Hyberian stopped dwelling on it, shook her head, and walked back to the sofa where Lan Qi was sitting.

Kaliera seemed aloof, but sometimes she would have novel ideas out of the blue and prank people with a straight face.

Last time, Kaliera suddenly called herself "this humble servant" in front of Lan Qi, which flustered Hyberian.

Twelve years had passed. She was no longer a regent, and it was normal for her to have some strange elements about her.

"Lan Qi, is this Shadow World almost over?"

Hyberian sat down next to Lan Qi and asked.

Every time with Baby Bus it was like this. As soon as she saw Lan Qi, skipping the battle, she could wait for the clearance settlement.

"Not that I'm complaining, meow, but how could this Shadow World be so simple?"

Cat Boss jumped out of the shadows and nimbly leaped onto the sofa.

The strength of this Shadow World was not low, but the biggest problem was that the mechanism was too simple. There were no traps in the middle, and it went straight to the lord battle.

It felt that the Defiled Mero Gaas was a powerful final enemy, far stronger than the Tenth Progenitor Ulysses, the final enemy of the last seventh-order Shadow World, but this time Lan Qi's teammates were also very strong.

"Cat Boss, I miss you so much."

Hyberian saw the little black cat next to her, picked it up, and said softly.

She had not seen him for several months, and she missed Cat Boss very much.

Unlike Tamisha, Cat Boss was the kind of family-type cat who could quickly become familiar with people.

"I miss you too, meow!"

Cat Boss replied cheerfully.

It hadn't seen Hyberian for a long time either.

"Eh?"

Hyberian paused slightly, hesitating.

It seemed a little different from what she had heard on the communication last time.

If she had to say, she always felt that Cat Boss in the communication from Hua Du Pa Lie was more shy.

And the current Cat Boss was more cheerful...

Communications often had changes in sound quality.

It was probably just her imagination.

Hyberian continued to stroke Cat Boss.

"Actually, if this Shadow World was changed to seventh-order, I'm afraid all the seventh-order challengers combined would not be able to pass Mero Gaas."

Lan Qi answered Cat Boss's question without much difficulty.

He was now an expert in the Shadow World.

The Defiled One was obviously too strong in the seventh-order Shadow World. In addition, there was no method other than force to subdue the crazed Defiled One. If one was not careful, the entire team would be wiped out.

Mero Gaas was indeed qualified to be the final powerful enemy of the eighth-order Shadow World. Ordinary eighth-orders were simply not her opponents, and multiple eighth-orders were needed to defeat her.

"The real difficulty lies in the fact that there are not many opportunities to fight Mero Gaas one-on-one. Her true identity is the regent of the Demon Race, and it is not difficult to order other general-level Great Demons to help."

Lan Qi continued to review the battle.

Considering that Mero Gaas also had several Great Demons under her command.

Even a ninth-order powerhouse who forcibly broke into the Demon King's Castle, Nai Kalis, would probably fall.

"Then what about the Great Demons under her command?"

Cat Boss still didn't understand.

Assuming that the final battle was a decisive battle between nearly ten eighth-orders, then this eighth-order Shadow World would be just right.

"Uh... it's probably all because of Pu La Nai and the others..."

Hyberian began to tell Cat Boss about the situation in the Demon King's Castle, Nai Kalis.

Now Antanas and the other three were still enjoying the extravagant demon life on Nai Ka Island.

Originally, it should have been a challenge between the challenger Great Demons and the Shadow World Great Demons, but under Pu La Nai's perfect integration strategy, it became a situation where everyone was a Shadow World Great Demon.

The four of them did not rebel, Mero Gaas felt that her subordinates were all her loyal subjects, and her Great Demons also thought that everyone was a loyal subject of the Demon Realm.

There were no factors of rebellion at all.

Therefore, Mero Gaas would not focus her current energy on eliminating internal troubles.

"If Antanas and the others followed the normal route and helped the princess leave the Demon King's Castle, the final battle would probably be in Purgatory City, Pasqual, where the Great Demons would be divided into two factions and start an earth-shattering war."

Lan Qi did not expect Hyberian to bring Pu La Nai and the Ice and Snow Witch in.

Now that he heard that Pu La Nai was in the Demon King's Castle, Nai Kalis, everything made sense.

"Hiss, I understand, meow."

Cat Boss also understood why they could win so easily from the Defiled Mero Gaas tonight.

The Shadow World probably didn't expect these four wastes to be AFK.

