Hyperion constantly glanced back and forth between Antanas's reaction and the Great Poet's face, afraid to let her emotions show lest she ruin the excellent situation Lan Qi had created.

But her heart was already a sea of turbulent waves.

The Great Poet glanced at Hyperion, their eyes meeting.

It was as if he was confirming that her thoughts were correct.

Lan Qi had only recently figured everything out himself. The three of them at Cat Boss's house each knew something, but not everything.

Hyperion was the second to understand it all completely.

"..."

The corners of Hyperion's eyes gradually glistened.

It was hard to say whether it was surprise, joy, or gratitude that predominated, but in this setting, she needed to remain calm rather than express anything.

Once again, Lan Qi had brought her so many wonderful things when she knew nothing at all.

Being cared for by a mother she had fantasized about since childhood but dared not hope for was something she thought could only happen in dreams.

She never expected that something she believed she would never have was actually within her grasp, right there in the wooden cabin of the I刻里忒 (Ikelite) Cat Boss restaurant.

"Tata, Talia, it was you all along..."

At this moment, Hyperion understood her happiness and wanted to say so much to Lan Qi, to return to the Southern Continent and embrace Tata, to tell her all the gratitude in her heart.

The Fallen Utopia was not a miraculous magic, but the reality she now inhabited.

"..."

The Great Poet gently patted Hyperion's head. After seeing Hyperion's dream, he felt that she cried too easily.

It was completely different from how she used to mutter "karma" and shed tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Seeing how good you two are together, I'm reminded of Talia and Ifatia."

Antanas couldn't help but sigh as she looked at the good relationship between the Great Poet and Hyperion.

"...Miss Antanas, this Hyperion is indeed Ifatia's daughter, but I am not related to Talia. I must ensure that our employment contract is valid and reliable."

Lan Qi refocused his attention on Antanas, emphasizing once again.

"You don't need to deceive me. You are Talia's daughter, you look so much like her... but also different, perhaps because of your father."

"..."

"Why are you unwilling to acknowledge your mother?"

"Everything I've told you is true. Don't discover the truth later and think I deceived you."

"...Is that so."

Guardian Antanas's eyes were filled with sadness.

She was very familiar with Talia's personality and understood why the relationship between Talia and her daughter was so strained.

"I just want to confirm a few things now, answers I need to understand before the transaction begins."

Antanas looked at Hyperion earnestly.

Since Talia's daughter denied it outright, she could only ask Ifatia's daughter.

"Please speak."

Hyperion maintained a respectful demeanor towards the elder.

"Do you both have the blood of the demon royal family flowing through your veins? Was she born from Talia?"

Antanas looked at the Great Poet and then asked Hyperion.

"...Yes, she was."

Hyperion answered hesitantly.

She remembered that the Great Poet seemed to have been created by Miss Tata and Lan Qi together.

"Knowing that is enough for me."

Antanas replied with certainty.

"..."

Lan Qi realized that he couldn't get through to Antanas today, so he could only take her back to the principal's office and then have his main body perform the Great Poet's summoning.

"We've encountered an enemy in the Protos Empire that we must defeat. Miss Antanas, can you help us?"

The Great Poet once again used [Great Poet Transformation: Human] to become a black-haired, green-eyed version of himself, and put on a mask that locked his jaw, looking as if he was about to clock out and leave, as he spoke.

"Of course. If anyone dares to harm you, I will never let them get away with it."

Antanas's eyes turned cold, and the most ferocious killing intent of the great demon clan began to surge.

...

At this moment, no one noticed.

In a higher-dimensional space, someone wanted to run away.

The moment Loren saw the Great Poet reveal his true form, he was covered in sweat.

He had seen this summon multiple times in I刻里忒 (Ikelite). Whenever Lan Qi summoned her, nothing good ever happened.

Loren couldn't deceive himself any longer.

Clearly, this summon was being controlled by Lan Qi, who was assisting Hyperion in her priestly duties!

Loren had always been willing to believe that Hyperion was an honest and good child.

Now, their group's actions seemed far too much like the Resurgence Church's. The root of the problem was one hundred and ten percent Lan Qi!

Wasn't this guy supposed to be in the Northern Continent doing a project on "Searching for Stone Tablet Holders"?

What stone tablet are you searching for? How did you end up mixed up with the likes of the Resurgence Church?!

And at this moment, even without looking up, Loren could feel the Ice Witch staring at him.

Because the Ice Witch seemed to have discovered the connection between this summon and Lan Qi as well.

On the other side of the higher-dimensional space.

The Ice Witch was so angry she almost laughed.

The gray-haired, red-skirted summon – wasn't that what Hyperion had shown her the other day, calling it "Comrade Lan Qi's epic summon"?

So it was you, Loren's student, who corrupted Hyperion.

And you were staring at me just now. What the hell were you looking at?

For the moment, they couldn't confirm that Lan Qi had led Hyperion to betray them and join the Resurgence Church, and couldn't definitively conclude the matter.

It couldn't yet be said to be a malicious incident involving a serious dereliction of duty.

It wasn't enough to do anything to Loren.

The Ice Witch calmed her thoughts slightly.

What truly surprised her was the Great Poet's true face, which she hadn't seen in the temple back then.

She never expected a summon to look so much like Talia.

The Ice Witch did remember that this gray-haired, red-skirted summon had some special properties. She had originally thought that this demon summon was made using Hyperion's blood as a medium, which was why it had the aura of the demon royal family, but it turned out that Talia herself was the blueprint.

Its creator might even be Talia.

So Talia's main body had a connection to this boy named Lan Qi.

The Ice Witch now had the feeling of seeing the light after parting the clouds, and after hearing the conversation between the Great Poet and Antanas, she basically understood the whole story.

But now the misunderstanding on Antanas's side was huge—

One Antanas was fine, but if the other two great demon clans on the lower two floors also mistakenly believed that the Great Poet was Talia's daughter, the news that the demon princess Talia had gotten married would spread throughout the Protos Empire.

If Talia herself ever found out.

Talia would really take a knife and die together with the culprit!

(End of Chapter)