to fight three. If he cooperated with Rank 7 space magic artisan Abigail, he should be able to hold back several vampire earls. There was also Nikola leading the team guarding the ground.

It was likely that they could basically achieve balance.

The key was which side was stronger at Rank 8 on that day.

"In this turmoil caused by the vampires, many young soldiers, both from the Allied Forces and the Empire, have died. Some of them had just come of age, some had just gotten married, some had just become fathers... As an officer of the Imperial Special Operations Division, I should have been able to monitor these vampire enemies, but I could only watch my compatriots sacrifice themselves and the country slowly fall into their hands. This sin is not enough for me to die ten thousand times over. But, no matter what, I will drag the vampires into hell."

Red Falcon Nikola clenched his fist, and his anger could be clearly seen in his eyes.

"Maguire's escape was originally the dereliction of duty on the part of the capital prison and the gendarmerie brigade, but I caught him again, so my merits are more than enough. I can be promoted to colonel, successfully take over as the director, and then be promoted to major general. I will also do my best to help you sit in the top position of the Empire's New Energy Committee. You can fight with confidence."

Nikola assured Lanqi and the others.

"It's almost all prepared now."

Lanqi's voice also had a bit more determination.

Even if the princess was controlled, causing them to temporarily fail to find the last three members of the Silver Moon Restoration Society, they still had a chance of breaking through Bloodmoon City.

...

On the day of the Moon God Festival, before they knew it, it was almost the end of the morning.

After safely sending Red Falcon Nikola back to the Imperial Special Operations Division, Lanqi and Tolyado also returned to the opera house, and then slowly drove back to Saint Kruitia Monastery.

"I still have some work to do when I get back."

Lanqi sat in the passenger seat, looking at the flying buttress architecture of the monastery getting closer and closer, and said to Tolyado.

Their work this morning went very smoothly. The Decayed Holy Son saved them a lot of time.

Tolyado could go off work as he wished.

Lanqi hadn't finished the imperial research work he had put aside before going out.

"Go out and have fun in the afternoon. You'll get moldy if you stay at home all day."

Tolyado advised.

"It's because I have to participate in activities as a professor in the afternoon that I have to rush to finish my work at noon."

Lanqi pinched his brow, calculating the time.

He really didn't have any time to play today.

Although he discovered that boys were happier playing with boys, he wasn't a student today, he was a teacher.

Fortunately, the pre-booked schedule at the monastery this afternoon was a relatively relaxing tea party activity, which also resembled a ceremony.

He was going to go with a group of teachers to the outdoor banquet hall and activity center of the Main Division Hall to send New Year's blessings to the students, and to attend as Elsa's parent, which was fulfilling Landry's responsibilities.

If you were a faculty member's family member, you seemed to be able to come in and freeload, but he'd been having some serious scandals recently, so he wouldn't be bringing anyone this time. It was best for him to go alone.

"Then I can only wait to find you to play when I get back to the kingdom. I haven't been to Iklit yet."

Tolyado knew that Lanqi, this workaholic, couldn't be persuaded.

"No problem, I'll arrange your accommodation for you."

Lanqi found that the Cat Boss Restaurant was short of a delivery driver.

The seven great demon races all seemed to be perfectly matched for the Cat Boss Restaurant.

Five doing the work, plus two who only eat and wait to die.

"Meow meow."

The cat boss lay on Lanqi's lap, lost in thought. It really wanted to go out and play after it finished its work today.

But everyone was going out, and it wouldn't be able to find anyone else in a while. It wouldn't be good to leave Lanqi at home to work overtime alone.

"How about I take you to play, what do you think?"

Tolyado rested his hand on the steering wheel and turned his head to look at the little black cat.

"Uh, meow."

The cat boss always felt that this guy was a bit unreliable.

"I heard that you also have space attributes. I might be able to teach you space magic."

Tolyado continued.

"Tolyado, meow, my friend!"

The cat boss immediately raised its tail and said excitedly.

Everyone thought that it was lucky to have been selected as a space spirit cat because it had drawn the space attribute talent among the dwarfs, but in fact, it was best at the space attribute, but it just couldn't learn it.

It dreamed of learning other space magic.

Lanqi said with relief that he actually hoped that the cat boss could have a happy Moon God Festival.

The school might be crowded this afternoon.

For the people of the Kruitian Empire, Saint Kruitia Monastery was the most symbolic place of prayer on the day of the Moon God Festival.

If the students didn't know that this was Professor Landry's cat, they probably would have wanted to pet the little black cat when they saw it.

Lanqi even learned from Secretary Neira that a War God who was close to Principal Shui Cangyu Violet might come to the school today.

The cat boss must not be captured.

"Don't worry, bro."

Tolyado drove with one hand and patted Lanqi on the shoulder.

"Meow meow meow, I, the dignified divine beast, how could I get lost in the big monastery, meow!"

The cat boss felt that Lanqi was still underestimating it too much.

(End of chapter)