As a result, everyone was pretending to be an AI, and the Demon King's Castle was a harmonious place, and the other Shadow World Great Demons also followed suit.

On the Purgatory City side, there was a princess hidden. The Defiled Mero Gaas, as the dignified regent, would not mobilize a group of Great Demon generals to come to Purgatory City to catch a little princess, just to see her make a fool of herself for not managing the princess well.

Pu La Nai was a master at scoring points!

"Then can I also muddle through like this in the future, meow?!"

Cat Boss asked Lan Qi with a sudden realization.

"After you finish this Shadow World, you'll probably be at the ninth-order. What are you going to muddle through in the future?"

Lan Qi poked the black divine beast's cat head.

Cat Boss really had some power of faith on its body.

Every time Cat Loren showed its holiness in front of people, although most of the power of faith went to Loren, because everyone believed in the Great Priest Loren, some of the witnesses' power of faith directly condensed on Cat Boss on the spot, because it was Cat Boss who took action.

Based on Cat Boss's racial stats, the amount of faith power needed to break through to the ninth-order should also be a relatively small amount compared to the norm. Anyway, it had no strength at the ninth-order and no corresponding divine power at all. It could fight evenly with the sixth-order.

"That's right, meow."

Cat Boss almost forgot that this was coming to an end, and there was no chance to fight in any Shadow Worlds. Even if it could still get rewards in the future, it would probably be a new destined person who brought it along.

Lan Qi, this gifted and overpowered guy, would definitely not fight in the Shadow World if he could avoid it. In the Northern Continent, he really had not touched the Shadow World for half a year. It was completely impossible to expect him to fight in the eighth or ninth-order Shadow Worlds in his story.

"Why do I feel like there are only three of us challengers in this Shadow World this time?"

Hyberian calculated with her fingers.

She clearly remembered that there were nine challengers.

In reality, it felt no different from the three challengers in the last Shadow World, the Darkest Eclipse Demon Realm.

It was still them, Lan, Cat, and Hyberian, the same old trio.

"It doesn't matter, meow, this map is so big, maybe other challengers are working hard in places we can't see."

Cat Boss suddenly realized the problem.

Although it couldn't figure out the number of challengers, in addition to the four AFK Great Demons, Ta Li Ya, as a challenger, had disguised herself as Kaliera, so naturally there would be a deviation in the number of people.

Cat Boss didn't want to break Hyberian's illusion and decided to work hard to continue this beautiful lie for Ta Ta.

"That's true."

Hyberian stopped studying the number of challengers, which was no longer important.

She looked at the bottom of the Shadow World information.

What was really important was the change in the mission objectives.

As expected.

The Shadow World's mission objectives displayed new content.

[Mission Objective 1: Read the letter from your old friend Kaliera; go to Purgatory City Pasqual in the Demon Realm & protect the little spark left by Kaliera; choose whether to open it. (Completed)]

[Mission Objective 2: Understand the state of mind of the Black Sun, Lan Keluos: 4.94%. (Completed)]

[Mission Objective 3: All challengers survive until the end of the 21-day time limit, with 6 days, 01 hours, and 34 minutes remaining.]

"..."

Lan Qi and Hyberian looked at each other.

This was a new change that occurred after merging with Hyberian's mission.

"Is the Shadow World over?"

Hyberian confirmed.

Based on experience, the Shadow World would be almost cleared after completing the final battle.

But this time, the Shadow World had a strange feeling of just starting.

It was obvious at a glance that there was still a sequel, and it was far from over.

But the Shadow World had clearly indicated that it was completed here.

"The mission objectives should be able to continue, but no matter how you choose, it should not affect the success or failure of the Shadow World."

Lan Qi had not encountered this situation either.

But according to the documents of the Southern Continent Shadow World Society, once the Shadow World mission was transformed into a completed state, it was equivalent to success, and it only needed to wait for the Shadow World time limit to end and settle.

"It's probably equivalent to taking an exam, flipping to the back of the paper and finding some additional questions. You won't be deducted points if you leave them blank, and you won't let the total score exceed the upper limit of points if you do them. You can choose whether to do them or not."

He relaxed, gave an analogy, and rubbed his sore eyes.

Supporting Ta Li Ya to let go and fight, he had been driving all the way, and hadn't rested much. Now he felt that he was also reaching his limit.

[The gift left by Kaliera, as you guessed, will not be such a beautiful thing, because if it was really a gift, she would not say in the letter to let you choose whether to open it.]

Staring at the mission information, Lan Qi's vision was slightly dazed, as if he saw such a passage.

"Then let's ignore the mission for the remaining six days and play in the Purgatory Corridor Academy, meow!"

Cat Boss suggested excitedly.

Regardless of what else was behind.

It just wanted to have fun in this legendary Purgatory Corridor Academy.

In the future, no matter what they did, the remaining six days might not change much.

At most, it would be to complete the mission to make the rewards better.

"You guys rest at the school, I can continue tomorrow."

Lan Qi pinched his eyebrows and said his thoughts.

Continuing the mission, according to the initial mission information and the context of the entire mission, it was probably to open the gift left by Kaliera.

After returning to the Purgatory Corridor Academy and understanding it a little, Lan Qi basically understood what was going on with the recent changes in the Inverted Mirror Corridor that would make the teachers and students in the school fall asleep.

This was undoubtedly Kaliera's magic power. She was likely to have left the "gift" in the depths of the Inverted Mirror Corridor.

If he wanted to open Kaliera's gift, Ta Mi Sha was the key, both openly and secretly, throughout the entire mission.

She should be the child of the Mistress and the Midnight Mistress who inherited Kaliera's last life soul in Kaliera's letter.

He himself had to rest for a while first.

Tomorrow, when Ta Mi Sha woke up, he would ask Ta Mi Sha again.

However, unlike Lan Qi's decisiveness, Hyberian frowned worriedly.

"Lan Qi, I feel that the sequel to this Shadow World is not good."

Hyberian held Lan Qi's wrist with both hands.

From the two weeks, she saw Lan Qi's understanding of the Black Sun increase every day, Hyberian had always been worried.

Now that she saw that the Shadow World mission could be completed and Lan Qi was still fine, she was finally relieved.

Let the era of the Blood Moon Ruined World end here.

It was already okay, there was no need to continue watching.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a beautiful ending.

Even if the Black Sun, Lan Keluos, in history, would die in six days, he would die with fame and success, and be remembered for generations.

Compared to his poor life, the final curtain call was very complete.

"..."

"Hyberian, imagine if your brain was connected to a kind of magical terminal machine, it could bring you endless happiness for the rest of your life, only joy, no sadness. If you were to choose, would you want this machine?"

Lan Qi smiled with a hint of helplessness, feeling the warmth from Hyberian's hand,

"It should be noted that once you enter this experience machine, you will be permanently separated from real life and unable to return, but you will hardly be able to discover this fact yourself. You will not be able to distinguish whether you are in the real world or the virtual world, and the ups and downs that your life should have will be replaced by smooth sailing."

This was a question he had asked Cat Boss in Hua Du Pa Lie.

The situation at that time was to discuss whether it was right for Lan Qi to deceive the Countess of the Ba Di Si Te family, Ke Li Si Di Na, by telling her that Yinuo An was still alive, so that Ke Li Si Di Na would not be sad.

In the end, no conclusion was reached.

"This is almost the [Fallen Gentle Township], but it's a version without side effects."

Hyberian stared at Lan Qi without letting go.

She understood Lan Qi's metaphor.

In Lan Qi's description, this hypothetical machine did not have the negative effect of dissolving the soul, it was a purely harmless experience.

"It can be understood that way."

Lan Qi gave an affirmative answer.

"I don't want it."

Hyberian answered clearly, her expression bitterly shifting her eyes away.

Even she herself knew how contradictory it was.

Clearly, she was the one who was most addicted to the Fallen Gentle Township and unable to extricate herself, but she was still very resistant to this kind of machine.

Because she wanted reality, even a cruel reality was better than a false beauty.

So for Lan Qi, such a sober person, who would not even hesitate in the Fallen Gentle Township, the answer was very obvious.

He would definitely figure out what the Black Sun, Lan Keluos, saw at the end of his life.

"But Lan Qi..."

Hyberian didn't know how to organize her words to persuade Lan Qi, and was slightly tongue-tied,

"This is a Shadow World, whether you know the truth or not, it makes no difference. You have to think about it, you have to think about it carefully, why do you want to open a gift box that is obviously not good?"

She didn't want Lan Qi to be hurt in any way, and she didn't want Lan Qi to have any risk of negative changes.

But he seemed to be a little obsessed with this Shadow World.

Just seeing Lan Qi's understanding of the Black Sun continue to increase, even if it was only less than five percent now, Hyberian was very afraid.

"Meow, meow."

Cat Boss was on Hyberian's lap, looking left and right at Lan Qi and Hyberian.

It was the first time it had seen Lan Qi and Hyberian's opinions differ so much.

They were not arguing, but they knew too clearly what the other was thinking, and were trying to persuade the other.

As Cat Boss, who had personally experienced the trip to Hua Du, it knew that Lan Qi's view of the [Fallen Gentle Township] was not absolute.

Previously, he had deceived Miss Ke Li Si Di Na, the Countess of Hua Du Pa Lie, by hiding the fact that Yinuo An was dead, so that the Countess could live with hope.

This showed that Lan Qi was not necessarily a person who chose "reality". He might also choose "protection" when combining situations.

"Hyberian..."

Lan Qi thought for a long time again.

"Some people need protection, some people need reality, and some people need to make decisions based on their own will."

He slowly opened his mouth,

"So, I'm not denying the Fallen Gentle Township, it is indeed a very beautiful thing sometimes... But even if everyone is asleep, I must be the first to wake up. As someone who can wake up, I can't easily fall asleep."

Lan Qi looked at Hyberian, his emerald eyes were still as clear as the surface of the water, naturally harboring thoughtfulness and compassion, and the answer was already hidden within them.

"..."

Hyberian pursed her lips, and finally slowly withdrew her hands from Lan Qi's wrist and placed them back on her legs.

"Supporting a man like you is really hard. You were born to be a willful leader."

She said with her head lowered.

Lan Qi's love, like the wind, enjoyed freedom and couldn't wait, while her love was like a kite, tightly holding the string and sighing in place.

She wanted to protect Lan Qi from getting off the line, but she also didn't want to hold Lan Qi back.

So often she would be very troubled about how she should support him.

"Sorry, I always make you worry about me."

Lan Qi stared at Hyberian and lowered his eyes as well.

He had always listened to a lot of what Hyberian said, but when it came to making decisions, he would still do it his way.

But he was very grateful to Hyberian.

When no one would say hello to him in the morning.

When no one would wait for him in the afternoon.

When he could do anything he wanted to do, what should he call this?

Freedom.

Or loneliness.

Only with Hyberian could he be called free. If he didn't have her, he would become Dugu (solitary).

The clouds outside the French windows flowed quietly, and the cold night was like a quiet lake, with slight shimmering waves.

Crack, crack.

Sparks sputtered out of the heater, as if to fill the gap where there was no dialogue.

It was warm inside because the fire was lit.

"Do it according to your ideas."

This time, Hyberian didn't want to hold Lan Qi back. She just lightly, like a ghost under the moon, placed her hand on his hand.

Besides support, Hyberian would not have other ideas.

She always unconditionally believed in Lan Qi.

There were places on him that would never change.

Only that enthusiasm and determination would not be fake. He was born with a sense of responsibility, and he was like this every time.

But this long journey may have brought about a change in Lan Qi's understanding.

He was still so firm, but in his firmness, he thought about more things, and was no longer so cold.

Hyberian had always thought that Lan Qi was a warm person on the outside and cold on the inside. He would sometimes maintain a god's fairness and coldness, and make decisions that violated humanity without hesitation.

Now, he would think before making this decision that violated humanity.

"Hyberian, are you thinking about something impolite?"

Lan Qi observed Hyberian's eyes, and felt that as she was thinking, the corners of her mouth curled up with a faint arc.

It was an expression he had never seen before.

"..."

Hyberian shook her head, and the meaningful smile on the corner of her mouth became more obvious.

She didn't tell Lan Qi the answer.

"If we were all in this era, then I should be the person who is no longer by your side at this moment."

She just looked at the mirror of the French glass window, looking at the two of them in the mirror, and felt something.

Imagine if there was also this moment in real history.

Then the Black Sun Lord must be sitting alone in the principal's office.

The illusion of the witch lady was talking to him.

Like that earring, it became a gentle companion.

"..."

The shadow of the principal reflected on the glass was silent.

"No matter what, because of your protection, I am not an illusion. I will always be by your side, so feel free to do what you want to do. If you feel tired, I will always be waiting for you at home. As long as you turn around, you can see me."

She closed her eyes and leaned on Lan Qi's shoulder.

"Hmph hmph..."

Lan Qi smiled relievedly.

Smiling, he was also tired. Lan Qi and Hyberian's minds were occupied by sleepiness.

Even if the stars outside the window were dark, the shadows of the young boy and girl on the glass were still clear.

It was as if they had returned to the moment when the two of them challenged the Purgatory Corridor Academy together.

On the sofa in the principal's office, they fell asleep like this, huddled together.